Most of the family heirlooms that have been passed down to me — porcelain tea sets, ceramics and jewelry — are still in boxes at my parents’ house in Florida.
So, when the producers of “Antiques Roadshow” said I could bring two items to be appraised as part of my coverage of the show’s appearance in Boothbay on Wednesday, I had to scour my tiny apartment for anything interesting.
In November of last year, after writing a story about the antiques scene in the midcoast, I circled back to Cabot Mills Antiques in Brunswick. I wanted to purchase a functioning Royal typewriter that I’d found during my reporting. I now use it often for hobby writing — I like that I have to type every letter with intention.
This week, I hefted that typewriter, along with a gold and emerald ring given to me by my mother, to the “Antiques Roadshow” taping at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.
I arrived at 9 a.m., so the gardens weren’t crowded yet, but Mainers had begun to file in, carrying their wares. First, my press escort took me to an area they called “triage,” where a worker gave me a card telling me where to take my items. To have my typewriter appraised, I would go to “Collectibles.” For my ring, I would go to “Jewelry.”
Though it was drizzling, the gardens were beautiful, and we dodged our way past guests with art and furniture, as well as one man with two giant Japanese fishing poles. My press escort took me to see Travis Landry, the volunteer appraiser who would be inspecting my typewriter in the collectibles tent.
I placed it on the table, and he told me the line, Quiet DeLuxe, was first introduced in 1939, but was popular between the late 1940s to 1950s. It’s made of cast metal with a patinated black finish.
“You know what we call these in the auctioning world?” Landry asked me.
I did not know.
“Boat anchors,” he said.
I hadn’t expected it to be worth much, but I thought it would be worth more than nothing. Landry said he was glad that I love it so much. It would go for about $50 retail, he said, but at auction, he would “pay $5 for someone to take it.”
That was disappointing, considering I paid $120 for it.
But I’m happy to know about its history.
At the jewelry tent, another volunteer named Gloria Lieberman took out a magnifying glass to look at the ring. It was passed from my grandmother to my mother to me and has five small emeralds surrounded by tiny diamonds.
Lieberman told me the ring was 14 karat gold and a popular style in the 1970s. She said it was made in America, likely New York or New Jersey, and the gold on its own was worth about $200. With the small emeralds — which were not gem quality — and tiny diamonds, the entire ring was worth about $450, she said.
Again, I was happy to learn the history.
But I have no plans to sell the ring or the typewriter.
