♪ CORAL PEÑA: The excitement is growing as "Roadshow" sets up at the Idaho Botanical Garden in Boise.

So you literally discovered these, like, the night before coming...

Yes.

...to "Antiques Roadshow"?

Right before we came.

(laughing) That's great.

(laughs) ♪ PEÑA: "Roadshow" has touched down in Boise at the Idaho Botanical Garden.

Even on a cool, cloudy day, it's easy to see why this lovely natural space has been called a sanctuary in the heart of the old penitentiary historic district.

The 33-acre garden, which was launched in 1984, is built on some of the former grounds of the Old Idaho Penitentiary, now a museum.

What treasures with Idaho history have come into "Roadshow" today?

Let's take a look.

They were gems and, um, gold that were given to my grandmother.

They've been in the family since the early 1900s.

You brought them in, like, a little crumpled up plastic bag.

Yeah.

(chuckles) Took me half an hour to get the note out.

(laughs) Tell us what the note says.

The note says the h, Idaho gems were given to Louise Morrison when her father, John Tracy Morrison, was governor of Idaho.

The red one is, in fact, garnet, which is one of the gemstones... Of Idaho, uh-huh.

...of Idaho.

The other one really fooled me, because it's got this light bluish green.

Uh-huh.

And I'm thinking, okay, maybe it's aqua.

I tested it, and son of a gun, it's sapphire.

I'll be darned.

(laughs) Now, Montana is famous for sapphire.

Uh-huh.

Idaho, I didn't know.

Uh-huh.

Potatoes, yeah.

The Gem State.

Gem State.

Yeah.

And then what I love is the gold nuggets.

They're also from here.

It's a pair of earrings and a little pin/pendant.

They weigh about three pennyweights.

There's not a ton of gold here.

Right.

But the fact that all of this comes from this state...

Isn't that great?

I think it's so cool.

Yeah.

So value-wise, you have about $300 of gold in, in the gold nuggets.

But the fact that you got that provenance, could be $300 to $500.

And then you have a ring, which, I just love the story, and it's lovely, but the ring is probably worth $150.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Well, as they say, it's priceless to us, yeah.

WOMAN: It was given to my father from his grandfather.

I'm next in line to, to inherit it, and we don't mu, know much about it.

Um, it was appraised in 1991, and they estimated that it was from about 1820 and it's French.

I love the little illustration on the front.

And also, it plays music, and that's one of the best parts.

The case is made out of 18-karat gold.

Solid gold watch.

I would date it about 1830.

Okay.

It's a key wound watch, key set.

You've got the keys right here for the watch.

Mm-hmm.

Musical watches are quite rare.

You told me you didn't even know it was musical, and you were just playing with it, maybe, yesterday... (laughs) ...and you heard music go off on it.

Mm-hmm.

The watch was made in France.

What's really wonderful is this face on it, or the dial of the watch.

And we have an early American flag on there, so... Mm-hmm.

The subject matter is phenomenal.

That's porcelain enamel.

That's all hand-painted.

And then you have this gold that's on top of the dial there.

You notice at the center how it's indented a little bit right there?

Uh-huh.

That is called a bull's eye crystal.

Can't get those today.

(chuckles) Now, if we turn it over... ...this back, the French called it guilloché, or we call it engine-turning.

They engraved the back of the case.

I'm going to just open it up here.

First, we look at the inner cover of the watch.

In French, that's called a cuvette, and it was a dust cover to protect the movement of the watch.

You can see there's two holes.

Both of those are for winding the watch, not for setting.

The arrows are engraved on here so that you didn't accidentally...

Turn it the wrong way.

...turn it the wrong direction and damage it.

You have two different mechanisms in the watch.

The smaller barrel, that's what holds the mainspring inside.

Mm-hmm.

That's the one that you would wind to run the watch.

And there's a larger barrel here, and that is the spring that powers the musical part of the watch.

This watch played music in two different ways.

It would play music on the hour if you wanted it to... Mm-hmm.

...and then there was a button that plays it on demand, and that was the button that you hit by accident... (laughs) ...and it started playing music.

That must have been a surprise, right?

Yeah, it was, it was.

I mean, did you think you broke it at first?

(laughs): Yes!

Or, or, like, you know, "Wait a minute, what's all that noise coming out of it?"

We're going to play this right now.

(music playing from watch) What do you think the value of it was?

When it was appraised in 1991, they estimated about $2,500.

A musical watch in gold today, a nice example of one, would, would probably bring somewhere between $5,000 and $8,000.

But we have this spectacular face on this watch.

It's a harbor scene, it's flawless.

A watch collector would love it.

A person that loves musical, music boxes, anything musical, and then Americana, 'cause of the American flag on it.

An auction value today, I would put on it, with all these features on it, I think this watch would easily bring between $15,000 and $20,000.

(laughs): Wow, that is quite the shock.

It's been in the safety deposit for, like, 20 years.

So wow.

That's great.

(laughs) Thank you.

The dial, that's the first one I've ever seen like that.

Really?

On, on a musical watch like this.

So it, it's quite nice.

WOMAN: We brought a piece of art that one of my cousins created.

This was probably in the early part of her career, maybe in the late '50s or '60s.

It is a Victorian home in San Francisco.

