'Antiques Roadshow' guest in disbelief after expert revealed the value of her century-old toy boat
It's common for artifacts to fetch a big pricetag on "Antiques Roadshow," but sometimes the most unexpected things get a surprisingly high appraisal. It happened when a guest got a $20,000 auction estimate for her century-old toy boat. The owner of a 1910 Marklin "Puritan" Toy Boat had no idea of its value and significance, as she had once put it in her swimming pool. However, when the show's expert, Noel Barrett, explained the boat's provenance to her, she promised never to do that again. The guest must be happier, as the show updated the auction estimate to a whopping $40,000.
The guest shared the story of how the toy was passed down to her in the family. "It was given as a gift to my father's brother for his ninth birthday in 1914. There was quite a difference in age, about ten years, between my father and his brother. My dad was the baby, and the two of them had great memories of playing with this boat as they grew up in the Chicago area," she shared. When the appraiser asked if she had used the boat in water, the guest added, "I have great memories of this floating in my swimming pool in the backyard when I was growing up."
"So ärklin is the manufacturer of this boat, which is a German company. They first went into business in 1859. Originally, they just made dollhouses and dollhouse furniture and things like that. But they really came into their own right after 1900. Around 1904, they started making trains and boats. That was when they became the gold standard of toys of their day," Barrett told the guest.
He further noted that the boat was named the Puritan, and it was a replica of a famous boat of the same name that operated on the Fall River Line, going from Boston to New York City from around 1889 to around 1908. "It was such a famous boat; it was used in a lot of toys. There are cast-iron American Puritan boats, and there are McLoughlin lithograph puzzle boats. There are several other uses that name," he explained.
Barrett told the guest that another boat like the one he had in front of him got an auction estimate of $12,000. "Wow! Amazing!" the guest exclaimed, hearing the number. However, the expert had more to add, as he said, "But it sold for $20,000. And there's no reason this one couldn't do the same." The guest was in disbelief once she heard the number."My goodness!" she exclaimed.
In the end, Barrett urged the guest not to put the boat in the water again. "I promise I won't. And it hasn't been in the water for over 50 years," the guest said in response. The show later updated the auction estimate to $40,000 on the PBS website.
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