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Mid-20th Century Edgar Bergen Ventriloquist Dummy Models

Value (2004) | $30,000 Insurance – $40,000 Insurance

GUEST:
My grandfather was commissioned by Edgar Bergen to carve these to make the molds for these dummies that you see here.

APPRAISER:
And who was your grandfather?

GUEST:
Robert Wallace.

APPRAISER:
And he was a master sculptor?

GUEST:
He was. His main job was at McDonnell Douglas, but he did a lot of sculpting for ads and, well, as you see, for stuff like this. He did not do the actual original Charlie McCarthy. That was done, I think, in 1921, I believe. But about 20 years later he was asked to redo the Charlie McCarthy because he wanted somebody that looked more lifelike, and I can't remember whether...

APPRAISER:
It was television.

GUEST:
All of a sudden, there was television and this was a ventriloquist on television.

APPRAISER:
Everybody knows Charlie. Who are these characters?

GUEST:
This is Mortimer Snerd, and this is Effie Klinker; this was the newest one.

APPRAISER:
And who was Effie?

GUEST:
Effie... it looks like a man here, but it's actually a bachelorette-- I think they called it-- a spinster lady.

APPRAISER:
A spinster?

GUEST:
Yeah. That's what they used on the show.

APPRAISER:
These are really interesting because these are one-of-a-kinds. And the dummies would actually move, the jaws and the eyes would move and the heads would move and they had to have something to model them from. In later days, something like this as a plaster mold and not the wooden one, this would be called a maquette. And a maquette is something they made out of plaster so that an artist could copy it. The picture shows your grandfather with them on his desk. He was still working on them at the time, it looks like.

GUEST:
Right. I have a feeling this was taken before Effie Klinker because Effie's not in this picture.

APPRAISER:
Right. Now, here it shows Effie when she's completed, with all of her decoration.

GUEST:
Where she looks more like a woman, yeah.

APPRAISER:
And they painted them up and made them look really awesome on television, but it was just black and white. The originals of the dolls are in the Smithsonian. There is one in the Smithsonian and some in the Chicago museum.

GUEST:
Right, the ventriloquist museum in... In Chicago.

APPRAISER:
Now, you brought them in for a reason. What did you want to know?

GUEST:
For one, how to take care of them. We just recently got them, because my grandfather passed away just a couple of years ago; and also just to see what kind of value we're looking at. I'm not planning on selling them, because they're going to keep in the family.

APPRAISER:
These would be great in a glass display case. There's really nothing you need to do to protect them. I wouldn't polish them, I would keep them dusted, but keep them out of sunlight. There's no way to say what these could sell for, but if I was insuring them, I would probably put $30,000 to $40,000 insurance value on these three heads.

GUEST:
Wow... (laughs) That's amazing.

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Gary Sohmers
Collectibles, Toys & Games
allcollectors.com
Hudson, MA
Appraised value (2004)
$30,000 Insurance – $40,000 Insurance
Featured In
Portland, Hour 2 (#0914)
Event
Portland, OR (August 21, 2004)
Category
Collectibles
Period
20th Century
Form
Maquette
Material
Wood

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.

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