GUEST: It is something that my mother-in-law had in her house for close to 70 years. She and my father-in-law were in Chicago in the late '40s. He was a commercial artist. The story that she told was that he shared a building space with Haddon Sundblom, and that when they were clearing things out, that they did not want this anymore. And I don't know if he asked for it, he was given it-- really, details are a little sketchy. But he ended up with this.
APPRAISER: And who was Mr. Sundblom?
GUEST: He was the Coca-Cola Santa Claus artist.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm, yes. This is just an amazing piece of original Coca-Cola advertising art. There are not a lot of them left out there. And a lot of them did wind up in the trash, because they were not considered valuable. The Coca-Cola collectors, they are rabid. This is a real rarity for them. Coca-Cola art is highly collectible, especially the earlier art, because it shows an America that doesn't exist anymore. I actually was able to find this image. It was used in a 1942 ad, and it is just such an amazing piece of our history. Given all of the parameters of this piece and given how beautiful it just is, even with all of the issues, I would have no troubles valuing this at $4,000 to $6,000.
GUEST: Cool, very cool.
APPRAISER: You should get it framed.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Because it will protect the paint from cracking any further. And hang it on a wall. This is history.
GUEST: Yes. Thank you.
