Excerpt: 'Antique Roadshow Collectibles'

ByABC News via logo
November 4, 2003, 6:02 PM

Nov. 5 -- If you are a flea market scavenger who would like to learn more about the art of collecting, Antiques Roadshow 20th Century Collectibles helps you distinguish a treasure when you see one.

The book focuses on 12 major areas: furniture, photographs, posters and illustration art, costume jewelry and wristwatches, dolls, toys, advertising memorabilia, sports, glass and pottery.

Here is an excerpt:

Collecting 101

Steinbeck was either prescient or had a true collector's soul, for he was absolutely right about that car and that toaster. Today collectors are snapping up Danish modern furniture, Venini glass, Roseville pottery, Norman Norell dresses, Hamilton wristwatches, and toasters from the 1940s. Collectors come in all shapes and sizes, from all socioeconomic brackets, and from all parts of the country. They track down this potpourri of objects at yard sales, on the Internet, at auctions, and in shops.

But how did "they" become "us" a nation of collectors, in the midst of a collecting epidemic, evidence of which is the devoted weekly following Antique Roadshow has enjoyed since 1997?

The Collecting Bug

If you've got the collecting bug, it's more than likely that you know it. The bug insinuates itself into many aspects of your everyday existence. It makes its home in your heart and feeds on your yearnings, memories, and emotions. Once it has insinuated itself into your life, it seems to be a bug that's virtually unkillable. The usual pesticides guilt, being the butt of long-running family jokes, insufficient funds are ineffective. It's impervious to snow, rain, and dark of night (think of those 5 a.m. flea marketers with flashlights). Overflowing shelves and lengthy rationalizations barely slow it down. It has adapted to its difficult environment and is wholly at home in your home.