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'Time of the Child' is a marvelous blend of despair and redemption

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'Time of the Child' is a marvelous blend of despair and redemption

A village “on the western edge of a wet nowhere” populated by men who drink too much and women who smile too little. Throw in cows, an addled priest, an abandoned baby and a thick cloud cover of shame and you have the elements for a quintessential Irish story.

So quintessential, in fact, I’ve held off reading Niall Williams for a long time, despite hearing raves about his work. My skepticism, it turns out, was misplaced. I’ve just emerged from a Niall Williams binge with a belated appreciation for his writing, which invests specificity and life in characters and places easily reduced to clichés.

Time of the Child is Williams’ latest novel, a companion piece, rather than a sequel to, his 2019 novel, This Is Happiness. Both books are set in the rural village of Faha — a town in the far west of Ireland whose inhabitants, we’re told, possess “the translucent flesh that came from living in an absolute humidity.”

Time of the Child takes place in the weeks leading up to Christmas 1962 and opens — and closes — on a set piece of Mass at the parish church, where most of the village gathers. In between lies a story that feels, at once, realistic in its rough and comic everyday unfolding and mythic in its riffs on the grand themes of despair and spiritual redemption.

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Jack Troy is the town doctor and central character here. He’s a melancholy contained man who, we’re told, “carrie[s] himself in a manner that [the townspeople of] Faha might have summarized as Not like us.” Dr. Troy lost his wife and then the older woman he unexpectedly fell in love with, who’s now also dead. Keeping house for him is his 29-year-old daughter, Ronnie, the eldest of three sisters; the one who remained at home.

Ronnie, too, is a semi-enigma to the townspeople: Our narrator tells us that “Added to [her] reserve was not only the screened lives of all women in the parish at the time, but the marginal natures of all writers, for Ronnie Troy’s closest companion was her notebook.”

Dr. Troy has become haunted by despair and by a particularly heartrending question: “Why does no one love my daughter?” The answer, he fears, is his own glowering presence that may have repelled one especially promising suitor.

Inspired by what we’re told is a “mixed fuel of … brandy … [and] a parent’s fear of the unmade world after them,” Dr. Troy, uncharacteristically, resolves on a bizarre scheme to make things right. As the saying goes: “Man plans, God laughs.”

Instead of unfolding the Troy family narrative chronologically, Williams layers it on top of other simultaneous storylines, all of which are graced with language as bracing as salt spray from the chill Atlantic. We follow, for instance, the wanderings of Jude Quinlan, a 12 year old “on the rope-bridge between man and boy.”

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Jude’s father drinks and gambles and his mother, Mamie, possesses “the anxious look of one married to an instability.” Listen to how Williams moves fluidly from the mundane to the wider lens of the numinous in these snippets from an extended passage where Jude helps to unload a van full of Christmas toys for the town fair:

There were toy soldiers, kits for flying gliders, … skittles in a net, balls, bats. … dolls of one expression but many dresses, …

For Jude, carrying everything from the van … was as close has he would get to handling any of these things. He had no resentment or bitterness . Rather, from nearness to the marvelous something rubbed off on him …

The other thing, the one that only occurred to him years later when he would recall what happened that day, was that what he was carrying out of the van that December morning was his childhood.

For those who believe in such phenomena, Jude will be the instrument for bringing a miracle — a Christmas miracle complete with a baby and a virginal mother, no less — into this story. The other miracle here is a literary one: Time of the Child itself, which gives readers that singular experience of nearness to the marvelous.

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The Eras era ends: A look back at Taylor Swift's record-breaking, 21-month tour

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The Eras era ends: A look back at Taylor Swift's record-breaking, 21-month tour

Taylor Swift, pictured performing at Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff Arena in July, wrapped up her Eras Tour after 21 months and five continents.

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Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour came to a close Sunday night, capping off nearly two years of sparkly outfits, friendship bracelets and record-breaking sales.

The tour, an autobiographical journey through Swift’s extensive discography, started in Arizona in March 2023. Over the next 630-plus days, Swift performed 149 shows — each more than three hours long — in over 50 cities across five continents.

