An autographed photo, a family heirloom teapot, a potato shaped like the head of Richard Nixon: Antiques Roadshow is where people put a price on the priceless things we keep. On July 8, the PBS series comes to St. Louis for the first time since 2000 to film segments for three one-hour episodes to air next year. Nearly 5,000 ticketed guests are expected to bring items to be appraised. SLM spoke with host Mark Walberg about the upcoming stop.
St. Louis will be part of your 22nd season for the show. That’s an impressive run. Why do you think the show has resonated so strongly for all these years?
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Well there’s two reasons: The first thing is that everybody hopes they have a priceless treasure that they are unaware of, and so it’s fun to watch other people discover the value of their items. But the bigger thing that gets people to stay longer is that we all have sort of a collective understanding of art, history, science and all that stuff. When we see it on Antiques Roadshow, and you see somebody sharing a personal item that connects with our collective understanding, it becomes more intimate and we can relate to that. …We all know that Pearl Harbor was bombed, and FDR announced that we were entering the war, but when you see a radio cabinet that has a teacup stain on the top that was somebody’s grandmother’s piece, who heard that announcement on the radio, then that piece and that story is far more intimate, and we connect to it.
You’ve served as host of the show since 2006. Do you have a favorite item the show has appraised over that tenure. If so, what was it?
You know, I can’t say that I have one item that stuck out as my favorite thing… but there have been moments. I used to hang out on breaks by the music table because my grandfather was a professional musician, and it was nostalgic. A woman came in with this violin, and it was beautiful. On the back it had this Italian seascape done in bone and dark hardwoods. It was really spectacular. And the appraiser looked at it and very quickly said “Look, this is not a 14th Century violin. It’s a 17th or 18th Century copy of a 14th Century violin. It still has some value, but it’s not what you think it is. Maybe it’s worth $3,000 to $4,000.”
The person was a little disappointed, but as they went to put the violin back in the case, the appraiser said, “Now hold on a second,” and took out the bow. And the bow really didn’t look remarkable at all. It just looked like a bow, but he said, “That’s worth $15,000.” And that’s when I realized that you need to be an expert to really understand your way through antiques and collectables. Value is everywhere. It might be right under our nose, and we’d not know it.
Everyone dreams they’re in possession of a priceless piece. Have you gleaned any tricks over the years in determining if you’re holding onto trash or treasure?
You know, it got to the point on Roadshow where I could tell the difference between something that’s bad and something that’s good, but I can’t tell the difference between something that’s good and something that’s great. That’s really the expert’s world, and while there is a sense that you can feel about items that are truly valuable, I don’t know if I could pick them out of a crowd yet.
What has helped you determine that difference between the bad and good?
Well, I look at the basics. I look at the condition of the item. I’ve learned to look closely to see if anything’s been replaced or repainted or anything like that. And I’ve learned enough from the appraisers to know that in certain genres, like art glass and things like that, you can tell the difference between an authentic piece of glass and a piece that’s a reproduction pretty easily. If something’s really valuable and I see it and hold it, I could probably tell you that it’s special. But it’s really hard to tell if something is sort of valuable. For example, in art glass, you could have a decanter, let’s say, that comes in, and it’s beautiful. It’s in perfect condition, and it’s the same exact pattern as a very valuable pattern. But yours is in the blue, and the one that really valuable is amber. So that’s where a lot of viewers think that they may have really valuable things but don’t realize that the real nuances – color, serial number, year – can really affect the value.
Those moments when someone comes in, certain that they have something that’s absolutely priceless, and it turns out to just be an imitation. How often does that happen? And what’s that like for the crew?
You know I can’t really speak for the crew. But first of all, the only time we put something like that on the air is if there’s a teachable moment behind it. Unlike other reality shows, we never put somebody on the air with a reproduction just to bust them. …There was a piece we did about a Civil War musket that was marked “CSA” on the stock for Confederate States of America, and that’s a relatively common reproduction because they didn’t mark them that way. So that’s a situation where a guy thought he had something very valuable and learned that he didn’t, but we were able to impart to the audience that if you have one like this, these are the things to look for.
I do have a pretty funny story that happened to me at a table though. I was sitting with Kathy Bailey, who’s one of the art glass experts and one of my dear friends. I just adore her. And a guy was walking up to the table, not on camera, and he had this glass crystal decanter and stopper. And she said, “Why don’t you do this one?” And I said, “Oh Cathy, I couldn’t do it. I’d have no idea.” So she goes, “Well I’m right here. Let’s just see what you can figure out. So they hand me the decanter. The guy is very proud of it. It’s a beautiful piece. I look at it. I hold it. And I turn it upside down and look at the mark. And the mark is a Lalique mark. And I knew enough at the time know that Lalique was very valuable french crystal, and I kept looking at it. And the guy looked at me like “Yes, it’s a Lalique decanter. It’s pretty amazing.” It was in great condition but I turned to Kathy and said, “Kathy, I can’t explain it but something doesn’t seem right. It doesn’t—it doesn’t feel right.” And she beamed like a proud mom. “You’re absolutely right. It’s a reproduction,” she whispered to me. So I turned to the guy – I was so excited – I said “It’s a fake!” And you know, I was so thrilled I did something right, but he was not so happy with me. (Laughs) His bubble burst in not so great of a way. And Cathy said, “You know, you’re doing better, but you’ve got to work on your bedside manner.”
This will be the first stop in St. Louis for the Roadshow in more than 15 years. Have you spend much time in the Show-Me State?
My daughter lives in Kansas City, actually, so we spend a lot of time in Missouri now. I’ve been to St. Louis a couple times. Once with Roadshow and once for a wedding, because I have a cousin who lives near there. And I’ve been to Branson several times because I’ve worked there quite a bit. I have a lot of friends in Columbia, Missouri. And now my daughter’s part of the Kansas City Ballet Company, and so I go in and out of there several times a year to see her dance.
When you’re in St. Louis is there anywhere in particular that you like to spend your time?
It’s one of the best baseball parks in the nation, I think. I love to go see a game. I’ve been to two or three games there. I can’t say I know St. Louis like I know other cities, but the times I’ve been there—the ballpark is just a great features. The Arch, of course, is something you’ve got to experience. And next time I go, I want to take the [Anheuser Busch] brewery tour.
Have you had any personal items that you’ve asked the appraisers to take a look at?
That’s another funny story. In my first city, when I first started, we were in Providence, R.I., and I had just gotten there. I was so excited. At the time, there was a doll appraiser, who has since passed away. But he was a really dry kind of guy, Richard Wright, you may remember him from reruns. Very dry, he’d have bifocals he’d look over the top of. I did know him yet. But I recall at the end of this Saturday when we were taping, I finally got up the nerve to go over the table, and I said, “Richard, I hate to bother you but, my wife and my mom have been buying my daughter these collectible dolls her whole life. We have about twenty three of them. They’re in pristine condition. They’re Madame Alexander dolls. Never taken them out of the box. We’ve never played with them. And without even looking up from what he was doing, he said, “Honey, take ’em out and play with them.”
Well thank you for the time. Anything else you’d like to add or that you think people should know about the upcoming stop?
Anybody who’s lucky enough to have tickets is going to have a great time. It’s sort of like family visiting. Everybody feels like they have a little piece of the show from watching it for so many years. And my advice is always wear comfortable shoes and be patient because it takes a long time, but it’s really fun to see everybody. I’m so thrilled St. Louis is part of the tour this year.