She went on to be kind of a renowned print maker in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I brought a 1938 Gibson Advanced Jumbo.

My cousin gave it to me.

A man gave it to him that was the original owner.

My cousin is a professional musician and I wanted to learn to play guitar, so he gave me this one.

This is a pump cart that was manufactured by Buddy L toys in Moline, Illinois.

And my father-in-law's uncle was a toy designer there.

And this is a prototype.

It was never put into production, we're guessing because it's pretty dangerous.

(chuckles): Okay.

It's very tippy, and when the handle gets moving at any speed, it's difficult to control.

It's just the right length where you could smack a child under the chin.

APPRAISER: Right.

Frederick A. Lundahl.

His company started in 1910.

He actually made auto parts.

He worked with the farm machine companies.

In about the 1920s, there was a downturn in needing the parts.

And so he had a five-year-old son and decided to take some of that scrap metal and make a good, sturdy toy that was educational... Mm-hmm.

...in that it had working parts that the kids could learn from, they could have fun, and it wouldn't fall apart.

His son's name was Arthur, but he went by Buddy.

WOMAN: Oh, okay.

APPRAISER: And the L, of course, for Lundahl.

This toy is made out of the heavy pressed steel... WOMAN: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...which Buddy L was known for.

On the bottom, we have a patent number.

It was given to Frederick Lundahl for a velocipede.

Oh!

And a velocipede is just a human-powered land vehicle.

When you pull up the patent information, the illustrations show that while this probably is a prototype, this is not the first.

This is a slightly different product.

Oh!

They had a rectangular base instead of a shaped base.

It was four wheels rather than three wheels.

All right.

And it had two handles.

Oh.

So if you think this is dangerous for one child, can you imagine... (laughs) ...one child on each end, with one going backwards down a hill?

No, I can't imagine.

APPRAISER: So there were some changes that were made.

This piece actually did go into production.

WOMAN: Oh, it did?

APPRAISER: This piece would have been made in 1929.

Your family probably were the test for this particular piece... (laughs) Could be.

...as they went flying down the hills and tipping over.

Yeah!

The actual pieces that went into production and were sold were over a foot wider at the base... Mm, mm.

...and the handle was actually four inches shorter.

I would put an auction value on this piece of somewhere between $6,000 and $8,000.

(gasps, laughs) So... W, whoa!

So... (both laughing) So hopefully nobody got their teeth too badly cracked with this one.

(laughs) I have to say, I am really amazed.

What were you expecting?

I thought maybe $500 or $600.

Yeah, yeah.

PEÑA: This is the steam plant, built in 1907 by the inmates to help power the expanding penitentiary complex.

The plant heated the prison until 1973, when the Idaho State Penitentiary closed for good.

This skull, carved sometime prior to the prison's closing, is a reminder of a difficult time spent behind stone walls and metal bars.

MAN: Well, we brought a couple of baseballs and a picture from my grandfather's collection.

I'm not really sure when he got these.

Unfortunately, before he passed away, he did not tell us a lot about them.

We kind of found them once he was gone.

He passed away about 21 years ago.

Okay.

So we've had 'em since then.

So tell us more about your grandfather, who was he?

Well, his name was Bill Campbell.

He was Mr.

Baseball in Boise.

So he worked to help bring the Braves organization to Boise.

Over time, the Braves kind of left, and, and, and things didn't go well.

And then in 1989, he brought the Boise Hawks organization.

And of course, when they first started, they were...

I believe it's a California Angels-affiliated team.

So they were a, a single A team.

And so we had professional baseball in Boise ever since.

These balls were from his collection, and we don't know a lot.

They seem to be painted.

One of them is personalized to my grandfather.

It says "To Bill Campbell" on it.

And do we have a photo of your grandfather here today?

We do, actually, this is, this is my grandfather, Bill Campbell, and of course, he is meeting a famous baseball player there.

He signed the picture to him, and we don't really know what year that was.

We think it was in the late '50s when he came to town.

So the two baseballs are by n, noted artist George Sosnak.

Besides LeRoy Neiman, George Sosnak is the one that you want.

Okay.

He's the baseball artist that everybody loves.

He was an umpire, he was a player.

He loved the game, loved the players, and he was meticulous.

On this ball, which is Roger Maris, we not only had his signature... Mm-hmm.

...we have images of him playing.

We have stats from 1961.

You know what's important about 1961?

Some big home run thing, yes.

He hit 61 home runs in 1961...

Yes, yeah.

...to break Babe Ruth's record.

But my favorite part about this is, you have an inscription.

Mm-hmm.

And it says that it's from Roger Maris to your grandfather.

You have one of the best athletes, Roger Maris, you have one of the best events in baseball, which is hitting 61 home runs in a single season... Mm-hmm.

...and it's dedicated to your grandfather.

So let's talk about the 1958 Boise Braves.

Now, the Boise Braves was a Pioneer League team.

Correct.

So that was an affiliate of the MLB.

Mm-hmm, correct.

And they were associated with the Milwaukee Braves at the time.

Mm-hmm.

And so, and the Boise Braves were running about 1955 to 1963.

Mm-hmm.

And again, inscribed to your grandfather.

