Product Description

Pull those old toys out from under the bed. Grab the toaster tucked in the back of the kitchen cabinet. Gather up your old china and Christmas ornaments -- just don't throw them out! In Treasures in Your Attic, Joe L. Rosson and Helaine Fendelman, professional antiques appraisers and hosts of the popular television show, aired on PBS stations across the country, explore the valuable objects found in most ordinary American homes and learn that frequently the most valuable items are the ones you've overlooked.

Joe and Helaine give you an inside look at how the antiques market really works, how value is determined, how to "talk the talk," and where to go to research your "treasures." Then they take you on a room-by-room treasure hunt of an ordinary home -- and they talk prices as they examine the discarded toys in the children's room, the costume jewelry in the bedroom, the old gadgets and appliances in the kitchen, the furniture tucked into the attic, and even the concrete garden ornaments in the backyard. Finally, they'll help you figure out the best way to sell -- or buy -- antiques and collectibles at auction or on the Internet.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #534968 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-01
• Released on: 2001-04-24
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Amazon.com
For once, here's a book whose contents live up to its (very long) subtitle; it's a smart and straightforward amateur's guide to the basic valuation factors of everything from china, crystal, and glassware to furniture, figurines, Barbie dolls, and old garden tools. It kicks off with a blunt rundown of the main elements that determine an object's value (and contrary to popular belief among the antiques laity, mere "oldness" isn't necessarily one of them), and then provides a fun and detailed glossary of key words, styles, and makers in seven main areas of collecting: pottery and porcelain, glass, silver and other metals, furniture, paper, textiles and needlework, and "catch-all."

Then the book walks you through a room-by-room assessment of your own house (including, yes, the bathroom, attic, and tool shed), helping you get a sense of whether the family china or that so-called Biedermeier sofa is really worth anything, or if there's currently an eager market out there for those old straight-edge razors, Timex watches, Star Wars action figures, animal-shaped cookie jars, or back-issues of Life. However, the authors stress that this is not a guide to accurate do-it-yourself appraisal, and that only a legit appraiser (and not an antiques dealer) can give you a true retail value on an object.

The overall tone here is notably generous and uncondescending, and even when an air of barely repressed disdain for the myriad know-nothing civilians they've encountered sneaks in, it's more amusing than off-putting. (When they plead, "Please, do not call a lamp a 'Tiffany' unless it was made by that company and bears its trademark," you can almost hear their aggrieved sighs of schoolmarm exasperation.) For wannabe collectibles pros, weekend flea-market prowlers, or anybody with a houseful of intriguing junk, this plainspoken, substantial guide is a keeper. --Timothy Murphy

From Publishers Weekly
As a self-described entertaining, informative down-to-earth guide to a wide range of collectibles and antiques from the hosts of the popular television show seen on PBS stations, Treasures in Your Attic offers intriguing possibilities to consider before backing the truck up to the door and pitching the past. Joe L. Rosson and Helaine Fendelman tour an average home, room by room, identifying the various items found and discussing their rarity and value to collectors. They speak frankly about the good, the bad and the ugly and advise on how to capitalize on both items collecting dust and beloved family artifacts. The closing section provides a crash course on how to find appraisers, evaluate collections, find dealers, sell at auction and what to know about buying and selling on the Web.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The Road Show, as many professional antique dealers disdainfully label PBS' Antiques Road Show, has almost single-handedly destroyed the supply of old things. Homeowners who once dismissed attic-stored items as worthless junk now hoard and savor each piece as they wait in ever-increasing lines for appraisers. Now, enter breaths of common sense, via PBS-TV hosts Rosson and Fendelman of Treasures in Your Attic. Essentially, they're sharing a foundation of knowledge that every wanna-be collector must have: an education in materials, methods, brand names, trademarks, and trade activities. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Skip to page 121
Good walk through of what you might find in your parents home that is valuable. I won't just repeat what others have said about this book. I would have put the dictionary style entries in the first section of the book as an appendix. Just jump ahead to section two and the book is more interesting. I didn't appreciate the third section on buying and selling. The authors told war stories about antique dealers and auctioneers that, while entertaining, would scare off any novice collector. Sure, buyer beware, but how about conceding that the vast majority of antique store owners and auction companies are honest and fair?

It Used to be Junk to Me, But.......
If you are at all interested in "collectibles" or antiques, "Treasures In Your Attic" by Joe L. Rosson and Helaine Fendelman will be a treasure in your bookcase. After you have been bitten by the bug and scoured your house and/or that of your parents for treasures, "Treasures" will be remembered or frequently referred to on the way to or from Antique Stores, Garage and Estate Sales and Flea Markets. Unlike Mr. Jussell who wrote the book's Foreword, I can't comment on its usefulness to "seasoned antique collectors" because I am a novice who became fascinated by collectibles from watching antique discussion and appraisal shows on television. I can, however, recommend this book to both the beginner and to the individual whose interest and curiosity eclipses his knowledge. This very entertaining, informative, and easily read book is organized in three parts: "The Basics" (things you should know about your hobby), "The Treasure Hunt" (a discussion of collectibles that you may find in each room of your house or on display at "sales" and how to recognize them) and "Professional Advice." The Basics Section is just that - what you must know to communicate and understand communications about your addiction. Professional Advice is a distillation of knowledge learned by the authors in the school of hard knocks and includes an indispensable discussion of how to buy and how to sell treasures over the Internet. If Rosson and Fendelman had included a chapter on references useful for research and authentication, the book would be awarded "5stars"; and the authors a General Electric D-20 toaster. As is the book deserves the 5 stars and perhaps the toaster will be awarded for the next book.

Buy this book!
"Treasures in Your Attic" is a great read for the novice collector and expert alike. It's worth every penny just for the well-written, easily understandable section of important terms. As the authors point out, knowledge is power and knowing the lingo can save you money. Inspired by the book, I was looking around in my mother's basement just the other day and found an old piece of T. Anthony luggage. Unfortunately it was rather beaten up, and as Rosson and Fendelman informed me on page 282, such pieces are only good if "they have not been sideswiped by a bus and have not spent the last forty years rotting in a damp basement." Too bad for me. Humor pervades the vast amount of practical knowledge in this book, making it really fun to read. It's a reference that belongs on the shelf of anyone who hopes to make a deal or a profit on an unexpected find--or who simply wants to keep the treasures to himself. P.S. I tossed the suitcase.