The ruby slippers are the shoes worn by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz which give her the power of returning home any time she wishes. She acquired the shoes after her house fell on the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her and liberating the Munchkins. The slippers protected Dorothy from the evil magic of the Wicked Witch of the West. In the original novel by L. Frank Baum, they were silver slippers, but this was changed for the movie to take advantage of the movie being in colour.
Dorothy knew that the slippers were powerful, but was unaware of their powers. It was only at the end of the film that she learned the formula: click your heels together three times, and repeat "There's no place like home."
The slippers were designed by Salvatore Ferragamo, and several pairs of slippers were constructed for the film. One pair is on permanent exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution in the United States, the others are owned by private collectors. On May 24 2000, a pair of ruby slippers was auctioned for $666,000 (including a $66,000 commission).
Software engineers sometimes refer to the ruby slippers effect whereby a program provides a valuable feature overlooked by its user.
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