TWA Constellation Promotional Model, ca. 1950
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GUEST:
Well, I live in a small town, and we have a local barber that had been there for years, and he was retiring, and I was invited to come into the shop. He always decorated with old and interesting items, and he was liquidating what he had for decor in the barber shop. And this is what I bought from him.
APPRAISER:
When did you get this model?
GUEST:
It's been a couple of years ago now, I guess. I knew my husband would love it. He's a big fan of anything that has wheels and wings, so, yeah.
APPRAISER:
(laughs)
GUEST:
So, I basically bought it for him.
APPRAISER:
Sure-- did you find out why the barber had it? Why it was in his shop?
GUEST:
Actually, the pilot that gave it to him came in for haircuts all the time, and one day, he walked into the shop with this airplane, and said, "Dale, here, you can have this for your, your decorating in your store."
APPRAISER:
Do you know much about it?
GUEST:
All I know is that it's a TWA Constellation, and that a pilot was the one who owned it to begin with.
APPRAISER:
Well, that it is. It's a sleek, beautiful, wonderful airplane. Look at how it's got this wonderful, kind of a dolphin tail with the three fins.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
The props were a little noisy, and in some versions, they would actually have the first class in the back of the airplane.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
To avoid that engine noise.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
I believe that there were over 800 of the actual airplanes produced over the years. These were display models, and they were promotional. You would find them at travel agents. Some of them were probably in the shops at TWA.
GUEST:
Oh, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
I believe this was a production contract that may have come from the shops at Lockheed. Lockheed were the manufacturers of this airplane. It's a burnished aluminum.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Some of the later models that were promotional were actually plastic.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
But this is the real deal. It's to scale, it's got the decals with the windows. If you look up in here, it's got the "Star of America" on here. What do you do with it now? Where do you have it in your home?
GUEST:
Well, my husband kind of claimed it.
APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.
GUEST:
So it's, it's in his little man cave up near the ceiling, where he can look at it. So, he, he really likes it.
APPRAISER:
What a fantastic, fantastic promotional display. What do you think it's worth, have you got any ideas?
GUEST:
I don't really know. I paid $200 for it, so if it's... Whatever over that is...
APPRAISER:
Well, the next time I go looking for good buys, you can go with me, okay?
GUEST:
(laughing)
APPRAISER:
I admire your skill. There have only been four or five of this model that I could find had sold at auction. Auction value on this airplane is $5,000 to $6,000.
GUEST:
(gasps) (chuckling): Oh, no, really? Oh, that's amazing. Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER:
Pretty good for a $200 investment.
GUEST:
That is. Yeah. And you know, the barber that I got it from, he was just in my store a couple of weeks ago and I was telling him how much my husband liked it. So, he'll probably want it back now.
(both laughing)
APPRAISER:
Your husband might get a crew cut when he goes in next time.
GUEST:
Yeah, yeah.
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