Advertising Cabinet & Containers, ca. 1930
Watch
GUEST:
I'm currently fixing my grandparents' home, and I came across a very heavy box in the attic. I brought it downstairs and opened it up, and I found this cabinet, closed.
APPRAISER:
Right.
GUEST:
And I opened it and found all this food in here wrapped in...
APPRAISER:
Wrapped in this Chicago newspaper.
GUEST:
Yeah, Chicago newspaper, World's Fair paper. I was really surprised, so I found out that my uncle lost his apartment or home during the Depression because of the money problems, so he had to move back home. And everything went in the attic.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
It just was frozen in time in the attic until I came across it.
APPRAISER:
Now, these are some of the spices and various tins that you found wrapped in these items, correct?
GUEST:
Right. Right, they were all wrapped up, yes. I want to preserve this for my family.
APPRAISER:
Great-- well, a couple of things, and I want to use this as an example. You can see here that this is Menu sugar, which is a great advertising piece.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
But you can see that the box is a little crumpled here, and it does have the sugar in it. Now, with all of these items, what you want to do is empty the product, okay?
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Having the product in there will only incite bugs to, you know, greatly attract them.
GUEST:
Okay, all right.
APPRAISER:
So you do want to get rid of that, because that will help preserve the integrity of the piece.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Once you do that, and you can see here, if you go slowly and open this up, you can get a piece of cardboard in here that will help open this up and help preserve the piece, because that's where your value is going to be in, is in the condition and the quality of some of the graphics that are on these items. And I would put an estimate on this of about $800 to $1,200 for the whole group. And it could go higher because of the condition.
GUEST:
That's great. Great. Oh, he'd be happy.
APPRAISER:
Yes, he would.
GUEST:
He's up there watching this.
Appraisal Details
Current Appraised Value: $800 - $1,200 (Unchanged)
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.
