There’s no place like Liberal, KS — especially now, with the unveiling of the “Dorothy’s Slipper Slide,” a whimsical new roadside attraction celebrating the town’s cherished connection to The Wizard of Oz. On July 11, city leaders held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the 10-foot-tall slide, modeled after the iconic ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 film classic.
Located outside the Liberal Tourist Information Center at 1 Yellow Brick Road, the giant glittering slipper stretches 18 feet long and is designed for both children and adults to enjoy. The attraction was custom-made in Baltimore and transported to Liberal, where it now sparkles alongside the busy Highway 54 corridor in southwest Kansas, just above the Oklahoma panhandle. City officials expect it to become a must-stop photo op for travelers and Wizard of Oz fans alike.
“We see this roadside attraction as something that’s going to be a real show stopper,” Keeley Moree, Chief Communications Officer for the City of Liberal, told KSNW. “When people come to Kansas, there are two things that they want to see. It’s cowboys and it’s Dorothy.”
Liberal’s dedication to Dorothy Gale is long-standing. The city is home to Dorothy’s House and the Land of Oz exhibit, which features a replica of Dorothy’s farmhouse and a guided tour through an interactive Oz experience. Now, with the addition of the Slipper Slide, visitors can add a playful moment to their journey along the Yellow Brick Road.
The slide also pays homage to one of the most famous — and valuable — pieces of movie memorabilia ever created. Only four pairs of the original ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz are known to survive. One pair remains on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, where it continues to draw millions of visitors each year. Another pair shattered auction records in December 2024 when it sold at Heritage Auctions for $32.5 million, making it the most expensive piece of movie memorabilia ever sold.
Conceived by MGM’s chief costume designer Gilbert Adrian, the original slippers feature nearly 2,300 sequins per shoe and butterfly-shaped bows adorned with red bugle beads and rhinestones. Though Adrian originally intended to use actual bugle beads for the entire slipper, he opted for lighter sequins to capture the ruby red sparkle — perfect for Technicolor.
Thanks to Kansas Tourism grants and local funding, Liberal’s oversized slipper now welcomes visitors to slide into a bit of that magic themselves — no clicking heels required.
Credits: Image of Dorothy's Slipper Slide courtesy of Adventure Solutions. Image of Dorothy's actual Ruby Slippers at the Smithsonian by The Jeweler Blog.