Cadillac Trade Show Rain Lamp, ca. 1968
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APPRAISER:
I've been doing this ANTIQUES ROADSHOW since the first year.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And I thought I'd seen everything.
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
But obviously, I haven't. How did you get this?
GUEST:
I was actually doing an internet search, and I found it online. When I was younger, my parents would take us out to eat at this certain restaurant, and I remember when I was kid, behind the bar, had this rain lamp. And I thought it was the coolest thing. Years later, I saw one, and I'm, like, "All right." I bought it, brought it home. The wife wasn't very impressed with it, but I started collecting them, then. So I've got several of the smaller versions, and then I found this one. And I saw it, and I'm, like, "I've got to have that." So I immediately contacted the gentleman and drove down that night to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and purchased it.
APPRAISER:
Now, how much did you have to pay for it?
GUEST:
He was asking $200, I bought it for $150.
APPRAISER:
Wow. So what have you found out about it since then?
GUEST:
The gentleman I bought it from said he bought it from another older gentleman who said it was from a 1968 car show. And that seems reasonable-- it's got the Cadillac emblems on there, and I've never seen another one, so I don't know anything else.
APPRAISER:
You're not going to believe this. One of the appraisers here at the show actually went to a car show in the '60s and saw these.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
Really.
GUEST:
(laughing) Wow!
APPRAISER:
Which probably means there was more than one, okay? But it's so fragile. Are these monofilament lines here? What are these?
GUEST:
These are basically fishing line. A thicker, thicker line.
APPRAISER:
Like a heavy-duty fishing line.
GUEST:
Yup. And the gentleman I did buy it from, he did say that he had heard there was four of them. They had it on each side of the car. He said after the show was over, two of them broke. And he has no idea where the other one was, if it's still in existence today.
APPRAISER:
This is the essence of modern design at that time period. One point I would make is that the bottom, and right there at the top, these are sort of a take-off on a Tulip Chair design that was by Eero Saarinen, who designed that in 1955. Far as we know, I don't know that any other car companies used this. I saw a can of mineral oil over there.
GUST: Yup.
APPRAISER:
So I assume that's what's dripping down these, right?
GUEST:
I think back in the '60s, there was originally a different viscosity of oil that was used, but I found that regular mineral oil-- you buy it at the pharmacy...
APPRAISER:
Right.
GUEST:
...works just great.
APPRAISER:
The guys who collect this stuff have big garages, and they all subscribe to the theory that whoever dies with the most toys wins.
GUEST:
Absolutely.
APPRAISER:
So we talked amongst ourselves, and we feel like a very conservative price on this at auction would be $3,000 to $5,000.
GUEST:
(chuckling) That's awesome. That is great. Great investment.
Appraisal Details
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