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The show’s 10 acts span the distinct eras of Swift’s career, each defined with its own color scheme, costume and stage design, plus two ever-changing “surprise songs” during the acoustic portion of the night.

Taylor Swift opens an Eras Tour show at London's Wembley Stadium in August.

Taylor Swift, pictured performing at London’s Wembley Stadium in August.

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A steady stream of surprises, setlist changes and special guests held fans’ attention for the duration of the tour, with many tuning into livestreams and following dedicated fan accounts on social media.

And, of course, people watched in person.

Much has been written about “Swiftonomics,” or how the tour boosted local economies across the U.S. and around the world. Fans traveled hundreds or even thousands of miles, sometimes for more than one show, spending money on lodging, food and costumes along the way.

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Their enthusiasm made history.

Swifties swap friendship bracelets outside Sydney, Australia's Accor Stadium in February 2024.

Swifties swap friendship bracelets outside Sydney, Australia’s Accor Stadium in February 2024.

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The tour set attendance records at scores of iconic stadiums, from Pittsburgh to São Paulo. Swift also set records for the most shows by a female artist at multiple venues, from Chicago to Mexico City to Lisbon to London — where she headlined a record eight shows at Wembley Stadium.

Eras set an all-time record when it grossed $1 billion last December — the first tour to ever cross the 10-digit threshold — according to the concert trade publication Pollstar. And that was with one year still to go.

This week, after her final shows in Vancouver, the singer’s production company confirmed the tour’s total ticket sales for the first time, telling the New York Times that it had brought in a whopping more than $2 billion.

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That’s not including the secondary market of ticket sellers (remember when a botched Ticketmaster rollout prompted a Senate hearing and class-action lawsuit against the company?).

Swift makes a heart with her hands onstage.

Swift’s show pays tribute to the 10 eras of her musical career so far.

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And it doesn’t account for other profits from the tour, including sales from merchandise ($200 million in 2023 alone) and tickets to Swift’s concert film, which became the highest-grossing concert film of all time (more than $261.6 million globally) after its October 2023 release. Swift also released a $40 coffee-table book with pictures and reflections from the tour in late November, which sold nearly 1 million copies in its first week.

On her final night onstage in Vancouver on Sunday, Swift described the tour as “the most thrilling chapter of my entire life to date” and credited her fans. Swifties started their own special set of Eras Tour traditions, like trading homemade friendship bracelets in the crowd and chanting and clapping at specific cues with archer-like precision.

“Making friends and bringing joy to each other, that is I think the lasting legacy of this tour, is the fact that you have created such a space of joy and togetherness and love. You’re why this is so special,” Swift said. “And you supporting me for as long as you have is why I get to take these lovely walks down memory every single night because you cared about every era of my entire life that I’ve been making music, so thank you.”

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Swift performs during "The Eras Tour" on Friday in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Swift performs during “The Eras Tour” on Friday in Vancouver, British Columbia.

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The Eras Tour by the numbers:

  • Swift performed 149 shows between March 2023 and December 2024.
  • The tour traveled to 51 cities across 21 countries. 
  • A typical Eras show featured 44-46 songs and ran for 3 hours and 15 minutes. 
  • Swift spent a total of roughly 25 hours performing her 10-minute version of “All Too Well.”
  • A total of 10,168,008 people purchased $2,077,618,725 in tickets — averaging about $204 per seat, Swift’s company told the NYT.
  • Eighteen opening acts warmed up the crowd for Swift, including Sabrina Carpenter, Paramore and Phoebe Bridgers. Fifteen special guests, mostly musicians, joined her onstage in occasional surprise appearances. 
  • Swift wore more than 60 outfits throughout the tour and more than 250 custom pairs of shoes by designer Christian Louboutin.  
  • Swift’s biggest crowd (of both the tour and her entire career) was 96,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia in February. 
  • In July 2023, Seattle fans danced so hard that they created the seismic equivalent of a 2.3 magnitude earthquake.
Swift plays a floral piano onstage.

