Cash in the Attic
One of the bits of fluff TV I like to watch is the BBC’s program Cash in the Attic. If you’ve never seen it, the concept is simple. A couple or family will want to raise some money for a particular project, so they call in an expert appraiser and a bubbly, good-looking host to rummage through their oldest and dearest possessions in cellar, closet, lounge, and the namesake attic, and quote a ballpark value for them. Then two weeks later said possessions are shipped off to auction where the host, expert, and participants watch with glee (or horror) as strangers battle (or not) to acquire these goods. The producers then append a 30 second segment on what the family has done with the money.
Sometimes the goal is admirable, like the woman who wanted to go back to see her friends in the Canadian Arctic town she left 40 years ago. Sometimes the goal is monumentally silly, like the parents who sold all their antique family silver, which could have been divided into several tidy lots, to purchase one phenomenally ugly modern painting that, I suppose, their three children will get to slice into thirds at some point in the future.
What is most breathtaking about the show, however, is when the expert (such as the wizardly Jonty Hearndon) will spot a piece of pottery from across the room and will instantly know what it is, how many of it were made, who made it (and when), and what it’s worth. It just doesn’t seem possible.
But then I found myself doing something similar, albeit on a smaller scale, the other day. I was watching another of my BBC shows, MI-5. In the background of one of the scenes, out of focus, were three bottles. I expect most people wouldn’t have even noticed them. “Oh,” I thought, “That’s two Glenfiddich bottles — from the coloring I think the 12 and the 18 — and a Balvenie.” Then I immediately wondered if William Grant & Sons had paid for the placement, as the two distilleries are owned by the same company. (Note added 25 October 2003: I think they were paid placements. A different episode of the show featured the same three bottles in the background of a different location.) Yes, there are far, far fewer scotch whiskies than types of pottery. But it’s still kind of cool pattern recognition. How about you: do you surprise yourself with bits of instant recognition? Post at the discussion page, if you are so inclined.
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February 13th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Hello.
Has anyone ever commented about the apparent stock footage at the auctions on Cash In the Attic? After viewing several episodes featuring various hosts, we were amused to notice that at least three or four people appear in many different auction locations, always wearing the same clothing and sitting in the same chairs. We speculated whether this was stockage footage culled from past auctions, or Cash In the Attic employees inserted for laughs. Either way, it’s good for a few giggles!
February 13th, 2008 at 11:18 am
And, if we’re talking about the same people, they all look absurd, don’t they? Funny hats and weird expressions!
June 18th, 2008 at 2:00 am
I watch Cash in the Attic late in the night and I’ve been amused by both observations noted in previous posts. Even the most obscure items are instantly identified by the two resident ‘valuers’ Jonty Herndon and Paul Hayes. But in the end credits, there is another ‘valuer’ there. I have visions of the second person wildly hunting on the laptop to find out what some of the items are worth. But the thing that annoys me the most is all those shots of the same people with the same expressions dropped in the edited shows.
I am fairly addicted to the show and get annoyed when there is any other host besides my favorite Allister. Surely I need to get a life…lol
July 30th, 2008 at 11:24 am