Oscar Peterson Fish Decoys, ca. 1932
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GUEST:
I was born up by Cadillac, Michigan. Lived in a town, McBain, and my dad was a farmer. And did a lot of ice fishing, uh, in the winter, because there was not a lot to do on the farm in the winter. And, uh, he passed away when I was 15. And I always liked these things. I played with ‘em a little bit, and it was one of the things that I took when we sold the farm and moved to town.
APPRAISER:
Of course, these are, these are by Oscar Peterson.
GUEST:
Yup.
APPRAISER:
But did, did you tell me that your dad bought them from Oscar Peterson?
GUEST:
Yeah, they tell me that my dad and my uncle, they, who did a lot of ice fishing, they would go to Cadillac, and I guess he sold these out of his garage. They would go there and, uh, he'd have his whole garage hanging full of these-- some painted, some unpainted-- and that's where they would buy them.
APPRAISER:
Oscar Peterson was from Cadillac, Michigan, and it's my understanding that Peterson sold a lot of these to tourists.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
And then I guess he sold ‘em to people like your dad that actually might have used them. Uh, they look like they might have been in the water a couple of times.
GUEST:
Oh, yeah. I even fished with them.
APPRAISER:
Oh, yeah?
GUEST:
They, they work rather well.
APPRAISER:
I say, did you catch anything?
GUEST:
No, not that I can recall. But, uh, I know my dad speared a lot of fish around these, so...
APPRAISER:
Peterson used imagination. And the thing that, that's cool about his stuff, too, is that he did make a lot of them, but he didn't lose that enthusiasm for the way that he carved them or the way that he decorated them. And I always look for the way he turned the mouth. And one thing that you really got to watch out for with these is that, that there's a lot of reproductions and out-and-out fakes. There's no doubt that these are the real bill right here. And the larger they are, generally, the better they are. And of course, condition enters into that, and you've got a few little places on the fence and stuff, but basically, really, really good paint. What do you think they're worth?
GUEST:
Well, I've been told by guys they're worth $30 or different people. I never had ‘em appraised. And then other people that I told I had ‘em, they probably said, "Oh, maybe they're worth $500, $600, $700, $800, maybe." But, uh, other than that, I didn't…
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
Don't really know the value. Let's start right here. And I think in a retail setting, the $600 or $800 is probably accurate for that. Now, both of the ones on top, this perch and the big trout, each one of those is easily worth $3,500 retail.
GUEST:
Each one?
APPRAISER:
Each one.
GUEST:
Well, that's a lot more...
APPRAISER:
Because of the size.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And, believe it or not, one of those trout like that-- What is he, about eight inches?
GUEST:
Yup.
APPRAISER:
Sold for $4,500.
GUEST:
Wow. That's a lot more than I thought.
GUEST AND
APPRAISER:
(both laughing)
GUEST:
They were worth hanging onto. And I carted them with me for a lot of years, you know, and... It's the only thing I really got of him. That's more than I really expected.
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
Makes me feel good.
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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