WEBVTT

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GUEST: Well, my great-uncle
acquired this cane
somewhere around 1900. And

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he said it came from the World's
Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.

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APPRAISER: Well, the World's
Fair in St. Louis was in 1904.
It's a lot older than that.

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GUEST: Oh, really?

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APPRAISER: It's a cane that
I suspect is probably from
the late 1790s to 1820.

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GUEST: Well, that's a whole lot
older than I thought it was.

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APPRAISER: And I say
that because of the way
it's constructed. If you
look at this hole here...

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GUEST: Mm-hmm.

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APPRAISER: ...that goes
through on both sides,
that's for a wrist strap.

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GUEST: I figured it was, yeah.

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APPRAISER: The wrist
strap was to keep this on
your wrist, particularly
when you're walking in a,

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sort of a muddy street, so that
it didn't slip out of your hand.

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GUEST: Mm-hmm.

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APPRAISER: So this hole here,
that's the first clue that
it is an old cane. Secondly,

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this part, called the
ferrule, is fairly long.
And as canes became

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more popular in the 19th
century, that ferrule
became shorter, again,

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in particular after
streets started to be paved
with macadam. You didn't
need a long ferrule...

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GUEST: Mm-hmm.

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APPRAISER: ...to keep the tip
of the cane out of the mud,
'cause there was no mud anymore.

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GUEST: Oh, wow.

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APPRAISER: So the ferrule was
meant to protect the shaft. Now,
what is really interesting to

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me about this cane are these
silver inlays, and they're all
over it, including up here on

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the head of this great
eagle. These are the kind
of inlays that a gunsmith
used on long rifles.

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GUEST: Oh, man.

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APPRAISER: So my guess is
that a gunsmith made this cane
for somebody of importance.

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GUEST: Well, that's great.

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APPRAISER: It's got this
fabulous engraved pommel
on the cane with an eagle
and a patriotic shield.

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And then it has this wire inlay,
uh, around the eyes, which
is, um, uh, uh, very typical

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of what gunsmiths would do. This
is probably, um, walrus ivory.
This, the ferrule, is bone.

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GUEST: Oh, okay.

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APPRAISER: So, for the time
this was made, this is a really
fancy cane. A really fancy cane.

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GUEST: I've never seen
another one like it.

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APPRAISER: Yeah. I would
think that at an auction
today, this cane might
bring $2,500 to $3,500.

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GUEST: Oh, that's great.

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APPRAISER: It is such an
incredibly fancy cane.

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GUEST: Well, I really appreciate
it. Thank you so much.

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APPRAISER: You bet. Ten
years ago, the cane might
have been worth twice
what I told you, so...

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GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: $4,000 to $6,000...

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GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: ...$5,000 to $7,000.

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GUEST: Yeah.