2012 Christmas Special Antiques Roadshow

The countdown to Christmas is under way.

Our team of experts are taking a well-deserved break.

But not before this seasonal look back on another

vintage year of the Antiques Roadshow.

From the hallowed turf of Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club,

an active fighter pilot base,

magnificent grand houses -

we've even taken our programme to the wind tunnels

that pioneered British Aerospace.

The Roadshow has visited some fascinating locations this year.

Now, we've arrived at our final location of 2012,

for a Christmas treat.

I'm in London at a place which would almost make you believe

time travel is possible.

This is the Geffrye Museum, where British domestic life over hundreds

of years has been painstakingly recreated in this series of rooms.

And they've been getting in the festive mood,

adding decorations of the period.

It's an ideal backdrop for us to look at how Christmas has changed

over the centuries, as Hannah from the museum puts up

some decorations on the tree for us, and we can celebrate another

year of crackers with our best and most talked about discoveries.

Our experts have been busy choosing their top finds

and they've not held back in their enthusiasm.

And it's so wonderful.

Wonderful, wonderful.

-Wonderful.

-Wonderful.

-Isn't that wonderful?

-Fantastic.

It just sings to you.

Wonderful. Exuberant lilies.

This is a wonderful thing.

This to me is a beautiful thing.

Fabulous!

Beautiful.

That's wonderful.

It really is delightful.

Ecky thump!

That's incredible.

Wonderful.

Wonderful!

Fabulous.

Wonderful thing.

-Wonderful.

-Fabulous.

Wonderful!

It's got to be worth between £100,000 and £150,000.

CROWD GASPS

Gosh.

Wonderful! Wonderful.

-Fabulous.

-Wonderful.

Many of us are excited to see what will be waiting for us

under the tree, and as we've seen,

some of the best surprises come in the smallest of packages.

Here's three dainty but exquisite pieces to come our way recently.

This is an absolute little Deco delight.

Beautiful colour, beautiful shape, beautiful pattern.

When I first saw that, I could hardly believe my eyes.

I think it is just the most magical object.

-Really?

-Oh, yeah.

-That's good.

-Oh, yeah!

-Good.

This is an inro.

Where did it come from?

Um, a second-hand shop.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-How much?

-19 pence.

One nine?

Yes!

19 pence?

I was robbed, wasn't I?

Absolutely!

This is a French one.

And there were three famous makers.

There was St Louis, there was Baccarat and there was Clichy,

and this is a Clichy one. This rose that I pointed to.

-Yes.

-It's a Clichy rose.

The real joy is the inro itself and this fantastic lobster crayfish.

It is beautiful.

It's an absolutely staggering object.

I sort of suspected cos his name's on the box.

Lalique, but I didn't think it was actually,

I thought it was an imitation.

Well, don't doubt yourself. You are absolutely right.

Yay!

This little box was designed in 1923.

Yeah.

By the great master, Rene Lalique, and actually just here,

in amongst the design is that name.

R. Lalique.

I sold one recently,

so I know exactly what it's worth.

It sold...

..for £22,000.

LAUGHTER

Never!

And it's an absolute little gem.

LAUGHS

Oh, brilliant!

-So 19p.

-Yeah.

Would you be surprised if I told you it's worth...

£500.

LAUGHS UPROARIOUSLY

I'd be delighted! Wow!

It's possibly by one of the greatest lacquer artists

of the late 19th century, Shibata Zeshin.

Even if it's not, it's worth...

£3,000 to £5,000.

Oh, my God.

I've got some news for you about your paperweight, Mum.

'What?'

You're on loudspeaker. It's worth £22,000.

'No, it isn't, duck!'

LAUGHTER

'Good grief.'

'I can't believe that sum - I've had that since I was a little girl.'

-Well, actually I'm teasing you a little bit.

-Oh! All right then.

-It's not worth £500.

-It's not?

It's worth £1,000.

Oh, my goodness!

Excuse me.... I'm going to faint!

GIGGLES

£1,000?!

It is a super rare little thing...

Oh, wow!

..That lots of people want to own.

LAUGHTER

Oh, well, I'm so glad I've got it. Of course, I'll never sell it(!)

LAUGHTER

That lady must have been the best reaction of the year.

So, did she sell it?

Well, Christina... that's the lucky lady...

tells us the box will go to auction just after Christmas,

and she's promised herself a New Year treat.

