The very first Antiques Road Show started off when antiques grew popular in England in around the late nineteen seventies. The show was a creation of the British Broadcast Channel and was simply dubbed, ‘The BBC Antiques Roadshow’.
This program
was among the very first human interest shows - or what
are popularly known in modern times as reality shows - to
hit UK television. In the program, British antique
appraisers would be entrusted with the task of traveling
from one part of the country to the other find genuine
antiques among the belongings of local UK residents. The
show would pre-announce a location in the form of the
antiques roadshow schedule.
Anxious residents would follow the antiques road show
calendar and gather on the specified date at the
specified venue with their belongings in tow. These
goods would then be appraised by the experts on the
panel of the traveling antiques road show who would
inform the owner and the home audience about their
techniques and reasons for ascertaining the antique
worth of the goods. In some rare cases, the appraisers
came across extremely valuable antiques in the
possession of local residents and such discoveries
helped boost the popularity of the show.
Consequently, the antiques roadshow theme gained
popularity in other countries as well and today even the
Canadian antiques roadshow which started off in 2001 and
the Australian antique roadhsow that started off just a
couple of years ago have become immensely popular.
The television program has also spread its reach by making it possible to seek subscription antiques road show magazines or to access antiques roadshow on internet. This way the show is now able to reach a vast expanse of audiences through almost all nations of the world.
One of the main reasons why the antique roadshow has
become a public favorite is that people enjoy hearing
about the history of various antiques from different
parts of the world.
In addition to placing a value on the objects that are
brought in by the masses, appraisers also speak about
the origin of the antique and may give an in-depth
explanation about the workmanship or traditions of the
culture which manufactured that particular object.
Another aspect of the show that earned it such fame
across the globe was its power to enrich the lives of
the average local resident. Often, appraisers on the
show discovered valuable antiques which translated into
a huge income for the owner of the object. For instance,
an ancient Indian blanket was appraised on one show and
deemed to be worth between three and five hundred
thousand dollars.
A collection of the signatures of
American Presidential cabinet members during Franklin
Roosevelt’s administration was another fabulous antique
that was discovered through the antiques roadshow. The
appraisers on the show estimated its value to be close
to or even over one million dollars.
The American version of the antiques roadshow has become
so popular that the channel that aired the show started
a new sub-show to provide additional information about
objects that were previously shown on the main show..
IMPORTANT NOTE: Items over hundred years are not permitted to be taken out of India without the permission of the Director General, The Archaeological survey of India, Janpath, New Delhi - 110 011.