1 00:00:03,236 --> 00:00:11,244 GUEST: Grandma purchased it in late 1950s, maybe 1960, from an antique auction in Pasadena, 2 00:00:11,244 --> 00:00:19,185 California. She had said there were two sets made in the 1930s for the Chicago's World Fair. 3 00:00:19,185 --> 00:00:27,260 And that one set belonged to Al Jolson and she bought the other set. We have 169 pieces of this. 4 00:00:27,260 --> 00:00:29,229 APPRAISER: Whoa! 5 00:00:29,229 --> 00:00:35,568 GUEST: We found absolutely no damage at all on any single thing. We don't believe 6 00:00:35,568 --> 00:00:37,804 they've ever been eaten on. Grandma had them displayed. 7 00:00:37,804 --> 00:00:38,738 APPRAISER: Okay. 8 00:00:38,738 --> 00:00:43,209 GUEST: Always, till the day she died. Then her 9 00:00:43,209 --> 00:00:49,749 daughter-in-law inherited, my mother-in-law, who hated them, so then they got packed up, 10 00:00:49,749 --> 00:00:52,685 and they have been in my sister-in-law's barn. APPRAISER: We can look at the marks on the back. 11 00:00:56,556 --> 00:01:00,894 And we have a green mark that says "Hutschenreuther, 12 00:01:00,894 --> 00:01:03,730 Bavaria, Germany." And that's a manufacturer, and the mark of that manufacturer 13 00:01:06,199 --> 00:01:10,403 is in line with the 1930s. Okay. So that date could be accurate, okay? 14 00:01:10,403 --> 00:01:12,205 GUEST: Okay. APPRAISER: The other mark says "24 karat 15 00:01:14,674 --> 00:01:18,044 encrusted gold and platinum," which is in English, not in German. 16 00:01:18,044 --> 00:01:19,913 GUEST: Right. 17 00:01:19,913 --> 00:01:23,683 APPRAISER: This porcelain was actually made in Bavaria by the Hutschenreuther Company. 18 00:01:23,683 --> 00:01:25,218 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 19 00:01:25,218 --> 00:01:28,721 APPRAISER: And it was shipped to the United States plain white, as blanks. 20 00:01:28,721 --> 00:01:30,323 GUEST: Oh! 21 00:01:30,323 --> 00:01:33,593 APPRAISER: And there were many decorating companies in the United States 22 00:01:33,593 --> 00:01:35,095 that would then buy the white china wholesale. 23 00:01:35,095 --> 00:01:36,062 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 24 00:01:36,062 --> 00:01:40,266 APPRAISER: They would add designs, patterns, colors to it, 25 00:01:40,266 --> 00:01:41,301 and then they would refire it in a kiln. 26 00:01:41,301 --> 00:01:43,069 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 27 00:01:43,069 --> 00:01:45,371 APPRAISER: And then they would sell it. It doesn't say who did it. Don't know who did it for sure. 28 00:01:45,371 --> 00:01:46,873 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 29 00:01:46,873 --> 00:01:48,708 APPRAISER: It was probably one of the decorating companies in Chicago. 30 00:01:48,708 --> 00:01:49,809 GUEST: Okay. 31 00:01:49,809 --> 00:01:52,178 APPRAISER: Okay? Uh... GUEST: So it could be 32 00:01:52,178 --> 00:01:54,280 World's Fair stuff, then. APPRAISER: Oh, that certainly makes sense. 33 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:55,115 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 34 00:01:55,115 --> 00:01:58,685 APPRAISER: Well, the Century of Progress Fair was in 1933-1934. 