Pawn Stars s03e08 Episode Script
Message in a Bottle
On this episode of Pawn Stars Where in the world did you get this? I built it.
What the hell do you shoot out of this thing? Bowling balls.
Floyd Patterson fight ticket.
This is a ticket from one of the greatest fights of all time.
Incredibly rare.
[Bell dings.]
I have a world war ii baby gas mask.
I mean, I just can't imagine throwing a baby in this thing.
The pamphlet here says if you leave your house, you will be killed.
I'm Rick Harrison, and this is my pawn shop.
I work here with my old man and my son, big hoss.
Everything in here has a story and a price.
One thing I've learned after 21 years, you never know what is gonna come through that door.
This is gonna be a good time right here.
Where in the world did you get this? Actually, I built it.
You built it? What the hell do you shoot out of this thing? Bowling balls.
[Laughter.]
I decided to come to the pawn shop today to see if I could sell my bowling ball mortar.
I built several mortars over the years, and I'm usually pretty accurate with this.
We've hit targets anywhere from 100 yards up to 815 yards away.
It's worth around $15,000 to $20,000, and that's what I'm willing to take.
You built this yourself? Have you fired it? Yes, we've fired it about ten times now.
Have you built these things before? We've made several of them, various sizes.
We compete with them throughout the west.
We go to anywhere from five to ten competitions each year.
I mean, it looks like a It looks like a Cannon to me.
A Cannon fires into something.
A mortar lobs into something.
So if you've got a big castle you're trying to get into or a fort or something like that, you could lob these over the edge of it, and they just destroy things, any rooftops inside.
They would keep on going until they hit the bottom floor, plain and simple.
Mortars have been around for hundreds of years.
They revolutionized warfare.
It was hard enough defending against a regular Cannon.
Now they had to defend themselves against 100-pound balls falling out of the sky.
What did you build it out of? We built it out of a heavy sleeve.
It's about two inches thick.
It's a military-grade oxygen tank that we cut.
We inverted that.
We put our powder chamber in there.
It's about six inches long or so.
But the bottom's an oxygen tank.
It's a military-grade half-inch-thick oxygen tank.
And that's supposed to handle all the pressures and everything? Yes, sir.
I mean, it just concerns me, having that oxygen tank back there.
I mean, you got the barrel that's two inches thick, but you got the you know, the back of the bore, which takes all the pressure, at only half an inch.
If you don't have the correct metal and the correct design and the correct welding, this mortar is not a mortar anymore.
It's a giant pipe bomb, and I'm not going to be near this thing when he lights it off.
What do you want to do with it? Sell it.
Why would you want to sell it? 'Cause I have several of them.
I build them and shoot them and sell them and compete with them.
How much do you want for it? I'd like $15,000.
[Exhales.]
I mean, I'm interested in it.
I think I might be able to do something with it.
Before I even want to talk about buying it, though, I want my buddy to check it out, maybe shoot it, and maybe we can do some business.
That sound good.
All right, sounds like a plan.
This thing looks awesome.
There's a big group of mortar enthusiasts here in Las Vegas I think I could sell this to.
The only question is, will this thing blow up in my face? What do you got here? I have a world war ii baby gas mask.
Hey, Rick, come here.
What in the world do we have here? We have a baby gas mask.
Must be really stinky poo.
[Baby crying.]
I decided to come to the pawn shop today to try to sell my baby gas mask from world war ii.
The gas mask is from 1939.
It's in very good condition, and it has the original box and the paperwork along with the gas mask.
I spoke to a museum that said it might be worth up to $5,000, so I was thinking maybe I'll cut them a break and sell it to them for 4,000.
This one was given out in england.
My Uncle was born just before d-day, so they were worried that there was gonna be some type of chemical attack, so they gave it to my grandmother for my Uncle.
Okay.
Yeah, it must have been extremely scary, living at a time when you needed one of these things in your house.
The pamphlet here says that if you leave your house, you will be killed.
Okay.
I've seen plenty of gas masks before, but I've never seen one made for a baby.
I know they handed out gas masks all over england during world war ii.
But I just can't imagine being a parent and having to put my child in this thing.
It's just really bizarre.
I mean, I just can't imagine taking a baby and throwing it in this thing and well, it's not as bad as it sounds.
