Movie Memorabilia

Dallas auction house hawks stolen ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz

Wizard of Oz ruby slippers.

Heritage Auctions

DALLAS (AP) — A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz is on the auction block nearly two decades after a thief stole the iconic shoes, convinced they were adorned with real jewels.

Online bidding has started and will continue through December 7, Heritage Auctions in Dallas announced in a news release Monday.

The shoes are part of a bigger auction of Hollywood memorabilia which also includes items from films such as Cast Away, Easy Rider, and Back to the Future Part II.

Other items from The Wizard of Oz include a witch hat worn by Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West, the screen door from Dorothy’s Kansas home, the gloves Bert Lahr wore as the Cowardly Lion, and producer Mervyn LeRoy’s copy of the Wizard of Oz script from the MGM art department.

The auction company received the sequin-and-bead-bedazzled slippers from Michael Shaw, the memorabilia collector who originally owned the footwear at the heart of the beloved 1939 musical. Shaw had loaned the shoes in 2005 to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

That summer, someone smashed through a display case and stole the slippers. Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018. The man who stole the ruby slippers, Terry Jon Martin, was 76 when he was sentenced in January to time served because of his poor health.

Now the museum is among those vying for the slippers, which were one of several pairs Garland wore during the filming. Only four remain. This particular pair are considered to be the most valuable of the four, in that they were the ones used in close-ups of Dorothy clicking her heels.

Other items include a "Wilson" basketball from Tom Hanks film Cast Away; a stars-and-stripes motorcycle helmet worn by Peter Fonda in Easy Rider; and the “BAT-1/GOTHAM CITY” license plate from Adam West’s Batmobile; and a wooden hoverboard from Back to the Future Part II, signed by Michael J. Fox and writer-producer Bob Gale. According to Heritage Auctions, this Mattel hhoverboard has "impeccable provenance," as it comes from Fox’s stunt double Charlie Croughwell, who writes in his letter of authenticity that “this Hoverboard has been in my possession beginning with our first day of Flying Rehearsals up until present day.”

Racket sports

Trendy Austin padel club Padel39 lobs first DFW location into Carrollton

Photo by Juan J Valdes

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A popular padel club from Austin is serving up its first location in Dallas-Fort Worth: Padel39 has purchased and taken over the existing Dallas Padel Club, at 3000 Belmeade Dr.

According to a release, multimillion-dollar renovations are underway and are expected to be complete by summer 2026. The revamp includes:

Seven new outdoor courts are being added to the current three indoor courts (with completion expected by March 2026).
Full food and beverage capabilities for a premium sports bar that is open to the public.
A fitness area for members that is affiliated with HYROX, recovery areas, wellness facilities (sauna, cold plunge, etc.), upscale locker rooms.
Upscale lounging and coworking space.

For those not up on their racket sports, padel is a cousin of pickleball, tennis, and racquetball. The sport has been wildly popular in Spain and Latin America for decades and is one of the fastest-growing sports in the U.S. Like pickleball, it's a doubles game played on a small court, and players hit off glass walls.

Padel was invented in Acapulco, Mexico, by Enrique Corcuera; Padel39 bears the first two numbers of all Acapulco ZIP Codes.

Padel39 co-founders Will and Naomi Boyce.Photo by Juan J Valdes

The company was founded in 2024 by husband-and-wife William Boyce and Naomi Boyce; William played tennis for the University of Texas at Austin.

Padel39 currently has two locations in Austin, with a third opening in March. They say they aim to open 12 to 15 Padel39 clubs in Austin, Dallas, and Houston by 2028. After Carrollton, a location will open in central Dallas in late 2026/early 2027, they say.

“We currently introduce 200+ new players to the sport each month, while maintaining a core group of repeat clients who return for the fitness, competition and vibrant community,” William Boyce says in the release. “Each new location fulfills our vision to put Padel39 and Texas at the epicenter of the padel community.”

In addition to offering courts to play on, Padel39 features on-court programming, tournaments, social events, and physical wellness opportunities such as courtside Pilates and morning yoga.

Padel39 Padel39 courts and lounge areas at a location in Austin. Photo by Josh Graziadei

While Padel39 offers memberships, all guests are welcome to play, they say. According to the website, each club is priced differently. At the flagship location in Austin, Padel39 memberships start at $89 per month or $890 per year, but players can also rent courts as needed for 90 minutes at $30.

“We set out to create a modern take on a country club; a place where members and guests could ‘play and stay,’” Boyce says. “We’ve built that and more. We work to improve the experience for our guests each day.”

Outdoor construction on the Carrollton club is expected to be completed by March. Indoor food and beverage, fitness and lounging renovations will be finished by summer, they say. The club will remain open during renovations.

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