Bakelite Figures, ca. 1940
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GUEST:
It's some Bakelite pins, I believe. I know that Bakelite's kind of rare and might be worth something.
APPRAISER:
And where did you get these pieces?
GUEST:
My grandma liked to save stuff like this, so she has a lot of Bakelite and jewelry and stuff like that.
APPRAISER:
Well, in fact, what you have is Bakelite. Do you know about when these pieces were made?
GUEST:
'30s, '40s, maybe?
APPRAISER:
Good guess. Now, what we have here is a soldier.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And Uncle Sam. There was a whole patriotic movement going on, and these were fun pieces to wear, and to also show patriotism and support for the Allies during World War II. Normally, we think of red, white, and blue as being patriotic colors. Bakelite, when it's old, oxidizes and changes color, and the yellow on Uncle Sam's pants and in his hat used to be white. And then the stripes are painted red, but what looks to be black, if you look through strong light, you can actually see that the black is blue, but it's gotten very dark over the years. Patriotic Bakelite is very sought after by collectors, but there are more common pieces and rarer pieces, so this soldier here is really fun, but he's part wood, and that also is a factor, and probably worth $300 or $400. Uncle Sam is rare. Uncle Sam still has his cane! This is a very important factor with collectors. This little guy on the collector market today, he would bring between $1,500 and $2,000. Did you have any idea?
GUEST:
No.
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