Convertible Bath Tub, ca. 1880
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APPRAISER:
You and I know what this is, but our audience doesn't know.
GUEST:
That's correct.
APPRAISER:
This is a case holding something inside. Looking stylistically at this, I'm seeing these incised flower heads here, and the reeded pilasters. And this is in the Eastlake style. Now, that tells us it's made about 1880, right in there, this case.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Probably made of chestnut during the Victorian period. The suspense is building up. Should we let them know?
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Should we do it? I'm going to grab the handle.
GUEST:
You bet.
APPRAISER:
We'll pull this down. If you can hold that side.
GUEST:
Yeah, I got it.
APPRAISER:
There we go! Look at that. In the 19th century, we had Murphy's beds, invented by a man named Murphy. They were convertible beds to save space. So in the late 19th century, someone invented that version in a bathtub with heated water. Now, in all my years on the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, I've never, ever seen one of these.
GUEST:
I had the local heritage center here check on it, and they couldn't find anything, either.
APPRAISER:
Where did you find this bathtub?
GUEST:
I bought this in Valley City, North Dakota, about two years ago.
APPRAISER:
What made you go for it?
GUEST:
I think it was the people that were stopping and looking at it, and I watched them for about an hour, and I was contemplating about buying it. And I thought, "Everybody likes this thing." "Where did you get this?" they kept asking. And I made her an offer, and I got it.
APPRAISER:
Good for you. The history of hygiene in the world, and bathing and using soap, is kind of a slippery one.
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
Now, you can have thousands of people in one town, and there'd be one bathtub. So this is pretty amazing that this one survived. It would have been made for probably a wealthy family.
GUEST:
It possibly came out of the Barnes estate in Valley City, because Barnes County is named after them, and she was close to 100 years old, or maybe over.
APPRAISER:
What you've got here is this canister with its original paint. It says, "Improved bath heater." Here's your kerosene canister, that gravity fed down the tube, right?
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
And then underneath, here's this burner, which is adjustable, heat up the water-- take a long time to do that. And then, of course, the hose here that would go into the tub.
GUEST:
That's correct.
APPRAISER:
Now, you also brought the stopper.
GUEST:
Yes. That's the original stopper.
APPRAISER:
That's great you have that. Now, if I was insuring this, because of the rarity, I'd insure this for around $3,500. What'd you pay for it?
GUEST:
$2,500.
APPRAISER:
$2,500? Good for you. Good job.
GUEST:
Thank you!
APPRAISER:
Now, I'd like to try it out. Do you mind if I take a...
GUEST:
No, you can certainly.
APPRAISER:
Can I check it out? Let me just see.
GUEST:
If you want to check it out, you certainly can.
APPRAISER:
Let me just see how... Actually, it's pretty comfortable.
GUEST:
That's not bad.
APPRAISER:
Very nice, thank you.
Appraisal Details
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Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
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