Jill Adams of Tujunga, who runs a Marilyn Monroe fan website called forevermarilyn.com, groaned as she recalled the time her mother tried to surprise her with a pair of the late actress' shoes, size 9.
"Clearly, they weren't her shoes," Adams said. "Marilyn wore size 7. The person who sold it to her admitted it wasn't Marilyn's size but said her feet sometimes swelled. My mother got taken for over $700."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday March 26, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 0 inches; 30 words Type of Material: Correction
Marilyn Monroe: A Column One in Thursday's Section A said the museum that canceled an exhibit of Marilyn Monroe collectibles was the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. It was the Hollywood Museum.
If the collectibles market is to be believed, Monroe either signed, wore, owned or saved thousands of items -- clothing, lingerie, jewelry, shoes and hats -- that continue to sell for a pretty penny.
But there are only so many items Monroe could have possibly amassed before she was found dead of a drug overdose at the age of 36 on Aug. 5, 1962. What's more, Monroe wasn't much of a clotheshorse, says Ernest W. Cunningham, author of the book "The Ultimate Marilyn." Despite her glamorous image, Monroe "was known to wear bluejeans and sweatshirts most of the time. When she went to premieres or parties, she would go to the [20th Century] Fox wardrobe department and pick something out," he said. "If you look at many photos of her at parties, you can recognize the same dresses over and over."
Allegations of fraud, such as those lodged against a Long Beach exhibit of Monroe memorabilia, rarely get the attention of law enforcement. More often than not, it's buyer beware in the Wild, Wild West of Marilyn memorabilia.
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The allure of Monroe, more than four decades after her death from sleeping pills, is still powerful.
Forbes.com recently published a survey titled "Highest-Earning Dead Celebrities," which compared the money the celebrities' estates earn annually from sales of licensed books, recordings, coffee cups, posters and advertisements, among other things. Monroe ranked seventh -- the only woman in the top 13 -- with earnings of more than $8 million a year. Elvis Presley ranks No. 1, at $45 million a year.
The official Monroe website, marilynmonroe.com, has received more than 2 billion hits since its inception about seven years ago, according to those who run the site on behalf of her estate. A signed 9-by-14-inch photo of the actress can command as much as $40,000. And in the last three months of 2005, EBay auctioneers sold more than 35,000 items identified as authentic Monroe memorabilia. By comparison, just over 40,000 Xbox video games -- the Christmas season's hot toy -- were sold on the site during the same period.
