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| Hello/Intro Marsha Bemko |
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| Marsha Bemko Interview |
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| Hello/Intro Marsha Bemko |
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| Marsha Bemko Interview |
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| SUN/MON PROMO Return to index of stories... |
Soundup: from Roadshow Track: It's the ultimate test of trash or treasure. Soundbite: 16:01:50 Big things, little things, ugly things, beautiful things, I've seen it all." Track: Come behind the scenes with the producer of Antiques Roadshow. |
| NEXT PROMO!! Return to index of stories... |
Soundup: from Roadshow Track: It's the ultimate test of trash or treasure. |
| Hello/Intro Marsha Bemko Return to index of stories... |
Locator: Bedford/ NHPTV Gala/ June 4, 2010 Richard Ager/ NH Outlook Marsha Bemko/ Executive Producer - Antiques Roadshow |
| Marsha Bemko Interview Return to index of stories... |
15;44:00 MARSHA BEMKO - WELCOME TO NH OUTLOOK 15:44:05 YOU HAVE SAID YOUR INTEREST IN TELEVISION ACTUALLY STARTED IN HIGH SCHOOL, WHEN YOU'D MAKE UP LITTLE PLAYS AND STORIES WITH A FRIEND. WHAT WAS IT ABOUT DOING that exercise THAT GUIDED YOU ALONG THE PATH YOU TOOK? 15:44:16 15:44:17 You know, looking back on it I think it's a desire to tell stories and I am a story teller. As a matter of fact give me a chance and I may monopolize this conversation with you telling stories. So I think I 15:44:29 just realized early on, just give me a chance to tell stories, I want o be part of that. 15:44:34 You written IN COLLEGE, A PROFESSOR TOLD YOU - WITH THAT BOSTON ACCENT - YOU'LL NEVER WORK IN TV - AT LEAST ON-AIR. 15:44:43 What accent! What is he talking about?! 15:44:48 I have no desire to be on air which is lucky because I always - and now I know that really the person leading the puppet dance is the person behind the scenes a very satisfying job, but he did tell me way back then, George Kamera at Westfield State College in MA, told me that Boston 14:45:07 accent was deep that there was no way I could make it on television. 15:45:11 WELL LETS DO A LITTLE TEST. WHAT DO YOU CALL A LARGE CHESTERFIELD LIKE PIECE OF FURNITURE THAT CAN ACOMIDATE TWO TO THREE PEOPLE? 15:45:18 SOFA! It's Sofer and Marsher your from Boston it's not Marsha. 15:45:44 NOW YOU BEGAN AT WGBH AS A CLERK - AND WOUND UP PRODUCING FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS PROGRAMS INCLUDING FRONTLINE. YOU'RE DEALING WITH ISSUES LIKE CENSORSHIP AND WOMEN IN SCIENCE - AND THEN YOU WENT FROM 21ST CENTURY ISSUES TO 17TH CENTURY HIGHBOYS. WHAT LURED YOU? 15:46:04 15:46:05 That's a really good question and the honest answer is, when I was first asked to do this show I wasn't sure if 15:46:09 it was a right fit for me. I had come from doing hour long documentaries and I had been in Frontline and I had been there as an associate producer and I had been on other series, doing women and science or doing something called culture shock which was about censorship 15:46:28 and what I now know and thank god for all that experience because the journalist experience that I learned on those shows are what we apply to Antiques Roadshow. When I was first asked to do Antiques Roadshow I did say no over those couple of times, but then I was convinced to do it and boy am I glad! 15:46:46 11 years later I know realize that I could not be happier to work on any other television show. 15:46:53 NOW HOW DO THE JOURNALIST PRINCIPLES THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, OBVISIOULY YOU HAD TO PRACTICE IN THE OTHER PROGRAMS APPLY TO A SHOW ABOUT ANTIQUES? 15:47:00 15:47:03 I am so glad that you're asking these questions. A lot of times we are the first documenter of some particular piece of information. In many ways the field of Antiques is a young field and so you'll often hear our experts on the show talk about recent scholarships where they just learned something as an industry that can help them explain the piece that was brought in. 15:47:22 The fact checking on this show can be a bear - and we do fact check and that means c orroborating the evidence that we put out there. We're fact checking when we get back to the office, and sometimes it's hard to know where to fact check. 15:47:40 SO WHERE HAS BEEN THE GREATER PRESSURE TO BE CORRECT? IN YOUR FORMER SERIES THAT YOU WORKED WITH OR DEALING IN ANTIQUES? 15:47:48 15:47:49 I would say as products of Public Television it's important to be correct all the time. As you know, you probably know, I don't know if our audiences know as the Roper polls have said PBS is the most trusted institution in this country. 