You actually put the baby up inside, and you cinch it closed with this, and then you can pump the filter.
I mean, quite frankly, this is the only one I've ever seen, and I know nothing about it.
They're extremely valuable.
Okay.
Tens of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.
I can guarantee you that's not gonna happen.
But I would like someone to take a look at it.
Hell, right now, I'm just taking your word that it's for a baby.
I'm only looking for $4,000.
Cash.
I'm on my way.
I have a buddy.
He's the curator of the Clark county museum.
I'm gonna have him take a look at it, and I'll get a better idea of what it is and what it's worth, okay? That'd be great.
All right, thanks.
Thanks.
This thing's extremely unique, and sometimes that can mean extremely valuable.
So I'm calling in my buddy mark so he can tell us more about it and how it was used.
Morning.
What do you got? Floyd Patterson fight ticket that took place here in Vegas.
Where in the world did you get this? It was my cousin's.
He's a photographer and a stagehand here in Vegas.
And it's still attached.
He actually missed the fight.
Aw, that's a hell of a fight to miss.
I would say so.
I decided to come to the pawn shop today to try and sell my 1965 muhammad Ali versus Floyd Patterson worker pass ticket with the ticket stub still attached.
I'd like to ask for 1,000, and I might consider 600.
I would take 600 for it.
I love where it says "muhammad Ali" and then "Cassius Clay" in parentheses.
And over here, it just says, "Clay versus Patterson.
" Remember when the fights used to go 15 rounds? The good old days.
Makes it a little rare, too, that it's a worker's pass, not an actual ticket ticket.
It gives them access to walking around the ring and taking pictures.
And it's in pretty good shape, which is pretty amazing.
Authentic Ali boxing stuff is so cool.
And this is a ticket from one of the greatest fights of all time.
It was a 15-round slugfest.
It was an instant classic.
So what did you want to do with this? I'm looking to sell it for $1,000.
It's cool, but it's not that cool.
Well, how cool is it? It's, like, $200 cool.
I was thinking, bottom line, 600.
I'm thinking, top line, 200.
I got to pay to get it framed and everything else, and I might get 400 bucks, 350.
I've sold muhammad Ali gloves for less than 1,000 bucks.
How many worker pass tickets that have a stub still attached from 1965 are out I know, and that's why I'm offering you 200 bucks.
I'm not coming off 200 bucks.
I think my cousin would rather see it in a museum where everybody in Las Vegas could enjoy it that comes through and visits the fights.
Okay, all right.
Well, thanks for bringing it in.
I really appreciate it.
I'm glad I got to see it.
You bet.
I'm disappointed we couldn't make a deal on this.
But the fact is, if I'm not making money on an item, I'm losing money, and I just got to walk away.
This is it.
I mean, it's just scary and creepy to me.
There are certain artifacts that are just appalling just because they have to exist.
It just creeps me out more and more.
This is what I called you about.
All right.
So do you think it's safe to shoot? There is always danger involved.
Fire in the hole! Hey, how's it going? I got this old light here.
It's kind of cool-looking.
Where'd you come across that at? Gotham.
It's obviously the bat signal.
Definitely big enough, huh? This thing is awesome.
I decided to come into the pawn shop today to sell my antique light.
It seems a pretty unique type of a light that I think I can get a few dollars for.
So Where'd you get this at? Cleaned out my grandparents' basement.
They passed away.
Ran across this and figured it's kind of cool-looking.
Maybe I could get some money out of it.
It's got to be old.
It's all brass, I believe, and copper, 'cause it's turning green.
From the style of it, I mean, it looks like the 1930s, maybe.
You know, they used them to light up buildings and stuff.
As a matter of fact, have you ever seen the movie king Kong, where they're using the lights to shine up at him? Oh, yeah, I remember that.
It's the same style of light they used in that.
This light looks like it came right off an early 1900s Hollywood movie set, and anything associated with the golden age of Hollywood is extremely collectible.
How old is it? It looks like it's in great condition.
Yeah, I think it's in pretty good shape.
If we plugged it in, you think it would work? I've never plugged it in.
Should we give it a shot? Yeah, let's plug it in, give it a shot.
It's a rule here in the shop that we've got to see something work before we buy it.
But this thing's so old, it might just blow a fuse.
Ta-da! It's actually pretty nice.
