Ridiculous History: The Dumbest Mobster Ever Tried To Steal Ruby Slippers
Podcast: Ridiculous History
Hosts: Ben Bowlin & Noel Brown
Episode Date: October 9, 2025
Episode Overview
Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown take listeners down the winding, often comical path of the most coveted shoes in movie history—the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. This episode is a wild mix of Hollywood lore, mishandled movie memorabilia, and an absurd true crime caper involving a not-so-brilliant retired mobster. From the slippers' creation to their status as pop culture icons, and their eventual theft and recovery, the story shows just how weird history—and value—can be.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Origins of the Ruby Slippers
- Literary and cinematic roots: The original book gave Dorothy silver slippers, but when MGM adapted The Wizard of Oz for the screen, costumer Gilbert Adrian turned them ruby to maximize Technicolor’s impact (01:07–12:26).
- "In the book, the slippers are silver. But that wouldn't have translated to the silver screen as well as red for some reason." – Noel Brown (01:07)
- Slipper construction details:
- Shoes were white silk pumps, dyed red, covered in sequined organza overlays (13:34).
- Each shoe featured 2,300 sequins made from gelatin, making restoration a painstaking process.
- Six to ten pairs were created for different shots; most are now lost or separated (15:05).
2. Early Attitudes Toward Movie Memorabilia
- Studios historically lacked foresight; props and costumes, even iconic ones, languished in storage (06:38, 17:19).
- Archiving practices were haphazard, with props “just thrown kind of haphazardly into warehouses” (23:40).
3. The Memorabilia Savior: Kent Warner’s Story (15:50–27:53)
- Kent Warner, an MGM employee, essentially rescued key props during a mass liquidation in the late 1960s.
- Discovered three pairs of ruby slippers amid 500,000 costumes; he kept the best pair, sold another, and provided one for a historic auction (28:13–29:24).
- “He was a venerable Robin Hood of memorabilia…” – Noel Brown (27:53)
4. Dispersal and Provenance of the Ruby Slippers
- Auction Pair: Sold for $15,000 in 1970 (≈$125,000 today), now displayed at the Smithsonian (30:02).
- Witch’s Shoes: Close-up pair used in the film, sold for $12,000 in 1981, later acquired for the Academy Museum, with names like Leo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg linked as benefactors (31:05–33:22).
- Contest Pair: Won by a woman in a 1939 contest, later sold for $666,000 in 2000; their whereabouts are private (33:47–35:07).
5. The 2005 Theft: The ‘Dumbest Mobster’
- In 2005, a pair of slippers was smashed-and-grabbed from the Judy Garland Museum by retired mobster Terry John Martin, believing them to be encrusted with real rubies (09:33–10:05, 38:53–41:27).
- He was sorely disappointed to learn they were only sequins and glass—“I'm sorry, bud, these are sequins and glass” (10:05).
- The shoes went missing for 13 years; the FBI and an anonymous donor ($1 million reward) led a manhunt, treating it as a high-profile crime (40:07).
- Martin was ultimately caught after trying to ransom the slippers for an oddly specific amount; he pled guilty and was spared jail time due to poor health (41:32–46:47).
- “Martin was a former mobster...more of a smash and grab type dude, you know, glorified purse snatcher.” – Noel Brown (42:32)
6. The Surge in Value and Legacy
- When the stolen slippers were auctioned in 2024, they fetched a stunning $32.5 million, making them the most valuable piece of movie memorabilia ever (47:27).
- “An unknown buyer spent 32.5 million bucks on these, making them the most valuable piece of movie memorabilia ever to be sold at auction.” – Noel Brown (47:27)
- Ruby slippers made with real rubies were valued at only $3 million—proving that historical aura often trumps material worth (48:11).
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- On movie prop preservation:
- “He looks inside the lining of the coat and someone has stitched the name Bogart. It turns out this is the overcoat that Bogart is wearing in Casablanca.” – Ben Bowlin (24:35)
- On the mobster heist:
- “He thought the shoes were encrusted and bedazzled with real rubies. And he was convinced that he had made...a huge win. Until he went to an actual jeweler...” – Ben Bowlin (10:05)
- On the heist’s lack of sophistication:
- “Wouldn't it have been cool, though, if he had, like, dropped through the ceiling Mission Impossible-style...Nah, this guy was not thinking that.” – Noel Brown (39:32)
- On value and memorabilia:
- “This is so illustrative of how arbitrary value can be for memorabilia...they were only worth about $3 million. So much less than the fake ones. This is so nuts.” – Ben Bowlin (48:11)
Timestamps for Key Segments
| Timestamp | Topic/Segment | |--|--| | 01:07–12:26 | Book vs. film slippers, Technicolor choice, creation details | | 15:50–27:53 | Kent Warner and forgotten studio treasures | | 30:02 | Smithsonian acquisition | | 31:05–33:22 | “Witch’s shoes,” Academy acquisition | | 33:47–35:07 | Contest pair; memorabilia market explodes | | 38:53–41:27 | The 2005 heist: planning, theft, and aftermath | | 41:32–46:47 | FBI sting, mobster caught, legal and health outcomes | | 47:27 | Record-breaking auction and cultural value | | 48:11 | The arbitrary, emotional value of movie artifacts |
Fun & Ridiculous Facts
- Many Hollywood films used asbestos as artificial snow (06:59).
- The slippers on display at the Smithsonian are actually a mismatched pair (30:26).
- A pair of real ruby-encrusted slippers (50th anniversary, 1989) are worth a fraction of their original prop counterparts (48:11).
- The thief had never even seen The Wizard of Oz (44:33).
Final Thoughts
The saga of the ruby slippers is a deeply American comedy of errors—studios undervaluing their history, fans idolizing artifacts, and a not-so-brilliant mobster falling for a glittery illusion. This episode blends humor, nostalgia, and insight into how value is constructed and how history can be so utterly, wonderfully ridiculous.
For more absurd tales from the annals of history, check out Ridiculous History wherever you get your podcasts!