Season 5

2001 · 25 episodes

Episodes

1St. Louis, Missouri: Hour 1Boston gallery owner Dan Elias, a contemporary-art specialist, hosts this stop in St. Louis. One man brings in a painting he calls “ 'Uncle Jim' in the attic.” It turns out that “Jim” is some 200 years old---and that he might have been painted by a prominent artist named Ralph Earl. If so, “Jim” could be worth $50,000.
2St. Louis, Missouri: Hour 2Appraisals in St. Louis (Part 2 of three) include a Budweiser-beer tin, a toy bear and an 18th-century silk-needlepoint picture. Also: host Dan Elias tours an 1880 St. Louis mansion built by a merchant-shipping magnate named Samuel Cupples.
3St. Louis, Missouri: Hour 3A three-show sojourn in St. Louis concludes with a visit to the St. Louis Mercantile Library, which was founded in 1846. Also: appraisals include a repeater rifle; a 100-year-old medicine chest with tins for 288 herbs; and ribbonwork clothing made by Native Americans from Indiana.
4Charleston, South Carolina: Hour 1The first of three programs from Charleston, S.C. Included: a set of Jackie Gleason's golf clubs; a 1763 poster (from Massachusetts) about the French and Indian War; and a 19th-century silver bowl designed to rinse and cool wine glasses. Also: host Dan Elias visits Charleston's Heyward-Washington house, which was built in 1772 by Thomas Heyward, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The “Washington” part refers to George, who did, in fact, sleep there.
5Charleston, South Carolina: Hour 2Items appraised in the second of three shows from Charleston, S.C., include a Hawaiian ukulele, a 19th-century basket and a collection of folk-art puppets. Also: series host Dan Elias visits Charleston's Gibbes Museum of Art.
6Charleston, South Carolina: Hour 3A three-episode sojourn in Charleston, S.C., concludes. Items up for appraisal include a 19th-century chair designed for a pair of Thai conjoined twins, as well as a bronze sculpture from France and surveyor's instruments. Also: host Dan Elias visits Fort Sumter.
7Austin, Texas: Hour 1A two-show stop in Austin, Texas, begins with a state-capitol tour. At the Austin Convention Center, items appraised include Chinese headdresses designed to ward off evil spirits; a poster promoting a 1965 Rolling Stones concert; and a 19th-century scrimshaw domino set.
8Austin, Texas: Hour 2Items appraised in the second of two shows from Austin, Texas, include the letter U.S. Grant wrote in 1868 accepting the Republican Presidential nomination, and a collection of dolls. Also: host Dan Elias visits the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas, where the items observed include Tennessee Williams manuscripts and “Gone with the Wind” storyboards.
9Denver: Hour 1Items appraised during the first of three programs from Denver include a Tiffany lamp with its original patina, a rare vase (one of only four like it) and an 18th-century maple bowl and pounder. Also: host Dan Elias visits the Denver Art Museum.
10Denver: Hour 2Items appraised on the second of three shows from Denver include a 19th-century baseball bat; a turn-of-the-century cast-iron bank; and 19th-century documents from a Colorado mining town. Also: series host Dan Elias visits Denver's Black American West Museum.
11Denver: Hour 3Items appraised during the final show from Denver include art-deco Bakelite objects, a mahogany-and-brass lap desk and a beaded Native American saddle throw. Also: host Dan Elias profiles “Buffalo Bill” Cody, who's buried outside Denver.
12Madison, Wisconsin: Hour 1Items appraised in the first of a three-episode stint in Madison, Wis., include a Civil War broadside from 1862, a Wisconsin-made spinning wheel and a Norwegian fiddle. Also: host Dan Elias visits the Wisconsin State Capitol complex.
13Madison, Wisconsin: Hour 2Items appraised in Madison, Wis., include a silver-and-gold incense burner, and a parasol that was given to the owner's grandmother by Queen Victoria. Also: host Dan Elias visits Taliesin, architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Wisconsin home.