Now, the Boise Braves image, let's talk about that, 'cause that was normal back then, but today we see it through different eyes.

It's a negative caricature.

Certainly.

And that's not how we want to represent American Indians.

And we're seeing teams change their names.

Now, the Boise Braves were an affiliate of the Milwaukee Braves, which now became the Atlanta Braves.

Mm-hmm.

And they haven't changed their name yet, but we have seen the Cleveland Indians change to the Cleveland Guardians.

Mm-hmm.

And then we have a fantastic black-and-white photograph of Hank Aaron.

Yep.

And what's Hank Aaron known for?

He's a big slugger.

(laughs) He's a big slugger, too.

Yep, absolutely.

And he also broke Babe Ruth's record, but his all-time home run record.

So bringing these to auction, they would probably sell best if you sold them individually.

At auction today... Mm-hmm.

...the Roger Maris ball could bring $15,000 to $20,000.

(chuckling): Whoa, whoa.

(chuckles): Oh, my goodness, wow.

Unreal.

And I would insure it for $30,000.

Okay.

Okay, that's good to know.

Now, your Boise Braves ball... Mm-hmm.

...it would bring $1,500 to $2,000 at auction.

Wow.

Okay, unbelievable.

An... An insurance value would be about $4,000.

Okay, wonderful.

Now let's talk about the photograph.

At auction today, it would be $100 to $200 for it.

Okay, okay.

Because it's still an early photograph of Hank Aaron, it's great.

Right.

Yes.

Well, we'll definitely hold on to that one, for sure, so... Sure!

WOMAN: It passed down to my husband's father, and now my husband.

And he just had it in a box stashed away, 'cause it was so special.

APPRAISER: In terms of collectibility, especially for Americana clothing, it really doesn't get better than Levi's.

Here in the U.S. and overseas, especially in Japan, they go crazy for this stuff.

I would date this to, uh, maybe circa 1910.

I think it was perhaps a handout at one of the World's Fairs.

It also folds out into a pair of jeans/Koveralls.

If I were to have this insured, I'd perhaps go $1,300 to $1,500.

I'm glad you treasured it, because it's definitely a treasure.

Yeah.

Oh, we just love it.

This is my great-grandparents' clock that they bought right after they got married in 1901.

We had it restored, and it sits in my office, and it gives the wonderful soothing clicking sound that you can hear throughout the whole house, sometimes a little loud.

My friend Linda... Mm-hmm.

...who is now 81, gifted this to me about five or six years ago.

Her father traveled extensively, and, uh, the late '60s, early '70s.

And he went to Japan, and he went to the factory where this was produced, and that's where it was purchased.

The factory that this was bought in was in Japan, and it was a factory that actually manufactured lacquer, lacquer wares.

But what they also did is, they sold antique lacquer objects.

Okay.

That is what this is.

(whispers): Yes.

So this was not manufactured by them.

Mm-hmm.

It was sold by them.

So that's one part.

Okay.

Now, the second part is just the stunning decoration.

You can see the cranes, and then you can see the sky and the waves.

There's a variety of gold and silver.

All of this is accentuated by the black ground, which is lacquer.

Cranes represent in Japan, and throughout Asia, long life and happiness and success.

So this is a Japanese lacquer writing box and table, and it dates to around 1900.

You can see inside the case, you've got an ink cake stick at the bottom over here.

There are several brushes that are lacquer.

Mm-hmm.

You have a little silver container at the top for other implements.

And in the center of it, also, is the ink stone.

What we see is just this mix of skills of a silversmith, lacquer workers, the people that designed this scene, that came together to create truly what is a masterwork.

What do you think it's worth?

There was a receipt.

Mm-hmm.

When he purchased it, he paid around $2,200, U.S. dollars, for it.

That was a lot of money in 1966.

Yeah, '66 is when he bought it.

And so, well, I would hope it has doubled in value, that would be nice.

The Japanese market has been very interesting.

What we had is a peak of the market in the late '80s, early '90s, and a gradual diminution in interest... Oh.

...up to where we are now.

But because this is so extraordinary... Ah.

...it's going to do a little bit more than what you thought.

I think that in an auction situation, this would realize somewhere between $10,000 and $15,000.

Wow, wow!

Blows my mind!

(laughs) (chuckles) Really?

Oh.

Well, I don't know what to say.

(laughs) (chuckles) Wow!

That's wonderful.

It looks like a really old chair.

Um, from the design, I know it's an older style, but I don't know anything beyond that.

How much did you pay for it?

$200.

It's in the style of a chair that would have been late 17th century.

This is black paint.

It's not true oxidation.

Oh, okay.

Okay.

This wear is artificial, on the sides.

Okay.

And if it were a period chair, this would have been a one-board seat.

Yeah.

But the telltale sign is, underneath, it is inscribed and stamped "Made in England."

So that puts it in the 20th century.

In today's market, it's probably still worth about $100.

Oh, okay, okay!

Yeah.

It's a cool chair.

It's just not a late 17th century chair.

Yeah, okay.

MAN: It belonged to my father.

I think he bought it from a dealer somewhere in the Midlands area, Herefordshire.

My father always referred to it as a chronometer.

Right.

The unique thing I always thought was the mechanism in there.

Right.

Where you've got a curved cone.

Right.

