MyBlog

Yesterday, I was a guest at the Philadelphia Antiques Roadshow summer tour held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center here in Philly.



Over 5,000 people attended this event with over 10,000 antiques! It was a fantastic experience. We arrived around 8:00 AM and waited in line marked by yellow tape. As we snaked in line, we met other people and spoke with them about their items and stories. One of the people in line had found a broken chair in the trash -- later we learned that it was worth $48,000!!

After being in line for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, we went to the triage table. The appraisers at the triage table looked at my items and assigned a category and gave me a item ticket for each piece -- one for a silver box (Silver) and another for my 1960 Students for Kennedy and Johnson , West Chester State College, campaign "thank you note" signed by John F. Kennedy (Collectibles). They had 25 categories and over 75 appraisers working the event. I saw, among others, the Keno brothers (furniture experts) and Noel Barrett (toys expert).

A volunteer took me to the "on the set" appraiser, and I waited in line for another hour or two at the appraiser table for my items. On the set, I saw a woman with a beautiful Indian blanket and an appraiser being taped for a future show.

After my second appraisal, I made my way to the exit. WHYY TV took my picture with the JFK signed letter.

The Philadelphia event will be the basis for three episodes to be aired beginning in January 2007. For more information, go to http://www.pbs.org/antiques

The next Antique Roadshow summer tour will be in Honolulu, HI, on August 26.

P.S. The JFK letter was signed by his secretary, and the silver box`was silver plate.



::Shelley