14Madison, Wisconsin: Hour 3The three-show stopover in Madison, Wis., concludes. Appraised: Stickley dining-room tables and chairs; a Chinese blanket designed to cover a child's saddle; and a hand-drawn 1909 comic-book illustration.
15Tulsa, Oklahoma: Hour 1Appraised at the Tulsa Convention Center: a desk used in Congress in the 1850s (and found by its owner in a chicken coop); a handwritten diary kept by delegates to the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention in 1906-7; and memorabilia from a Wild West show that includes a poster for a documentary in which an unknown cowboy named Tom Mix made his screen debut. Also: host Dan Elias presents a quickie survey of Tulsa's art-deco architecture.
16Tulsa, Oklahoma: Hour 2Items appraised in Tulsa (Part 2 of three) include an 1881 cylindrical calculator, a Roman earthenware amphora and a place card from a vintage Hollywood party that features Will Rogers' autograph. Also: host Dan Elias surveys the Western and Native American art and artifacts at Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum.
17Tulsa, Oklahoma: Hour 3Appraised in Tulsa: a pocket watch showing two time zones, designed for a sea captain; a Native American cradle board; and an 18th-century chest of drawers that was being used by its owner as a TV stand. Also: host Dan Elias gets a kick or two along U.S. Route 66.
18Boston: Hour 1The “Roadshow” makes a pit stop in its home town with the first of three programs (taped in August 2000) at Boston's Bayside Expo Center. Items appraised range from a spoon once owned by Lizzie Borden to an 18th-century tomahawk. Also: a quick tour of the Museum of Fine Arts and a visit to the historic Cogswell Grant farm in Essex, Mass.
19Boston: Hour 2Items appraised at Boston's Bayside Exposition Center include an 18th-century French tureen, a trunk full of turn-of-the-20th-century military uniforms and a slavery-era citizenship certificate issued to a person of color. Also: host Dan Elias tours Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum.
20Boston: Hour 3Items appraised at Boston's Bayside Exposition Center include a mid-19th century carved wooden cat; and a French fashion doll, clothing and accessories. Also: host Dan Elias tours the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historical Site in Brookline, Mass.
21Sacramento, California: Hour 1Part 1 of two. Items appraised in Sacramento range from an 1870s Irish chamber pot adorned with a picture of British Prime Minister William Gladstone to “Star Wars” figurines. Also: host Dan Elias visits Sutter's Mill and traces the area's history, with emphasis on the 1849 gold rush. Other “nuggets” examined: an 18th-century Kentucky rifle, an 1864 Lincoln campaign poster, a 1954 Christian Dior gown and a painting of a lake that a woman bought at a church bazaar for about $5.
22Sacramento, California: Hour 2Conclusion. Items appraised in Sacramento include a pair of bronze horses, a Wedgewood stove from the 1930s and a hand-embroidered linen bag. Also: host Dan Elias visits the California State Railroad Museum.
23Las Vegas: Hour 1Items appraised in Las Vegas (Part 1 of three) include an 18th-century Dutch decanter set, a post-Civil War chair and table, and a painting of a snowy landscape scene in Bucks County, Pa. The hour also features a thumbnail history of the Las Vegas area and a tour of a “boneyard” for neon signs. Says tour guide Rudy Franchi: “You couldn't come to Las Vegas without talking about neon.” Dan Elias hosts.
24Las Vegas: Hour 2Part 2 . Items appraised in Las Vegas include a 17th-century Dutch pendulum clock; a Revolutionary War-era powderkeg; and a magic-memorabilia collection that includes a program autographed by Houdini. Also: host Dan Elias visits Nevada's Hoover Dam.
25Las Vegas: Hour 3A Las Vegas stint concludes. Items appraised include costumes worn by performers who entertained U.S. troops during the 1950s; a 19th-century Russian religious icon; and a carpenter's chest made of 13 kinds of wood. Also: host Dan Elias tours the Liberace Museum.