Meat Serving Cart, ca. 1930

Appraised on: August 14, 2004

Appraised in: Reno, Nevada

Appraised by: Eric Silver

Category: Metalwork & Sculpture

Episode Info: Tasty Treasures (#1520)
Reno, Hour 2 (#911)

Originally Aired: April 4, 2005

IMAGE: 1 of 2  

Appraisal Video: (1:47)

GUEST: This is a stainless-steel prime rib table service cart, and I purchased it about a couple years ago from the... John Ascuaga's warehouse auction, which was mainly just surplus equipment. John Ascuaga came to town in the early '50s and started with a restaurant with maybe a couple of slot machines-- I'm not sure. He's the last of the original '50s-era casino operators that still is alive and operating his own casino. And he was at the auction. He gave me a little history on this cart. It has Sterno heat in it, and it keeps your prime rib sizzling, and it served the prime ribs at the table. And this is a cart that he originally used when he first opened up in Sparks in the early '50s.

APPRAISER: Well, it's interesting because it probably wasn't new when he bought it. It's actually a piece that's from the 1930s. And it exhibits this great 1930s streamline design. Actually looks like a zeppelin the way it has these lines on it, the way it comes together at the front. And I think what really gives it that modern look are these wheel covers on the bottom. We really don't know where these were made. There's some debate about whether or not they were made in Europe or whether they were made in the United States, but they do show up. They show up in different materials. They show up in aluminum, sometimes they're painted, sometimes they have vinyl on them. This seems to be a really unusual one in the metal, and the form is just wonderful. And there's a real great craze now for this streamline modern design. What did you pay for it a few years back?

GUEST: Around $600.

APPRAISER: Now, a piece like this at auction would probably bring between $6,000 and $8,000. The value I'm putting on it is based on it as just a wonderful, wonderful example of '30s design.

GUEST: It drew a lot of attention on the way in here.

APPRAISER: It certainly did.