Have you ever wanted to own a piece of Apple history, like the first Macintosh computer or an original Steve Jobs business card? Would you settle for some gross, old sandals worn by Steve Jobs? Because, if so, have we got a deal for you.
A pair of sandals owned and worn by Steve Jobs will go up for auction on Friday, and is expected to fetch anywhere from $US60,000 ($83,292) to $US80,000 ($111,056) according to the auction house, Julien’s Auctions.
The Birkenstock sandals were apparently worn by Jobs in the 1970s and ‘80s and saved from the garbage heap by Mark Sheff, a chef who managed one of Jobs’ properties in Albany, California back in the 1980s.
“Steve was looking for live-in help. We had organic gardening and natural foods cooking experience,” Sheff said about how he wound up with the sandals, according to a 2016 article from Yahoo.
“We kept some, shared some with the landscapers and friends and brought some to Goodwill. The collection we ended up with is quite random,” Sheff continued.
From the description of the auction at the Julien’s Auctions website:
The sandals have been a part of multiple exhibitions, including but not limited to Salone del Mobile in Milano, Italy in 2017, at the Birkenstock Headquarters in Rahms, Germany in 2017, at Birkenstock’s first United States store in SoHo, New York, at IMM Koln, a furniture fair in Cologne, Germany, Zeit Event Berlin for the magazine Die Zeit in 2018, and most recently with the History Museum Wurttemberg in Stuttgart, Germany.
During the sandals’ display with Birkenstock company, Steve Jobs ex-partner (and mother of Steve Jobs first child, Lisa Brennan-Jobs) Chrisann Brennan had the opportunity to view, hold and talk about this iconic staple of his wardrobe while being filmed. She got emotional and excited to be reunited with and hold Steve Jobs iconic sandals after three decades.In an interview with Vogue titled “Apple Meets Birkenstock,” Brennan mentions:
“The sandals were part of his simple side. They were his uniform. The great thing about a uniform is that you don’t have to worry about what to wear in the morning.” She continued, “He would never have done or bought anything just to stand out from others. He was simply convinced of the intelligence and practicality of the design and the comfort of wearing it. And in Birkenstocks he didn’t feel likea businessman, so he had the freedom to think creatively.”
The winning bidder will also get a free NFT of the sandals, which at this point feels like a relic from a much more gullible era. It’s hard to believe people are still minting NFTs and assigning them any value at all.
Bidding starts at 10:00 a.m. ET on Friday, and begins with the starting price of $US15,000 ($20,823). The sandals last were up for auction in 2016 when they sold to an anonymous party for $US3,400 ($4,720). If they really do sell for $US60,000 ($83,292) or more, that’s a nice profit for just six years of holding on to some gross, old sandals.