Name/Title
Letter and Newspaper ArticleDescription
Letter send to Mr. Chuck Goebel
Dear Chuck,
Thanks for the phone call informing us about Pete Barkely. he brings back some great memories. It shows how fat time really goes.
I said I would send on article about John, but I can't find the one I was going to send, so this one will have to do. He stays very busy and I think it probably wears on him a little, but he sure enjoys it!
We hope to have everyone here for Thanksgiving if it w3ill work out. Pat got a great promotion this year. He is now plant manager of the plant and the best part is he didn't have to move! That was good for his girls who are no15 and 12. They've moved so much. It is thier largest plant so it was a nice step up.
Tight now everything is going well Tom is fine and as you know, still traveling. Doesn't seem to mind it however. Even Aunt Mary is doing extremely well. Especially at 92. I think she may outlive us all.
Hope you and your family are great. It sounds like you have a perfect set-up.
Love to All
Lois & Tom
Hidden Treasures Hit Home from the USA Today August 27, 1999
Hidden treasures hit home with TV viewers
Antiques shows untangle history behind beloved, often pricey collectibles
By Dennis Hunt Special for USA TODAY
Pinning a price on a knickknack doesn't sound like it makes for the sexiest TV, but the process thrills the millions hooked on appraisal shows.
The informative mini-dramas are so addictive that the weekly Antiques Roadshow, an hour's worth of appraisals airing Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT (times may vary), is PBS' No. 1 show in prime time.
Cable's Home & Garden Television offers three half-hour appraisal shows that repeat throughout the week — At the Auction, Appraisal Fair and Appraise It! — and another, Collectible Treasures, full of information about collecting. Pax TV boarded the appraisal bandwagon three weeks ago with its new Treasures in Your Home (weekdays, 7 p.m. ET/PT) --
Leslie Hindman, who hosts At the Auction and Appraisal Fair, speculates that the bulk of the genre's audience is in the 30 to 50 age range, and about three-fourths female.
The appraisal process is simple: The owner of a potentially valuable collectible, such as a painting or a doll, details the item's background to an appraiser, who explains what it's worth and why.
The verdict can lead to ecstasy — in one case, a man on Antiques Roadshow did a victory dance when he found out the old dining chair he bought for $20 at a garage sale was worth $3,000. But these price-tagging tales can go either way. A woman on Appraisal Fair was crestfallen to learn that her coveted carved chair, which she thought circa 1850s, really dates only to the 1960s.
"They're like little mysteries, little cliffhangers — you never know how they're going to turn out," says Aida Moreno, executive producer of Antiques Roadshow. "The appraiser is like the detective."
The potential that some ordinary person can strike it rich is another big audience lure. "If some piece turns out to be worth a small fortune, it's like winning the lottery," Hindman says. "People like to see it happen to other people, and they like to think it may happen to them.
Many viewers have something old at home that they figure might be valuable, says Larry Ferber, executive producer of Treasures. "They see a chair on one of these shows that's worth a few thousand dollars and they say, 'I have one just like that.' "
Part of the entertainment value of the appraisals is the story the owner has to tell. "If you just show a rug and an appraiser says it's worth $4,000, that's no fun for the viewers," Moreno says. "But when the owner has an interesting background story for the item, that's fun."
A more practical aspect of the appraisal shows' appeal: "They're valuable sources of information. You can find out how to tell fakes from the real thing," says Treasures' Ferber. "When an appraiser is explaining why an item is worth 'X' amount, it's a little. history lesson."
The king of the genre is England's Antiques Roadshow, a BBC production now in its 22nd year and seen on some PBS stations. It served as a model for the American version, which started at WGBH in Boston and -went national in 1997. But the first appraisal show to hit it big in the USA was Personal FX, which ran 1994-98 on FX and was hosted by John Burke, who's now hosting Treasures.
The boom in appraisal shows is rooted in the Internet explosion, says David Maloney, a Frederick, Md.-based appraiser who has appeared on Treasures.
"People are on line finding out what things are worth and also doing their own buying and selling," he says, citing the influence of auction sites such as eBay. "Since the Internet became popular, everybody thinks they're a dealer. ... The Internet has increased interest in antiques and collectibles, which in turn has increased interest in appraisals and TV shows that feature appraisals."
Traditionally, these shows have steered clear of selling, but Treasures, looking to lure on-line fans, encourages viewers to click on to the show's Web site (www.treasuresinyourhome.com) to bid on appraised items that owners are willing to part with.
Predicts Maloney: "For appraisal shows, this could be the wave of the future."
Caption Under Photo One Second Column:[ Antiques Roadshow': Leigh Keno inspects a Duncan Phyfe sewing table — value $100,000.]
Caption Under Second Photo Column 2:[Veteran host John Burke hosts the 3-week-old appraisal show 'Treasures in Your Home.']
Caption Under Large Photo:[Only in it for the money? Gary Sohmers looks at a rescued Frank Zappa original, valued at $15,000 to $25,000, on 'Antiques Roadshow.'Acquisition
Accession
2009.0500Source or Donor
Found in collection.Acquisition Method
Bequest,Collected by
