GUEST: Grandma purchased it in
late 1950s, maybe 1960, from an
antique auction in Pasadena,
California. She had said there
were two sets made in the 1930s
for the Chicago's World Fair.
And that one set belonged to Al
Jolson and she bought the other
set. We have 169 pieces of this.
APPRAISER: Whoa!
GUEST: We found absolutely no
damage at all on any single
thing. We don't believe
they've ever been eaten on.
Grandma had them displayed.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: Always, till the
day she died. Then her
daughter-in-law inherited, my
mother-in-law, who hated them,
so then they got packed up,
and they have been in my
sister-in-law's barn. APPRAISER:
We can look at the marks on the
back.
And we have a green mark
that says "Hutschenreuther,
Bavaria, Germany." And that's a
manufacturer, and the mark of
that manufacturer
is in line with the 1930s. Okay.
So that date could be accurate,
okay?
GUEST: Okay. APPRAISER: The
other mark says "24 karat
encrusted gold and platinum,"
which is in English, not in
German.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: This porcelain was
actually made in Bavaria by the
Hutschenreuther Company.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And it was shipped to
the United States plain white,
as blanks.
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER: And there were many
decorating companies in the
United States
that would then buy the
white china wholesale.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: They would add
designs, patterns, colors to it,
and then they would
refire it in a kiln.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And then they would
sell it. It doesn't say who did
it. Don't know who did it for
sure.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: It was probably one
of the decorating companies in
Chicago.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Okay? Uh...
GUEST: So it could be
World's Fair stuff, then.
APPRAISER: Oh, that certainly
makes sense.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Well, the Century of
Progress Fair was in 1933-1934.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And I certainly think
this is old enough for that.
Vendors, stores,
manufacturers will set up
world's fairs and they will show
their products for sale.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Generally, they bring
mass quantities of stuff. It
doesn't makes
sense to only make two sets and
sell it. You, there's not much
profit in that.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: Could have Al Jolson
owned a set like this? He died
in 1950-- I don't see why not!
GUEST: Yeah, I don't... (laughs)
Can't prove it one way or
another.
APPRAISER: And they came from
Pasadena. She said she paid
$10,000.
GUEST: In 19-- yeah, when she
bought it, she paid ten grand.
APPRAISER: Okay, well, let's,
let's use the year 1955.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Which just is a
little bit before. In 1955,
the cost of a two-bedroom house
in the suburbia, the average
cost...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:...was
only about $10,000
or $12,000. Did she buy a set of
china that cost as much as a
house? Did she buy a set of
china that was more than double
the average annual salary? If
she did spend $10,000...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:...was she the sort of
person who could afford to do
that?
GUEST: Absolutely. She actually
had no biological children.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm. GUEST: Our
family, that she adopted, was
through
a marriage, and she was the
prime, um, household worker, and
she absolutely could afford it.
APPRAISER: Lots of younger
buyers are not interested in
sets of china.
GUEST: Sure.
APPRAISER: So sets of china
on the second-hand market...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:...and even new sets
of china, have plummeted in
popularity and
in value. So sets that cost a
lot of money, whether it's 20
years ago or 100 years ago...
GUEST: Mm-hmm. APPRAISER:...are
bringing pennies on the
dollar. If you paid an, an
appraiser to appraise this for
replacement value...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...I suspect that
they would have probably
appraised the whole set
for only somewhere, maybe,
between $2,000 and $4,000. That
seems ridiculously low to me.
GUEST: (laughs)
APPRAISER:
But it's the marketplace that
makes the rules. If you sold it
at an estate sale or auction...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...it would probably
sell for far less than that.
GUEST: Yeah.