If you possess a love and fascination with antiques, crafts or collectibles, and you spend your time gathering these old items from rummage sales, antique shops or your own attic, then you will love antique roadshows.
This show started out in the United Kingdom in 1979, and was a group of appraisers that specialized in different areas of antiques and collectibles. The appraisers would travel to different locations and invite ordinary people to come to the show with any items they believed could be of value. A handful of people would be chosen to appear on the show with their items, and the specialist would tell them how much they were worth, or if the items were worthless.
Antique road shows became popular very quickly, and spread to many other countries. The show is one hour long, and the hosts add a cultural element to the show by describing and explaining the history of the items, which adds a sense of understanding and interest for viewers. Usually if an item has no value, the appraisal will not be shown on television, to spare the owner the embarrassment and frustration. However, if the worthless item has an interesting background story, or if the origin of the item is relevant to the location, where they are filming the show, then they will be featured on the show.
Sometimes a local person might bring in an item that they believe is very rare, and worth a great deal. If the appraiser discovers that the item is in fact a counterfeit, and not worth anything, they may invite the owner to be on the program anyway, so the expert can explain the difference between the counterfeit and the real thing.
Some people have been collecting antiques for years, and it does not matter if you are an avid collector, or if you have a random collection of unusual items, you can bring anything to be appraised. You can bring paintings, jewelry, photography, furniture, clothing, toys, blankets, and anything else that has been sitting around your house.
There have also been a few odd things brought to the show for valuation, such as locks of hair, a potato that looks like Richard Nixon and even stuffed roadkill. So, the reaction to the appraisal can go both ways, some people think they have something great and it ends up being worthless, and others think they have something worthless and it ends up being great.
After the valuation, the owner can decide what they want to do with their item if it has a high appraisal value. The owner can be given a sense of urgency for having the item insured, and given an idea of how much insurance they should have. Sometimes the owner may decide to sell at auction, or donate a historical item to a museum or library. There are also cases where the antique may have been stolen and needs to be returned to the rightful owner, which just adds another layer of interest to the show.
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