And the paperweight has now been sold,

not quite making Fergus' top value but still bringing in

a hefty £15,000 when it was sold earlier this year.

Most objects brought to Roadshows tend to stay in the family, but

sometimes make significant journeys after appearing on the programme.

It was with the backdrop of Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club

we met John, the owner of this extraordinary flag.

He almost lost his life in the effort to recapture the flag

after the fall of Singapore in World War II.

And so Sergeant Major Uchiama of the Japanese army, who captured it,

decided that he'd like it as his trophy of war.

How did this end up with you?

Well, in Burma,

we launched a serious attack on the 3rd November 1944.

Many of my comrades, British and African, were killed

in that attack, charging machine guns, which is no fun.

And fortunately we won the battle.

Because my task included searching the bodies of Japanese

to find intelligence material,

I found the body of Sergeant Major Uchiama,

and beside him was his pack.

So naturally I opened the pack, and there to my absolute amazement,

I found this flag.

So I couldn't believe it, I thought,

it may have been HIS trophy of war but it's certainly mine.

So far as I am concerned,

the African soldiers I served with were unsung heroes of World War II.

They fought the Italians in the Abyssinian campaign,

they fought the Vichy French in Madagascar.

These are pastoral tribesmen serving our King and country,

and I would like to think that I would let this flag be sold,

and the proceeds donated to military charities.

Because of the history of this, that it came from Singapore,

I think it would raise £400 to £500, possibly more in auction.

Since appearing on the programme, John has thought long and hard

about what to do with the flag, and is now in discussion with

the National Museum of Singapore about donating it to them

for their permanent collection.

John tells us he was absolutely delighted with the response

he got from Roadshow viewers.

This beautiful clock,

which came our way at the Weald and Downland Museum,

certainly captured silver expert Alastair Dickenson's heart.

Listen to this example of waxing lyrical.

This is just so special, and it's so wonderful,

I'm almost fallen in love again.

LAUGHTER

It is an absolutely stunning piece.

I particularly like the enamel dial, which has got Latin lettering

round it, which I think is "festina lente", and my schoolboy Latin

makes me think that's something like "make haste slowly".

It was "hurry slowly".

Hurry slowly, yes, exactly.

What's so nice about this is the condition is really gorgeous.

Just look at the enamel round here, this tree and the lovely colouring

all around it. Even the colour of the dial itself is absolutely

wonderful, so you've obviously looked after it extremely well.

I thought it was special.

Yes, and it's in the high Art Nouveau taste.

Right.

But if we turn it round, what gets even more interesting,

are the marks at the back here,

and we can see it's got the mark here for Liberty and Company.

Ah.

Now, Liberty and Company were one of the real pioneers

of the Art Nouveau style.

They had a very important designer working for them

at that time called Archibald Knox.

Knox designed a number of clocks.

Yes.

And I'm pretty certain this is designed by Knox.

This is prettier than most.

Oh!

Now I have to tell you that Archibald Knox is very much

flavour of the month at the moment.

I think comfortably...

£15,000 to £20,000.

CROWD GASPS

Ooh.

After the programme, the owner, Rosemary, loaned the clock

to the Victoria & Albert Museum, and tells us she's really thrilled

that they'll soon be including it in their 20th century silver gallery.

Why not go and take a look at it in pride of place?

And when we visited Scarborough,

we told the tragic story of the death of a Spitfire fighter pilot,

commemorated with a hand-carved plaque to honour his life.

The plaque sits in my mother's house.

It was commissioned by her mother and father,

directly to Robert Thompson, to make the plaque in memory

of their son, Brian, who died actually in the Battle of Britain.

He was a Spitfire pilot and his Spitfire was shot down.

He was actually shot in the back, so he wasn't killed.

He was mortally wounded,

and he actually had to bail out by flying the Spitfire

upside-down and releasing himself because he was paralysed.

So he had the sang-froid to turn his plane upside-down, open the hood.

Yes.

And more or less fall out.

Yes, correct, and he was Thomas Brian Kirk,

and he died nine months later from his injuries,

and I have here the flying helmet he was wearing at the time

that he was shot down.

This is his Spitfire pilot's helmet?

This is his Spitfire pilot's helmet, and my mother has this too.

They went to Robert Thompson, and they asked him

if they would do a plaque with his squadron,

which was Tiger Squadron, 74 Squadron,

and Robert Thompson was really proud to do it,

and my mother said he spent a great deal of time and care,

and I think that's why the mouse is so beautifully carved.

