Akron's Stan Hywet provides backdrop for Tuesday's 'Antiques Roadshow' taping
Many came with hopes of being a thousandaire.
Most left with just a fun memory.
"Antiques Roadshow" attracted some 2,000 people lugging everything from chairs to toys to large pictures to Akron's historic Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens on Tuesday.
And one giant head.
The ornate head made the trek to the taping of the popular PBS show from Detroit.
Martin Nickens, owner of the Vintage Eastern Market in the Motor City, purchased the Nigerian war helmet several years ago and has had it on display in his home ever since.
"It's definitely a focal point when someone visits," he said.
He's always been curious what the head − believed to be some 100 years old − might be worth.
But the real reason he entered the lottery for show tickets and drove some 180 miles to Akron was the chance to be a part of the show that he's watched since he was a kid.
"This is a dream come true for me," Nickens said.
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And it's also a chance to feel good about his hunt for treasures.
His rare second generation Barbie that he found at a garage sale for $3 is worth 10 times what he paid.
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"Antiques Roadshow" producer Marsha Bemko said most of the people who come seeking an appraisal are simply fans of the show who are also curious about a family heirloom or garage or thrift store find.
There are certainly a lot of fans of the show in Northeast Ohio.
Bemko said the demand for tickets to be a part of the Akron stop was the greatest among this summer's tour that includes Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Raleigh, North Carolina, Sturbridge, Massachusetts and Anchorage, Alaska.
Some 29,038 people applied for the lottery for just 2,000 tickets that were available for the one-day taping in Akron.
This marked the show's sixth visit to Ohio and the first in Northeast Ohio since the Cleveland stop in 2015.
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The Akron stop will be featured in three episodes set to air in 2024.
Bemko said the secret sauce for the show is the unknown.
Sometimes, she said, someone will walk away with a true treasure worth tens of thousands of dollars while sometimes the appraisal ends in disappointment.
Such was the case Tuesday morning in Akron.
Bemko said one person walked in believing they had an original Georgia O'Keeffe painting that had been given as a wedding gift years and years ago.
An original, she said, it would have been worth anywhere from $650,000 to $1 million.
It turns out it was actually a print of an original and worth about $100.
Bemko said the show has wanted to come back to Ohio and its scouts fell in love with Stan Hywet Hall and its expansive grounds that provide the perfect backdrop for the taped appraisals.
"Stan Hywet is pretty and we are a television show," she said.
'Antiques Roadshow' will promote Akron tourism
Hosting "Antiques Roadshow" is an opportunity to promote Stan Hywet Hall on an international stage, said the estate's executive director Jennie Highfield.
"This is probably one of the most significant things we have had the opportunity to be a part of," she said.
Although the timing is a bit tricky as the estate has to get ready once the show's cameras and equipment are packed up to host another round of thousands of visitors this weekend as part of the Founder's Day festivities that mark Akron's and Stan Hywet's role in the creation of Alcoholic's Anonymous.
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During the taping, Highfield said, it was tempting to run into the Manor House and grab and item or two from the collection to have it appraised.
The 64,500-square-foot Tudor estate is chockful of antiques and original furnishings of Goodyear founder Frank “F.A.” Seiberling and his wife, Gertrude.
Highfield said the show's appraisers who travel from all over the country got a private tour of the Manor House and were blown away by how historically intact it is.
"I like to say they (the Seiberlings) left with the toothpaste still on the toothbrush," she said.
'Antiques Roadshow' uncovers Akron artifacts
What's pretty cool about traveling with the show, said appraiser Travis Landry, director of pop culture and auctioneer for Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers of Cranston, Rhode Island, is you get to know the quirks different areas of the country.
For Akron, Landry said, that means things like blimp memorabilia and anything related to that "Just a Kid from Akron" who went on to be an NBA superstar.
"You're like a detective," he said. "You never what's going to come through the door."
And sometimes you never know what you might find tucked away in your father's desk that you have to clean out after he passes away.
Former Akron deputy mayor and local historian Dave Lieberth brought along some of the discoveries he found after his father Joseph passed away in 1981.
Lieberth said his dad had a number of jobs over the years and once worked at the Seiberling Latex Company that had offices in Akron and a plant in Barberton.
Tucked away in an envelope in the desk was the original Disney artwork and drawings from the 1930s and 1940s for toys that the company produced.
The appraisers pored over the one-of-a-kind drawings and sketches for store displays and toys that included a Mickey Mouse water bottle and placed a value of about $1,500 for each of the fragile pieces of paper.
Lieberth said he suspects his dad rescued the papers from being thrown out during a purge of the former company's offices.
"He never mentioned them," Lieberth said. "I never knew they were there. They just sat in his desk all those years."
Craig Webb, who made an embarrassing on-camera appearance on "Antiques Roadshow" in 2015, can be reached cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron's Stan Hywet is backdrop for Tuesday 'Antiques Roadshow' taping
