Traveling Puppet Show, ca. 1875
GUEST:
My great-great-great-grandfather had a traveling show, and these are some of the items from his show. He liked to go by the name Professor Towne. His name was Phineas D. Towne. He lived in Monroeton, Pennsylvania, and he would do these shows throughout Pennsylvania, from what I understand.
APPRAISER:
And he was popular enough that he had posters announcing that he was coming to town.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
These puppets were made lovingly by Professor Towne, and he did these in order to earn a living, and he also did this in order to educate children. Some of these were Biblical. Monroeton is, I believe, in the middle of Pennsylvania, all the way up near Elmira, New York.
GUEST:
You're exactly right, about 40 miles below, uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
So he was traveling in some pretty rural areas.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
And I'm thinking around the 1850 time frame.
GUEST:
I would have said maybe a little later, 1860, 1870.
APPRAISER:
All of these puppets are hand-made, they're carved wood heads…
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
…and they all have movement to them. Many of them would have been possibly attached to strings like marionettes.
GUEST:
Yes, some of the hands actually have the hole.
APPRAISER:
And he probably had several stories that he told with this group of puppets.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
This pony is just really wonderful, and you can see this is not a one-trick pony, this is a two-trick pony. The audience would think, "Wow, he has two horses in the show, not just one." This one is my favorite, because it's this wonderful little girl, and then later in the show, he could flip this up, and you have a hot air balloon.
GUEST:
A great imagination.
APPRAISER:
Great imagination. On a retail value, I would put the grouping at somewhere in the $12,000 to $14,000 range.
GUEST:
Oh, okay, okay.
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
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."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