Swift’s concerts featured an acoustic mini set, which “surprise songs” changing on a nightly basis.

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Meanwhile, during the tour:

  • Swift was Spotify’s most-streamed artist for two years in a row, driving 26.6 billion global streams in 2024 alone. 
  • Time magazine named Swift its 2023 Person of the Year. 
  • Swift released three albums while on tour: She re-recorded “Taylor’s Version” of Speak Now and 1989 in 2023, and released The Tortured Poets Department in April 2024 (which also yielded four music videos). 
  • That’s in addition to her concert film, book and vinyl. 
  • Swift canceled her Vienna concerts after a terrorist plot to attack them was foiled, and postponed her second Brazil show due to heat after a fan died during the first one.
  • Swift endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, driving more than 400,000 visitors to a voting registration website and prompting blowback from President-elect Donald Trump
  • The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust suit against Live Nation Entertainment and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster, alleging it created a monopoly on live ticket event prices — a step that satisfied many disappointed Swifties.
  • Swift stopped dating actor Joe Alwyn and started dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (and attending his games, where she made “seemingly ranch” an overnight sensation). Swift somehow made it to Las Vegas from Tokyo overnight to see — and be seen — when the Chiefs won the 2023 Superbowl.
  • Their very public relationship has won delighted fans, driven up female NFL viewership and stadium ticket prices and even inspired a Hallmark holiday movie.  
Swift accepts the the Video of the Year award for "Fortnight" on stage during the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards in September.

Swift accepts the the Video of the Year award for “Fortnight” on stage during the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards in September.

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What’s next?

  • Some possible downtime for Swift, who will turn 35 on Dec. 13. 
  • Fans eagerly await her last two re-recorded albums: her self-titled 2006 debut, and 2017’s Reputation
  • The singer was nominated for six Grammys, including album, song and record of the year. The awards show is scheduled for Feb. 2. 
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She gave her drab L.A. apartment a stunning makeover for $2,500

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She gave her drab L.A. apartment a stunning makeover for ,500

As an art director with a background in theater, Mary Kenny has a flair for interior design that rivals her skills as an event planner in the entertainment industry.

For her, there is no such thing as “too busy” when decorating her 600-square-foot apartment. “I like to have a sense of humor,” says the self-described maximalist. “Your home shouldn’t be too serious. I want my space to feel balanced between funky and chill.”

Kenny’s gallery wall is filled with sentimental items displayed in frames she purchased at Valley Value Center: paw prints from her deceased cats, a postcard she mailed to herself on her 30th-birthday solo trip to Paris, the license plate from her first car, a signed Billie Eilish photo and a painting of Dodgers Stadium by a friend, artist Lee Ferris.
Mary Kenny's living room in her Los Angeles apartment before she moved in.

Mary Kenny’s living room in her Los Angeles apartment before she moved in.

(Mary Kenny)

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Kenny, a native of North Carolina, is accustomed to living small. Before moving into her apartment a little over a year ago, she lived in a 250-square-foot bachelor apartment without a kitchen.

“I traveled all the time,” she says, justifying life without a stove and refrigerator. Then the pandemic hit. “I spent a year there,” she says. “Thankfully, it was only $1,000 a month.”

When it came time to find a more appropriate apartment in Los Angeles, where more than half the population is renters, she had difficulty tracking down something she liked that she could afford. “The listings would say there’s laundry, and there wasn’t. Or there was parking, and there wasn’t.”

She says the apartment she eventually moved into isn’t perfect, but it’s rent-stabilized at $1,700 a month. “I always dreamed of owning a home,” she says. “It’s hard to accept that it’s not the American Dream anymore.”

Books and accessories on a coffee table.
Hand-written cards hang on a bulletin board.
A living room in an apartment

A thrifted sofa, drop cloths, a Magic 8 Ball — Mary Kenny’s apartment in L.A. is a stylish retreat that didn’t break the bank.

