The rain may have caused “Antiques Roadshow” to cover its filming and appraisals under tents on Wednesday, but the foggy backdrop set a dramatic scene for the popular TV show’s first visit to Maine.
Thousands of people flocked to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay to get their items appraised — and maybe end up on television. Some protected their prized possessions with tarps, bags and plastic as they waited in line outside the gardens in the rain for more than an hour.
The show hadn’t visited Maine before because of its need for a venue that could handle the volume of visitors. But there was clearly lots of interest: More than 17,000 people applied for the 2,000 pairs of tickets to the show, according to Executive Producer Marsha Bemko.
Two of those ticket-holders were sisters Hannah and Riley — whose last names could not be reported under rules set by the show. The duo left Bangor at 5 a.m. on Wednesday to be able to make their 8 a.m. ticket time. They brought blacklight anti-Nixon posters, which ended up being appraised for between $40 and $200, Hannah said.
“We weren’t going on TV, I knew it,” she said.
Riley added that her dad asked the duo to bring a book that he found in the “free” bin at a dump in Oregon written by James G. Blaine, the former U.S. senator from Maine in the late 1800s whose Augusta home is now the official residence of the state’s governors.
“It looks like it could be worth something,” Riley said. “[The appraiser] said, ‘Oh, you could have left that in the free pile.’”
Riley and Hannah may not have made it on TV, and few will. The show will air three episodes in 2026 from Wednesday’s visit, and out of the thousands of guests, only about 140 appraisals will be filmed. Of those, only around 90 will make it to television.
Jill Giles, a line producer for the show, said producers want filmed appraisals to be as authentic as possible. If an appraiser sees something particularly interesting, they will flag down a producer before telling the guest anything about the item. Then, the producer will come by, talk with the appraiser and the guest, and decide if it will be filmed.
“We say ‘no’ a lot more than we say ‘yes,’” Giles said.
If the appraisal is to be filmed, though, the guest will go to the green room. After that, the appraiser will conduct the appraisal with the guest in front of the lights and cameras.
Giles said for the most part, she decides to film appraisals if the appraiser will teach the guest something. If the guest knows the story, but not the worth, that could qualify. If the guest knows nothing about the item and it ends up being particularly rare, that could also be filmed.
During the event on Wednesday, one item that made it to filming was a “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” comic book, which the appraiser said was worth around $6,000. Another was a document from a swearing-in ceremony for former President Bill Clinton.
Giles said the document was worth a lot, but didn’t disclose how much.
Jae, an attendee from Portland, brought her great-grandfather’s belt buckle that was made for him by his brother-in-law during World War II. The appraiser told her it was worth about $150, but the sentimental value was its strongest asset.
She also brought a bronze elephant statue that was worth four times more than she paid for it. It was worth about $400, and she had to lug it around the gardens on a dolly.
The most important part of the day for Jae, though, was seeing all the interesting items that people brought and learning the history of her prized possessions.
“I think it was cool to just see the appraisers and also what other people had,” Jae said. “It’s been a fun morning. I wish it wasn’t raining.”
Jules Walkup is a Report for America corps member.Additional support for this reporting is provided by BDN readers.