It's got to be worth more now that you see it's working, huh? Not likely.
You want to pawn it or sell it? Well, I'd like to, you know, sell it.
And what are you looking to get out of it, boss? Oh, I'd start at, like, $500.
You're a little out of my league there, man.
I'll give you 100 bucks for it, man.
Oh, pfft! I mean, realistically, man, I mean, it lights up, but no one's gonna use this on a film set.
How about 150? How about 175.
50? Deal.
All right.
Chum, you want to write him up? Sure.
Earlier, a guy brought in a gas mask that he claims is from world war ii and says it's made for a baby.
I know nothing about it, so I called in my buddy mark to take a closer look.
I'm the administrator of the Clark county museum system.
I am intensely curious about history, the real artifacts what they are, how they were used, and what we can learn from them.
Well, you've got an infant gas mask.
Okay, so it is an infant gas mask.
Yes.
It is British.
It is world war ii.
It's dated '39.
By 1939, they had already made over 9 million civilian gas masks in britain.
They were trying to make gas masks for every man, woman, and child on the island.
In 1939, world war ii started.
All sides knew that they had gas.
They had used it in world war I, and this was the great horror weapon that they were worried about having used again.
There were treaties in place that said, "no, we won't do this," but you didn't know for sure, so you had to plan for it.
A place like britain, you're on an island.
It's not going to get off the island, and you can kill everybody there.
So there was a great deal of fear that perhaps gas would be used.
And what do you do with infants? World war ii was a war that involved everyone in the world, not just the people on the battlefield.
What we tend to forget was, the home front was part of the war.
If you were in britain, you were part of the war.
Because it's an infant, you'd have to pump air in there for the infant.
They could hold everything while still pumping.
I mean, it's just scary and creepy to me.
You know what I mean? There are certain artifacts that are just appalling just because they have to exist.
The fact that somebody had to sit down and say, "okay, if they're going to drop gas on us, how are we going to keep infants alive?" The idea of getting your infant into a gas mask like this, it would have been the most frightening thing to ever run into.
But it was at least an option that you had just in case.
It's one of those things.
It's horrible that it had to exist.
It's wonderful that it only exists as a brand-new piece that was never used.
Okay.
Thanks for coming in, mark.
Not a problem.
Thanks a lot, Rick.
Good to meet you.
Thank you.
Chumlee, good to see you.
See you next time.
So what do you want for it? I mean, it's definitely different.
I can tell you that.
Somebody might want it.
Someone's probably gonna want it, but You know, it's just, I just don't know how to display this in the store.
You know what I mean? I think I'm gonna pass.
I mean, once I found out more about it, it just creeps me out more and more.
But thanks for bringing it in.
I mean, at least I learned something.
Thanks.
Thanks a lot, man.
Even though this thing has value, I just know when something is gonna be difficult to sell.
And if it's creeping me out, there's a good chance it's gonna be creeping my customers out too.
And I don't think there's anybody out there who wants to put a baby gas mask in their curio cabinet.
Earlier, a guy brought in a homemade bowling ball mortar.
It looks supercool, but I need to know if it's safe to fire, so I called up my buddy Leroy to meet us out at the testing field and check it out.
This is what I called you about.
All right.
An old cohorn.
That's a nice replica.
So what would you like to know, Rick? My major concern is, is this thing safe? 'Cause I can't resell it, I don't want to keep it for myself, I don't want to fire it if it's not.
That's understandable.
I appreciate the safety factor.
I'm an expert in cannons, mortars, and handguns.
When I'm inspecting a mortar, I look for the integrity of the welds, the integrity of the material used in the design.
If they're not constructed properly and welded together correctly, the force of the propellant can separate the components, and that's very dangerous.
Mortars mainly lob.
The trajectory is governed by the elevation plus a powder charge.
The larger the powder charge, the further the trajectory.
So do you think it's safe to shoot? Number one, this is not cast iron.
This is modern steel.
It's ten times stronger than the old casts, they way they were originally made.
I see it's got multiple pass of welds on there.
The components are very strong.
I believe this particular one here weighs about, what, 700 pounds? Yeah, about 700.
I would think that it would be safe.
Okay.
But just like any other firearm ever made, there is always danger involved.
I wouldn't be afraid to fire it, but I'm not gonna fire it.
[Laughs.]
