Ruby slippers
“The human scale of the ruby slippers helps to bring Judy Garland to life in front of you. You think about this teenager who is in the biggest movie in the world, the tragic story of her life, and how difficult it was to handle the fame and responsibilities that were foisted upon her. But I think part of the power of the slippers is that so many people see themselves in her story, not to mention Dorothy’s story. There are a lot of different meanings that have been applied to the slippers over the years, from the idea that she’s one of the few female adventure movie stars of the 1930s, to the fact that gay men identified as ‘Friends of Dorothy’ in the 1970s and ’80s. There are so many different ways to see yourself in that story.
“They’re another one of the first objects that came [into the museum’s entertainment collection] in 1979. I think that it really helps us as curators who deal with entertainment to talk about their power, and why this is the only movie from the 1930s probably that 8-year-olds are still watching every year. But the resonance of the themes that are in it, and the importance that it has had in terms of shaping the way that we talk — it’s added so much to the cultural vernacular, in terms of phrases like, ‘We’re not in Kansas anymore,’ or ‘Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.’ It’s a real testament to the power of movies to shape American culture.”