Items appraised in Las Vegas (Part 1 of three) include an 18th-century Dutch decanter set, a post-Civil War chair and table, and a painting of a snowy landscape scene in Bucks County, Pa. The hour also features a thumbnail history of the Las Vegas area and a tour of a “boneyard” for neon signs. Says tour guide Rudy Franchi: “You couldn't come to Las Vegas without talking about neon.” Dan Elias hosts.
Part 1 of two. Items appraised in Sacramento range from an 1870s Irish chamber pot adorned with a picture of British Prime Minister William Gladstone to “Star Wars” figurines. Also: host Dan Elias visits Sutter's Mill and traces the area's history, with emphasis on the 1849 gold rush. Other “nuggets” examined: an 18th-century Kentucky rifle, an 1864 Lincoln campaign poster, a 1954 Christian Dior gown and a painting of a lake that a woman bought at a church bazaar for about $5.
The “Roadshow” makes a pit stop in its home town with the first of three programs (taped in August 2000) at Boston's Bayside Expo Center. Items appraised range from a spoon once owned by Lizzie Borden to an 18th-century tomahawk. Also: a quick tour of the Museum of Fine Arts and a visit to the historic Cogswell Grant farm in Essex, Mass.
Items appraised in Tulsa (Part 2 of three) include an 1881 cylindrical calculator, a Roman earthenware amphora and a place card from a vintage Hollywood party that features Will Rogers' autograph. Also: host Dan Elias surveys the Western and Native American art and artifacts at Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum.
Appraised at the Tulsa Convention Center: a desk used in Congress in the 1850s (and found by its owner in a chicken coop); a handwritten diary kept by delegates to the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention in 1906-7; and memorabilia from a Wild West show that includes a poster for a documentary in which an unknown cowboy named Tom Mix made his screen debut. Also: host Dan Elias presents a quickie survey of Tulsa's art-deco architecture.
Items appraised in the second of two shows from Austin, Texas, include the letter U.S. Grant wrote in 1868 accepting the Republican Presidential nomination, and a collection of dolls. Also: host Dan Elias visits the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas, where the items observed include Tennessee Williams manuscripts and “Gone with the Wind” storyboards.
The first of three programs from Charleston, S.C. Included: a set of Jackie Gleason's golf clubs; a 1763 poster (from Massachusetts) about the French and Indian War; and a 19th-century silver bowl designed to rinse and cool wine glasses. Also: host Dan Elias visits Charleston's Heyward-Washington house, which was built in 1772 by Thomas Heyward, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The “Washington” part refers to George, who did, in fact, sleep there.
Boston gallery owner Dan Elias, a contemporary-art specialist, hosts this stop in St. Louis. One man brings in a painting he calls “ 'Uncle Jim' in the attic.” It turns out that “Jim” is some 200 years old---and that he might have been painted by a prominent artist named Ralph Earl. If so, “Jim” could be worth $50,000.