01 Feb 2026

'Antiques Roadshow' in Alaska: Trophies, paintings and breast implants, oh my!

"Susan and I met out on the Iditarod trails. We just got stuck in a snowstorm and met in 1981. Susan was born in Cambridge, Mass. And she always loved dogs, it was her passion. So she became a dog walker. And because she loved it so much, her mother bought her a sled. And then they moved up to Maine, where her grandmother lived, and then got one dog, and then moved to Colorado, where her father was, and started mushing in the mountains there. [She] thought it was great, but it wasn't wild enough for her. So then she moved to Alaska in about 1974."

There were seven channels we got with our TV antenna growing up, including PBS – home to Antiques Roadshow. Naturally, our family watched a lot of AR. In 2023, the crew came up to Alaska to film their 28th season. A former boss of mine posted on Instagram that she had two tickets to give away for AR at the Alaska Native Heritage Center the following day. I quickly claimed them.

We (being Sophie and my elbow) made a brief appearance in the background of season 28, episode 2.

I was accompanied by my friend Sophie, (shoutout Sophie!) who brought a chair and a painting for appraisal. I brought a mug because I have nothing of value and it was so short of notice. In hindsight I should have ransacked my parents' place to get something worth the spotlight.

A series-first for "Antiques Roadshow," breast implants. "So these are breast implants from 1965. They were made by Dow Corning in Midland, Michigan. A bit of a family heirloom, actually. My grandmother, avid estate saler, garage saler, found them at a garage sale actually, unused. It's a bit of a funny joke, 'I have my grandmother's breast implants.'"

When we pulled up to ANHC, we immediately recognized some appraisers from the show. Celebrity sightings already!

The first three episodes of season 28 are filmed at ANHC. You would hear the same stories throughout – a lot of, "I moved up here in the 90s and brought it with, it's been sitting in my garage ever since." Or, "My parents left this for me and I don't really know what it is."

"This has been in my family for quite a few generations. My great-grandmother got it in Skagway in the '20s. My mother said it was a wedding gift, and my father said it was purchased from a Native lady," a woman said, pointing to a black and white photo near the blanket. "This is my great-grandparents. They gave the blanket to my grandparents, who had it in their house in the '50s, in the '40s and '50s, and we had ours up into the '70s, and it started to lose some of its color, so we decided to pull it off, and, you know, stop that damage from happening. We just rolled it up, and I put it in a closet."

I got these plates for a quarter each, 50 cents, and they’re worth between $500 and $700. And I was using them as soap dishes. I probably won’t do that anymore, one woman shared on AR.

"Is Antiques Roadshow reality television?" Well, yes! I love that you get a little bit of everything in an episode; appraisers showing off their very specific niche interests (dresser drawers, for example), and you hear really lovely stories from people about the items in their life that bring them joy.

*"This is a curling purse that was made for the first U.S. Women's Curling Nationals, the team that my mother was on with three other* *ladies*."

This is actually my great-grandmother's ring, another woman shared on an Anchorage Roadshow episode. And she gave it to me when I was five years old. We walked out of the house and my parents immediately took it away from me. It had one of the diamonds, the side diamonds, missing from it. And so my mom actually had it fixed and gave it to me for my 18th birthday. When I was living on my own, I had actually been homeless once already, and I didn't want to do that again, and I wasn't going to be able to make rent. So I took everything that I had that had any kind of value, I took it to a pawn shop and I sold it outright. I didn't even pawn it, I sold it to them.

When my husband and I met a while later, when he asked me to marry him, I said, 'I don't want a diamond. In fact, if you buy me a diamond, I'll leave you.' And I didn't tell him why. And a couple of years after we got married, I said, 'You know what? I lied, I do want a diamond, but there's only one diamond on the whole planet that I want, and it's the one that was our family heirloom.' We went back to that pawn shop, I went back in there, and there it was. And so my husband bought it back for me and it was eight years later.

"We've put together a little Bob Ross appreciation society today," shared the appraiser on the far right. "So I'm a fan, and I actually didn't think that I'd ever possibly either see one in person or ever have a hope of perhaps finding one for sale somewhere. They just never come up for auction. And trust me, I keep my eyes out. This is kind of a big deal for me, personally. I watched when I was a kid, and he's the reason I picked up a paintbrush for the first time. So people have a very emotional connection. Look, I'm tearing up."

