Storage Wars

The other night I wandered into the family room where Ron was watching an episode of Storage Wars on television. If you haven't seen it, it's a weekly program about people who bid on the contents of abandoned storage lockers at public auctions, in the hopes that there will be something of real value hidden inside.

I sat down to read, but my attention quickly turned to the show when I heard the word "canes." Glancing up, I saw an assortment of canes that the winning bidder had purchased and was having appraised.

I couldn't find a film clip of that episode, but I did manage to locate the script. Here is the dialogue, transcribed as it was spoken. It sometimes isn't exactly clear who is speaking - the owner or the appraiser - but you'll get the idea.

I found several canes in a locker that I supposedly overpaid for.
I'm taking these canes to a friend of mine...who deals in high-end merchandise.
There's some nice pieces.
And I just--i just got some canes in.
This came out of a great estate around Baltimore.
Carved ivory.
Mechanical canes.
What does something like that sell for?
Oh, I'm estimating in the auction about $8,000 to $10,000.
$8,000 To $10,000.
Wow.
So if his canes are worth $8,000 to $10,000, I can't wait to see what mine are worth.
Great, very nice.
Well, hopefully mine are worth a little bit more than that.
Well, let's look at yours.

This is kind of interesting.
Uh, these are a little different.
This particular cane, this is probably a whale tooth that's been put on this cane.
And this is actually a walking stick.
It's very unusual.
You know, it's got some damage.
It's a composition of maybe plastic.
  
This is really interesting here.
This is actually a plantation cane, commonly known as a slave master's cane.
Very good condition.
Well, it's good that my dad didn't have one of these, because he didn't mind giving me a good ol' whoopin' every once in a while.
You probably needed one once in a while.
I needed several.
Didn't we all?

This is probably walrus tusk on this one.
And this is more of a folk art cane.
A little crude, the carvings.
Got the alligator on it.
That's kind of interesting.
I would estimate these canes ..$150, $250 apiece for 'em.
$250 apiece means an extra 1,000 bucks.
With that and the furniture, I'm looking at $5,000 on this unit.

[laughs] - And it's a nice little collection of canes.
Fantastic.

These aren't the actual canes from the episode, but aren't they pretty?