Okay.
Thanks, Leroy.
I appreciate it.
Now that I know it's safe to fire, there's no question.
I want it.
It's one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
I can't wait to load it up.
But before I can do anything, I got to get it for a price that makes sense.
All right, so you want to sell it.
Yeah.
So how much do you want for it? Like I said, I'd like 15,000 for it.
I mean, no, realistically, what do you want for it? Give me an offer over 10.
[Sighs.]
You know, I'll give you 4 grand for it.
No way.
No way.
I wouldn't even take it off the trailer for 4 grand.
I know, but you have to look at my situation.
You know, I got to try and resell this thing.
Right.
And it's gonna sit for a long time.
No, no, no.
No, people do not walk into my store too often going, "hey, dude, do you got a mortar?" Do you know why? 'Cause you don't have one.
Um, 5 grand.
Let's split the difference, 7,500, and run.
I'll do it.
You know you're getting a good deal.
I got to sell this thing! No, 7.
6,500.
Go 7.
Go 7.
I'll go 6,500, and you got to shoot it for me.
All right, you got me.
That's if it fires safely and doesn't blow up.
Sounds good.
Okay.
All right, Corey, chum, unload this thing.
I've wanted to see this thing fire from the moment I saw it.
After he's done setting it up and prepping it, it's showtime.
What do we got here? I have some antique rail road documents, bonds.
Okay.
They've all been paid out, right? Yes.
I decided to come to the pawn shop today 'cause I wanted to sell my antique rail road stock bonds.
They're probably from the 1840s and on.
I think they're really cool just for the lithographs, the art.
The handwriting on them is really unique, and it's different.
Who wouldn't want to collect them? Where'd you come across these at? My husband is a collector.
He's been collecting since he was a little boy.
And I just kind of got involved with it when we got married.
Okay.
They're very collectible due to the fact of the americana, the rail roads, the mines, et cetera.
Plus, they were pieces of art back then.
We have this one from the Michigan central rail road, which everyone in Michigan goes crazy.
Back in the day, banks considered rail roads too risky to loan money to, so they borrowed money from people like you and me with these bonds.
You bought the bond, and after a certain period of time, you got your money back plus interest.
They're the type of paperwork people bought them, stuck them in their desks, went down and got their money for them, got them punched, put them back in the desks.
That's it.
They were never in circulation, like bills.
So what are you trying to do, young lady, pawn these or sell them? I'm actually looking at selling them.
My husband and I, we're moving to Panama.
This is too much paper for us to take along, because Panama is the weather is just gonna ruin these.
I mean, they're all in really good shape.
I mean, I don't see any real damage to any of them.
So give me an idea of what you're looking to get out of them.
Maybe 350, 400.
Two, four, six, eight.
Eight pieces.
These are just the best ones.
I have more.
I just didn't want to bombard you guys with all my documents here.
We're talking 350 for all of them? Yeah, 350 for all of them.
Seriously, 350? Yeah.
My husband and I are moving.
Like I said, I mean, we're not looking to get rich.
It's gonna take me a year to sell them all, but I don't see a problem with that.
Let's go do some paperwork.
Okay.
We just bought 70 bonds for 350 bucks.
That's a great deal for us, because while they won't sell fast, they'll eventually sell for around 1,000 bucks total, which was a pretty good deal for everybody involved.
Thank you.
Earlier, a guy brought in a mortar, so I called in my buddy Leroy to make sure it was safe to fire.
I really didn't get the answer I was looking for, but I told him I'd give him 6,500 bucks if it works, so let's go fire a bowling ball.
And one real important thing is, we don't stand in front of this, because the powder's already in there.
It's fused.
It's ready to go.
Drop it in here.
Ready to rip.
Okay, if this thing fires and don't blow up, 6,500.
Sounds great.
Let's do it.
All right.
Chum, ready to light it? Let's do this.
Do it.
I sure hope chum doesn't screw this up.
Last thing I want is another workman's comp claim.
[Laughs.]
Fire in the hole! [Suspenseful music.]
[music crescendos.]
[music stops.]
Yeah! [All cheering.]
This thing exceeded all expectations.
It's awesome.
I can't wait to show it to the old man.
You got a deal, man.
Thank you so much.
That was great.
All right.
Yeah! All right.
Talk about adding extra security to the shop.