Anchorage brought a lot of good finds, including a Korean lacquer table circa 1930 from the Atwood estate sale ($3,000), a silver spoon made by Paul Revere Jr. originally purchased for $600 ($6,000 - $8,000), a Lucien Hirtz enamel and gold brooch from 1910 ($30,000 - $40,000), and FIVE Bob Ross original paintings, going from $15,000 - $20,000. If you didn't know, Bob was in the Air Force and stationed at Eielson in Fairbanks, where he says he first saw the snow and mountains. A woman on the show said she thrifted her original BR for $12 at Salvation Army.

$12 Salvation Army original? That is what he would call that a happy little accident

At ANHC, staff were organizing folks by what items they chose to bring, that way appraisers with specific specialties could be with those kinds of items – like furniture, or pop culture memorabilia, or Indigenous art. I remember there being a huge line for Alaska Native-made items for appraisal, longer than any other line by a long shot.

There were at least two Alaska appraisers featured on the show – Shyanne Beatty and Georgia Blue of Georgia Blue Gallery in midtown Anchorage.

"This book is about the first Yup'ik writing. And this was written by my grandfather. And he learned to read and write this, um, written Yup'ik language from Uyaquq. And he was known as Helper Neck. Both my grandparents learned to read and write like this. I grew up living with my grandmother as a little girl. And she would read and write that. That was the only way she could read and write. But I didn't pay attention at the time. I don't know of anybody that can read and write Helper Neck's writing today. And my grandparents did not speak English. They only spoke Yup'ik. And I couldn't read that, but I've got his manuscript, and I've also got my grandmother's manuscripts."

Other notable appraisals include an original Sydney Laurence painting from 1922 ($8,000 - $12,000) and an 1890 Zacherias Nicholas Haida Argillite totem pole ($100,000 - $125,000). The most notable item were Stephen Decatur warrant and commissions forms from 1798 - 1804, estimated anywhere from $150,000 - $200,000.

If you want to guess the prices of a few items that made it onto Alaska's Antique Roadshow episodes, I made a little quiz for paying newsletter subscribers. You can get a 7-day-free trial to test out your perks, which includes access to AK IRL's Discord server (15 people and counting!).

(total watch time: 2 hours, 37 minutes)

"I got a text!"

A few months back KTUU reported that Love Island USA is looking to Alaska for casting the next season. What they didn't mention in the article was that a previous season's winner is from Anchorage. Olivia Kaiser won season 3 in 2021, and was in the Villa from day one. She then went on to win season 41 of The Challenge and get engaged to her fiancé, who she has a baby with (he is also a Love Island season 3 alum, but the UK version). I haven't watched her season of Love Island USA or The Challenge, but best believe it will be an eventual write-up for AK IRL.

I’m kind of obsessed with the idea of a bestie going on a reality tv show. In college, a friend made it through the first few rounds for casting for MTV’s Ex on the Beach, but was pulled from consideration because her ex posted on social media about it. 🍅

these are both Olivia GIFs btw. icon

If you want to nominate a loved one, you can submit an application for them at LoveIslandUSACastiing@ITV.com. You can apply to be on the show here.

My dream cast of 'The Traitors' for season 5

There's a trend going on where Traitors fans are sharing their dream cast, so of course I had to join in.

Beginning top left: Tyson Apostol (Survivor); Ziwe Fumudoh (comedian); Miss Rachel; Bianca Del Rio (RuPaul’s Drag Race); Nene Leakes (Real Housewives of Atlanta); Kamilla Karthigesu (Survivor); Lindsay Hubbard (Summer House); Leah Ketab (Love Island); Amanda Kimmel (Survivor); Sunisa Lee (Olympian); T-Pain (Musician); Adriana de Moura (Real Housewives of Miami); Adam Lambert (American Idol); Jenn Tran (The Bachelorette); Quad Webb (Married to Medicine); Kamie Crawford (model, host); Aesha Scott (Below Deck); Ezra Sosa (Dancing With the Stars); Pete Wentz (musician); Tiffany Pollard (Flavor of Love); Miranda McWhorter (Secret Lives of Mormon Wives); Stephen Nedoroscik (Olympian) and Pauly D (Jersey Shore).

Who am I missing? Disclaimer: I haven't watched any of The Challenge, Big Brother, or Amazing Race, which is why there aren't as many gamers on my list.

As always, thank you so much for reading! Next week, we're talking about all things Below Deck.

"I got a text!"

My dream cast of 'The Traitors' for season 5

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