And, when you wind up the spring, as the little chain runs down the cone, it maintains the c, a constant torque...

Exactly.

...on the actual clock mechanism.

Exactly.

You know, so, it keeps time that way.

And that's called a fusee.

Uh, it refers to that, uh, conical-shaped comb.

Well, this is a, a, an English clock of the highest grade.

This is a table clock made by Dwerrihouse and Fletcher circa 1845.

Would have been a very expensive item at the time.

This gentleman, John Fletcher, clock maker, chronometer maker, worked from 1832 to 1882.

He worked at this location from 1845 to 1849.

Before that, in the early 1830s, he was making chronometer escapements.

And this actually has a chronometer escapement in it, which is a higher-grade escapement.

And it was used for nautical instruments.

This is certainly not a nautical instrument, but he included the escapement, and it's a very accurate timekeeper as a result.

So this is more a household...

Uh...

This is what we call a library clock.

Yes.

Which would be in a household.

Chronometer escapements is one of the single most difficult things to make, first of all, and repair.

Mm-hmm.

It is a rosewood case, the dial here is a porcelain inset, and its condition is fantastic.

There's no hairlines in it; it's like the day it was made.

And it's surrounded by this brass gilded mat.

It has these beautiful barbed, blue steeled hands.

Just fantastic quality, and the condition is first-rate.

A beveled glass side, so you can see...

Yes.

...this beautiful what has, what we call knot pillars.

And it looks like a big piece of jewelry.

It's so finely made, it's fantastic.

And then on the back here, it's beautifully engraved on the back plate with "Dwerrihouse and Fletcher, on 27 Davies Street, London."

And that's also repeated on the dial.

So he was obviously very proud of this clock.

(chuckles): Yeah.

And wanted the recognition.

Very exciting piece for me, because I don't generally see things that are so well-built.

Do you have any idea of the value?

I was thinking maybe $500 to $1,000, but I don't kn, don't really know.

That's a little low-- I, it, it...

If I were to put this in a retail showroom, I'd expect to see a price of $5,000 to $6,000 on such a great quality clock.

(whistles softly): Yeah.

Well, that's great.

(voice trembling): I think my father would be... ...you know, very pleased.

It's great that you cherish it so much.

Yeah.

And it's a wonderful memory of your father.

PEÑA: The grim history of the garden's former penitentiary days feels most palpable here, at the cemetery.

Inmates were buried in this spot when they died while incarcerated, but had no one to claim their remains.

The earliest marked grave is from 1880, but some of the graves may be older, and most of the 64 burial plots are marked "unknown."

BOY: These were my great-grandmother's.

We found them in a tote of her dolls.

They are just Walt Disney bubble gum cards.

Okay, and when did you discover your grandmother's cards?

Last night, we were looking through her totes of dolls, and we found these at the bottom.

Okay, so you literally discovered these, like, the night before coming...

Yes.

...to "Antiques Roadshow"?

Right before we came.

Wow, okay, so you are correct.

They are Walt Disney gum trading cards.

But specifically, the series is actually Mickey Mouse.

Now, they were released in 1935.

They were manufactured by Gum Inc., Gum Incorporated, which was one of the biggest manufacturers of non-sport trading cards at the time.

Now, later on, Gum Incorporated ended up being renamed the Bowman Company, which went on to make baseball, football...

I mean, a powerhouse of printing cards.

When it comes to the Mickey Mouse card set, there are 96 cards within the complete set.

Mm-hmm.

You have 36 cards here today.

Any idea why we have these two cards on the board today?

That one looks real bright.

There's two of the number ones, and that one's a much brighter than that one.

They look like they're in good condition.

Okay, so, great observation.

They are in good condition.

But I'm going to drop a little factoid of knowledge on you.

So when you look at the bottom margin of the cards... Mm-hmm.

...you're going to see how this one says "This picture answers question on other side."

Mm-hmm.

Whereas that card over there says, "Here's the answer to question on card no.

2."

So that's because of the 96 cards released in this set, the first 24 had two printing variations.

The first printing variation, which is the rarer of the two, is this example right here.

So out of the first 24 cards, you always want to find a card with that slogan.

Now, you did say condition.

In the grand scheme of card condition, these are very, very poor, like, in bad shape.

But if you were a paper trading card from 1935, you'd be in wicked bad shape, too.

(laughing) Now, we don't have a complete set.

You have some duplicates of cards that you have here today.

Mm-hmm.

Conservatively, at auction, we would say the group would be worth about $2,000 to $3,000.

(laughing): Oh, wow!

That was not expected!

Awesome!

Yes!

That's crazy.

I wouldn't have ex... That's astonishing.

She left you a nice little present in a box of dolls.

Thank you!

MAN: I have what I believe to be a Scottish dirk.

I bought this about 30 years ago at an antique show.

I like to collect Scottish stuff.

And it had thistles on it, and looks very Scottish to me.

(laughs) And then I have some Scottish military badges, and, uh, one of 'em matches this.

And I believe that's a Cameron Highlander badge.

First of all, it's just a beautiful object.

It's really well made, and it is a Scottish dirk.

It evolves from the medieval knife of Scotland.

It becomes a ceremonial piece representing authority.