15:48:04 And so there for it's important for everything that comes over our air is something that people are going to trust and know that to the best of our ability it's the truth and if we discover that there's some more information there to add to it on our show, our audience 15:48:21 may write us to say they might us with the answer and so what we instituted is something on our website called updates and we're going to make sure- we don't have a chance to rerecord with that guest or the appraiser to talk about that item with them again but we do have a chance to let you know what we learned. 15:48:38 So we bring it right up to- even if we can't share it with you on the air there we are going to make sure that we keep you as current as we are. 15:48:45 15:48:47 LET'S GET BEHIND THE SCENES - AS YOUR BOOK PROMISES. BEFORE I READ IT, I HADN'T REALIZED THE SHOW WAS WHAT HOST MARK WALBERG HAS CALLED "A TRAVELLING SUMMER CAMP". 15:49:02 15:49:03 It is a little chaotic, but I won't lie to you we do have a good time and anybody whose experience a roadshow will tell you they want us as people who stood in our feedback booth come run the country. It's organized chaos. 15:49:18 This is our 15th season that we are going out to shoot. We start shooting as a matter of fact I leave for San Diego on Wednesday. And we will go to six cities this summer and we will shoot three episodes of television in each city. This is our 15th year and you can be sure if you came to a roadshow in season one or two that 13 years of more experience has given us a maturity in which we are so organized. 15:49:40 5-6,000 people are going to come to every event and they are going to bring two objects each. And we're ready for 5-6,000 people and 10-12,000 objects we got it down we do a good job. 15:49:53 15:49:55 CERTAINLY AS YOU WATCH IT THINGS LOOK PRETTY CALM ON THE SURFACE, BUT WITH THOSE SHEER NUMBERS OF PEOPLE AND I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE EMOTIONS INVOLVED, BECAUSE HERE THEY ARE STANDING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN LINE FOR 15:50:04 HOURS WITH OBJECTS FOR SOME CLEAR HIGH VALUE, AT LEAST SENTIMENTAL AND MOST OF THEM FIND OUT IT'S NOT WORTH VERY MUCH AT ALL. 15:50:13 Most of what we see is not worth a lot. In half the cities that we go to we don't see a six figured object at all. That is because the key word is rarity, and six-figure even five-figure objects are rare, and you often see objects congregate in an area where there is more wealth congregate, 15:50.36:07 but things come up wherever we go, you'll see Boston furniture in Hawaii and Hawaiian bowls here as well, but now I've lost track of the question you asked. 15:50.47:00 WELL WHAT CITY THAT YOU'VE VISITED YIELDED THE MOST VALUABLE COLLECTION OF OBJECTS? 15:50.52:29 Well the city that we visited so far that has yielded the most valuable item was in Raleigh, North Carolina, and that was we saw some four pieces of jade that the woman named Jinx had brought in that her father had bought in the '40s, from a Mr. Leon on number 10 Jade Street in China, I wish he was still there, paid normal money for it was valued at between $750,000 and 1.07 million dollars. That is the most valuable. But I know you were talking about emotions, and I will say that when Jinx came in that day, she was filled with emotion and like all, most of our guests, let me put it that way, all those people, it's never an all, 15:51.38:19 like most of our guests, our appraisers, put it well, one of our appraisers raised by Ann Elledge who does arms and military for us said the kinds of objects people bring to Roadshow, are the kinds of two objects if they had to save, the house were on fire, they saved the family, these are the two things they would save. So when we tell them that their precious thing that they brought is worth 5-10 dollars, there can be some disappointment. But I will say most people are glad to learn what it is that the appraiser can tell them about that object. Sometimes the guest cannot be sure if their item were from Connecticut of Massachusetts, 15:52.17:09 and it helps them identify certain things that may have happened in their family's past. So usually just the information will make them happy, but yeah, big money, not everyone. 15:52.27:17 DO YOU FOLLOW UP ON THE REALLY VALUABLE OBJECTS TO SEE WHAT THEIR FATE BECOMES AND WHETHER THE OWNER DECIDES TO SELL THEM OR KEEP THEM? AND IF SO, 15:52.36:07 WHAT'S THE GENERAL PATTERN? DO PEOPLE SELL THEM TO CASH IN OR? 15:52.39:27 No, and that is instinct tell us, that gee if I heard that I had Frank Lloyd Wright's drawings that were worth $250,000 I might sell them. Not if it was your grandmother who worked with Frank Lloyd Wright, because that is the sentimental value outweighs everything. I wanted to do a show years ago that was just all what people did with their objects after leaving Roadshow, 15:53.06:11 and then we did the research and found out there was not enough material to fill the show. And therefore, we did a series that had one segment in there, and so we have some stories we can tell you, but for the most part, not matter what's it's worth-six figures, three figures-people go home and they put their object back on the mantle, back on the wall, and they keep it. |