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At a time when thrifting is booming for its economic and environmental benefits, especially among Gen Z consumers, Kenny, herself a millennial at age 36, has shown that it’s possible to create a stylish, humorous and budget-friendly retreat with secondhand finds.

Spending roughly $2,500, she has transformed an unremarkable one-bedroom apartment with gray vinyl floors into a vibrant representation of who she is: colorful and fun.

“I’m not afraid of mixing patterns and textures,” she says.

With a resourceful eye, Kenny has furnished her apartment with Facebook Marketplace finds, thrift store treasures and free hand-me-downs from friends. Her resourcefulness is not just impressive; it’s inspiring. She proudly estimates that her apartment is about 80% thrifted. Her only new splurges? A standing desk for her work-from-home setup and colorful, one-of-a-kind hand block-printed bedding from Anthropologie.

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The kitchen in an apartment.
An all-white kitchen with colorful accents.

Not a big cook, Kenny says the kitchen is her least inspired room. She left the all-white kitchen as is and added colorful accessories. (Mary Kenny)

“I don’t like to spend money,” says Kenny. She humorously refers to herself as a “cheapskate” who constantly looks for unique pieces on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. Like her, her home is a work in progress, continually being reinvented.

Among her many bargain finds is a plush velvet sofa she purchased for $80 on Facebook Marketplace. “If my cats scratch it up, I can sell it for 50 bucks when I leave,” she says. Her queen-size bed is a hand-me-down from a friend. To make custom curtains similar to those she spotted at Anthropologie, she dyed a 6-by-9-foot canvas drop cloth from Harbor Freight, which cost $6.99. She says, “I cut the drop cloth into two panels, dyed them with fabric dye and then sewed them together.” If you don’t sew, don’t worry, she says, “you can cut them with pinking shears or use no-sew iron-on tape.”

A lipstick kiss-themed bathroom.
“Bathrooms are the perfect place to be silly,” Kenny says of her lipstick kiss-themed bathroom, inspired by her favorite drag queen, Tammie Brown.
Wallpaper with red lips in an apartment bathroom
Black-and-white-checkered peel-and-stick vinyl flooring and a lips rug

A signed makeup wipe from Kenny’s favorite drag queen and black-and-white-checkered peel-and-stick vinyl flooring make a statement in the bathroom.

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An all-white bathroom in an apartment

Kenny’s bathroom before she moved in.

(Mary Kenny)

Kenny doesn’t think twice about stuffing furnishings from her treasure hunts into the back of her tiny Nissan Versa — she has been known to secure items with bungee cords — or repurposing everyday ephemera into something special.

“There was an episode of Marie Kondo’s ‘Tidying Up’ where she suggested displaying sentimental items rather than keeping them in boxes under the bed,” Kenny says of the family mementos, airline tickets and pet portraits she has on display in her gallery wall. Other items, such as a collection of greeting cards attached to a bulletin board filled with buttons, paper hearts and photo booth pictures, demonstrate the importance of her few family heirlooms. “I wish I had more,” she says. “I’ve moved around a lot and was never able to keep larger things.”

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Above her couch, she has hung her most prized family possessions: photos of her grandmother featured in the Evansville Press in Indiana in 1964 after she learned to skydive and joined a parachute club.

A dining room table in front of a floral mural on the wall.

Mary Kenny created a mural on printable wallpaper by transferring a botanical print onto her wall using a projector, tracing it with a pencil, painting it with acrylic craft paint from Michaels and then outlining it with a Krink paint marker.

(Mary Kenny)

When asked for tips on arranging a gallery wall, Kenny recommends laying it out on the floor first. “I used to do brown paper templates and be really picky,” she says, “but now my strategy is just maintaining lines. I pick one item to be the center and move outward from there, trying to line up the bottom of the first item with the bottom of the second, then the third item lines up with the top of the second and so on.”

When it comes to hanging the frames on the wall, she swears by a blue tape method by @lemonleafhomeinteriors that she viewed on TikTok.

