'Antiques Roadshow' guest says 'holy cannoli' after expert revealed the value of his rusty signboard
Signboards that appear along the road hardly come to mind when people think about antiques, but only an expert on "Antiques Roadshow" can see the immense value and stories behind them. A guest once came to the show with a rusty metal signboard that had a connection to folk legend and civil rights activist, Pete Seeger. The owner didn't think much of it and was gobsmacked when the appraiser revealed its true worth, only to give it away to the museum for free.
In the special episode titled "Extraordinary Finds", the guest shared how he came across the legendary sign. "I went to an antique store in Rosendale,
New York. Not far from Peekskill, on the other side of the river, and I, uh,
happened to see it in there and didn't think much of it when I first saw it," he told the expert, Timothy Gordon. The guest further shared that he only realized the significance of the sign after reading Pete Seeger's book. "And realizing that the Peekskill riots had happened, I said, 'Why does that ring a bell?'" he said.
He added that he was friends with Seeger for most of his adult life, and he was at his bedside when he passed. "I spent many fun times with him, sailing, singing. I probably got this signed in... 2008," he said. Gordon then took over to explain the provenance of the sign. He explained that the Hollowbrook Drive-In incident with Pete Seeger and Paul Robeson is perhaps an infamous segment in American history. "Both he and Pete Seeger were politically interested, and they were for the rights of, of the unions, rights of freedom in America," the expert said.
The guest added that the sign's concert was scheduled a few days ahead of the rallies, and it was canceled due to the protests. "And that was held in a drive-in theater. This drive-in theater here," Gordon added. The expert shared that the event was reorganized in support of the unions, but ultimately it supported the leftist ideas and goals for justice for all. "And Peekskill at the time was a pretty conservative town. It was putting on this event in the lion's den, and those people who were not in favor of that were not having this. Pete Seeger, Paul Robeson, and others were basically attacked by an angry mob. It got physical," the guest explained further.
He added that the motorcade of the two stars was stoned when they were leaving the event. "Piles of rocks the size of grapefruits, on both sides of the road, and people just stoned every car that went out there. I do know what happened to Pete's car. Every window in his car was busted out by rocks. One of the rocks came through the window and missed his son's head by inches," the guest mentioned. Coming to the sign, Gordon pointed out that despite some condition issues and rusting, it was still an icon from American history. Thus, he estimated that at an auction, the value of the item would be between $2,000 to $3,000. The guest was flabbergasted to hear the value as he exclaimed, "Holy Cannoli!"
Shortly after the show aired, the guest became famous as the "Holy Cannoli" guy, and he was contacted by a woman named Deana McCloud, the founding executive director of the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa. McCloud, who was looking to curate an exhibit of Seeger for the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame collection, reached out to the guest, who happily gave away the item for free.
"To think that the sign is here with other important artifacts. I get a smile on my face knowing that, cause what good is it hanging in, my office?" the guest said in the end.