| Bemko Script 2 Return to index of stories... |
15:53:31 THIS WAS ORIGINALLY A BRITISH SHOW, IT'S BEEN GOING ALMOST TWICE AS LONG AS YOUR VERSION HAS. WHAT DID YOU DO TO AMERICANIZE IT? 15:53.37:27 You know, the British would tell you we Americanized it just by being us, I have visited them, and I'm obviously familiar with their show, but I think there's a process that's a little different for us, but really at the heart of it, it's the same show. It's just that culturally we have different affects, and different ways of behaving. 15:53: ARE THEY MORE RESERVED ABOUT IT? 15:54:01 I think if I were stereotyping I might go there. but I will quote the British executive producer because this is what he said about his own show, 15:54:10 in comparison to ours. The difference is when someone comes into our show and they get great news they run outside afterwards for a minute and they go YAY! And they come back in and they sit back down quite calm. He said that they do YAY! In front of the cameras for you. And that's how he defined it and so I will go with that too. 15:54:32 WELL YOU KNOW, SPEAKING OF DEFINITIONS, I AM CURIOUS TO KNOW WHAT WOULD YOU SAY THE SHOW IS ABOUT. TO SOMEONE WHO HAS NEVER SEEN IT BEYOND THE OBVIOUS ASPECTS OF ANTIQUES, BUT IS THIS A HISTORY SEARCH, 15:54.41:20 WHAT IS THE SHOW ABOUT. WHAT'S DRIVING IT TO SUCCESS? 15:54:46 I think the great part of Roadshow is that different people come for different reasons. At the heart of it we tell stories about this great country really. Imperfect. America's imperfect but if you got to pick a place to live- 15:55:00 END OF CLIP. 15:56:08 HOW OLD IS AN ANTIQUE? 15:56.12:16 Technically, 100 years old, and that's the technical definition. But, we look at antiques and collectables, so you'll often see a lot of things that are a lot newer than 100 years old. 15:56.30:13 AND THE STAR OF YOUR SHOW? IS IT THE ANTIQUES? IS IT THE PEOPLE? IS IT THE BACKGROUND STORIES? WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE KEY ELEMENT? 15:56.40:01 I would have to say that the star starts with the objects, because when people talk to us, they don't usually talk to us about the guest with, they talk to us about the painting, and then that guest. We had one of my favorite appraisals of all time that we taped last year in Madison, was a Frank Sinatra letter. And this gift is memorable. She practically falls down, we have to widen out, she's walking off the interview area, she calls her friend Betty. Betty help me! You know? It's just a delicious piece of footage. She's an unusual guest, but that Frank Sinatra letter, as great as she is, tells us a lot about Frank Sinatra. And he's writing Mike Royco in his letter, you can watch this on our website. 15:57.28:15 He calls him a pimp! It's quite a dicey, racy letter where we learn a lot about Frank Sinatra. So really, she's memorable, but most often it's the object that's memorable. 15:57.49:05 ….ABOUT THE APPRAISERS….TELL ME ABOUT, I GUESS IT'S A CAUTIONARY TALE, FOR THE WATERMELON SWORD, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT GOT YOU CONCERNED EARLY ON. 15:58.06:29 Well I think, you know, it's long ago in our history, it's well over 10 years ago, and it was before I was with the show. So I can't tell a good first-person story there, and what I had chosen to do in the book was basically-and working with the writers, because I had writers I was working with as well--was to basically quote the FBI's website on it, and that way it's an impartial story. What had happened there was that the object was right by the way, but an appraiser who no longer works with Roadshow and hasn't since the discovery of this had brought, had arranged with this guest to bring the item in. 15:58.42:01 IT'S A CIVIL WAR SWORD? 15:58.44:07 It's a civil war sword. The sword was right, the appraisal was right, what isn't right, is that it wasn't an honest 'we never saw your object, we don't know you' appraisal. 15:58.55:08 It was set up, and it was done early on. There's no excuse for it. Looking back on it, the stories I hear back then those first few years there was a lot of naivety. 15:59.08:28 Now, when you come to Antiques Roadshow, our appraisers sign some legal agreements, and so do you as a guest. And so you are telling us as guest that you don't have a relationship with anybody at PBS at WGBH or with one of our appraisers. And if you do we want to know, we want to disclose it. It may be fine, you may bring us a great object when you come to the show. And it's fine for you to be on our show, but we want to tell that you work with New Hampshire Public Television. 