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Antiques Roadshow here I come!

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Contributed by: Glenda Jackson on 8/5/2007

Monday night at 8 p.m. don't talk to me, call me or otherwise disturb me. It's Antiques Roadshow night. Yes, I'm addicted, and have been since day one. When the show first debuted, my friends and I would call each other, often after some incredulous 50 cent yard sale find turned out to be worth $50,000. We'd often dream of having the very same luck or dream of going to the show!

Well, guess what!

Part of the dream comes alive the weekend of August 18 in Las Vegas, Nevada! Yep, we are braving the desert heat because WE HAVE TICKETS TO THE ANTIQUES ROADSHOW and nothing is going to prevent us from going.

Earlier this year, while browsing the show's website, I registered for the random drawing for tickets to the Roadshow and so did my friend. Winners would be emailed on June 1 with full details and loe and behold on June 1 we both got emails. The only caveat is that attendees can only take TWO ITEMS for appraisal. How is an admitted estate sale, flea market, yard sale fanatic supposed to ONLY take two things? I don't own any Lalique; I don't own any Medieval helmets; and I don't own any rusty Civil War swords handed down from my relatives.

But I do have a book - and it could be a very special book, signed by a very special person. A person who disappeared under very mysterious circumstances and whose disappearance historians, scholars and everday people are trying to solve to this very day.

I have a book with Amelia Earhart's signature in it and Ipaid $2 for it. The funny thing is that I didn't even look in the book until late in the evening. Is it authentic? It looks like it but that's why I'm taking it to the Roadshow. If they will authentic it, by Sunday night Amelia will be on the wide world of Ebay.

So how much is Amelia's signature worth? Hard to say. This one is a "clipped signature" meaning that the book owner met Amelia at an event, had her sign a piece of paper, and then pasted Amelia's signature onto the title page of the book.

I have to admit that visions of dollar signs danced in my head when I saw the blue signature. Checking numerous autograph dealer websites, I was amazed at the prices they were asking! Some wanted $10,000; some want $8,000. I went on Ebay and found Amelia's signature could fetch $500.

So I'm definitely taking Amelia on my road trip.But what else? I haven't a clue. Is it the 1847 early Arkansas history letter? Is it the unsigned watercolor? Or how about the handwritten eyewitness account of the St. Francis Dam Disaster written by a local Saticoy resident?

My friend has an entire BOX of late 1800s Santa Barbara County historical documents that she got for $15 at a flea market and what could be a Marilyn Monroe photo proof of the famous calendar shot she got for $1.

And then there's the possibility of facetime (being on camera). That's a whole new ball of wax. Gotta dress for that possibility.My friend and I havebeen kidding each other about who's going to get facetime and who's going to wind upin the Feedback Booth.

Either way, it doesn't matter. We don't even care if we have to stand in long lines for 8 hours. We're going to the AntiquesRoadshow!

Will Amelia wind up a being a good return on my investment? Stay tuned for that answer.

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