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But Kenny’s apartment is not just about thrifting; it also showcases her versatile do-it-yourself skills. She created a vibrant botanical mural in the dining room by transferring the pattern onto Tempaper & Co. paintable removable peel-and-stick wallpaper using a projector, tracing it with a pencil and painting it with affordable acrylic craft paints from Michaels. Outlined with a Krink paint marker, the oversize gerbera daisy mural makes a statement from every room in the apartment. “The mural is a fun way to add color to walls without having to repaint when you move out,” she says.

A colorful bedroom.

In her bedroom, Kenny splurged on bedding from Anthropologie and hung kantha quilts from Etsy on the wall using a staple gun.

(Brittany Brooks / For The Times)

The bedroom featured gray vinyl flooring and blinds on the window before she moved in.

The bedroom featured gray vinyl flooring and blinds on the window before she moved in.

(Mary Kenny)

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Kenny notes that the “rental-friendly” peel-and-stick mural and bathroom decor are removable and that she restores the walls and fills any holes upon move-out; however, it’s always best to check with your landlord before you embark on your own renovations.

To provide privacy from a nearby apartment building in her Larchmont neighborhood, Kenny put Prism privacy film on the windows of her kitchen and living room and installed NoNo no-drill curtain brackets, specifically designed to attach to mounted blinds. “It’s a rental-friendly way to hide” blinds, Kenny says.

Though she has a keen design sense, Kenny likes to use the free online tool Floorplanner, which creates 3-D floor plans. The tool helps her understand the scale of the items she’s buying and how they’ll all fit together in her space. “It’s immensely helpful,” she says. “You can experiment with different layouts and furniture arrangements before making any purchases.”

Of all the places to make a statement, however, Kenny says money goes a long way in the bathroom. “Bathrooms are the perfect place to be silly,” she says of her lipstick kiss-themed bathroom, inspired by a makeup wipe she purchased from her favorite drag queen, Tammie Brown, on Instagram and later framed. “I used peel-and-stick wallpaper, Tempaper & Co. paintable wallpaper and a faux flexible chair rail to transform this space. The floors are black-and-white checkered peel-and-stick vinyl. I wanted it to feel over the top.”

She succeeded.

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Mary Kenny sits on a rust velvet couch in her apartment.

Above her couch, she has hung her most prized family heirlooms: newspaper photos of her grandmother from 1964, after she learned to skydive and joined a parachute club. She also framed and hung her grandmother’s charm bracelet on the gallery wall.

Looking back to when she was growing up, Kenny recalls begging her mother to let her redo her bedroom. “I painted the walls and outfitted the two twin beds with leopard-print bedspreads,” she says. “I feel like I’m still in that stage.”

For her next project, Kenny hopes to move to a two-bedroom soon. “I’m working on becoming a foster parent,” she says.

The prospect of reimagining another blank slate and starting anew is enticing for the creative force. “I think I’d sell things that feel easy to come by, not especially unique or actually vintage,” says Kenny. “My favorite thing is selling something for the exact amount I bought it for. It’s like I rented it for free. My second favorite thing is not having to move it myself.”

Kenny's living room wall art.

Whimsical accessories and family heirlooms are a testament to Kenny’s creativity and resourcefulness.

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Makeover budget

Here, Kenny — a “track every expense” kind of person — breaks down the budget for her rental apartment makeover.

Bedroom
Headboard $120 Facebook Marketplace
Cow chair $60 Facebook Marketplace
Home Depot rug $220 New
Feather lamps $40 Facebook Marketplace
Dresser + side tables $120 Craigslist
Quilt $250 New — Anthropologie
Curtains $75 New — Etsy
Curtain rods $40 New
White curtains Thrifted from previous apartment
Bed Secondhand from friend
Tiger rug Purchased for previous apartment in 2020 — originally $166
Living room
Desk $153 New
Desk chair $30 Craigslist
Living room lamps $30 Out of the Closet
Living room side tables $50 Facebook Marketplace
Living room rug Secondhand from a friend
Chandelier $70 Facebook Marketplace
Credenza $80 Facebook Marketplace
Couch $80 Facebook Marketplace
Coffee table $40 Facebook Marketplace
Frames $75 Valley Value Center
Frames Free Free — event
Dining room chairs $60 Facebook Marketplace
Dining room rug $150 Facebook Marketplace
Dining room table $120 New
Paintable wallpaper $75 New
Projector mount $42 New
Projector screen $164 New
Faux plants Free Free — event
Woven folding chairs Free Free — event
Yellow curtains with birds Free Made for previous apartment
White curtains Free Thrifted for previous apartment
Prism privacy film $19
Bathroom
Faux chair rail $28 New
Paint, paint supplies $50 New
Kiss wallpaper $82
Miscellaneous
Tchotchkes, decor $250 Thrifted from Valley Value Center, Goodwill, Out of the Closet, free from events
$2,573 Total

