As reported yesterday (see “Original Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz on The Oprah Winfrey Show“), the 1/23/08 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show focused on “Classic Americana”. Part of the episode featured Dr. Brent Glass, Director of The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz were sent to the show from Washington, D.C., under the supervision of two armed guards and via first class air travel in a disguised box.
This segment has created some controversy (see misajane’s blog, The Orinda Group, Greetings from Taos…, and Oprah’s Discussion Forum) as a result of Oprah’s determination to personally handle the artifacts, which was counter to the museum director’s express wishes.
Below is the admittedly low tech video of the segment I uploaded to YouTube:
Jason De Bord