Since we showed that item, members of the 74th Tiger Squadron

contacted the Roadshow, eager to learn more.

They're so keen to see the piece, they've invited the owner, Caroline,

and her mother, to bring the plaque to their annual reunion next year.

And finally on our catch-up of Roadshow finds, tales of remarkable

escapology featured in the programme, when we heard the story

of how Houdini was inspired by this owner, Geoff's great-grandfather.

Absolutely right, yes. He was doing a show in Milwaukee.

Right.

Where one of the illusions was that he seemed to cut

a man into small pieces, and then put him together again.

Right.

And in the audience was a young lad of five years old,

who later became Houdini,

and this young boy was found by his parents

at the end of the show, on the stage, at the foot of my great-grandfather.

Right.

Who was producing eggs out of his mouth,

and fascinating the young boy.

Since that programme was shown, the archivists at The Magic Circle have

contacted Geoff, to include this important story in their records.

He tells us it's very exciting

and has led to many new discoveries about his grandfather.

Just a few Roadshow guests whose visits have prompted renewed

interest in their family heirlooms.

Look at this - a perfect recreation of a 1960s Christmas.

Brings back a few memories of my first Christmases, as do these toys.

And here are some more great toys to get you into the festive spirit.

Pick up the phone, Teddy.

He's not co-operating.

PHONE RINGS

Ah!

Her name's Snoozelums.

-What?

-Snoozelums.

I just thought he was an ordinary monkey!

LAUGHTER

Hello, Teddy, are you there?

SQUEAKS

Yes!

LAUGHTER

CROWD: Yeah!

That was fantastic.

Up and down go the oxen.

Of course, this one operates just by a little pulley. There we go.

OK.

Excellent. Bang goes the pay rise.

He's probably got a voice.

DEEP BLEATING

Oh, it does, it's great.

And what it does is it walks forward and kills people.

That's right.

-So shall we..?

-Yep.

Stand back.

You can just imagine how thrilled a child would be

to get presents like that at Christmas.

And I'm joined now by Bunny Campione,

our toy specialist of course.

You've been a toy specialist for what, 30 years or so.

When did the tradition of giving toys at Christmas first begin?

I think we can thank Prince Albert,

who brought the Christmas tree over, and married our Queen Victoria.

Before that I think it was more of a religious festival,

and so the poorer children in the Victorian age probably got

a cup and ball, little wooden cup and ball, made by the father maybe.

And then the richer children might have had a Noah's ark,

which of course we all know now as the Sunday toy,

so it was a religious toy, but oh, what wonders,

you know, you can really have the most fantastic story

and imagine all these animals going in,

and the one that we've got here,

there's a pair of... I think they're moles,

and they're so out of proportion with the giraffes and things,

but they are heaven. What a wonderful toy.

And people still want them today. Absolutely stunning toys.

When did children begin to receive a greater variety of toys?

Well, I think it was about 1905,

the Edwardian period where tin plate came in.

The Germans were very good at making tin plate toys

and I think we started to copy them.

And we have a lovely open bus here made by Lehmann, which is German,

and if that were to go on the Roadshow,

and we see quite a few really, really good things,

if they're in good condition in their boxes,

they can make as much as £5,000, £6,000.

I guess plastic must have changed everything for children's toys.

Totally.

The extraordinary thing is, plastic came in in the 19th century

but it wasn't until probably the '30s that Elastolin soldiers,

and Bakelite, all these different parts of plastic came in,

which was almost unbreakable, which was fantastic.

And then of course after that, the films came in,

and everything changed after that, because we then have Mickey Mouse

and all these wonderful Disney film characters,

and everybody wanted a Mickey Mouse, and I suppose it would be worth

about £2,000 to £3,000 if it was sold.

We're in a 1960s room, and talking about films,

I mean, we've got television, a fantastic 1960s television

and that must have changed things again.

I remember watching Andy Pandy on television.

I've got a little slightly mortifying picture of myself

dressed as Andy Pandy, for Christmas,

in a little suit that my mother made for me.

Complete with Christmas baubles around my ears.

But that again must have brought in a whole new generation of toys.

Absolutely again, the glove puppets like Sooty, Noddy,

and of course then you get the space age toys, and here we have a robot.

They made these in Japan, this is by Yoshio, and Nomura,

a lot of different Japanese makes,

particularly after the Second World War,

we weren't getting in German toys,

we were getting in a lot of plastic and tin from Japan.