[Laughs.]
[Laughs.]
What the hell do you shoot out of this thing? Bowling balls.
Floyd Patterson fight ticket.
This is a ticket from one of the greatest fights of all time.
Incredibly rare.
[Bell dings.]
I have a world war ii baby gas mask.
I mean, I just can't imagine throwing a baby in this thing.
The pamphlet here says if you leave your house, you will be killed.
I'm Rick Harrison, and this is my pawn shop.
I work here with my old man and my son, big hoss.
Everything in here has a story and a price.
One thing I've learned after 21 years, you never know what is gonna come through that door.
This is gonna be a good time right here.
Where in the world did you get this? Actually, I built it.
You built it? What the hell do you shoot out of this thing? Bowling balls.
[Laughter.]
I decided to come to the pawn shop today to see if I could sell my bowling ball mortar.
I built several mortars over the years, and I'm usually pretty accurate with this.
We've hit targets anywhere from 100 yards up to 815 yards away.
It's worth around $15,000 to $20,000, and that's what I'm willing to take.
You built this yourself? Have you fired it? Yes, we've fired it about ten times now.
Have you built these things before? We've made several of them, various sizes.
We compete with them throughout the west.
We go to anywhere from five to ten competitions each year.
I mean, it looks like a It looks like a Cannon to me.
A Cannon fires into something.
A mortar lobs into something.
So if you've got a big castle you're trying to get into or a fort or something like that, you could lob these over the edge of it, and they just destroy things, any rooftops inside.
They would keep on going until they hit the bottom floor, plain and simple.
Mortars have been around for hundreds of years.
They revolutionized warfare.
It was hard enough defending against a regular Cannon.
Now they had to defend themselves against 100-pound balls falling out of the sky.
What did you build it out of? We built it out of a heavy sleeve.
It's about two inches thick.
It's a military-grade oxygen tank that we cut.
We inverted that.
We put our powder chamber in there.
It's about six inches long or so.
But the bottom's an oxygen tank.
It's a military-grade half-inch-thick oxygen tank.
And that's supposed to handle all the pressures and everything? Yes, sir.
I mean, it just concerns me, having that oxygen tank back there.
I mean, you got the barrel that's two inches thick, but you got the you know, the back of the bore, which takes all the pressure, at only half an inch.
If you don't have the correct metal and the correct design and the correct welding, this mortar is not a mortar anymore.
It's a giant pipe bomb, and I'm not going to be near this thing when he lights it off.
What do you want to do with it? Sell it.
Why would you want to sell it? 'Cause I have several of them.
I build them and shoot them and sell them and compete with them.
How much do you want for it? I'd like $15,000.
[Exhales.]
I mean, I'm interested in it.
I think I might be able to do something with it.
Before I even want to talk about buying it, though, I want my buddy to check it out, maybe shoot it, and maybe we can do some business.
That sound good.
All right, sounds like a plan.
This thing looks awesome.
There's a big group of mortar enthusiasts here in Las Vegas I think I could sell this to.
The only question is, will this thing blow up in my face? What do you got here? I have a world war ii baby gas mask.
Hey, Rick, come here.
What in the world do we have here? We have a baby gas mask.
Must be really stinky poo.
[Baby crying.]
I decided to come to the pawn shop today to try to sell my baby gas mask from world war ii.
The gas mask is from 1939.
It's in very good condition, and it has the original box and the paperwork along with the gas mask.
I spoke to a museum that said it might be worth up to $5,000, so I was thinking maybe I'll cut them a break and sell it to them for 4,000.
This one was given out in england.
My Uncle was born just before d-day, so they were worried that there was gonna be some type of chemical attack, so they gave it to my grandmother for my Uncle.
Okay.
Yeah, it must have been extremely scary, living at a time when you needed one of these things in your house.
The pamphlet here says that if you leave your house, you will be killed.
Okay.
I've seen plenty of gas masks before, but I've never seen one made for a baby.
I know they handed out gas masks all over england during world war ii.
But I just can't imagine being a parent and having to put my child in this thing.
It's just really bizarre.
I mean, I just can't imagine taking a baby and throwing it in this thing and well, it's not as bad as it sounds.
You actually put the baby up inside, and you cinch it closed with this, and then you can pump the filter.
