GUEST
Grandma purchased it in late 1950s, maybe 1960, from an antique auction in Pasadena, California. She had said there were two sets made in the 1930s for the Chicago's World Fair. And that one set belonged to Al Jolson and she bought the other set. We have 169 pieces of this.
APPRAISER
Whoa!
GUEST
We found absolutely no damage at all on any single thing. We don't believe they've ever been eaten on. Grandma had them displayed.
APPRAISER
Okay.
GUEST
Always, till the day she died. Then her daughter-in-law inherited, my mother-in-law, who hated them, so then they got packed up,
and they have been in my sister-in-law's barn. APPRAISER
We can look at the marks on the back. And we have a green mark that says "Hutschenreuther, Bavaria, Germany." And that's a manufacturer, and the mark of that manufacturer is in line with the 1930s. Okay. So that date could be accurate, okay?
Okay. APPRAISER
The other mark says "24 karat encrusted gold and platinum," which is in English, not in German.
GUEST
Right.
APPRAISER
This porcelain was actually made in Bavaria by the Hutschenreuther Company.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
And it was shipped to the United States plain white, as blanks.
GUEST
Oh!
APPRAISER
And there were many decorating companies in the United States that would then buy the white china wholesale.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
They would add designs, patterns, colors to it, and then they would refire it in a kiln.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
And then they would sell it. It doesn't say who did it. Don't know who did it for sure.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
It was probably one of the decorating companies in Chicago.
GUEST
Okay.
APPRAISER
Okay?
Uh... GUEST
So it could be World's Fair stuff,
then. APPRAISER
Oh, that certainly makes sense.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
Well, the Century of Progress Fair was in 1933-1934.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
And I certainly think this is old enough for that. Vendors, stores, manufacturers will set up world's fairs and they will show their products for sale.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
Generally, they bring mass quantities of stuff. It doesn't makes sense to only make two sets and sell it. You, there's not much profit in that.
Right. APPRAISER
Could have Al Jolson owned a set like this? He died in 1950-- I don't see why not!
GUEST
Yeah, I don't... (laughs) Can't prove it one way or another.
APPRAISER
And they came from Pasadena. She said she paid $10,000.
GUEST
In 19-- yeah, when she bought it, she paid ten grand.
APPRAISER
Okay, well, let's, let's use the year 1955.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
Which just is a little bit before. In 1955, the cost of a two-bedroom house in the suburbia, the average cost...
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
...was only about $10,000 or $12,000. Did she buy a set of china that cost as much as a house? Did she buy a set of china that was more than double the average annual salary? If she did spend $10,000...
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
...was she the sort of person who could afford to do that?
GUEST
Absolutely. She actually had no biological children.
Mm-hmm. GUEST
Our family, that she adopted, was through a marriage, and she was the prime, um, household worker, and she absolutely could afford it.
APPRAISER
Lots of younger buyers are not interested in sets of china.
GUEST
Sure.
APPRAISER
So sets of china on the second-hand market...
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
...and even new sets of china, have plummeted in popularity and in value. So sets that cost a lot of money, whether it's 20 years ago or 100 years ago...
Mm-hmm. APPRAISER
...are bringing pennies on the dollar. If you paid an, an appraiser to appraise this for replacement value...
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
...I suspect that they would have probably appraised the whole set for only somewhere, maybe, between $2,000 and $4,000. That seems ridiculously low to me.
GUEST
(laughs)
APPRAISER
But it's the marketplace that makes the rules. If you sold it at an estate sale or auction...
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
...it would probably sell for far less than that.
GUEST
Yeah.
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