Appraisal: WPA Puppets, ca. 1935
Clip: Season 30 Episode 17 | 2m 19sVideo has Closed Captions
Appraisal: WPA Puppets, ca. 1935
In Vintage First Finds, Hour 2, Noel Barrett appraises WPA puppets, ca. 1935.
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Appraisal: WPA Puppets, ca. 1935
Clip: Season 30 Episode 17 | 2m 19sVideo has Closed Captions
In Vintage First Finds, Hour 2, Noel Barrett appraises WPA puppets, ca. 1935.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipGUEST: Well, my father bought them for me when, sometime in the 1950s, uh, for my sister and myself.
And we played with them for a while, and then, like many toys, they were put in the bag and thrown in the closet.
APPRAISER: We're talking about some puppets that date, um... I guess, when your father bought 'em, they were already, you know, about 25 or 30 years old.
GUEST: Fairly.
Yeah, they were fairly old.
APPRAISER: If anybody told me I was gonna have-- be appraising or looking at some WPA puppets here at the ROADSHOW, I would have said, "no way."
GUEST: (laughs) APPRAISER: The WPA was a, a make-work kind of thing.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Starving artists and people who couldn't find a job were, were hired.
They, they would create these puppets and would go and give shows for children.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: But I ne-- as I say, I've never seen the quality.
Especially when you, you have these wonderful little... the three pigs with this incredible wolf puppet.
Not only are they hand puppets, but they also are string-activated on the back so that their legs actually can work, too.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: I mean, it's, it's just amazing.
They're one-of-a-kind.
They're papier-mâché, handmade, it's-- in a certain way, it's very, very hard to evaluate something like this.
GUEST: Mm, I can imagine.
APPRAISER: If they were made by a, a, a famous puppeteer like Bunin or Baird, or something like that, we'd have some track record on them.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Well, then I know there's a couple of other puppets£ GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...that go with the set and a few props as-- even as I know there's a hod of bricks for the brick layer... GUEST: Right, and sticks... and, um, everything.
APPRAISER: Everything that you need to put on a... GUEST: To put on a show.
APPRAISER: Yes.
GUEST: Which my sister and I did periodically.
We'd get the neighbors to come in and be subjected to our amateur puppetry.
But it was fun.
APPRAISER: Oh, that's just, it's wonderful.
As far as value, in an auction, I would expect them to bring in the range of, uh, somewhere about $1,800 to $2,500 for the entire set.
And I think someone would be very happy to have them for that.
GUEST: Oh, I think that'd be lovely.
And I'm sure my father paid nothing... near that.
APPRAISER: Oh, I think so.
GUEST: Probably-- I don't know what, I'll have to ask him afterwards.
APPRAISER: Probably $50.
If lucky.
GUEST: Yes, maybe.
If lucky.
APPRAISER: If-- and at that time, that was a lot of money.
GUEST: Mm-hmm, it was.
NewAppraisal: 1852 Abraham Lincoln Document
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 2m 20s | Appraisal: 1852 Abraham Lincoln Document (2m 20s)
NewAppraisal: 1893 Dutch Silver Wager Cup
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 1m 32s | Appraisal: 1893 Dutch Silver Wager Cup (1m 32s)
NewAppraisal: 1940-1941 RKO Pictures Book
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 1m 34s | Appraisal: 1940-1941 RKO Pictures Book (1m 34s)
NewAppraisal: 1961 - 1964 Kennedy Memorabilia
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 3m | Appraisal: 1961 - 1964 Kennedy Memorabilia (3m)
NewAppraisal: 1979 Marc Chagall Etching
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 2m 22s | Appraisal: 1979 Marc Chagall Etching (2m 22s)
NewAppraisal: 19th C. Canadian Hutch
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 1m 40s | Appraisal: 19th C. Canadian Hutch (1m 40s)
NewAppraisal: Anna Hyatt Huntington Bronzes, ca. 1915
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 1m 42s | Appraisal: Anna Hyatt Huntington Bronzes, ca. 1915 (1m 42s)
NewAppraisal: Arroyo Hondo Santero Retablo, ca. 1840
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 1m 30s | Appraisal: Arroyo Hondo Santero Retablo, ca. 1840 (1m 30s)
NewAppraisal: Babe Ruth Home Run Baseball, ca. 1930
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 2m 4s | Appraisal: Babe Ruth Home Run Baseball, ca. 1930 (2m 4s)
NewAppraisal: Bippart, Grisom & Osborne Pin, ca. 1895
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 2m 25s | Appraisal: Bippart, Grisom & Osborne Pin, ca. 1895 (2m 25s)
NewAppraisal: Boston Inlaid Highboy, ca. 1740
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 2m 22s | Appraisal: Boston Inlaid Highboy, ca. 1740 (2m 22s)
NewAppraisal: Chinese Ceramic & Spode Copy
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 2m 48s | Appraisal: Chinese Ceramic & Spode Copy (2m 48s)
NewAppraisal: Chromolithograph Advertising Cards, ca. 1895
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 2m 15s | Appraisal: Chromolithograph Advertising Cards, ca. 1895 (2m 15s)
NewAppraisal: Daum Nancy Cameo Glass Vase, ca. 1913
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 3m 2s | Appraisal: Daum Nancy Cameo Glass Vase, ca. 1913 (3m 2s)
NewAppraisal: English Pocket Globe, ca. 1800
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 2m 3s | Appraisal: English Pocket Globe, ca. 1800 (2m 3s)
NewAppraisal: German China-head Doll, ca. 1860
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 1m 45s | Appraisal: German China-head Doll, ca. 1860 (1m 45s)
NewAppraisal: Gibson Style H-2 Mandola, ca. 1918
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 2m 21s | Appraisal: Gibson Style H-2 Mandola, ca. 1918 (2m 21s)
NewAppraisal: History of the Indian Tribes of N. America
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 2m 26s | Appraisal: History of the Indian Tribes of N. America (2m 26s)
NewAppraisal: Mini Half Dime Silver Teapot, ca. 1900
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 1m 44s | Appraisal: Mini Half Dime Silver Teapot, ca. 1900 (1m 44s)
NewAppraisal: New England Schoolgirl Samplers & School Book
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 1m 4s | Appraisal: New England Schoolgirl Samplers & School Book (1m 4s)
NewAppraisal: Newhall Family Register, ca. 1820
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 1m 56s | Appraisal: Newhall Family Register, ca. 1820 (1m 56s)
NewVideo has Closed Captions
Clip: S30 Ep17 | 2m 19s | Appraisal: Painting, ca. 1920 (2m 19s)
NewAppraisal: Robert Henri Oil Painting, ca. 1900
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 1m 15s | Appraisal: Robert Henri Oil Painting, ca. 1900 (1m 15s)
NewAppraisal: Tiffany Studios Daffodil Lamp, ca. 1906
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Clip: S30 Ep17 | 2m 19s | Appraisal: Tiffany Studios Daffodil Lamp, ca. 1906 (2m 19s)
Preview: Vintage First Finds, Hour 2
Video has Closed Captions
Preview: S30 Ep17 | 30s | Premiere vintage finds from ROADSHOW’s first season! Do values hold up in today’s market? (30s)
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Funding for ANTIQUES ROADSHOW is provided by American Cruise Lines and Ancestry. Additional funding is provided by public television viewers.