Locally filmed episodes of Antiques Roadshow begin with season premiere Monday night
From a blow dart gun to a Warhol, locals brought all sorts of treasures to the show.
Antiques Roadshow kicks off its 24th season Monday night with the first of three episodes taped at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library in Delaware last year.
Three hour-long episodes were created from the nine hours of filming done by the show over the course of a single day at Winterthur on June 18. In addition to Monday night’s show, the two other episodes will air locally at 8 p.m. on Jan. 13, and Jan. 20 on local PBS affiliate WHYY.
From a blow dart gun bought at a flea market in Philly to a Howdy Doody doll found in a house in Delaware, people from across the region brought their trinkets and treasures to the estate of Henry Francis du Pont to get them valued by about 70 of the show’s colorful array of antiques appraisers from across the country.
More than 17,000 people entered the free lottery for just 2,000 tickets. Ticket winners were given an additional pass to bring along a guest and both were allowed to bring two items for appraisal. Producers estimated about 3,000 people attended the taping, the first of its kind in Delaware.
During filming, Liz from Philadelphia turned a few heads on the set carrying around what appeared to be an Andy Warhol Campbell’s Soup print. (As part of Roadshow’s policy to protect guests who may have high-value items, the Inquirer agreed only to publish the first name of attendees.)
Liz, who appears in a season premiere preview clip, told the Inquirer the print was a birthday gift from her husband, who left her 13 days after he gave it to her.
He paid $1,800 for the print in 2004, she said, but it was appraised for insurance purposes on the Roadshow at $50,000.
“It makes it hard to get rid of stuff,” she said.
Other stops this season on the Roadshow include Maine, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Alaska, and Vermont.