15:59:38 WOULD A FUTURE RELATIONSHIP BE TROUBLESOME, IN OTHER WORDS THAT APPRAISER APPRAISES THE OBJECT AND THEN THE NEXT WEEK THE TWO OF THEM GET TOGETHER -no- THAT'S NOT AN ISSUE? 15:59:50 No as a matter of fact our experts, we work with a group about 150 and about 75 or so are assigned to each city. If in fact you were looking to sell your objects and your one of those few who decide to sell and 16:00:05 some of our experts maybe the best people in the country to get you the best price and we certainly don't want to get in the way of you using anyone of our auctioneers people who are associated with do auctions or dealers. 16:00:18 What we are very very strict about is that the appraiser even mentions that he is capable of doing that while talking to you that day then he will be let go from Antiques Roadshow, he or she. What they can do, because a guest will ask, can you sell this for me, is say I can't talk to you about that today but take my business card or you can look them up on our website, it has to happen after they fly out of town on Sunday. 16:00:45 No transactions and that keeps our shows clean. There is no interests. There is no interest in low balling or high balling. The appraisals are clean, the prices are clean. 16:00:56 AND OF COURSE AS YOU POINTED OUT SOMETIMES THE APPRAISERS CAN GET TO EMOTIONAL SOMETIMES. THERE WAS ONE STORY THAT YOU WROTE ABOUT A AN APPRAISERS HE SAW AN IVORY RULER WITH A. STANLEY INSCRIBED ON IT FROM STANLEY TOOLS WORKS. AND HE GOT SO EXCITED THAT HE GAVE IT AWAY THAT THE TAPE WAS NOT USEABLE. WHAT I FOUND AMUSING ABOUT THAT WAS THE GUY WAS GETTING REALLY EXCITED ABOUT A RULER?! 16:01:18 Well are you a collector? What I know about collectors that I didn't know until I started producing the show was they are very focused individuals. I like to tease them, I like to say I know your type now. Some of them depending on what it is they collect have been looking for certain items for decades. 16:01:41 ODD BALL ITEMS. Like? 16:01:43 People collect you name it. If you name anything somebody out there is collecting it. Big things, little things, ugly things, beautiful things, I've seen it all- 16:01:52 WHAT IS THE ODDEST SORT OF COLLETION THAT HAS EVER BEEN BROUGHT INTO YOU? 16:01:53 I can't talk about that on Public Television my friend. Oh my goodness I have seen… well not so odd, I have seen fish hooks on boards. Fish hooks. I have seen eyeballs, glass eyeballs in jars. I have seen… oh my god you name it. Shoe collections, there is almost nothing you could- I have seen it all. I have truly seen it all. 16:02:26 And the appraisers have seen even more because I am seeing this much compared to what they are seeing. INSERT: C0009 Marsha Bemko Speech Disk ** 21:19:57 Our experts by the way donate a lot to PBS. They donate their services, time, travel expenses, hotel expenses, all paid by the individual who came to the show. 21:20:13 We give them lunch on Saturday, we figure we got to feed them. 21:20:16 And that's all they are getting from us for reimbursement. They are there because they are passionate about what they do, I am sure there is some return on investment of exposure, I'll be honest about that. But I have seen grown men cry when they have been waiting to see an object forever. 21:20:32 and REAL tears. I am not that kind of collector, they're out there. 21:20:37 |
| Bemko Script 3 Return to index of stories... |
BACK TO INTERVIEW DISK: 16:02:34 YOU ALSO SAID A LOT OF EMOTIONS GET CAUGHT UP IN THIS. THE STORY THAT YOU TOLD I THOUGHT WAS VERY TOUCHING THE OBJECTS ARE PRIZED AND SOMETIMES IT'S THE MEMORIES THAT ARE ATTACHED TO THEM. DESCRIBE IF YOU WOULD THE ONE TIME YOU EVER CRIED. 16:02:51 All right I will. A man came in with his adult daughter and he had It was a print and I don't remember the exact print, but I liked it and I liked his story. His story he told me was that he got tickets 16:03:14 and he had gotten the tickets and his wife was very excited to come to the show. Then she had died that past April before we were able to tour. And as he was telling me the story, he was a sweet man and his eyes started to well up well he 16:03:40 just started to cry and I looked into his eyes and I just could the loss feel this man's loss that this man had felt for a women with for decades. I had planned to pick it anyways I had already done the interview I had talked with appraiser. I had understood the object enough to tape it and I taped it. 16:03:59 Then I got home and that is where I do the screening of the footage- I actually start screening on the plane and I watch the appraisal and it made it to my alternate list and ultimately it made it to my cut list and in spite of the great affection I had for the man and for the object, the appraisal competes against others to make it to air and as sad as it is I had to make the cold producers decision 16:04:24 not to air something because -just because I liked the man I couldn't do it I had better footage. 