Traditionally, a Scottish dirk or knife back in the day would have been used for everything you'd want to use a knife for, and, in a pinch, for self-defense, as well.

Mm.

It's got this lovely engraved blade.

The blade itself is actually made by a London manufacturer, Hawks.

And it has this wonderful little dot with a six-pointed star around it.

What's that called?

So that is a proof mark that meant that it held a certain standard to the manufacturer when it was passed.

So the blade was steel, engraved, made in London.

The mounts, like, likely, were Scottish.

And the carved handles many times were made of a local wood, uh, a bogwood, which tends to get dark and aged over time...

Okay.

...or oak.

Sometimes they imported ebony, but it was meant to be dark.

And then these stones are just lovely.

It's a kind of a citrine that is mined in Scotland in the Cairngorm mountains.

Okay.

Lots of granite there.

These granite deposits grow these big crystals.

And they would have done here is faceted it and then foil-backed it, so it gives it more of a reflection.

As you said, the badge here represent the Cameron Highlanders.

The Cameron Highlanders were a unit that was raised in the late 18th century by Sir Alan Cameron.

And this would date from the late 19th century.

It probably belonged to an officer.

It's an officer's quality dirk.

And again, in the late 19th century, it would have served a role as a symbol of power, a symbol of authority, versus something that you would have necessarily used in battle.

Okay.

What's wonderful about this, the dirk, it has these companion utensils.

You have a, a fork in the lower section.

Oh!

And that's got a little spring mount that keeps it from falling out.

And the upper utensil is a smaller knife, with a nice steel blade.

Oh, okay.

But a lovely thing.

You bought it at a show?

Where did you buy it?

I bought it at a show here in Boise about 30 years ago, I... Do you remember what you paid for it?

Yes, I paid $600 for it.

At auction, this is easily a $2,000 to $3,000 blade.

My goodness, yeah.

I'll be darned.

This violin was one that I found in the early 1980 time period.

A guy in my neighborhood sold violins.

He wanted $1,500, and I gave him two bedside tables, $500, and a .22 pistol.

And that's what I paid for it.

It's a l, lovely example of a Hopf made by the Hopf family in Klingenthal, Germany, right, right around 1800.

It's not showy, but it's a, a very refined instrument.

I think a conservative auction estimate for it would probably be in the range of $2,000 to $3,000.

Okay, perfect.

So I think you did well.

I do, too.

♪ I brought this pin that my Uncle Shiro made in the internment camp at Poston.

That's my uncle right there, Shiro.

My mom received this pin from Shiro, who is her brother-in-law, and she gave it to me.

And then I had it framed, with the story and the picture of, of the camp.

The other thing I have is this picture of him receiving his internment orders from this soldier.

Did you know your uncle?

No, he passed in, um, 1956.

Tell us what's happening in this photo.

He was living on Terminal Island.

That was located in California.

The soldier right there with the bayonet is giving the order to my uncle that they have to evacuate the island and go to the internment camp.

I wonder what he's thinking as he's, as he's reading this.

So when he was asked to leave, it wasn't to relocate 20 miles down the road.

No.

They took him all the way to Yuma.

Yes.

I've researched the National Archives, and they said that he was in the relocation camp from 1942 to 1946.

I'm a Sansei, which is three generations.

And I wasn't born during this period.

And I read this book... Um... (voice trembling): And it was very hard to read, um... (clears throat) A lot of the Japanese received 48 hours or so to get their belongings and leave.

And some of the men left and the women stayed with the children.

My paternal grandparents and my maternal grandparents were too far inland, so they were not interred.

(sniffles) Were they treated with respect by their fellow Americans?

No.

(sighs) When the war happened, they were asked to leave the church.

And another thing that happened, my mother, and my grandmother and grandfather, had a farm in a small town in Utah.

And... She heard all this noise.

(sniffs) And she walked out.

(voice trembling): And, um, there were some men in white sheets, and they're trying to push my grandfather's tractor into the lake.

And my grandmother tried to stop them, and they pushed her down.

I d...

It's really hard for me to understand that hatred, or fear, or, or whatever emotions it was.

Their house was egged.

One of the teachers, um, taught the kids to say, "Go home..." I can't even say the word.

Um, in Spanish.

And she was the only Japanese in the class.

My mom said that if she were in a relocation camp, they probably would have been safer.

(sniffs) From tragedy, sometimes, comes art.

And that's what we have here.

What do you know about this?

We believe that my uncle created it out of sagebrush, and they had paints.

And if you can see, he painted it.

It's amazing.

Internment camp artwork is not exclusive to the experience of the Japanese Americans in the Second World War.

This is something that militaria collectors, trench art collectors, see going back through time.

Really, where you see the most of it is in the First World War.

I find it interesting that this artwork that we see represented typically reflects the culture of those who are in that circumstance.

So what we see here is the cultural tradition of Japan as it is manifested in internment camp artwork.

The level of detail is beautiful.

Mm-hmm.

It's really pretty exquisite.

And it is interesting that it's a way to cope... Mm-hmm.

...with being in an intolerable circumstance.

Mm.

Make something beautiful out of something that is not beautiful at all.

The way that we disrespect one another.

These are American citizens.

Mm-hmm.

And that's what made this so particularly heinous within the way that we look at history.