Well, I remember my favourite toys in the sort of late '60s

and '70s were Barbies.

And this was my Barbie so I've brought it along.

Now I mean, the most expensive Barbies...

What would the most expensive one go for now?

Yours is much later.

You're far too young to have had a very early one.

They started in 1959 and if you can find a 1959, '60, or '61

in good condition with her clothes, in a box,

she could be worth as much as £10,000.

Really? Well, mine is somewhat distressed.

I think that's a polite way of putting it,

and actually, do you know what?

My Barbies, now my daughter plays with them so I think

that's what they're for, isn't it? For playing with, after all.

Bunny, thank you so much.

Fascinating to talk about toys,

especially just coming up to Christmas.

Now, often the biggest reaction we get to items brought in

to the show, not just toys,

but those poignant pieces, which although not necessarily valuable,

have great personal meaning.

Here are some of our most moving stories that we've recently

featured, starting with the magical but tragic love story of Nazi

and her talented artist boyfriend Billy.

Nazi was my husband's aunt but she died when she was 22.

Nazi was her nickname that her fiance gave her.

Right. Give the fiance's name because this is one of his works.

It is, and he was Billy Hughes.

Has anybody heard of Billy Hughes? Well, I've got to admit, I haven't.

No, no.

-But why not?

-I don't know.

-Because he's a talent.

-Yes.

Now let's have a see what we've got.

Well, first of all we've got two photographs, and

if we can just put those photographs like so, there's a couple here.

Yes, that's Billy Hughes and Marjorie.

Marjorie, but her pet name was Nazi?

Nazi, yes.

And this is a wonderful self-cartoon of Billy Hughes himself.

Yes.

So he's obviously got a sense of humour.

Yes.

But what about this?

She is divine.

You know, and what we're looking at is very much the tip of the iceberg,

because here is yet another volume.

Let's have a look at what we've got here.

First of all these are all hand-painted, I mean these...

There's the look of a lady quite frankly, that is...

I think "demure" might be the word. And it says "to" what?

Does it say there?

It says, "To Columbine from Pierrot".

Well, every Columbine should have a Pierrot.

Yes!

All these pictures, all these drawings, have been painted

and been given to the love of his life.

Yes.

Just look at this one here, I mean, that's spontaneous.

Look, that girl is a raver, isn't she?

Mm, yes, she is.

She is doing the Charleston.

You know, there's a minimum of pen and ink there, but so much movement.

I would love to have met this man, he had a sense of humour.

What year did she die?

Probably early 1920s.

Early 1920s.

22. It's no age at all, is it?

No. Well, she died from exposure.

She went for a walk in the local wood and tripped and fell

and hit her head, and she died.

And all Kirkbymoorside were out looking for her,

but they couldn't find her.

So a tragedy, a tragic death as well.

Yes.

Whatever happened to Billy?

Well, Billy went as assistant to the librarian in Salisbury.

And do we know any more after that?

No.

So, I'll tell you what. Somebody does.

Yes. Somebody will, yes.

Eric was right.

Our audience have been telling us more about

the talented Billy Hughes.

Here's a photograph of him,

taken when he returned from York to Salisbury after Nazi's death.

He worked in the library service and is remembered for his talented

paper sculptures - and here's a seasonal one he made.

And following that sad love story,

we're pleased to say Billy did get married

and eventually retired happily to Dorset, where he died in 1973.

Remember this poignant scrapbook, brought in to a Roadshow?

Well, that's something I've never ever seen before, ever.

Extraordinary.

The front page here has the words -

"Female Orphan House, December 25th 1832, Ireland".

Wow, look at this.

So here we have a book containing tiny objects of clothing,

beautifully sewn.

I mean, sewn with such attention to detail,

exactly replicating what you would expect

as an adult piece of clothing.

Look at this perfect little bonnet

and this chemise with the ruffles, absolutely incredible.

And this lovely Irish linen.

This is a work of a fairly mature girl.

I would think we're talking about a 15, 16-year-old.

Her ability to sew is quite astonishing.

I mean, this makes me want to weep.

And here at the end page it says "Orphan House".

so she's finishing her work, "December 25th",

which is quite extraordinary. Christmas Day.

Yes.

It's such a moving book.

I have never seen anything like it.

Those fragments touched a chord too with our viewers,

including some who wished to buy the book,

but the owner, Catherine, said she wants to keep that precious record

and has now been put in touch with Irish historians.