16:04:29 SO THE MOST EMOTIONAL MOMENT IN THE SHOW'S HISTORY ALL TOGETHER? 16:04:31 No, no one saw it. The only people who saw it were other waiting guests who ran up with Kleenex to help me, probably wondering whatever could have moved that producer so and I have never cried other than that with a guest and hope not too again, I wasn't balling, but there were tears, real tears. Yeah. 16:04:51 ALRIGHT TIME FOR SOME ADVICE, LET'S SAY I GET A TICKET FOR THE SHOW. WHAT SHOULD I BRING AND WHAT SHOULDN'T I BRING? 16:04:58 Start with a- 16:04:59 I CAN JUST BRING TWO OBJECTS RIGHT? 16:05:00 You get to bring two objects. So start with something you're curious about that you don't know about. And- alright lets say what that is, let's say one of them is a stamp. You can go online and find out what that is - and we don't do stamps by the way because you can go online and find out what that is. It is too easy to look it up. You are going to come to an Antiques Roadshow were you are in a room with 75 of the country's top experts if they don't know then they know who does. They don't know everything. 16:05:27 But they know to give you a referral if its not someone on the floor there that can help you. So I say start with something you can't easily look up in a reference book and that usually means not massed produced items. Usually looking for one of a kind items that - and something you're really curious about because we can help fill in some blanks for you. 16:05:48 SO LIKE A CUTE LITTLE HUMMEL FIGURE? 16:05:51 I am going to advise against the hummels. BLACK VELEVET PAINTING? You know unless it's really special and done by a really special person I am not going to rare and extreme value but if you're curious you should bring it. ***** 16:06:06 YOU KNOW I WAS GOING TO ASK YOU ABOUT A PARTICULAR APPRAISAL THAT WAS MADE "THE LUCKY SECRETARY". IF YOU COULD TELL THAT STORY. 16:06:15 The Lucky Secretary. Now you are going to have to remind me what city it was, that I don't remember. I THINK IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN IN NORTH CAROLIN, BUT I THINK -WHAT I WANTED TO POINT OUT THE IMPORTANCE OF 16:06:26 THE STORY BEHIND …. 16:06:30 The lucky secretary, what happens in Roadshow we move furniture in. We move about 10 pieces of furniture in that an appraisers helps us select, things that would be interesting to talk about and by the way this is why you can never get an appraisal done by photo we often move a repro because you can't tell in the photo ok and this is an expert looking. 16:06:52 and that lucky secretary was in the advanced he did that appraisal and I remember that quite well. She had come in with - I forget her acquisitions story to be honest with you, but I believe it had been an ancestor who had worked with the baseball team, something with the payroll there and she had brought in one check that was issued to Mickey Mantel that he had endorsed. 16:09:07 And it had come back. And you are going to have to remind me the value on that check. I want to say three to five thousand. 16:09:14 IT THINK IT WAS UP IN THE MID THOUSANDS, BUT THAT IS TOUGH TO KEY HOW MANY THAT INCLUDED. 16:09:23 Well that's why- and then he said do you have anymore and she said that she had five more at home and you can see her doing the math in her head multiplying that number. So that she knew that- 16:09:35 I THINK IT WAS UP IN THE 25,000 RANGE. 16:09:38 I want to say it was 3-5 thousand dollars for that check without checking on our roadshow archive, which you can also see that appraisal on the website but I want to say she had some good value of cancelled checks. |
| Bemko Script 4 Return to index of stories... |
16:09:52 ONE OTHER STORY AND THAT WAS THE FACT THAT YOU REALLY DON'T WANT YOUR GUEST TO KNOW TO MUCH ABOUT THE OBJECT AND THE HONUSWAGER CARD ANY SERIOUS BASEBALL FAN KNOWS BASEBALL CARDS ARE A HUGE THING AND THE HONUSWAGER CARD IS PROBABLY THE MOST VALUABLE AND SO FEW OF THEM. THERE WAS SOMEONE WHO BROUGHT ONE IN AND 16:10:16 SHOULD HAVE BEEN A PERFECT STORY. 16:10:18 It should have expect they had a relationship with one of our experts. And I believe that card was in pretty good condition. I think we are talking about couple 100 thousand dollars or maybe even more like 500 thousand dollars, quite a good card. That being said, if you know one of our experts on top of knowing exactly what you have well that's not a roadshow story that's show and tell. And we're not interested- we're interested in discovering America's treasures, that's our little tag line and we want to make discoveries with you. We love collectors who know something frankly. We 16:10:55 don't want you to come in knowing nothing, best appraisals are when somebody knows a little something and they can have a little conversation and so we are not looking for I know nothing- 16:11:05 WELL MAYBE YOUR MOST FAMOUS ONE THAT YOU FILMED WAS IT A NAVAJO BLANKET. ITS JUST A BLACK AND WHITE BLANKET QUARTER A MILLION DOLLARS - 16:11:13 It was 350-500,000 dollars. And it was a first chief blanket Navajo blanket and that was a retail estimate - and by the way it makes a difference when you listen into the show retail or auction- 16:11:26 YES I KNOW THE PRICES AND WHEN ONE OF YOUR APPRAISERS SAYS THIS IS A TREASURE IT'S WORTH A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS CAN THAT PERSON REALLY GET A QUARTER OF A MILLION DOLLARS? 