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Ruby slippers worn in 'The Wizard of Oz' are auctioned for a record $28 million

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Ruby slippers worn in 'The Wizard of Oz' are auctioned for a record  million

Sequin-covered ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz appear at the offices of Profiles in History in Calabasas, Calif. on Nov. 9, 2001.

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MINNEAPOLIS — A pair of iconic ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz and stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago sold for a winning bid of $28 million at auction Saturday.

Heritage Auctions had estimated that they would fetch $3 million or more, but the fast-paced bidding far outpaced that amount within seconds and tripled it within minutes. A few bidders making offers by phone volleyed back and forth for 15 minutes as the price climbed to the final, eye-popping sum.

Including the Dallas-based auction house’s fee, the unknown buyer will ultimately pay $32.5 million.

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Online bidding, which opened last month, had stood at $1.55 million before live bidding began late Saturday afternoon.

The sparkly red heels were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 when Terry Jon Martin used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case.

Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018. Martin, now 77, who lives near Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota, wasn’t publicly exposed as the thief until he was indicted in May 2023. He pleaded guilty in October 2023. He was in a wheelchair and on supplementary oxygen when he was sentenced last January to time served because of his poor health.

His attorney, Dane DeKrey, explained ahead of sentencing that Martin, who had a long history of burglary and receiving stolen property, was attempting to pull off “one last score” after an old associate with connections to the mob told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value. But a fence — a person who buys stolen goods — later told him the rubies were just glass, DeKrey said. So Martin got rid of the slippers. The attorney didn’t specify how.

The alleged fence, Jerry Hal Saliterman, 77, of the Minneapolis suburb of Crystal, was indicted in March. He was also in a wheelchair and on oxygen when he made his first court appearance. He’s scheduled to go on trial in January and hasn’t entered a plea, though his attorney has said he’s not guilty.

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The shoes were returned in February to memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum. They were one of several pairs that Garland wore during the filming, but only four pairs are known to have survived. In the movie, to return from Oz to Kansas, Dorothy had to click her heels three times and repeat, “There’s no place like home.”

As Rhys Thomas, author of The Ruby Slippers of Oz, put it, the sequined shoes from the beloved 1939 musical have seen “more twists and turns than the Yellow Brick Road.”

Over 800 people had been tracking the slippers, and the company’s webpage for the auction had hit nearly 43,000 page views by Thursday, said Robert Wilonsky, a vice president with the auction house.

Among those bidding to bring the slippers home was the Judy Garland Museum, which posted on Facebook shortly after that it did not place the winning bid. The museum had campaigned for donations to supplement money raised by the city of Grand Rapids at its annual Judy Garland festival and the $100,000 set aside this year by Minnesota lawmakers to help the museum purchase the slippers.

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After the slippers sold, the auctioneer told bidders and spectators in the room and watching online that the previous record for a piece of entertainment memorabilia was $5.52 million, for the white dress Marilyn Monroe famously wore atop a windy subway grate.

The auction also included other memorabilia from The Wizard of Oz, such as a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the original Wicked Witch of the West. That item went for $2.4 million, or a total final cost to the buyer of $2.93 million.

The Wizard of Oz story has gained new attention in recent weeks with the release of the movie Wicked, an adaptation of the megahit Broadway musical, a prequel of sorts that reimagines the character of the Wicked Witch of the West.

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