Salesman Sample Matchbox Labels
Watch
GUEST:
It's matchbook covers for stick matches that I picked up from a friend of mine, and I believe it's a salesman sampler. A priest friend of mine had it. He deals with antiques and stuff and had it in his house. I asked him if he was interested in selling it and he was. I paid $50 for it approximately ten years ago.
APPRAISER:
Yes indeed, this is a collection of salesman sample matchbox labels containing over 1,200 examples. There's representation of many countries in here, and on the reverse of some of them, we can see that they're actually dated. This particular cover is dated 1927, also signed, and it was made in Hong Kong. So we do know that this album was for a company based out of Hong Kong. They're all dated in the 1920s and the 1930s. I believe the earliest date we found in there was 1926 and as late as 1938.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
It's a very nice early salesman sample album of some matchbox labels with excellent graphics. The condition is outstanding on these. They were most likely placed right into the album by the manufacturer, and they've been in the album since then. It was for the company to show the different types of covers that they offered, and of course all different motifs. There's lions, cats, dogs. And we found examples in here where they were selling these to companies-- not only China and Japan, but also Sweden and Russia and many other countries. And here in particular, I've stopped at this page, where we have just one. This is for a company in Honolulu, a very rare example of the graphics of a Hawaiian company. And the last one we have is a wonderful page, my favorite, the graphics, incredible graphics of the cats there. And do you have any idea on the value?
GUEST:
I was offered $400 unseen, but $700, $800 is what I had originally had thought it was valued.
APPRAISER:
Well, what's great about this album is that it's highly unlikely you could ever assemble a collection like this individually. It would take you years and years to try to assemble this many, if you could even find them. We have over 1,200 examples in this book. The value ranges. On the Hawaiian one in particular, at auction, we'd expect that one to bring $50 to $75. On some of the complete pages of the companies in China and Japan, at auction, the page of six we believe would sell for $100 to $200 for just the six on that page. But as an album and as a collection, at auction, we would expect this to sell for $6,000 to $8,000.
GUEST:
That's very good. (laughs) That's exciting.
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.