16:11:35 Well hopefully when our appraiser says a quarter of a million dollars at auction or retail. It's basically a dealer, a fair price to pay about ˝ of what they could sell it for like all retail. The costs are about half. And auction has there is a sellers premium with it and so usually you will pay to sell. There is always 16:11:56 ways to cost to sell, even if you are doing it online and very inexpensively is a lower cost, but there is always a cost to sell. 16:12:06 WELL YOU MUST BE CONSTANTLY REMINDED OF THAT PHRASE. ONE MAN'S TRASH IS ANOTHER MAN'S TREASURE. ONE OF MY FAVORITE STORIES THAT YOU WROTE ABOUT WAS THE MAN WHO BROUGHT IN THE POTATO. 16:12.16:01 I love the potato. It looked like Richard Nixon. Kathleen Guzzman tells that story. And that potato ain't worth much, I don't care who it looked like. Nixon or anybody else. She should bake that potato. 16:12.34:26 WELL THE OTHER ITEMS THAT YOU POINTED OUT THAT PROBABLY SHOULDN'T BE BROUGHT IN, OLD FAMILY BIBLES. 16:12.43:13 You know, for the most part, doesn't matter what they are, they're worth very little. That being said, I was reading the newspaper this weekend, and a very rare, old American bible turned up that somebody just auctioned off for it was about $63,000 I think I read. Very, very rare and unusual for a printed type bible in this country. For the most part, 99.9% of all bibles 16:13.07:28 have no monetary value, but very often they're passed down in families and have great sentimental value. 16:13.14:17 WELL NOW DO YOU EVER GET ITEMS THAT YOU JUST DON'T KNOW HOW TO CATEGORIZE? I MEAN YOU'VE GOT THESE DIFFERENT AREAS SET UP FOR EACH TYPE, BUT DO YOU EVER GET THINGS IN, WHERE DO I PUT IT? 16:13.24:23 We have when you enter the show, experts there who are very often related to our appraisers, who are giving out category tickets. They could even tell better stories than I could. But I've heard stories at the end of the day about a set of skeletons coming in, not being quite sure where to send those skeletons. Or, and we do have an antiquity area, so, but we also had big Neanderthal apes come in that used to be in a museum 16:13.52:26 I think that was, those kind of things can be puzzling. But for the most part, is the catch-all areas. If you can't figure out where it goes, maybe it's decorative arts or collectables. 16:14.06:26 YOU KNOW, YOU'VE WRITTEN SOME PEOPLE TRY TO BRING IN MORE THAN TWO ITEMS, HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT? 16:14.13:08 We've gotten better at dealing with it over the years, and frankly, we started something new last year that is working. We hand out a little card that says to our entering guests when they get to the triage area and they're showing their items, that you have brought in more than two items and you need to select two to show. 16:14.30:27 We are good about letting a collection count as an item. That being said, you it really has to be a collection. We can tell the difference between a collection and you put a bunch of stuff together and you're trying to get an appraisal like that. And even then 16:14.44:05 they'll ask you to pull something out from your collection to help what we present, what we have there. And that's because we're going to, we're going to spend a long day. We start, we open the doors, the first tickets are for 8am. We open the doors before 8. We had to give out a few less tickets this year because we were having guests in the hall until 8:30pm, and it's dangerous for the crew. 16:15.08:06 They're tired. So we had to give out a few less, but we want to see as many people as possible because it's in addition to making three episodes of television, we provide a public service to the community that we're in. And most of the people 16:15.20:29 who come to the show are not going to be taped for television, and we want to make sure that you walk out with good information, and a good experience. 16:15.28:14 NOW I GET THE IMPRESSION YOU CAN BE TOUGH, TOO, I MEAN, YOU WROTE ABOUT A SKIT PERFORMED AT A RAP PARTY IN WHICH YOUR ROLE REFUSED TO ALLOW THE HOLY GRAIL TO BE INCLUDED IN THE PROGRAM. 