I’ll miss PBS after Drumpf and the TGOP get rid of it. Still, maybe there are enough private donors to save it. Only issue is one of those private donors are the “COCK” Koch brothers and you know that money has conditions on it.
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Did anybody watch that antiquing show with Fred Willard? Market Warriors?
Random observations comparing the American an German versions of the show:
Antiques Roadshow is much more into high value items. On our version even many items that get positive reactions and lengthy explanations are only valued in the triple digits. There were only a handful of six-figure items ever.
It is a reminder that all forms of organized collecting are a much bigger deal in America.
Approximately half of all American antiques were created by one Tiffany or the other.
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Ha… antiques roadshow is a thing in the states? Good grief. I thought it was a quintessential, sunday night british thing that americans would look at with quaint bemusement.
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Watch them get the magnets too close to the watch and screw up its timing.
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The older gentleman’s reaction was very sweet, definitely very happy for him to get good news like that
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It’s a good article. As I have streamed about 40 shows in succession, I think it works because it hits people a lot of levels:
- Sentimental: The poor person whose financial situation is redeemed with an item he or she doesn’t value that much but someone else does
- Numbers buff: For the person who appreciates the bottom line, is a numbers junky, that valuation is the final say
- Human interest: Stories by people about their dead loves ones who did something special like were famous sports stars or artists
- History lesson: Little mini history lessons with the interesting object as the spark of the story and a good storyteller crafting the narrative
- Comfort food: It’s such a calming show to watch. Always a Civil War piece, always a nice piece of jewelry, always a local interest object, always the same format to the story around the object - what’s this thing? little lesson on it by the appraiser. Bottom line reveal. Surprised reaction by the object holder. Then there’s those cute people at the end who have junk but had a great time.
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I haven’t seen that much of Antiques Roadshow and most of that was in the form of single item Youtube clips. Do they never show negatives in the main segments?
Usually there is that 1 person who got duped thinking they scored big at a yard sale but then it turned out NOT to be an original Whatsamajaobber but a clever fake. I always feel bad for that person, but kind of secretly happy because all they cared about was the money.
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My favorite appraisal was for a Civil War era sword. The appraiser points out some details while it is on the table. When he says “Now let’s put on white gloves,” the owner’s expression is a priceless “WTF?” Appraiser goes on to show more details and gives something like a $50,000 appraisal. The owner’s response (maybe it was after the gloves): “We just used it as kids for cutting watermelons.”
Hmmm. A watermelon sword would be cool.
Second favorite was an appraisal for a piece of furniture. $400,000 or thereabout … if you hadn’t cleaned it. The owner had cleaned it to bring in, knocking off half the value.
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Oh nos! Cleaning is the worst! I always feel terrible for the people who clean their stuff.
I have not seen the sword appraisal. That sounds great.
I once had a flea market find print that reasonably could have been a valuable thing. I had several serious appraisers look at it and try to figure out if it was like super valuable or junk. In the end it turned out to be not valuable (or as they nicely put it “decorative value”), but it was a lot of fun to interact with that world and be taken seriously. The chi chi places I had to go to were really intimidating, but the appraisers were so knowledgeable and kind.
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This is pretty much all you need to know about the BBC version:
(Bad Machinery, John Allison)
(And also from the link:
Today’s comic recalls the day that the BBC Antiques Roadshow came to Tackleford Air Museum in 2008. The high point of the broadcast came when Hamilton Percy showed off a collection of his mother’s letters to President Eisenhower. Priceless, but of course she’d never part with them.
)
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Obligatory:
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My mother is always giving me priceless antiques that she’s restored to like-new condition. Including a civil war sword, a colonial American coin scale, etc., etc., etc… I guess I’m just as bad, though. I have an Indian blanket that’s probably a hundred years old or older, but before I knew they were valuable I took it camping for decades. It’s covered with grease spots, candlewax and mudstains.
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Who were you camping with, spirit mediums with leaky crankcases?
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This is my Mum, God rest her, giving David Battie as good as she gets…
It’s a good box. I’m thinking of making us all 3D copies.
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Not only is it a thing in the states, but we can also watch episodes of the the British version of it, too. And we’ve even copied your baking competition show, as well. But we draw the line at the show about the dogs herding sheep while the man whistles on the sidelines. That’s all you.
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The two best things on AR-
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The poor fellow whose old unwanted junk turns out to be worth a fortune.
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The rich folks who are all smug about how much they think they ripped off the antiques dealer they bought it from, and find out it’s an obvious reproduction worth next to nothing.
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This is exactly why I kept all the paperwork for my Nest Cam.
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