You Can Buy the Wicked Witch’s Hat That Actress Margaret Hamilton Wore in ‘The Wizard of Oz’
Heritage Auctions is selling several pieces of memorabilia connected to the land of Oz, including the witch’s hat from the 1939 film and a 1903 edition of the book signed by Judy Garland
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Ding-dong! The wicked witch’s hat is hitting the auction block.
In December, Heritage Auctions is selling a trove of memorabilia from The Wizard of Oz, including the hat that Margaret Hamilton wore as the Wicked Witch of the West in the original 1939 movie. Measuring nearly 14 inches tall, the iconic hat features a 19.5-inch-wide brim and a 22-inch-long elastic chin strap, which kept it secure while Hamilton filmed flying scenes.
“When Dorothy Gale becomes Dorothy of Oz, it’s when she puts on the ruby slippers,” says Joe Maddalena, executive vice president of Heritage Auctions, per the Associated Press’ Alicia Rancilio. “When the Wicked Witch becomes the Wicked Witch, she puts on the hat. So it’s this transformational moment of the birth of the witch.”
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Maddalena adds: “I think the importance of the hat is just incredible. It’s on par with the slippers.”
The hat’s starting bid is $100,000, although Wizard of Oz artifacts have blown past expectations before. Last year, Heritage Auctions sold a storied pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the film for $28 million after estimating they would go for $3 million—making them the most expensive piece of film memorabilia ever sold.
Fun fact: Dorothy Gale’s ruby slippers
Four versions of the famous footwear used in The Wizard of Oz are known to have survived, including a pair stored in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
The witch’s hat isn’t the only Wizard of Oz memento going on sale next month. Heritage Auctions’ Hollywood-themed sale also includes a 1903 edition of L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz. The book features signatures from Garland and other cast members, as well as Toto’s paw print. Garland’s lengthy inscription reflects her deep connection to the role.
“Playing the part of Dorothy was such fun, and so realistic, that I feel as if I’m not Judy at all, but Dorothy Gale from Kansas,” she wrote in the book, a present for the daughter of her private tutor. The rare book’s starting bid is $200,000.
Two versions of Garland’s iconic red slippers are also going on sale: a “rehearsal slipper” without any sequins, which Garland used in rehearsals, and a pair of 50th anniversary commemorative ruby slippers created in 1989.
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Rounding out the Wizard of Oz collection are a crème organdy blouse that Garland wore during the film’s production and a letter written and signed by Baum just months before his death. In the letter, he discusses his illness and expresses that he wants to continue writing Oz stories.
The auction coincides with the highly-anticipated release of Wicked: For Good, a sequel to the 2024 hit film Wicked. Based on the Broadway blockbuster of the same name, the films tell the story of how two schoolmates, Elphaba Thropp and Galinda Upland, became the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good, respectively. Cynthia Erivo, who plays Elphaba in the new films, told Entertainment Weekly’s Maureen Lee Lenker last year that “Margaret Hamilton was definitely a touchstone” for her own interpretation of the character.
“The Wizard of Oz remains one of the rare films that transcends generations, genres and geography,” Maddalena says in a statement. “These pieces—whether the Wicked Witch’s hat or Judy Garland’s blouse—remind us that Hollywood’s greatest magic isn’t special effects, but the stories and symbols that endure.”