The artifact clearly has emotional significance to you.

Yes.

It has cultural significance to the Japanese American community.

Yes.

And because of that, when these do come up for sale, there is often offense taken.

I like to tell folks that there are three major components of the system that saves history.

There's the family, who decided that something was worth saving.

And then there are museums that can curate a tiny percent of what needs to be saved.

And then there's the collecting community that steps in to do the rest.

Mm-hmm.

So we all work together to make sure that history is saved.

Artifacts are conduits to the past.

It's a touchstone.

Every time you look at this, you're feeling what happened... Mm-hmm.

...to your family.

And I think everybody else who looks at these things, when they see them, because they know the story, they can share in that and empathize with you.

And that is really...

There's the building blocks of making sure that we respect one another as human beings, and we don't let things like that happen again.

If one of these was to come up for sale, I would expect to see a retail value of $1,000 to $1,500.

It's priceless to me.

It's interesting how things haven't really changed that much.

I'm Japanese American.

But I'm a person.

My mom is 95, and she still has a deep, sad feeling.

WOMAN: Well, my grandmother, when she was nine or ten years old, wrote to Maxfield Parrish.

She had read "The Arabian Nights," and she admired his illustrations.

And he wrote back to her and sent her a painting.

Can you read it to us?

It says "I want to thank you "for your good letter.

"Miss Ethel Barrymore is staying here, "and she read it, too, "and enjoyed it as much as I did.

"I am glad you and I have a tie also "in our admiration for Howard Pyle.

"But believe me, if I was ever placed before him, "it was purely for alphabetical reasons.

(chuckles) "He was long ago very much greater "than I ever can be.

(chuckles) "Is there really such a place as the land of Baraboo?"

And she lived in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

Uh-huh.

"It sounds as though it only existed in a book, "a place you saw only after traveling "20 days and 20 nights "and after crossing seven seas.

"I wonder, too, what you are like.

"You sent no photographs, so I shall imagine "you are like your good letter.

"And the 'ideal'?

Yes, I am sure I would like to come to Baraboo."

(chuckles) Signed, Maxfield Parrish.

And then I see there's a photo, as well?

And that's my grandmother, yes.

And did she ultimately send him a picture?

You know, I don't know.

I, I love that he has this idea that, like, "Nah, I don't think there's any place called Baraboo."

(both chuckle) Obviously, a, a, a titan of American illustration, famous for, among o, other things, children's illustrations.

And you'll notice on the painting itself, it's further inscribed... With her... ...to your grandmother-- really a fabulous thing.

So the work here appears to be executed oil on artist's board, and that's what he did most of his work on.

So I read that he was famous for a certain color of blue, but this isn't, not the...

There's a little bit of that in there in the bottom of the coat, but, yes, and, and really, those colors were created by layers of layers of layers, so think... Oh.

I mean, think of these objects taking months and months to complete.

Many of the colors might be created with 40 different layers of color.

It's what we call glazes.

So the work, just like the letter, is dated 1906.

Have you had it appraised before?

So my sister had this.

She passed away about six-and-a-half years ago, and she had it appraised quite a while ago.

I can't tell you how long ago.

I bet it's been 20 years.

The appraisal was for s, somewhere around $20,000, I think.

Mm-hmm, for, uh, for insurance?

Y...

I've never had anybody tell me.

You know, I don't know about in...

I-- it's not insured.

(chuckles) (both laugh) Okay, okay.

20 years ago, that, that probably made sense for an insurance value.

In the market right now, in 2022, I would place the insurance value at $50,000.

Wow.

(chuckles) Okay, well, I better get it insured.

(chuckles) Which is pretty amazing for something sent, you know, for free, as a, as a gift.

(murmurs) I know, what a, what a nice gesture.

Yeah.

He was certainly a nice man.

He really was.

And the, and the work is what you want out of a Parrish.

It's extremely polished.

So even this object that was a gift to a little girl, who was nine or ten, that had wrote him, uh, that's by no means done in one sitting.

There...

I know, I thought that.

Like, like, it took him a while.

He must-- she must have wrote him a nice letter.

She must have wrote him an amazing letter.

(laughs) ♪ PEÑA: This bronze statue by Rusty Talbot was based on a lateral descendant of Sacagawea.

Sacagawea, a Lemhi Shoshone woman who was born in what is now the state of Idaho, was an essential member of Lewis and Clark's expedition to establish routes through the North American West to the Pacific Ocean.

Well, it's a family piece.

My family is from the East Coast, New England area-- I, I don't know quite back that far.

There was a captain of a clipper ship that ran out of Yarmouth, on the Cape.

The other side of my dad's family was from Pennsylvania area.

My uncles, my aunt, and my dad all kind of moved out west in the '70s.

And my grandmother and grandfather followed the kids to Colorado and Idaho.

Um, and then as my grandmother was aging and we were just moving her into a smaller home, this one ended up with me.

My uncle had, I think, gotten a little bit tired of taking care of it.

(chuckles) It's got some, it's a little bit more high-maintenance.

I think there's some, some legs and some of the skirt stuff that had been kind of knocked off a couple of times.

And I think they'd just kind of done some home remedy fixes.