Let's hope she may even discover the name of the young girl

who so carefully made the exquisite work.

And in our recent Remembrance special, we met Alan,

with this wartime radio.

That was made by the Polish underground, at my request,

which they did a first-class job.

Why were you involved with the Polish underground?

Well, I was a prisoner of war with the BEF station at St Valery,

and I spent five years as a prisoner of war.

How did you get the radio?

The radio came in with the undertaker, delivering

and collecting the corpse of the prisoner who had died.

It must have been very dangerous for you, listening to the radio.

Yes, it was very, very dangerous.

We would have been tried and shot, which was well known to us all.

Why was the radio never discovered?

It was hidden to such a degree, that three years ago,

my wife and I visited Poland,

which...after 60-odd years,

and we went to Fort 14, which...

That's one of these photographs.

At the bottom.

And that was where you were kept prisoner?

Yes.

And this is a photograph here.

And that is the photograph showing exactly where the radio was.

And it's this brick here that you're pointing at, that was loose.

Yes.

That you hid the radio behind.

Yes, mm.

And it was never discovered.

Never discovered.

But you must have found that a very moving experience,

going back after all these years.

Exceptionally so. Exceptionally so.

And these are prisoners.

All prisoners.

And are you in this photograph?

That's...in the top corner.

This handsome chap here?

Thank you.

I didn't think I was, but I'll accept that.

LAUGHTER

After appearing on the show, Alan was contacted by the families

of fellow prisoners in that photograph

who watched the programme.

Sadly his comrades in captivity have all died now.

But 93-year-old Alan recently travelled to Scotland to meet

their children, eager to hear his stories

and see the radio that meant so much to the POWs in his camp.

Of course this has been a big year of celebration,

as our Queen marked her Diamond Jubilee.

We've seen some remarkable royal treasures over the year.

But my favourites haven't been lavish and expensive.

Instead, I've enjoyed more humble pieces that told us

about surprising moments in the life of our Queen.

We had some great examples in our Jubilee edition

from the magnificent Kensington Palace.

People like Betty, who helped hand-sew the Queen's wedding dress.

Now you were working at Norman Hartnell, presumably.

One should explain that Norman Hartnell was THE name

as a society dressmaker, and couturier, wasn't he?

Oh, he was. He was the royal dressmaker.

I had to do the button-holes, make her button-holes.

Now, how many of these button-holes did you have to do

on the finished garment? Dozens?

Well, I think there were 20 down the back of her dress

cos her dress was fastened that way.

And I had never worked with button-holes before,

and they were two of the practice button-holes that I...

And I made the buttons as well.

So you covered the... the self-covered buttons.

Yes, they are the same material. Yes, the wedding dress.

Fabulous!

Now skimming on in this wonderful album of yours,

there is this fabulous photograph.

Now this is presumably Hartnell's workroom.

It is.

And look, there's a circle, a blue circle round somebody here.

Could this be you, Betty?

It could.

And how many of your fellow seamstresses who worked on the dress

are still around and telling the story?

I don't know anyone else. I have tried.

So you're the last living treasure, are you?

I'm the last, yes. The last one alive and kicking.

LAUGHTER

And then, did you see it on the day?

I did, and I remember seeing Princess Elizabeth wearing that dress

that I've worked on, and she looked absolutely wonderful,

with her tiara sitting next to her father, the King.

Fantastic.

It was lovely.

Some people watching the programme

might recognise your voice as Brian Aldridge of The Archers.

Well, indeed they might,

but I am here to talk about my godmother and this is her here,

Adria, who was married to the private secretary

to the Governor General of Kenya in 1952.

So, in February 1952, what should have been a really joyous occasion

for Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, a holiday in Kenya,

turned out to have tragic overtones.

Yeah, of course it was joyous to start with,

and particularly joyous to my godmother.

They were so excited having this young couple.

In fact, she wrote some wonderful letters back to her mother which...

Yes, I've got one... I've just got one here.

She says that "she's very slim with Heavenly clothes"

and "Heavenly" with a capital "H"

and "he is much taller than I expected, and really delightful,

"enjoys everything and misses nothing, always has the right

"thing to say at the right moment, to the right person".

Well, there you are. What a surprise.

How he's kept that up over the last 50 or 60 years, I think.

-Well known for it.

-Yeah, absolutely!

