GUEST: This has been passed down
to me through my family. It is
a pool table game board that

belonged to my
great-grandfather.
He had it in his pool
hall in Ringsted, Iowa.

APPRAISER: So when do you think
that it was actually first
in business in the pool hall?

GUEST: I haven't been able
to find out, but I think
through the 1930s and '40s.

APPRAISER: How long
have you had it?

GUEST: I've had it two years.

APPRAISER: It's really a kind
of a neat thing, you know? And
a lot of people wouldn't even

know what this is. I had a bit
of an ill-spent youth and spent
some time in the pool halls,

and I remember games like
this. This whole board
would lay on a pool table.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: And this part
would be nudged up under the
cushion. And because there was a

slope here, you would, you would
shoot a pool ball up there,
and the pool balls would lodge

right in these things and stay
there. Well, it would stay
there because the table is flat.

And you can play three different
games. You can play a poker
game. So you'd shoot five

balls, and whoever got the
highest hand won. And then you
could play a keno game, where

you, whoever got the highest
number won the game. Or you
could play the baseball game,

which is this beautiful
green here. As we see, it's a
Schaffer combination recreation

board, made in Peoria,
Illinois. That's really
kind of interesting.
Peoria is not too far

from Chicago, and in the roaring
'20s, Chicago was a major
manufacturing place for gambling

machines, slot machines, all
manner of table games. And it
would make sense that a company

like this would be there,
because this is a gambling sort
of device, and also a gaming

implement. I think this dates
from the 1920s. What's really
appealing about this is, it's

so colorful, and it's really
in wonderful condition. What
I really like is the fact

that you got this beautiful
graphic of the baseball
game. Oh, it's pretty
sturdily manufactured,

so, I mean, it had to stand
up to a lot of abuse with all
these pool balls scattering

around. It's good thick plywood,
and nicely finished, and then
decorated with these wonderful

decals.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: Do you have any
idea exactly what it cost?

GUEST: It cost $22 when it's
new. It's in pencil on the back.

APPRAISER: $22. It's worth
a little more now. It's
very hard to evaluate
some things, especially

when it's a really rare thing.
This is only the third one I
know of that have been sold

at auction. If I were to put
a reasonable auction estimate
on this, I think I would

probably... try to be
conservative, try to be
realistic. I think it
should have an auction

estimate of around
$1,200 to $1,500.

GUEST: Mm-hmm. Oh, very good.

APPRAISER: And, you know, I'm
just really excited to see
it. It brings back my youth

in the pool halls.