TV Show Proves Old Adage
电视节目显示美国怀旧风
By Ted Landphair 01 June 2009

In 1996, a public television producer in Boston, Massachusetts, had a suggestion for his station manager. He said he thought an American audience might like a program that he had seen in England called the Antiques Roadshow. How right he was. The American version of the program is public TV's most popular show. And it has spawned a surprising interest in old things among all kinds of people.

1996年，马萨诸塞州的波士顿一位公共电视製作人，向他的经理提了一个建议。他说，他认为美国观众可能会喜欢一个他在英格兰的节目，该节目称之为古董巡回秀。他是如此地正确，该节目的美国版是公共电视上最受欢迎的节目。它引发人各种人对旧物的兴趣。

On the Antiques Roadshow, appraisers from prestigious auction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's travel to cities around the United States. There, for free and sometimes on camera, they appraise items that ordinary people bring in. Many pieces are obscure, unusual, and have been gathering dust on a shelf or in a family trunk. Sometimes, people are pleasantly surprised to learn that an old vase or toy or piece of jewelry is worth hundreds of times more than they thought it was.

关于古董巡回秀，来自享有盛誉的拍卖行像苏富比和克利斯蒂的鉴定员前往美国各地。因此，免 费，有时还在镜头前，他们评价平常百姓带来的物品。很多物件是冷僻的，不寻常的，并已尘封在架子上或在家里的衣箱中。有时，物主惊喜地获知，一个老花瓶或 玩具或首饰的价值是他们认为的数百倍以上。

Even if it's not worth a lot, there's usually a compelling tale about how the object was made or how it was found. The effect on the television audience can be hypnotic.

即使那物品不是很值钱，但关于这物品是如何物体或如何被发现通常多是有吸引力的故事。让电视观众着迷。

So now, people are going to their closets to see what grandma left them and whether it might be valuable. And the Antiques Roadshow has paid dividends to small dealers as well. One of them told a local newspaper that 90 percent of the people who visit his antique shop in Deerfield, Wisconsin, say they watch the show.

所以，现在，人们会到衣橱看看奶奶留他们些什么，以及是否可能是值钱的。和古董巡回秀已给小的经销商带来好处。在迪尔菲尔德，威斯康辛州一位店主告诉当地报纸说，百分之九十到他的古玩店的人说他们看过这个秀。

Armchair psychologists say that Americans' growing fascination with antiquing may even represent a subliminal longing for the slower pace, chivalry and gentler times of their great-grandparents' day. They want items that are solid and genuine with a story behind them, not something mass-produced that just looks like an antique.

一些好空言议论的心理学家说，美国人越来越着迷怀旧，甚至可能是一种潜意识的渴望放慢生活步调，他们的曾祖父母时代的骑士精神和礼貌。他们希望物品的背后有着精彩和真实的故事，而不是大规模生产，仅仅看起来像一个古董。

Of course, the rampant nostalgia might also be related to the fact that that old sewing basket or spice rack in the attic might return a handsome profit on the Antiques Roadshow or at a local collectibles shop.

当然，蔓延的怀旧风也可能是与一事实相关，即阁楼上的旧缝纫机机盒或调味品价在古董巡回秀或当地的收藏品店可能带回可观的利润回报。

ps: Read more of Ted's personal reflections and stories from the road on his blog, Ted Landphair's America.

阅读泰迪的个人反响与故事可上Ted Landphair's America的博客 。