Popular PBS television series Antiques Roadshow visits Alaska for the first time

They lined up on July 11 with keepsakes and family treasures, all replete with memories, carried in shopping bags and cardboard boxes, in small and big suitcases, laundry baskets, and sometimes pulled in little red wagons. A few hauled in large ornate chests, others carried artwork in their arms.

Through the day almost 2,500 people shared stories behind their collectibles with professional appraisers for the Antiques Roadshow, the Emmy award-nominated Public Broadcasting System television series.

Anchorage was chosen as one of five cities to be featured in 2024 on the 28th season of the popular Antiques Roadshow weekly television program, which is PBS’ most-watched program.

The show has aired for 27 years and nominated for the Emmy Award 21 times, the latest nomination announced last week, July 12.

This was the first time in Alaska for the Antiques Roadshow. It was held at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in northeast Anchorage.

“Taking Antiques Roadshow across the country, meeting our event guests and learning about their items each year brings the magic to our episodes,” executive producer Marsha Bemko said.

“It’s long been a dream to take the show to Alaska, not only to discover treasures from the area but also to bring the splendor of the surroundings and important Alaska Native cultures to Roadshow viewers,” Bemko said.

Getting the show here has been long been a dream for Alaska Public Media, too. People at the state’s public broadcast network have been promoting Alaska as a location for a decade, and finally succeeded, said Ed Ulman, CEO for Alaska Public Media.

Most people who dug through closets and attics to find keepsakes didn’t expect to strike it rich when they came to the Antiques Roadshow last week. “They just want to know more about what they have and to go back to their families with the stories,” said Demee Gambulos, spokesperson for the show.

However, there is always curiosity about value and there were some surprises at the Anchorage event. An Iditarod dog sled race trophy won by famed musher Susan Butcher was valued at $150,000, Bemko said, and a collection of personal papers of Stephen Decatur, famous early 19th century U.S. Navy captain, was valued at between $150,000 to $200,000.

Jeff Shrader, one of the Antique Roadshow volunteer appraisers who specializes in arms and military items, made the valuation of the Decatur papers.

About 6,700 tickets were requested for the event in Anchorage, and 2,443 attended, according to Bemko. Each person was invited to bring two items to be appraised, which means about 5,000 items were appraised through the day.

There were 23 categories of items viewed by 65 appraisers. Categories ranged from silver and jewelry to old fabrics, photographs, books and manuscripts, decorative arts, arms and militaria, and other memorabilia as well as tribal arts, including Native American and Alaska Native collectibles.

About 100 of those attending the Roadshow were selected to be filmed and interviewed for possibly being on the program when it airs nationally beginning in January. One person filmed last week brought one of the few original copies of Alaska’s State Constitution from the 1956 Alaska constitutional convention.

Seven film crews were on hand through the day to record conversations with appraisers.

Each of the five Roadshow locations in 2023 will be aired sequentially three times next year, each showing an hour in length, Bemko said. Besides Anchorage, Baton Rouge, LA.; Raleigh, N.C.; Akron, Ohio and Sturbridge, Mass will be featured in the 2024 series, Bemko said.

The appraisers were mostly from out of state, but some were from Alaska. All were volunteers who paid their own expenses, Gambulos said. Many appraisers come year after year to participate in Roadshow events, she said. For most it’s about networking and staying in touch with old friends in their fields.

One of the largest groups of items brought in the Anchorage roadshow, and which attracted the most attention, was in the tribal and Native American category. People brought old ivory, masks, carvings and crafts including a home-crafted doll from a lower Yukon River village.

There were six appraisers reviewing the Alaska Native collectibles, including two from Alaska, Melissa Fouse and Shyanne Beatty.

Bemko said having the event in Anchorage was a challenge because of the distances for travel and the greater expense compared with Lower 48 locations. Alaska Public Media, the host public station, helped raise funds and organized volunteers to help with logistics.

Bemko is particularly grateful to Totem Ocean Trailer Express, or TOTE, which donated a container van to ship production equipment. In other states this is moved by truck but for Alaska it had to come by sea.

Volunteers were crucial in helping people move efficiently through the process. Twenty of Alaska Public Media’s staff and 86 volunteers from the community helped, said Ulman, of Alaska Public Media.

“Moving that many people through a space in 12 hours requires a lot of customer service. You want everyone leaving the event with a good feeling,” Ulman said. But having done it for 27 years the Antiques Roadshow staff has it down pat. “It’s a well-oiled machine,” he said.