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SALT LAKE CITY -- Mysteries, sitting in the garage. Nearly everybody has one: something picked up at a yard sale, or handed down from a great-uncle in the early 70's.
For the first time in 10 years, Utahns got a chance to toss back the veil on these mysteries, with the help of some world-renowned experts, as the long-running PBS program "Antiques Roadshow" made a stop at the Salt Palace.
"We are looking for, in two words, great stories," said Executive Producer Marsha Bemko. "In 21 years of shooting, we have seen the great Tiffany lamp, that's a dragonfly lamp, it's worth a quarter of a million dollars. We're not going to keep shooting that same thing over and over again. And really, the stories are what make an object worth more. Provenance is everything."
The Antiques Roadshow crew handed out around 5,000 tickets to Utahns, each of whom were allowed to bring two items to show to a team of volunteer appraisers. They planned to shoot enough appraisals to fill three shows, which will air in 2017.
With such a big crowd, most never make it in front of the cameras, but everyone leaves with an appraisal.
"We get to service the public and give them information," Bemko said. "It's always exciting. Pun intended, it never gets old."
Bemko and her crew do their best to manage a chaotic scene. Ticketholders wait in a variety of lines, marked with labels listing everything from folk art to furniture, and eventually get a few minutes with an expert. The appraisers immediately alert producers if they think they've found something of interest.
"For those of us who are fussy Roadshow producers, it's all about the story," said Bemko. "Story is king."
Of course, particularly interesting artifacts often carry large price tags, as was the case with a Utah resident named Royal, who brought in a large wooden bowl he and his dad purchased at an auction.
"Nobody really knew what it was," he said. "It was kind of hastily thrown into a cardboard box with padding and everything."
Royal (Roadshow producers asked us not to share his last name, to protect him from potential theft) was singled out as having something special.
"First, people kind of identified it as a recognizable maker," he said. "So then they bring a couple more people over to look at it. Next thing you know, they tell me to sit tight. About 30 to 40 minutes of waiting, they go behind the scenes and they're doing some Internet searching, kind of establishing the value. Basically, yeah, sit tight, send me off to makeup, and say 'Let's go on TV.'"
Royal says the producers want to maintain the element of surprise--he waited for about an hour, nearly bursting with questions.
"They just kind of keep you quiet, keep you quiet, and then you just go at it, and all the questions come out, he said. "They were very candid once the cameras started rolling."
Royal didn't know what his wooden bowl was worth. All he knew for sure was what he'd paid: $550.
"He thought around 20," Royal said.
That's $20,000.
"He said it was about $40,000 if it didn't have the natural stress cracks," Royal said. "But that's because of Utah's climate and the arid humidity, it naturally opened up."
But like Bemko says, it's not just about value; it's also about the story.
"We obviously did well on it, buying it for 500 bucks," Royal said. "We just love the piece. My dad's a craftsman, we both have an affection for nice pieces like that, so we can understand and appreciate what the maker did to that."
Producers say regardless of value, most of those who leave the Antiques Roadshow never sell the items they brought. They are just happy to have uncovered a mystery.
"I think it's something we're going to cherish for a long time," Royal said.
