{"id":2426,"date":"2022-07-02T19:42:19","date_gmt":"2022-07-02T19:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/?p=2426"},"modified":"2022-07-03T17:00:03","modified_gmt":"2022-07-03T17:00:03","slug":"fans-take-to-the-roadshow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/fans-take-to-the-roadshow\/","title":{"rendered":"Fans take to the Roadshow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fame was so close to my grasp.\u00a0 I could smell it.\u00a0 I could taste it.<\/p>\n

Nah, not that kind of fame.\u00a0 You\u2019ll never catch me dancing on TikTok or \u201cinfluencing\u201d millions with culinary wizardry or cat videos.<\/p>\n

My shot at glory seemed much closer to my grasp, and certainly more age-appropriate.<\/p>\n

I longed to be on Antiques Roadshow<\/a>.\u00a0 The PBS TV series that for 25 years has revealed the history and occasionally breathtaking value of unexpected treasures for collectors across America was coming to Nashville, and I got tickets.\u00a0 From there to stardom seemed what Bertie Wooster<\/a> would have called a stone-dead cert, if ever there was one.<\/p>\n

Why so certain?\u00a0 \u00a0For starters, my home is stuffed to the proverbial gills with old things. Most of them flowed down from previous generations of our family like a flooded creek running downhill in early spring<\/a>.\u00a0 Nearly every time a cherished branch of our tree ascended unto heaven, a few meaningful treasures flowed my way.\u00a0 My long-time interior designer once described my decorating style as \u201cinherited\u201d.\u00a0 I love having and using things that belonged to people I adored.\u00a0 Surely it was just a matter of looking around the house with a keen eye, selecting the right item to stun the appraisers and make me famous.<\/p>\n

And wouldn\u2019t Karma dictate that Super Fan status counts for something?\u00a0 Across those 25 years of airtime, I doubt I\u2019ve missed a single episode of the Roadshow, gasping in solidarity with the shocked owner of the priceless painting that had been gathering dust in his basement, and so many others.\u00a0 I can re-tell in explicit detail the incident of the long-haired, headband-wearing veteran who literally dropped to the ground in shock—drawing a concerned show staffer hurriedly to his side\u2014when told his Rolex watch, purchased on a sparse military salary four decades earlier, was worth $700,000.<\/p>\n

Why not me?\u00a0 As show taping day approached, the item selection process rose to a crazed pitch. Each ticket holder is allowed to bring only two items, and I paced the house and pondered the available choices.\u00a0 My daughter kindly and patiently agreed to come along on the second ticket. We ultimately agreed that portability was key, given the location and transport options.\u00a0 We settled on small, intriguing items:\u00a0 a tiny rose-gold ladies watch framed by two large, brilliant amber citrines; a finely tooled, tiny leather handbag belonging to my great-grandmother, its original lining and tiny, attached mirror still intact; and two exotic, hand-painted porcelain plates of my grandmother\u2019s.\u00a0 Then there was the piece de resistance:\u00a0 A stunning diamond ring belonging to yet another great-grandmother, set with two enormous, flashing center stones flanked by a dozen smaller ones.\u00a0 I had recently inherited this piece and longed to know more about its age, maybe even the designer and any details on the style and era it represents.<\/p>\n

When you can smell and taste that big moment ahead, proper preparation is key.\u00a0 We chose attire carefully—colorful, but not too bright, stylish but comfortable.\u00a0 As to whether I actually rehearsed my eye-popping shock at the anticipated appraiser\u2019s news, well, I say nothing.<\/p>\n

\"\"

My great-grandmother, Lavinia Sipp Kelley.<\/p><\/div>\n

Regular viewers know that provenance is everything. Searching stored boxes of framed family likenesses (admittedly, we are rather heavy on those, too, and a house only has so many walls), I unearthed Great Grandmother\u2019s tiny, framed portrait.\u00a0 I had relegated her to storage decades before, intimidated by the image of her rather stern countenance. Re-examining the study of her young face, now a grandmother myself, I was stunned to realize how lovely she was.\u00a0 I added to my bag a printed copy of the page in the family bible bearing her name, dates of birth, marriage and death.\u00a0 Now, we were ready.\"\"<\/p>\n

The Roadshow, staged in Nashville with support of WNPT, our local PBS affiliate<\/a>, is a remarkably well-oiled production.\u00a0 Lines were short, but I prolonged our progress by gawking at my longtime TV heroes as we passed them.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been watching so long I\u2019ve seen several turn from brunettes to sporting gray hair. Look!\u00a0 I told my daughter.\u00a0 I can\u2019t think of his name, but there\u2019s the poster guy with the loud plaid pants!\u00a0 And I nearly bumped elbows with another favorite, the New York-talking jewelry expert Kevin Zavian<\/a>, as a producer hustled him toward one of the several camera booths spread across the property.\u00a0 Could the lovely old ring land me in that booth with Kevin later?\u00a0 I inhaled a sharp, quick breath for a nano-second of anticipation.<\/p>\n

