Howdy Doody Doll with Box, ca. 1950
Watch
GUEST:
I did a little work through the Internet to try to—uh-- get some information on Howdy Doody itself. Buffalo Bob trademarked a lot of his items between 1947, I believe it was, and '51.
APPRAISER:
Correct.
GUEST:
This is one of his trademarked dolls.
APPRAISER:
Howdy Doody was really one of the first to do children's educational television. And my generation, I'm used to, you know, the Captain Kangaroo, and a lot of the baby boomers really remember the Howdy Doody character. And as the cameras were rolling over here, everybody's humming the song, and I love that. It's that nostalgia I love. On the box, it gives us some other clues that it was the Effanbee doll company that produced this. Now, are you familiar with the Effanbee doll company?
GUEST:
I... I am, from the standpoint of trying to find some information on the Internet.
APPRAISER:
Right.
GUEST:
And I'm actually—uh-- contacting the company to try to get some information about this particular doll, and there was no success.
APPRAISER:
Without any help, right.
GUEST:
No.
APPRASIER: Well, most of these companies, they weren't really concerned about the secondary value of these particular items. They would make these dolls, push them out, bring in the next line and look to the year ahead. So, Effanbee is an American doll company. They were wonderful. They made a lot of really great dolls, and this being one of them. One of the problems, though, with composition is the crazing, which you can see, that is happening on the face and all through the head. So you want to be careful to store this in a good environment. Now, how do you have this stored?
GUEST:
Well, I got the doll in 1973, and, um, he remains in this box, flat on his face because I learned a tip from the Antiques Roadshow, that with dolls that have the sleepy eyes, you should store them face down to keep the mechanism from getting locked up and ruined.
APPRAISER:
Very good.
GUEST:
And he stays in this box, like I said, inside another box, locked up in the corner of the room, and that's where he sits.
APPRAISER:
Wonderful, and you were telling me this is only, what, the tenth time...
GUEST:
About the tenth time since 1973 he's been out of his box.
APPRAISER:
Well, the nice thing about this is that it also has the original hat and all of the original clothes and in this kind of condition, with the original box, I would put a value of about $1,000 to $1,200 on this piece, because it is in such great condition.
GUEST:
Oh, that's great. That's really great.
Appraisal Details
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.