I love the little thing at the end here,

where she says that "they have just phoned from the lodge to say

"all is well except they have no tea strainer".

Oh, my dear! Poor things.

I wonder who forgot to pack the tea strainer.

A couple of days later she wrote another letter to her mother,

with more wonderful stuff about the food they were eating and all that,

and of course four days after that, wrote the letter which is so tragic.

Which of course her father had died and she was the Queen.

Absolutely.

I must just get this letter which is, which is quite fun,

because at the very, very top she writes

"PS. They had 74 pieces of luggage, not counting jewel cases etc".

Well, it so happened that the royal household knew that the King

was likely to die and had sent, amongst the 74 items of luggage,

had sent one case full of mourning clothes.

To their horror when they opened it,

they found there were no long black gloves for the young Queen to wear.

So, my godmother stood up and said,

"Well, why don't you have mine, Ma'am?"

And my godmother was very proud and she said,

"And I'd like you to know, dear, that when you saw that wonderful

"photograph of the young Queen sadly coming down the steps on the

"BOAC jet at Heathrow, they are my long black gloves she's wearing."

And then she paused and she said, "But I have to tell you,

"I've always been rather miffed that I never got them back."

LAUGHTER

Throughout history we know that royalty have had

an affinity for certain breeds of dogs.

None more so than the Queen and her corgis.

This is a wonderful story about a corgi called Susan.

You know, Susan was given to her on her 18th birthday,

and, of course, we know thereafter that all the corgis that

the Queen has had have been descended from Susan.

And this little note brings us very close

to the way that she felt about Susan.

Well, we only know that from my father who was a veterinary

surgeon in King's Lynn in Norfolk.

When the Queen used to come to Sandringham,

and one day a footman came in to the practice and asked my father,

could he have a look at this particular dog,

and my father obviously needed some information.

The footman said,

"Well I'm not really actually sure that I know the answers",

so my father, on a scruffy piece of paper, wrote down some questions.

Right. Now the first question is,

which of course he addressed to the Queen,

was, "How long getting bigger?"

and what happened? A note came back with hand-pencilled answers.

And who had written those? Of course, the Queen.

Was that something that he expected?

-No, he did not.

-He didn't?

No, especially on the piece of paper.

Especially on the scruffy..!

Let's look at the answer that the Queen wrote.

It says, "no idea, she's always been fat".

LAUGHTER

There's a poignant side to this story as well

because we also have another letter here.

I'm going to have to read this letter because it says,

"Dear Mr Swan...", obviously Mr Swan being your father.

"I would like to thank you for all you did for my dear old Susan

"when she became ill,

"and for the immense amount of trouble you took in getting her

"sent to Cambridge and for all the care she had while she was there.

"Perhaps you could express my thanks to your colleagues.

"I had always dreaded losing her,

"but I am so thankful that her suffering was so mercifully short.

"With renewed thanks, yours sincerely, Elizabeth R".

My father was so delighted to get this letter, you know,

for her to actually write to him personally to say thank you.

Royal duties started early.

At the tender age of 14, Princess Elizabeth, as she was then,

made her first state broadcast, and it was with your father, wasn't it?

That's right.

With, of course, the very famous Uncle Mac of Children's Hour.

That's correct.

It must have been a very important moment for him.

I think it was probably the highlight of his career, I would think.

And of course Children's Hour broadcast to the nation,

across the Empire.

And he always started... What were his opening words?

Hello, children everywhere.

Of course. And so this is the Princesses here.

That's right.

Because Princess Elizabeth brought along her younger sister to listen.

And in the speech she says, at the very end,

"Now come along, Margaret, come and say good night".

Now we've got the broadcast here on a 78.

We have, yes.

By the magic of technology, we have got it now on a slightly more

high-tech version, and we can listen to it.

RECORDING: Her Royal Highness, Princess Elizabeth.

'In wishing you all good evening,

'I feel that I am speaking to friends and companions,

'who have shared with my sister and myself many a happy Children's Hour.

'Thousands of you in this country have had to leave your homes

'and be separated from your fathers and mothers.'

It's just adorable, isn't it, hearing her voice so young?

And presumably the broadcast, even with Princess Elizabeth,

ended with the words that he always ended with -

let's hear it from you two.

BOTH: Good night, children everywhere.

PRINCESS ELIZABETH: 'Come on, Margaret.'

PRINCESS MARGARET: 'Good night children.'

'Good night and good luck to you all.'