Alas, it was not to be.\u00a0 Kevin was nowhere around as we approached the jewelry table.\u00a0 The smiling appraiser we met studied the ring through her loop, complimented it lavishly, identifying the largest stones as cut somewhere between 1890 and the 1930s, consistent with our family history.\u00a0 She speculated that the mounting was newer by a couple of decades, a puzzle given the family tale.\u00a0 Of the style or location of origin, she was unable to speculate.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s gorgeous,\u201d she said, handing it back while delivering an auction estimate considerably below the recent estate appraisal.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d sure wear it and enjoy it.\u201d\u00a0 Oh, I will!\u00a0 I answered brightly.\u00a0 I may have looked out of the corner of one eye to see if any cameras were watching from a distance, or maybe I didn\u2019t; it\u2019s hard to say.<\/p>\n

Could we land on TV with a low-value but interesting item?\u00a0 There were three more chances.\u00a0 Over at the china and porcelain table, the handsome, smiling gentleman examined my grandmother\u2019s plate and delivered immediate specifics. \"\" \u201cThese are Italian, hand-painted,\u201d he began.\u00a0 \u201cThey are very nicely glazed.\u00a0 A huge number of Italian ceramics came into this country immediately after World War II, as that industry survived the war in Italy.\u00a0 I would date them between 1945 and the early 50s, and they are as common as raindrops in April.\u00a0 Probably worth $25 each.\u201d\u00a0 For the plates, my interest in origin and age was greater than any expectation of value, so this information gained him a wide smile in return.\u00a0 (Of course, raindrops in April also don\u2019t earn the eye of the camera.)<\/p>\n

Still, it was big fun to hear the appraisers react to our items.\u00a0 Over at the couture table, appraiser Kathleen Guzman<\/a> was intrigued by our tiny leather handbag, which my other had handed down to my daughter years ago.\u00a0 \u201cThis is beautiful and in great condition,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cI had never seen one of these before, and this is the second one I\u2019ve seen today.\u201d\u00a0 Finally, appraiser Jeff Cohen<\/a> at the watch table examined the tiny rose gold specimen and delivered our surprise of the day.\u00a0 \u201c1940s,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cSwiss movement, though I\u2019m not sure\u00a0\"\"the maker.\u00a0 The citrines are what make this one very desirable.\u00a0 I\u2019d put it in an auction with a pre-sale estimate of $2,000-$3,000.\u201d\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0 Score one on the upside.<\/p>\n

And that was that.\u00a0 We lingered a few minutes watching the cameras record an appraiser discussing a modernist painting, then moved to the line for the bus.\u00a0 Unable to avoid the potential regret of revisiting our item selections, my daughter and I felt immediate kinship with a friendly attendee in line behind us.\u00a0 I asked her if she learned anything interesting about her item. \u00a0\u201cYep,\u201d she grimaced. \u201cI learned I should have brought something else.\u201d<\/p>\n

One final chance for TV stardom emerged as we moved forward in the bus line.\u00a0 The feedback booth, open to any volunteers, languished without many participants on that hot afternoon.\u00a0 Faithful viewers know it as short clips of attendees commenting about their experience at the end of the show.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s do it!\u00a0 I nudged my daughter.\u00a0 Think how your kids would love to see us on TV! We finger-checked our hair, applied lipstick, and stepped before the spotlight. I shared my \u201ccommon as raindrops in April\u201d story, and she held up the precious little handbag for the camera.\u00a0 It\u2019s doubtful we were funny or unusual enough to make the edited show, but we\u2019ll know when it comes out in about six months.<\/p>\n

A disappointing day?\u00a0 Most certainly not.\u00a0 We saw famous people, learned interesting things, and I got a rare chance for a day with my daughter, just the two of us.\u00a0 We went out afterward for Japanese food and plum wine and a great chat about the day.<\/p>\n

After all, isn\u2019t it the rich anticipation of the ultimate outcome that makes the experience so alluring?\u00a0 That\u2019s what draws the player back to the poker table and the punter back to the betting window.\u00a0 From the dusty shelves of thrift stores or the dark recesses of grandparents\u2019 closets to the bright light of the camera and unimagined riches is but a step.\u00a0 Others grabbed the spotlight this time, but in the future, it could always be us.\u00a0 I can feel it.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fame was so close to my grasp.\u00a0 I could smell it.\u00a0 I could taste it. Nah, not that kind of fame.\u00a0 You\u2019ll never catch me dancing on TikTok or \u201cinfluencing\u201d millions with culinary wizardry or cat videos. My shot at glory seemed much closer to my grasp, and certainly more age-appropriate. I longed to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,12],"tags":[225,224,226,117,227],"class_list":["post-2426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humor","category-mid-life-adventures","tag-antiques","tag-antiques-roadshow","tag-family-treasures","tag-nashville","tag-provenance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmachronicles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}