The former co-owner of Right at Home Marion Boland missed this year’s registration for a shot at getting on “Antiques Roadshow,” but luckily a friend had extra tickets, so Boland invited her friend Sue McJames to make the trek to Red Butte Garden June 3.
“I'm a fan, and I watch it, and anybody that watches regularly realizes that you can go online and see what the schedule is going to be for the upcoming year,” Boland said. “Then, it’s a lottery system. You apply for tickets, and it's a limited two or three-week time to get your name in. And if you win, you get two free tickets.”
“Antiques Roadshow” was originally broadcast in 1979 by the BBC. The American version seen every Monday night in the U.S. began in 2004.
According to the rules, all ticket holders must bring one or two items for appraisal. Everyone will receive a free, verbal assessment of value for each item, regardless of whether or not they are selected by the producer to be recorded for television.
This year Boland brought a vase that had been handed down to her by her Canadian grandparents.
“The fun of it is, you pick something that you have at home, that you've always wondered what the value is, and then you hope that you will get picked and featured, and you'll be on TV,” she said. “I did not get picked or featured, but I did find out that my 1930s rare Moorcroft Arts and Craft English pottery piece that was passed down from my grandparents, that I always was a little worried my children might sell at a garage sale for 25 cents out the front door, is actually worth $2,000.”
Sue McJames brought in a couple of pieces of art that were valued between $200 and $300.
“We saw lots of appraisers that you see on TV. I brought an Asian art piece that was appraised by Lark Mason, Jr. and Salvador Dali print that David Weiss appraised," McJames said.
Neither of them have been chosen to have their stories broadcast on the program, but Boland says she got very close in 2016.
“I brought a cameo that, a huge cameo that my grandfather had found in the 1920s at the Mediterranean Sea," Boland said. "They said, ‘OK, this is a really great story, because he found it untouched in the sand, like it had been washed up and it was in perfect condition.’ And they said, ‘Please go and sit there. We're going to have you come on TV, because it's such a fabulous story. And it's such a beautiful piece.’ And I did sit and wait for half an hour, all queued up to get onto TV. And then somebody came along and scooped me with a better story. So, I was up so close but I didn't get it.”
The long-running program is celebrating its 30th season and will travel to five cities this year. The last time the show was in Utah was 2016.
Viewers who tune in to the Salt Lake episodes will learn the stories behind the antiques that were selected for broadcast. The three Salt Lake City-based episodes will air on PBS sometime in 2026.
