June 2013 - Idaho Public Television

idahoptv.org
Dan Popkey: 377‐6438, Twitter: @IDS_politics
GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT
PAGE 20
Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/06/30/2637326/antiques‐roadshow‐summonstribe.html#storylink=cpy
HISTORY OF ‘ANTIQUES ROADSHOW’
“Antiques Roadshow” is taping its 18th season this summer, with stops in Boise, Detroit, Jacksonville, Fla.,
Anaheim, Calif., Knoxville, Tenn., Baton Rouge, La., Kansas City, Mo., and Richmond, Va.
Originated by the BBC in the United Kingdom, the show is licensed in the U.S. to WGBH in Boston and airs
Mondays on PBS. With 10 million viewers, it is the top‐rated ongoing primetime PBS show and has garnered 10
Emmy Award nominations in the reality category. Sponsors are Liberty Mutual Insurance and Subaru, which had a
1968 Subaru 360 on hand at Idaho Expo, the first model it exported to the United States.
Host Mark Walberg said high value in some items is flashy, but that the tales of their acquisition are just as
important.
“The entree to watching our show may be waiting to see that little ‘brrrring’ across the screen to see if the person
is rich, and, therefore, I could be rich from finding something in my garage,” Walberg said. “But the reason people
stay with the show is still story. We tie objects and people’s lives and families to moments in history.”
More than 1 million appraisals have been conducted at Roadshow events since 1996, and more than 4,400 have
aired. About 550,000 people have attended. The show’s highest appraisal ever: $1.5 million.
THE PEOPLE, THEIR TREASURES AND THEIR STORIES
Among the items at Roadshow’s Idaho taping were four brought by politicians. Sen. Jim Risch brought a pocket
watch carried by his grandfather, William August Risch, a Milwaukee police officer. Gold plated, it was one of
millions manufactured in Elgin, Ill. Risch said the appraisal didn’t matter, but learning that the timepiece was from
the 1880s did. “It was $150 or $250, I don’t really remember. It’s absolutely priceless to me.”
Risch’s other item: A cut‐glass bowl that his Irish grandmother always kept full of hard candy. “I remember that
from when I was about 3 years old. These are things from way back in my life.”
Lt. Gov. Brad Little brought a loving cup won by Payette fruit growers at a National Irrigation Congress. Owned by
the state Historical Society, the object was appraised at about $100,000.
Little also brought a ceramic sheep from the family’s ranch office in Emmett. The appraiser settled a dispute with
Little’s wife, Teresa, who’d been told the item was used to strike matches and light cigars or pipes. “They said it
was a flower vase, so now the story’s going to change,” Little said.
The vase appraised at $75.
Laura, of Boise, brought silver items from her husband’s side of the family, which left Britain for Australia in the
1820s.
A dessert serving set made by Queen Victoria’s silvermaker was appraised at $1,600 retail. Laura learned what the
oversized, gold‐plated spoons were for: dipping berries.