And we're planning another Roadshow Special programme,

which we'll be recording next year,

and I'm hoping you may be able to help us.

With the approaching centenary of the outbreak of the First World War,

we're keen to discover new accounts and moving stories told through

remarkable objects, like this rare letter recently brought to light.

This is a letter from my uncle,

who was a sergeant major in the Grenadier Guards, 1914 in France,

who was actually a witness to the Christmas Day truce

and the football match, which we understand took place,

and we know it did, because it's actually mentioned in his letter.

-In this letter?

-In this letter.

It's a pencil-written letter.

Most of these letters home were written in pencil.

Oh, I see here, it says that he's buried 69 men,

and then the next thing happened,

"a football kicked out of our trenches

"and German and English played football.

"Night came and still no shots.

"Boxing Day the same, and has remained so up 'til now."

Isn't that astonishing?

This man was a witness to that now very famous event.

Exactly.

It's gone down in history, that event, you know,

and he witnessed it.

And was disputed that it ever took place for a long time

by the powers that be.

I find that astonishing actually.

It's an incredibly historically important letter this, I think.

What an extraordinary record of that moment.

The Imperial War Museum tells us

they're unaware of any letters in their extensive collection

that refer to that famous Christmas Day football match,

which makes this particular document very unusual indeed.

We'd be keen to hear from you,

if you have a different story told through objects

that can bring to life the terrible events of The Great War.

We're now planning a special programme

and want to hear your family story.

Contact us -

We're used to the idea of dressing our homes for Christmas

but when did all this seasonal decoration begin?

Our location today, the Geffrye Museum,

has a remarkable series of displays showing past Christmases.

Alex Goddard, you're curator here.

You've had fun dressing all these rooms from different eras.

When did this idea of decorating a room for Christmas begin?

Well, for hundreds of years people have been decorating their houses,

often with seasonal greenery, so foliage that is evergreen...

So what, holly and ivy?

Yeah, absolutely, and sometimes herbs like bay and rosemary

also would've been brought in,

and people have been doing that since medieval days, really.

They liked the idea that evergreen foliage represents the fact that

winter won't stay winter forever, and that it holds symbolism

about fertility and everlasting life. In a pagan way, really.

We're in a Victorian room here

and it was in the Victorian era that it all really took off

with trees and decorations such as we might recognise them now.

Yeah, definitely.

I think people think that Prince Albert was the first person

to bring the Christmas tree to Britain,

and he was certainly responsible for popularising it.

Him and Queen Victoria and their family

were well known to have Christmas trees in their home.

People saw that illustrated in the Illustrated London News in 1848,

and people all thought,

"Yeah, my family can be like the Royal family too,

"and I want to have that in my house."

Tell me about Christmas cards.

When did we first start sending those to each other?

They were invented by Sir Henry Cole, who some people may know as

the founder of the Victoria & Albert Museum.

He got his friend to design the first one in 1843,

and they began to be sent, and of course Henry Cole was infamous also

for being the founder of the Penny Post, so I think he was obviously

quite an entrepreneurial gentleman to invent the Penny Post

and then invent the very thing that could be popped into the Penny Post.

So, it began really in the sort of mid-19th century,

and really seemed to take off.

What about Christmas stockings?

Well, Christmas stockings I think were very popular in America,

and they first started to become popular in Britain

in the first years of the 20th century,

so by the Edwardian period,

people were putting little gifts and trinkets and satsumas and walnuts

into Christmas stockings, and hanging them by the fireplace.

It became much more likely that people would have an artificial tree,

especially by the 1930s, because it was just more convenient.

And what, getting that from the first department stores,

that kind of thing?

Yeah, big department stores were really starting to set up shop.

Mass production had meant that many more goods were available to people

to buy, so presents were being given and received much more readily.

And baubles for the tree, that kind of thing?

Yeah, baubles too.

Again they were made in Germany often,

and they could make baubles and tinsel

and all the kind of shiny things that we associate with Christmas today.

Looking at your '60s room, that brings back, you know,

the memories of Christmas from my first years.

Yeah, things were a lot simpler then, weren't they?

That sort of kind of explosion of mass consumerism, didn't it?

Decorations, but toys as well.

Yes, certainly, people were used to, I think,

beginning to have Christmas lists and receiving large numbers of toys

and getting the popular toy each Christmas

was certainly starting to happen around then.