16:15.45:25 Well you know, the appraisers like to tease me, because when we how the items get to air is that the appraisers pitch the item. So when they see something good come in, they're pitching it to me or two other people on my staff because it takes too long to walk around and listen to all the stories, they need more than one person listening. And when they're pitching it, they're pitching like a mad bunny. The pen is red and you have to have it because it's red 16:16.11:11 and it's a point, it's so special. And they go they're really crazy about it. But they also want to make sure they make air, and they're good salesmen. So thank goodness I know them, I know genuine excitement beyond good salesmanship, and so I will say no. And so they don't like no. 16:16.30:26 So it's a great thing to tease me about, because they want us to say yes to everything in which case wouldn't find the show as interesting. 16:16.37:29 WELL I'M SURE YOU MUST DEVELOP A LIKING FOR SOME OF THE OBJECTS YOU SEE. THERE'S A REALLY GOOD PHOTO OF YOU IN I BELIEVE IT'S A JACKET THAT ELVIS HAD. 16:16.46:10 Oh yeah, I got to wear a jacket that Elvis Presley had on, and I got to wear it. And yes it felt special. I didn't ask to wear it because that would be rude and impolite. However, when this guest brought in this Elvis outfit to Benfecilla appraised, and she had a huge range on this thing because it was pants and a jacket. $15,000 was her low and I think $100,000 was her high, if we could find a photo of him in that suit 16:17.13:05 on his comeback tour, which it reportedly was from, and no one from our audience has sent that photo in, by the way, so unless that guest found it, we didn't hear about it. And I just looked at her when the item was there and I just looked at the jacket and I didn't say anything, but I had I guess these big expressive eyes and she said "oh just put it on." 16:17.30 So I did. 1:17.33 HOW'D IT FEEL? 16:17.34 It felt special. I have to say, it Elvis was in it. Elvis Presley, I mean, this is big. Marilyn Monroe's dress came in, that I didn't put on. It was tiny! 16:17.47 SPEAKING OF MARILYN MONROE MINUS THE DRESS, THERE WAS A CASE THAT YOU HAD A FAMOUS PHOTO OF HER, A FAMOUS NUDE PHOTO OF HER, THAT SOMEONE BROUGHT IN. THAT GAVE YOU SOME GRIEF, DIDN'T IT? 16:17.57 It did. There are members of our audience who would not recognize that nude photo as art, and be troubled by it. And so they were vocal about seeing that on the air. 16:18.13 WELL ONE REALLY REMARKABLE DEVELOPMENT FOR YOUR PROGRAM IS THAT YOU'RE ACTUALLY NOW INVOLVED IN LAW ENFORCEMENT? 16:18:20 Yes we're trying we sure are. 16:18:22 IT ALL BEGAN WITH I BELIEVE AN EDGER ALLEN POE DEGERO TYPE. 16:18:26 Well that Edger Allen Poe degerotype, we actually stumbled into that. A guest had brought in, and she had bought it Iowa somewhere for 72 dollars I want to say and West Calvin appraised it for I believe 30-50,000 dollars. There are not many known Poe images out there. Well she was very happy to hear that and she brought it to Wes Calvin to sell it. Well one thing lead to another where the discovery 16:18:57 was made, it was actually stolen from the NY Historical Society, who by the way got it back. Through the FBI got involved - and the woman who instantly bought it in walnut creek Iowa, I believe where it was, bought it in an antique shop just coming through. She truly had nothing to do with it. But she was a victim of theft and like all people she was lucky it was only 72 dollars. Because you buy a stolen item you general are not going to be reimbursed with that discovered to be true- 16:19:26 SO YOU COULD BECOME AMERICA'S MOST WANTED ART. 16:19:30 Well we are doing that We are doing a show Roadshow's most wanted and we were introduced to this. We started this with something called Missing Masterpieces on antiques Roadshow fyi, and believe it or not because we are limited to looking for stories in the 6 cities to where we are touring, the goal is to find 6 stories that we could tell 16:19:49 one from each city. In spite of working with the FBI and art lost register and the local police in the cities that we are going to this summer, we're scraping around and we got two stories out of the 6 cities. There's not that kind of crime in Billings Montana. 16:20:09 WELL NOW YOUR APPRAISERS TELL US WHAT THERE DREAM WOULD BE IN YOUR BOOK, I AM WONDERING WHAT WOULD YOUR ULTIMATE FIND BE? 16:20:17 Well I have a big wish want list, ok so I would like to tell you couple of things that I would like to find at a price that I could afford them. I never wanted these things until I started producing the show that's the down side of the show, you get to learn about something's that you wish you had. I would like a good Marine painting, by Buttersworth or Jacobson, which is easily 6 figures and I like to find it for 100 dollars at a yard sale. 16:20:41 I also - as I mature on the whole other side of the marine painting that I covet, big diamonds, old diamonds, big old cushion cut diamonds, I could get very specific but I will bore your audience that way. Just label them in somehow or other I could afford them and there no long 150,000, but that is a good habit. 