It didn't really fit in with their, with their plans to kind of take care of it, and I just didn't want to see it go anywhere else.

So I stuffed it in a U-Haul and brought it back up to Idaho.

And that was from Denver?

Yeah, Colorado Springs area.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah.

So, do you think this is one of the original pieces from the East Coast, or...?

(slowly): Yeah.

My aunt thought it might have come from the side of the family in Pennsylvania.

This chest is from the Federal period, and it's likely 1795 to 1805.

It's actually from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Okay.

Not Pennsylvania.

Okay.

So it's probably from your New England side of the family.

Okay, okay.

And I know that without even having to pull the drawers or anything.

What's iconic about this and, and indicative of the Portsmouth area is the way the drawers are divided...

Okay.

...into thirds.

And the real giveaway is that panel in the middle of each drawer that drops down to the middle... Uh-huh.

...and then that pendant apron below.

Uh-huh.

The drawers are made out of mahogany veneer, but they have what's called flame birch panels in the middle.

The secondary woods are white pine.

The case sides and the case top, again, made out of birch.

Birch grows in abundance, white pine grows in abundance in New Hampshire.

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, uh-huh.

Mahogany was imported from the Caribbean often.

Mm-hmm.

And they used it in very limited amounts, and here it's just veneer and accents.

I see.

The inlay that mat, that goes a, around the edge of the top is also repeated around the bottom of the case.

Yeah.

And the other piece of the detail that I like a great deal is the drop pendant that I mentioned, and how it's flanked by checkered inlay... Uh-huh.

...or staggered inlay.

I almost, if I step back and look at it, it feels to me almost like a column.

Yeah.

Because this is a Neoclassical period, it's harkening back to earlier Classical architecture.

The brasses have been replaced.

Okay.

So you were mentioning some of the condition issues.

Easy to fix.

These things are built to last.

In this condition and with this nice old surface, which is not original, but it's old and dry and great color... Yeah.

...I think I could put an auction estimate on this piece without any difficulty of $15,000 to $20,000.

(chuckling): Wow.

That's pretty amazing.

That's cool.

I'm just glad it's survived as many moves across the country and around the West, and I hope my daughters are going to be interested in it enough to kind of keep, keep it in good shape and hopefully pass it on down through the generations.

Back in my 20s, I may have had "Antiques Roadshow," uh, drinking games... (laughs) ...uh, with some of my friends.

I might send, uh, a few pictures of this to some old buddies, and see if they... (chuckles) ...make the over under, ...or if they owe me a beer.

So... (laughs) MAN: This is my mother's, uh, flight jacket, two pictures of her, and her flight log.

In the Navy, she was a stewardess.

She was one of only 30 WAVES who were, uh, taken into a squadron and given the namesake "The 30," uh... Guys, when they were being discharged, there was a guy that was slashing the back of the jackets, and she just refused.

So she ended up stealing it from the Navy and had to stand the captain's mast for that.

So, we're very proud of it.

(chuckles) As you should be.

So, what is the captain's mast?

It's one step below a court-martial, and, uh, she could have been in serious problem for, uh, stealing it.

But, uh, fortunately, they let her go.

They were demilitarizing...

Yes.

...all of the material from the Navy.

Yeah.

The, the 30, uh, jackets were all being destroyed, and as far as I know, that's the only one that has survived.

Yeah.

I've never seen another one for a WAVE before.

Mm-hmm.

The WAVES, Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Services.

The WAVES were formed in, in 1942 to alleviate some of the services, get men out into, into ships and in combat.

So they did all sorts of jobs, from working in hospitals to, like your mom, be working on an aircrew of an aircraft.

Mm-hmm.

To be crewing a plane at that time was pretty impressive.

They were in service through the end of the war, and were demobilized in, in 1948.

They had done that so that they could be actually integrated into the regular Army, Navy.

And that was due to their service, um... Mm-hmm.

...during World War II, that they actually became regular members of the, of the military.

And she served when?

The very end of World War II into peacetime.

So it looked like from...

The... ...the, the logbook here... Mm-hmm.

Looked like the fall of 1945 into '46, '47?

Yeah, mm-hmm.

And it seems like she did some traveling.

She flew around quite a bit.

She did.

Her main unit was covering from Boston to Miami, and then she did Bermuda to San Francisco.

Well, it's wonderful that we have a leather flight jacket, a U.S. Navy version AN-J-3A.

The only ones I've ever seen before were worn by men.

You've got a wool waistband, cuffs that have a few holes, it's got a little wear from use, but it's still in good condition.

You said your mother is wearing it in this photograph?

Yes.

Her jacket there and her boots.

Her flight boots.

Yeah.

She stole, actually, the flight boots... (chuckles) ...also, from the Navy.

For the group, we would put an auction estimate of $1,000 to $1,500.

Oh, really?

Part of the value being in the jacket itself, but the historical value is what's really important with it.

I'm sure glad that we could see this today...

Thank you, Mom.

...and talk about your mom.

WOMAN (chuckles): We found this in an old woodshed in Minnesota when we were tearing the woodshed down.

It was underneath all the wood.

Okay.

And had probably been there since the 1880s or so.

Yeah, it had probably been there since it was almost new.

Right.

It's an 1876 American color lithograph.

It's in German.

