WEBVTT

00:03.236 --> 00:11.244 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
GUEST: Grandma purchased it in
late 1950s, maybe 1960, from an
antique auction in Pasadena,

00:11.244 --> 00:19.185 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
California. She had said there
were two sets made in the 1930s
for the Chicago's World Fair.

00:19.185 --> 00:27.260 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
And that one set belonged to Al
Jolson and she bought the other
set. We have 169 pieces of this.

00:27.260 --> 00:29.229 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
APPRAISER: Whoa!

00:29.229 --> 00:35.568 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
GUEST: We found absolutely no
damage at all on any single
thing. We don't believe

00:35.568 --> 00:37.804 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
they've ever been eaten on.
Grandma had them displayed.

00:37.804 --> 00:38.738 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
APPRAISER: Okay.

00:38.738 --> 00:43.209 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
GUEST: Always, till the
day she died. Then her

00:43.209 --> 00:49.749 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
daughter-in-law inherited, my
mother-in-law, who hated them,
so then they got packed up,

00:49.749 --> 00:52.685 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70%
and they have been in my
sister-in-law's barn. APPRAISER:
We can look at the marks on the
back.

00:56.556 --> 01:00.894 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
And we have a green mark
that says "Hutschenreuther,

01:00.894 --> 01:03.730 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
Bavaria, Germany." And that's a
manufacturer, and the mark of
that manufacturer

01:06.199 --> 01:10.403 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
is in line with the 1930s. Okay.
So that date could be accurate,
okay?

01:10.403 --> 01:12.205 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
GUEST: Okay. APPRAISER: The
other mark says "24 karat

01:14.674 --> 01:18.044 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
encrusted gold and platinum,"
which is in English, not in
German.

01:18.044 --> 01:19.913 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Right.

01:19.913 --> 01:23.683 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
APPRAISER: This porcelain was
actually made in Bavaria by the
Hutschenreuther Company.

01:23.683 --> 01:25.218 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Mm-hmm.

01:25.218 --> 01:28.721 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
APPRAISER: And it was shipped to
the United States plain white,
as blanks.

01:28.721 --> 01:30.323 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Oh!

01:30.323 --> 01:33.593 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
APPRAISER: And there were many
decorating companies in the
United States

01:33.593 --> 01:35.095 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
that would then buy the
white china wholesale.

01:35.095 --> 01:36.062 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Mm-hmm.

01:36.062 --> 01:40.266 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
APPRAISER: They would add
designs, patterns, colors to it,

01:40.266 --> 01:41.301 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70%
and then they would
refire it in a kiln.

01:41.301 --> 01:43.069 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Mm-hmm.

01:43.069 --> 01:45.371 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
APPRAISER: And then they would
sell it. It doesn't say who did
it. Don't know who did it for
sure.

01:45.371 --> 01:46.873 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Mm-hmm.

01:46.873 --> 01:48.708 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
APPRAISER: It was probably one
of the decorating companies in
Chicago.

01:48.708 --> 01:49.809 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Okay.

01:49.809 --> 01:52.178 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70%
APPRAISER: Okay? Uh...
GUEST: So it could be

01:52.178 --> 01:54.280 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
World's Fair stuff, then.
APPRAISER: Oh, that certainly
makes sense.

01:54.280 --> 01:55.115 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Mm-hmm.

01:55.115 --> 01:58.685 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
APPRAISER: Well, the Century of
Progress Fair was in 1933-1934.

01:58.685 --> 01:59.919 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Mm-hmm.

01:59.919 --> 02:03.123 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
APPRAISER: And I certainly think
this is old enough for that.
Vendors, stores,

02:03.123 --> 02:06.359 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
manufacturers will set up
world's fairs and they will show
their products for sale.

02:06.359 --> 02:07.894 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Mm-hmm.

02:07.894 --> 02:12.098 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
APPRAISER: Generally, they bring
mass quantities of stuff. It
doesn't makes

02:12.098 --> 02:15.568 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
sense to only make two sets and
sell it. You, there's not much
profit in that.

02:15.568 --> 02:17.937 align:left position:30% line:77% size:60%
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: Could have Al Jolson

02:17.937 --> 02:21.841 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
owned a set like this? He died
in 1950-- I don't see why not!

02:21.841 --> 02:23.810 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
GUEST: Yeah, I don't... (laughs)
Can't prove it one way or
another.

02:23.810 --> 02:26.146 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
APPRAISER: And they came from
Pasadena. She said she paid
$10,000.

02:26.146 --> 02:28.982 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
GUEST: In 19-- yeah, when she
bought it, she paid ten grand.

02:28.982 --> 02:31.151 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
APPRAISER: Okay, well, let's,
let's use the year 1955.

02:31.151 --> 02:31.985 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Mm-hmm.

02:31.985 --> 02:35.288 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
APPRAISER: Which just is a
little bit before. In 1955,

02:35.288 --> 02:38.124 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
the cost of a two-bedroom house
in the suburbia, the average
cost...

02:38.124 --> 02:39.125 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Mm-hmm.

02:39.125 --> 02:42.095 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60%
APPRAISER:...was
only about $10,000

02:42.095 --> 02:49.235 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
or $12,000. Did she buy a set of
china that cost as much as a
house? Did she buy a set of

02:49.235 --> 02:53.006 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
china that was more than double
the average annual salary? If
she did spend $10,000...

02:53.006 --> 02:54.874 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Mm-hmm.

02:54.874 --> 02:56.543 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
APPRAISER:...was she the sort of
person who could afford to do
that?

02:56.543 --> 03:00.280 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
GUEST: Absolutely. She actually
had no biological children.

03:00.280 --> 03:03.716 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm. GUEST: Our
family, that she adopted, was
through

03:03.716 --> 03:10.123 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
a marriage, and she was the
prime, um, household worker, and
she absolutely could afford it.

03:10.123 --> 03:12.025 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
APPRAISER: Lots of younger
buyers are not interested in
sets of china.

03:12.025 --> 03:13.026 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Sure.

03:13.026 --> 03:15.128 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
APPRAISER: So sets of china
on the second-hand market...

03:15.128 --> 03:16.429 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Mm-hmm.

03:16.429 --> 03:20.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
APPRAISER:...and even new sets
of china, have plummeted in
popularity and

03:20.800 --> 03:25.672 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
in value. So sets that cost a
lot of money, whether it's 20
years ago or 100 years ago...

03:25.672 --> 03:28.141 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
GUEST: Mm-hmm. APPRAISER:...are
bringing pennies on the

03:28.141 --> 03:31.344 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
dollar. If you paid an, an
appraiser to appraise this for
replacement value...

03:31.344 --> 03:32.946 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Mm-hmm.

03:32.946 --> 03:37.183 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
APPRAISER: ...I suspect that
they would have probably
appraised the whole set

03:37.183 --> 03:42.088 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
for only somewhere, maybe,
between $2,000 and $4,000. That
seems ridiculously low to me.

03:42.088 --> 03:42.989 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: (laughs)

03:42.989 --> 03:45.225 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
APPRAISER:

03:45.225 --> 03:47.994 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80%
But it's the marketplace that
makes the rules. If you sold it
at an estate sale or auction...

03:47.994 --> 03:48.828 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Mm-hmm.

03:48.828 --> 03:49.996 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
APPRAISER: ...it would probably
sell for far less than that.

03:49.996 --> 03:59.906 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60%
GUEST: Yeah.