Their sizes differ — 5C and 5BC — and experts believe the shoes come from two separate sets of high heels. The bows carry slightly contrasting shapes, the heel grips are distinct shapes and the insoles are made from different types of leather. Those labels helped track the individual pairs on set. Wallace is now believed to be one of four people who have personally examined three of the four known pairs of ruby slippers.
While the Smithsonian Institution does not officially authenticate objects, their examination provided enough evidence for the FBI. On Sept. The pair went back on display at the National Museum of American History Friday in their own custom-made, environmentally controlled display case.
She is also the lead producer of the NewsHour Shares broadcast series. Support Provided By: Learn more. Wednesday, Nov The Latest. World Agents for Change. Health Long-Term Care. For Teachers. NewsHour Shop. About Feedback Funders Support Jobs. Close Menu. Email Address Subscribe. What do you think? Leave a respectful comment. Close Comment Window. For the sequins, they used a small paintbrush and a pipette attached to a hose and vacuum. For the glass beads on the bow, they used small cotton swabs and water.
Over time, some of the more than 2, sequins per shoe had rotated or flipped, and they realigned them all. As their work was winding down, the conservators unexpectedly came face to face with another pair of Ruby Slippers.
During the summer, the FBI emailed them and asked about their conservation work, without saying much else. Then the bureau called and said it had a pair of slippers and asked if the conservators could say if the recovered pair was consistent in construction and material with the Smithsonian pair. The Smithsonian team knew about the stolen pair from its research. The team studied the FBI pair for a day and a half. The similarities were obvious.
Soon after, in early September, the FBI announced the case to the public. In summer , a man had gone to the insurance company for the stolen shoes claiming to have information about them, in an attempt to extort the company, the bureau said. Investigators recovered the shoes in Minneapolis in an undercover sting operation about a year later. It turned out that the stolen pair is the mismatched twin of the Smithsonian pair.
But given inconsistencies between the two pairs, Thomas believes the mix-up happened at the time they were made, not after filming, as others have speculated. Conservators here at the National Museum of American History examined the recovered pair of shoes. Our conservators confirmed that the recovered pair are consistent with the condition, construction, and material of the Ruby Slippers in the museum's collection.
The museum has long known that our pair of slippers didn't match. The heel caps, inner sole grips, and other details are slightly mismatched between our two shoes. But we didn't know where the corresponding shoes could be found. Conservators discovered that the recovered pair and the museum's pair actually create two matching pairs.
The next steps for the recovered pair are unknown as of September , but museum staff members are thrilled that the missing shoes have been found. The Ruby Slippers Bright red is how we remember them, but Dorothy's famous shoes were originally silver.
The Secret Behind the Sparkle Take a look behind the scenes to see how the Smithsonian keeps the ruby slippers sparkling in the spotlight. How can we keep them on display for 20 more years? Recovered Ruby Slippers visit museum for examination by conservators, curators.
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