I mean, quite frankly, this is the only one I've ever seen, and I know nothing about it.
They're extremely valuable.
Okay.
Tens of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.
I can guarantee you that's not gonna happen.
But I would like someone to take a look at it.
Hell, right now, I'm just taking your word that it's for a baby.
I'm only looking for $4,000.
Cash.
I'm on my way.
I have a buddy.
He's the curator of the Clark county museum.
I'm gonna have him take a look at it, and I'll get a better idea of what it is and what it's worth, okay? That'd be great.
All right, thanks.
Thanks.
This thing's extremely unique, and sometimes that can mean extremely valuable.
So I'm calling in my buddy mark so he can tell us more about it and how it was used.
Morning.
What do you got? Floyd Patterson fight ticket that took place here in Vegas.
Where in the world did you get this? It was my cousin's.
He's a photographer and a stagehand here in Vegas.
And it's still attached.
He actually missed the fight.
Aw, that's a hell of a fight to miss.
I would say so.
I decided to come to the pawn shop today to try and sell my 1965 muhammad Ali versus Floyd Patterson worker pass ticket with the ticket stub still attached.
I'd like to ask for 1,000, and I might consider 600.
I would take 600 for it.
I love where it says "muhammad Ali" and then "Cassius Clay" in parentheses.
And over here, it just says, "Clay versus Patterson.
" Remember when the fights used to go 15 rounds? The good old days.
Makes it a little rare, too, that it's a worker's pass, not an actual ticket ticket.
It gives them access to walking around the ring and taking pictures.
And it's in pretty good shape, which is pretty amazing.
Authentic Ali boxing stuff is so cool.
And this is a ticket from one of the greatest fights of all time.
It was a 15-round slugfest.
It was an instant classic.
So what did you want to do with this? I'm looking to sell it for $1,000.
It's cool, but it's not that cool.
Well, how cool is it? It's, like, $200 cool.
I was thinking, bottom line, 600.
I'm thinking, top line, 200.
I got to pay to get it framed and everything else, and I might get 400 bucks, 350.
I've sold muhammad Ali gloves for less than 1,000 bucks.
How many worker pass tickets that have a stub still attached from 1965 are out I know, and that's why I'm offering you 200 bucks.
I'm not coming off 200 bucks.
I think my cousin would rather see it in a museum where everybody in Las Vegas could enjoy it that comes through and visits the fights.
Okay, all right.
Well, thanks for bringing it in.
I really appreciate it.
I'm glad I got to see it.
You bet.
I'm disappointed we couldn't make a deal on this.
But the fact is, if I'm not making money on an item, I'm losing money, and I just got to walk away.
This is it.
I mean, it's just scary and creepy to me.
There are certain artifacts that are just appalling just because they have to exist.
It just creeps me out more and more.
This is what I called you about.
All right.
So do you think it's safe to shoot? There is always danger involved.
Fire in the hole! Hey, how's it going? I got this old light here.
It's kind of cool-looking.
Where'd you come across that at? Gotham.
It's obviously the bat signal.
Definitely big enough, huh? This thing is awesome.
I decided to come into the pawn shop today to sell my antique light.
It seems a pretty unique type of a light that I think I can get a few dollars for.
So Where'd you get this at? Cleaned out my grandparents' basement.
They passed away.
Ran across this and figured it's kind of cool-looking.
Maybe I could get some money out of it.
It's got to be old.
It's all brass, I believe, and copper, 'cause it's turning green.
From the style of it, I mean, it looks like the 1930s, maybe.
You know, they used them to light up buildings and stuff.
As a matter of fact, have you ever seen the movie king Kong, where they're using the lights to shine up at him? Oh, yeah, I remember that.
It's the same style of light they used in that.
This light looks like it came right off an early 1900s Hollywood movie set, and anything associated with the golden age of Hollywood is extremely collectible.
How old is it? It looks like it's in great condition.
Yeah, I think it's in pretty good shape.
If we plugged it in, you think it would work? I've never plugged it in.
Should we give it a shot? Yeah, let's plug it in, give it a shot.
It's a rule here in the shop that we've got to see something work before we buy it.
But this thing's so old, it might just blow a fuse.
Ta-da! It's actually pretty nice.
It's got to be worth more now that you see it's working, huh? Not likely.
