“I think there was just, everything was going to be fine. And we had a safe and we had a security, a bank, a local bank loaned us a huge safe that we could put the slippers in, and it sat there the whole summer. But the owner (of the museum) didn’t want the staff of the museum or John to be handling them that much,” she says. “So they stayed out of the safe on a pedestal…there’s tons of things you could have changed, but it happened and there’s nothing we can do about it at this point.”
“We just have to be better going forward,” she says.
“I’m certainly not the expert on the value of items, but I believe I’ve heard that they are worth more now,” Heitz says. “And that’s coming from people in the industry [like] auction houses…I mean they’re going to be worth more because of the intrigue of it.”
And moving forward, the Judy Garland Museum wants to capitalize on that intrigue as well.
“I think this story is just part of our museum’s history now, and we have to commemorate that and own up to our mistakes. But embrace, to be honest, publicity is publicity, whether it’s good or bad,” Heitz says. “Unfortunately we’ll always be known infamously of the museum of where the ruby slippers were stolen. We have to find that fine line of sharing that story, but also remembering that we are the Judy Garland Museum, and we’re here just to share her life and legacy, which is very fascinating in and of itself.”
The Daily Ozmapolitan 