GUEST: He belonged to my stepdad, who was raised in Hot Springs, Arkansas. A couple of years ago, my stepdad was 81, and we kind of decided it was time to close up the house up in Hot Springs, 'cause he wasn't traveling up there anymore. And we were going through some closets, and my sister started pushing through the clothes and saw that, and she's, she jumped. She kind of screamed, she, cause she thought it was a, a person, a baby.
APPRAISER: (chuckles)
GUEST: So we took it out and looked at it, and we, were just amazed. It was just, we'd never seen anything like it. We think it was his. We're pretty sure, cause it's a boy doll.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: It could have been his mother's, even.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: But we really don't know anything about it. It’s just really different.
APPRAISER: And does he have a name?
GUEST: I call him Chucky.
APPRAISER: You call him Chucky, okay, well, he doesn't look like Chucky in the movie, but it's what they call an American folk art rag doll.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Probably produced in that area. They're sort of one-of-a-kind dolls. I mean, he's got fabulous charm, incredible, large hands with big, pointy fingers, which are cool. The shoes were probably originally baby shoes.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: The clothing is faded, but it's completely original. He's got a great embossed nose, beautifully painted face. He's a painted oilcloth rag doll. And with this oilcloth all hand-painted, he's faded out a little bit with age. And probably dates from...the middle 1890s, maybe to early 1900. I can't tell you who made it. Maybe a family member made it, or it was given to them, and it's just a beautiful example of American folk art.
GUEST: Great.
APPRAISER: So it sort of falls into that field, as well as the doll collecting field.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And in beautiful condition. In a really good doll shop or a really good doll show, or a folk art antiques show, you'd expect to pay at least $2,000 to $3,000 for him. So he's a really nice find.
GUEST: Interesting, yeah.
APPRAISER: And I'm glad you're going to keep him in the family.
GUEST: Guess I'd better get him insured. (laughs)