35 00:01:58,685 --> 00:01:59,919 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 36 00:01:59,919 --> 00:02:03,123 APPRAISER: And I certainly think this is old enough for that. Vendors, stores, 37 00:02:03,123 --> 00:02:06,359 manufacturers will set up world's fairs and they will show their products for sale. 38 00:02:06,359 --> 00:02:07,894 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 39 00:02:07,894 --> 00:02:12,098 APPRAISER: Generally, they bring mass quantities of stuff. It doesn't makes 40 00:02:12,098 --> 00:02:15,568 sense to only make two sets and sell it. You, there's not much profit in that. 41 00:02:15,568 --> 00:02:17,937 GUEST: Right. APPRAISER: Could have Al Jolson 42 00:02:17,937 --> 00:02:21,841 owned a set like this? He died in 1950-- I don't see why not! 43 00:02:21,841 --> 00:02:23,810 GUEST: Yeah, I don't... (laughs) Can't prove it one way or another. 44 00:02:23,810 --> 00:02:26,146 APPRAISER: And they came from Pasadena. She said she paid $10,000. 45 00:02:26,146 --> 00:02:28,982 GUEST: In 19-- yeah, when she bought it, she paid ten grand. 46 00:02:28,982 --> 00:02:31,151 APPRAISER: Okay, well, let's, let's use the year 1955. 47 00:02:31,151 --> 00:02:31,985 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 48 00:02:31,985 --> 00:02:35,288 APPRAISER: Which just is a little bit before. In 1955, 49 00:02:35,288 --> 00:02:38,124 the cost of a two-bedroom house in the suburbia, the average cost... 50 00:02:38,124 --> 00:02:39,125 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 51 00:02:39,125 --> 00:02:42,095 APPRAISER:...was only about $10,000 52 00:02:42,095 --> 00:02:49,235 or $12,000. Did she buy a set of china that cost as much as a house? Did she buy a set of 53 00:02:49,235 --> 00:02:53,006 china that was more than double the average annual salary? If she did spend $10,000... 54 00:02:53,006 --> 00:02:54,874 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 55 00:02:54,874 --> 00:02:56,543 APPRAISER:...was she the sort of person who could afford to do that? 56 00:02:56,543 --> 00:03:00,280 GUEST: Absolutely. She actually had no biological children. 57 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,716 APPRAISER: Mm-hmm. GUEST: Our family, that she adopted, was through 58 00:03:03,716 --> 00:03:10,123 a marriage, and she was the prime, um, household worker, and she absolutely could afford it. 59 00:03:10,123 --> 00:03:12,025 APPRAISER: Lots of younger buyers are not interested in sets of china. 60 00:03:12,025 --> 00:03:13,026 GUEST: Sure. 61 00:03:13,026 --> 00:03:15,128 APPRAISER: So sets of china on the second-hand market... 62 00:03:15,128 --> 00:03:16,429 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 63 00:03:16,429 --> 00:03:20,800 APPRAISER:...and even new sets of china, have plummeted in popularity and 64 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:25,672 in value. So sets that cost a lot of money, whether it's 20 years ago or 100 years ago... 65 00:03:25,672 --> 00:03:28,141 GUEST: Mm-hmm. APPRAISER:...are bringing pennies on the 66 00:03:28,141 --> 00:03:31,344 dollar. If you paid an, an appraiser to appraise this for replacement value... 67 00:03:31,344 --> 00:03:32,946 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 68 00:03:32,946 --> 00:03:37,183 APPRAISER: ...I suspect that they would have probably appraised the whole set 69 00:03:37,183 --> 00:03:42,088 for only somewhere, maybe, between $2,000 and $4,000. That seems ridiculously low to me. 70 00:03:42,088 --> 00:03:42,989 GUEST: (laughs) 71 00:03:42,989 --> 00:03:45,225 APPRAISER: 72 00:03:45,225 --> 00:03:47,994 But it's the marketplace that makes the rules. If you sold it at an estate sale or auction... 73 00:03:47,994 --> 00:03:48,828 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 74 00:03:48,828 --> 00:03:49,996 APPRAISER: ...it would probably sell for far less than that. 75 00:03:49,996 --> 00:03:59,906 GUEST: Yeah.