Dr. Seuss "Cat in the Hat" Lunch Box Art, ca. 1970
Appraised Value:
$10,000 - $15,000
IMAGE: 1 of 4
Appraisal Video:
Appraisal Transcript:
GUEST: I was actually born in La Jolla in San Diego, and I believe that's where Dr. Seuss was from, and when I was very young, he actually used to read books to children at a local bookstore, and that's the first time I actually got the chance to meet him, so that's where I first got introduced. And I've tried to collect and find him at any estate sales I go to and bookstores, and I found these at an estate sale in Long Beach. The person who I bought them from said that she had purchased them from someone in Texas, from a person who had worked at a lunch box company, and that Seuss did the artwork for some of the lunch boxes, and that's all I know about them.
APPRAISER: What you have here is some original artwork for "The World of Dr. Seuss" lunch box. This lunch box was created by Aladdin in 1970, and what I love about this overview that you have here is you have the original stamps from it, and Dr. Seuss was extremely meticulous about controlling his art. If you've seen the lunch box, which sells in great condition for about $400, you'll know that you have the back panel. The back panel has Horton and some of the other wonderful characters from it, and this is the exact colors that were used in the back of the lunch box. The front panel of the lunch box is actually The Cat In The Hat, and that's blue.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: So there's another panel that you're missing.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: You have also what are the sides. It has the Sneetches on it and another example of a side. So we have wonderful original art done by Dr. Seuss, and so these are extremely special. You are, again, missing The Cat In The Hat, which is almost the most iconic figure, but nonetheless I feel that something like this would easily bring between $10,000 and $15,000 at auction.
GUEST: Oh, my God, really?
APPRAISER: Yeah.
GUEST: That's amazing.
APPRAISER: Isn't that great?
GUEST: Wow.