You want to pawn it or sell it? Well, I'd like to, you know, sell it.
And what are you looking to get out of it, boss? Oh, I'd start at, like, $500.
You're a little out of my league there, man.
I'll give you 100 bucks for it, man.
Oh, pfft! I mean, realistically, man, I mean, it lights up, but no one's gonna use this on a film set.
How about 150? How about 175.
50? Deal.
All right.
Chum, you want to write him up? Sure.
Earlier, a guy brought in a gas mask that he claims is from world war ii and says it's made for a baby.
I know nothing about it, so I called in my buddy mark to take a closer look.
I'm the administrator of the Clark county museum system.
I am intensely curious about history, the real artifacts what they are, how they were used, and what we can learn from them.
Well, you've got an infant gas mask.
Okay, so it is an infant gas mask.
Yes.
It is British.
It is world war ii.
It's dated '39.
By 1939, they had already made over 9 million civilian gas masks in britain.
They were trying to make gas masks for every man, woman, and child on the island.
In 1939, world war ii started.
All sides knew that they had gas.
They had used it in world war I, and this was the great horror weapon that they were worried about having used again.
There were treaties in place that said, "no, we won't do this," but you didn't know for sure, so you had to plan for it.
A place like britain, you're on an island.
It's not going to get off the island, and you can kill everybody there.
So there was a great deal of fear that perhaps gas would be used.
And what do you do with infants? World war ii was a war that involved everyone in the world, not just the people on the battlefield.
What we tend to forget was, the home front was part of the war.
If you were in britain, you were part of the war.
Because it's an infant, you'd have to pump air in there for the infant.
They could hold everything while still pumping.
I mean, it's just scary and creepy to me.
You know what I mean? There are certain artifacts that are just appalling just because they have to exist.
The fact that somebody had to sit down and say, "okay, if they're going to drop gas on us, how are we going to keep infants alive?" The idea of getting your infant into a gas mask like this, it would have been the most frightening thing to ever run into.
But it was at least an option that you had just in case.
It's one of those things.
It's horrible that it had to exist.
It's wonderful that it only exists as a brand-new piece that was never used.
Okay.
Thanks for coming in, mark.
Not a problem.
Thanks a lot, Rick.
Good to meet you.
Thank you.
Chumlee, good to see you.
See you next time.
So what do you want for it? I mean, it's definitely different.
I can tell you that.
Somebody might want it.
Someone's probably gonna want it, but You know, it's just, I just don't know how to display this in the store.
You know what I mean? I think I'm gonna pass.
I mean, once I found out more about it, it just creeps me out more and more.
But thanks for bringing it in.
I mean, at least I learned something.
Thanks.
Thanks a lot, man.
Even though this thing has value, I just know when something is gonna be difficult to sell.
And if it's creeping me out, there's a good chance it's gonna be creeping my customers out too.
And I don't think there's anybody out there who wants to put a baby gas mask in their curio cabinet.
Earlier, a guy brought in a homemade bowling ball mortar.
It looks supercool, but I need to know if it's safe to fire, so I called up my buddy Leroy to meet us out at the testing field and check it out.
This is what I called you about.
All right.
An old cohorn.
That's a nice replica.
So what would you like to know, Rick? My major concern is, is this thing safe? 'Cause I can't resell it, I don't want to keep it for myself, I don't want to fire it if it's not.
That's understandable.
I appreciate the safety factor.
I'm an expert in cannons, mortars, and handguns.
When I'm inspecting a mortar, I look for the integrity of the welds, the integrity of the material used in the design.
If they're not constructed properly and welded together correctly, the force of the propellant can separate the components, and that's very dangerous.
Mortars mainly lob.
The trajectory is governed by the elevation plus a powder charge.
The larger the powder charge, the further the trajectory.
So do you think it's safe to shoot? Number one, this is not cast iron.
This is modern steel.
It's ten times stronger than the old casts, they way they were originally made.
I see it's got multiple pass of welds on there.
The components are very strong.
I believe this particular one here weighs about, what, 700 pounds? Yeah, about 700.
I would think that it would be safe.
Okay.
But just like any other firearm ever made, there is always danger involved.
I wouldn't be afraid to fire it, but I'm not gonna fire it.
[Laughs.]
Okay.
Thanks, Leroy.
I appreciate it.