They'd probably have the exact same print in English, in German.

Mm-hmm.

I've even come across them sometimes, it's been Polish.

The whole market for Victorian sentimental religious prints is, is not... (laughs): It's not hot!

(laughs) As a retail price, I'd say maybe $75, $100, something like that.

Okay, uh-huh.

Boy, I... (stammers) I'll quit bragging about it now to my family.

(laughing) Well...

The, the value is not the only thrill of this stuff.

(laughing) Enjoy it.

Okay, thank you.

WOMAN: I believe it belonged to my great-grandmother's sister.

I don't know anything about her.

I don't know if they made her themselves or if they purchased her.

Actually, the doll was made in Germany by a company called Hertwig.

Mmm.

And she's made of china, and she was made in the 1880s or 1890s.

Okay.

And what I really love about her is, she has blonde hair instead of black.

The retail value on her would be around $100 to $150.

Okay.

They're fairly easily found, but this one's just in awesome condition.

MAN: Well, I am directly, uh, descended from these two.

They were my great-great-great- grandparents.

They were painted in 1826.

Did they descend in your family or...?

Well...

I mean, to you?

As you can imagine, there are a lot of branches to this tree.

Right.

I got them about 20 years ago from a lady who was at the end of one of those branches, and had no descendants.

Okay.

Okay.

And she found out I was their direct, also their direct descendants.

Right.

So she gave them to us, as a gift, yeah.

That's, that's very cool.

Yeah, it really is.

And the name is Meb, Meb... Me, Mebane.

Mebane.

There's a town in North Carolina by that name.

Same family.

I am fascinated by family history.

Right.

And this helps a lot, so... And, and you've traced them back to their original ownership, right?

Right.

In the town that your ancestors founded, which is in North Carolina.

Yeah...

When these came up to the folk art table, my eyes got really big... (chuckles) ...and I, my heart started pounding, and, because I love great folk art.

They have this, this appeal to them, this...

The great colors.

Look at the faces staring straight at you.

They're very direct.

It's literally a record of their lives in 1826, David and Elizabeth Mebane.

Right.

There are a group of portraits done in Guilford County, North Carolina.

And this artist is called the, the Guilford County Limner.

And a limner is an artist who moved around while he worked, he was...

Most were itinerant artists.

Oh.

Oh.

And they traveled to different counties.

So we, no one knows the name of the artist.

The artist has not been identified yet.

And some of the characteristics are the very large eyes with, literally, eyelashes.

And I'll say your great-great-great-grandfather looks like, rather like Paul McCartney... (chuckles) ...even, even with the British haircut, right?

(laughs): Yeah, he does.

The flowers in the background of both the male and female portraits.

Also, the architectural details that are very bright in the background.

Hmm.

Those are all characteristics of the Guilford Limner.

These are fabulous watercolors on paper.

Mm-hmm.

And they've kept their vivid color.

The Guilford Limner was known for these bright colors, this brilliant lime green, this really great red.

Those colors are just like they were painted yesterday.

Considering what a fragile medium it is, these works have survived extremely well.

They're the essence of folk art.

This limner only worked in Guilford County during the years of about 1826 to 1827.

Oh, oh.

I feel that a conservative estimate on this pair at auction would be $20,000 to $30,000.

(gasps, chuckles) Whoa!

(chuckles) On a good day, they could get up near $40,000.

Whoa.

So... (chuckles) I hope my family is listening.

(both laughing) Well...

I'll tell them.

(chuckles) I'm, I'm pretty sure you're going to keep 'em, though.

You're gonna keep 'em.

Oh, absolutely, I treasure them.

You should insure them for $40,000.

Wow.

At least.

(chuckling): Yeah, I'll be sure to do that.

PEÑA: And now it's time for the Roadshow Feedback Booth.

We got this from a friend of ours.

It is a late '60s, early '70s television set.

Um, we learned that since it's working, it's probably worth... (laughs): ...about $300 to $400, which is kind of a fun surprise.

We bought this decanter and four cups for $40.

(chuckles) We thought they were Czech.

They're actually Venetian and four times what they're worth, and our friends said they were ugly.

But the joke's on them.

So thank you, "Antiques Roadshow."

I brought in this doll that we got at a storage unit auction.

Her dress and her hat are made of honeycomb, and we just had never seen anything like that.

And the appraisers said the same thing.

They've never seen anything like that.

(laughs) So they said she's w, worth about $150 to $200.

These fun napkin rings came from a thrift store in town.

They were four dollars, and are worth about $300, made out of silver.

We brought what we thought was a watercolor painting that turned out to be a print, that turned out to actually be, uh, a colored photograph that was handed down from her grandmother, my great-grandmother.

Uh, and on the back, there's a lovely little note that says it was appraised by an antique dealer, uh, for around $200.

We found that it was worth a shocking $30.

(laughs) This is Julius Caesar.

(laughs) Um, a bust of Julius Caesar, not the real one.

Um, we got him at the thrift store for $7.99.

We came to "Antiques Roadshow," found out he's $200.

Um... (laughs) So we will keep him on the coffee table in the living room.

But he will be far more valuable.

And he will wear seasonal hats.

PEÑA: Thanks for watching.

See you next time on "Antiques Roadshow."