Behind the Scenes at 'The Antiques Roadshow'
January 05, 2015
Michael Osacky
World-class Sports Memorabilia Appraiser
Nearly 10 million people will tune in to watch the season 19 premiere of Antiques Roadshow on PBS, January 5, 2015. Americans have voyeuristic tendencies and love to see what others have buried in their attics, basements and garages. These curiosity instincts were running rampant when I visited the July 2014 taping of Antiques Roadshow in Chicago. Thousands of fans travelled distances long and far, dry and wet to find out if grandma’s treasure is worth the gas money to attend the taping in Chicago.
Eight cities were visited during the summer of 2014; all of which will be aired in 2015. There are rules regarding how frequently the roadshow can visit a specific city. More importantly, the venue has to have a minimum of 80,000 square feet to accommodate the 1,400 objects per hour across 20 different categories. (Clocks/Watches, Decorative Arts, Musical Instruments, Paintings and many more)
As I walked into the venue at the McCormick Place, men and women both young and old were scurrying to the entrance of Antiques Roadshow as if money was dropping from the sky. “This is structured chaos,” says Kate Hathaway Weeks, Publicist for Antiques Roadshow and my chaperone for the day. As I furrow my eyebrow to Kate, it is clear that this type of behavior is normal.
The over 100 smiling volunteers in each city make sure every attendee has a smooth and memorable experience. Before your item anxiously awaits its verdict, it gets looked at by a “triage” specialist. This highly skilled generalist denotes what category/table each item needs to be inspected by. You might think that the “collectibles” appraiser should appraise your vintage Pressteel toy. However, the Toy and Games appraiser is probably a better fit. Triage does not provide advice or provide opinions on authenticity. The triage line moves pretty quickly yet some people were clearly enjoying the line. Heads were spinning as if on a swivel to see what hidden gems were within reaching distance. Many conversations could be heard asking what something was and how the antique was obtained. The stories behind some items were absolutely unique, and it is equally impressive how 100-year-old gems have been dutifully preserved.
After triage, you are whisked into the appropriate line as per the triage specialist. Some lines are longer than others based on several factors—geographic region, time of day, number of appraisers, etc. The appraisers get to the venue around 7 a.m. each day and sometimes don’t finish until 10 p.m. Tickets are always free thanks to the generous sponsors of Liberty Mutual and Subaru. However, you must register months in advance and not every registrant will be randomly chosen. Regardless of time of day, every person who attends the show will have his/her item(s) appraised by the appropriate appraiser(s). “We stay until every last person has an appraisal,” says Weeks.
“Each taping is unscripted and nothing is pre-planned,” says Executive Producer of 15 years Marsha Bemko. If something catches the appraiser’s eye, he/she will immediately flag Marsha or another producer on staff. The appraiser will then have to “pitch” why millions of people will want to see/hear about the object history and story.
As the day was winding down, I wanted to find out the most unique story of the day. A woman who purchased some clothing in London during the 1960s was in Chicago to have these items appraised. The Beatles owned a clothing store in the UK for only seven months. It abruptly closed because the employees were stealing items from their beloved band. John Lennon and Paul McCartney didn’t want to confront the employees about the theft so they shuttered the store. The woman still had the clothing she purchased 50 years ago. She remembered paying $500 for four outfits. Two of the outfits still have the price tags on them. Those outfits were appraised between $15,000-$17000.
Many of us reading this column have something that was either passed down from a previous generation, something we purchased at a flea market/auction years ago, or given to us by a friend/neighbor. Wouldn’t it be great to know the true value?
Tune in to PBS in 2015 to find out what your item might be worth. Even if you don’t have any buried treasures you will enjoy learning the history behind each item.