Now that I know it's safe to fire, there's no question.
I want it.
It's one of the coolest things I've ever seen.
I can't wait to load it up.
But before I can do anything, I got to get it for a price that makes sense.
All right, so you want to sell it.
Yeah.
So how much do you want for it? Like I said, I'd like 15,000 for it.
I mean, no, realistically, what do you want for it? Give me an offer over 10.
[Sighs.]
You know, I'll give you 4 grand for it.
No way.
No way.
I wouldn't even take it off the trailer for 4 grand.
I know, but you have to look at my situation.
You know, I got to try and resell this thing.
Right.
And it's gonna sit for a long time.
No, no, no.
No, people do not walk into my store too often going, "hey, dude, do you got a mortar?" Do you know why? 'Cause you don't have one.
Um, 5 grand.
Let's split the difference, 7,500, and run.
I'll do it.
You know you're getting a good deal.
I got to sell this thing! No, 7.
6,500.
Go 7.
Go 7.
I'll go 6,500, and you got to shoot it for me.
All right, you got me.
That's if it fires safely and doesn't blow up.
Sounds good.
Okay.
All right, Corey, chum, unload this thing.
I've wanted to see this thing fire from the moment I saw it.
After he's done setting it up and prepping it, it's showtime.
What do we got here? I have some antique rail road documents, bonds.
Okay.
They've all been paid out, right? Yes.
I decided to come to the pawn shop today 'cause I wanted to sell my antique rail road stock bonds.
They're probably from the 1840s and on.
I think they're really cool just for the lithographs, the art.
The handwriting on them is really unique, and it's different.
Who wouldn't want to collect them? Where'd you come across these at? My husband is a collector.
He's been collecting since he was a little boy.
And I just kind of got involved with it when we got married.
Okay.
They're very collectible due to the fact of the americana, the rail roads, the mines, et cetera.
Plus, they were pieces of art back then.
We have this one from the Michigan central rail road, which everyone in Michigan goes crazy.
Back in the day, banks considered rail roads too risky to loan money to, so they borrowed money from people like you and me with these bonds.
You bought the bond, and after a certain period of time, you got your money back plus interest.
They're the type of paperwork people bought them, stuck them in their desks, went down and got their money for them, got them punched, put them back in the desks.
That's it.
They were never in circulation, like bills.
So what are you trying to do, young lady, pawn these or sell them? I'm actually looking at selling them.
My husband and I, we're moving to Panama.
This is too much paper for us to take along, because Panama is the weather is just gonna ruin these.
I mean, they're all in really good shape.
I mean, I don't see any real damage to any of them.
So give me an idea of what you're looking to get out of them.
Maybe 350, 400.
Two, four, six, eight.
Eight pieces.
These are just the best ones.
I have more.
I just didn't want to bombard you guys with all my documents here.
We're talking 350 for all of them? Yeah, 350 for all of them.
Seriously, 350? Yeah.
My husband and I are moving.
Like I said, I mean, we're not looking to get rich.
It's gonna take me a year to sell them all, but I don't see a problem with that.
Let's go do some paperwork.
Okay.
We just bought 70 bonds for 350 bucks.
That's a great deal for us, because while they won't sell fast, they'll eventually sell for around 1,000 bucks total, which was a pretty good deal for everybody involved.
Thank you.
Earlier, a guy brought in a mortar, so I called in my buddy Leroy to make sure it was safe to fire.
I really didn't get the answer I was looking for, but I told him I'd give him 6,500 bucks if it works, so let's go fire a bowling ball.
And one real important thing is, we don't stand in front of this, because the powder's already in there.
It's fused.
It's ready to go.
Drop it in here.
Ready to rip.
Okay, if this thing fires and don't blow up, 6,500.
Sounds great.
Let's do it.
All right.
Chum, ready to light it? Let's do this.
Do it.
I sure hope chum doesn't screw this up.
Last thing I want is another workman's comp claim.
[Laughs.]
Fire in the hole! [Suspenseful music.]
[music crescendos.]
[music stops.]
Yeah! [All cheering.]
This thing exceeded all expectations.
It's awesome.
I can't wait to show it to the old man.
You got a deal, man.
Thank you so much.
That was great.
All right.
Yeah! All right.
Talk about adding extra security to the shop.
[Laughs.]
[Laughs.]