16:21:09 DO YOU GO ANTIQUING? 16:21:10 Oh you betcha! I was in brimfield a couple of weeks ago. 16:21:13 THAT'S THE WORLD'S BIGGEST ISN'T IT? 16:21:15 One of the biggest. A lot of them make that claim to fame, but I did find- I have been looking for night stands for two years and found it and made a great deal you can still great deals out there. 16:21:25 WELL YOU KNOW I HAVE TO ASK YOU HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED NH AS A SOURCE OF ANTIQUES FOR YOUR SHOW. ARE THERE ANY PLANS TO COME HERE? 16:21:34 Well I think one of the tough things about NH is that you do not have a convention center that can house us. The first requirement when considering a city is so you have a venue that can hold Antiques Roadshow. We need about 80-100,000 sq feet of column free space. Without checking our city records database or checking the memory of my associate producer who knows this stuff cold I do not believe in my memory that NH has a facility 16:22:03 big enough for us. 16:22:04 THOSE REQUIREMENT ASIDE I JUST WANT TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING HERE, WHICH COULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO COME TO NH. NOW THIS OF COURSE IS A MIX OF A MODERN POLITICAL HISTORY. THIS IS THE LATE NEIL TILTISON OF DIXSVILLE NOTCH HE'S A NH LEAGONED WHO ALWAYS CASTS THE FIRST BALLOT IN THE PRESIDENTAL PRIMARY. AND AS YOU CAN SEE HE IS PORTRAYED IN THE MUCH AMIRED BOBBLE-HEAD FORMAT. 16:22:34 Yes he bobbles. NOW I KNOW WHAT YOUR GOING TO SAY, PROBABLY PRICELESS, oh absolutely. WHAT IS YOUR APPRAISAL? 16:22:40 Doe he have price tag on his bottom? IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN REMOVED BY THE CURATOR. Oh ok so what I am going to say, based on the weight of this and based on his good looks. I would just have to say I would give you anything you ask for this, I will pay you any amount of money. 16:23:02 But if I was an appraiser I would go with 10 bucks. 16:23:06 THAT'S WHAT I PAID. I GUESS I SHOULD BE HAPPY WITH THE VALUE. WELL MARSHA BEMKO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING WITH US. 16:23:14 Thank you for having me. Thank you. AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT SEASON. Thank you. Me too. NOW GET TO WORK. |
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| Key: American History/ Biography Return to index of stories... |
SPECIAL: NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 1/3/2011 HOST: Richard Ager Length: 25:00 It's a scene that's been repeated countless times over the past 15 years. From Atlantic City to Tucson, when the Roadshow comes to town, thousands bring their objects large and small for an appraisal. Occasionally, the attic yields a treasure but most often, the value is sentimental. "I have one little tip for you though, if you think you have a 6 figure object, that you don't know about- You don't." On this special edition of NH Outlook, we talk to Marsha Bemko, the executive producer behind the Roadshow curtain. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Richard Ager NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Marsha Bemko\Executive Producer, Antiques Roadshow |
| Key: Arts Return to index of stories... |
SPECIAL: NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 1/3/2011 HOST: Richard Ager Length: 25:00 It's a scene that's been repeated countless times over the past 15 years. From Atlantic City to Tucson, when the Roadshow comes to town, thousands bring their objects large and small for an appraisal. Occasionally, the attic yields a treasure but most often, the value is sentimental. "I have one little tip for you though, if you think you have a 6 figure object, that you don't know about- You don't." On this special edition of NH Outlook, we talk to Marsha Bemko, the executive producer behind the Roadshow curtain. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Richard Ager NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Marsha Bemko\Executive Producer, Antiques Roadshow |
| Key: Culture Return to index of stories... |
SPECIAL: NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 1/3/2011 HOST: Richard Ager Length: 25:00 It's a scene that's been repeated countless times over the past 15 years. From Atlantic City to Tucson, when the Roadshow comes to town, thousands bring their objects large and small for an appraisal. Occasionally, the attic yields a treasure but most often, the value is sentimental. "I have one little tip for you though, if you think you have a 6 figure object, that you don't know about- You don't." On this special edition of NH Outlook, we talk to Marsha Bemko, the executive producer behind the Roadshow curtain. PRODUCER/REPORTER: Richard Ager NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Marsha Bemko\Executive Producer, Antiques Roadshow |