But people still enjoyed, you know, fairly simple things as well,

like paper chains and balloons and the slightly more home-made

and down to earth aspect of angels made out of doilies

and the Three Kings made out of the insides of toilet rolls

and that kind of thing.

Oh, yes, I remember doing that from Blue Peter.

Copying them all off Blue Peter! Alex, thank you very much indeed.

Now, as much as we love finding great objects,

sometimes the owners make just as fascinating viewing.

Here are a handful of our colourful characters from the year.

Well, I have to say, this is a fairly impressive cuckoo clock.

Are you a collector or have you acquired it recently?

I've got several clocks. This is the most valuable.

The first thing you need to do is to make the patient say "ah".

Right, OK.

Ah, ah! Say ah! OK.

He won't go off at two o'clock.

-When does he...?

-I'll tell you that.

It only goes off... Is that because it's not meant to?

I don't think it's meant to.

-OK, so it only goes off...

-Three o'clock.

Three o'clock, six o'clock and nine, you think?

No, every hour.

-Every hour, but not at one and two.

-Not at one and two.

OK, that's a new one on me. I love it!

LAUGHTER

And then you sort of pick it up

and then you insert it very gently like this,

and you sort of wind it round like this and then...

-And is it going to make a noise?

-It makes a hideous noise.

CREAKING

Oh!

-There. It comes out.

-Oh!

Unfortunately, I was in a really nasty road accident

and I ended up having a bad head injury with brain damage, it was,

and I was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder.

Which could have taken you actually in any direction, really.

It could've done, it could've done.

Fortunately it wasn't alcohol or drugs or anything nasty,

it was Poole Pottery, which is much healthier.

This strikes me as more than a collection. Is this an obsession?

Er... A massive obsession.

So big I can't even get it in the house.

1,500 pieces.

1,500?

And counting. Not sure.

Whoa.

And you love it because?

I just love the shape, the colours and it's also very tactile.

I really like the feel of the...

you know, the feel of the finish. It's very beautiful.

-Show what you do with it.

-What do I do?

-You kiss them.

I go, "Morning!".

LAUGHTER

Not to all of them.

Not to all of them.

And how long have you been married?

Not very long!

LAUGHTER

Oh, dear.

And eventually I decided, if it's hated that much,

if it's disliked that much, there must be something to it

and I made a conscious decision to buy every piece

I could lay my hands on.

He lives in our bedroom, and he lives in our front room.

You have this clown in your bedroom?

-Yeah.

-OK.

So how did these works of art happen?

Well, Peter Blake came to the shop that I work at and then

we all, sort of, got chatting. And we had a few things done.

And we asked him to sign our arms and then we were then going

to go after meeting him and get them tattooed so...

OK, so as soon as he'd written them on your arms,

you banged them permanently down.

Yeah, straight away pretty much.

-In ink with a tattoo.

-Yeah, that was my lunch break.

It was a birthday present off somebody.

Yeah.

That's why they thought that I would appreciate it,

and I was quite shocked, cos when I opened the door,

the person was holding it like a bat, and I thought,

I kind of saw my life flash across my eyes,

and then I thought, actually no, that's not a bat, it's a wooden leg!

I bought it at an auction.

I was in a long-term relationship and received an ultimatum that

I had to buy a place for us to live in,

and I duly saved up the deposit for somewhere,

but ended up blowing it on the table at an auction.

LAUGHTER

How did the relationship go?

I ended up being married to the table rather than the young lady.

LAUGHTER

But then again, it had better legs.

LAUGHTER

Ooh, ooh!

And you hate it, why did you bring it?

Um, well, Linny just mentioned the Antiques Roadshow

and I've watched the Antiques Roadshow every week, all my life,

and the fact that we've, like, made it to this point and met you,

because - I just... I love you...

LAUGHTER

..and I really feel like you brought me up in a way,

you know, I really do.

That's made my day!

Did it have a romantic happy ending?

Well, it did eventually because by virtue of buying this table,

I met my current wife, and we've got two beautiful daughters, so...

Oh, wonderful, wonderful!

And how many have you got at home?

820 different models at home.

It was at one time, the world's largest collection

and featured in the Guinness Book of Records for four years.

I know you are married.

I am married, yes.

Now what's it like being married to a collector of...

of anything, but of this kind of material?

I mean, did you know he was a collector when you knew him?

Yes, I did.

What did you think of that?

Well, I thought they were teasing me,

when they told me that he had this collection of handcuffs,

you know, so I was quite surprised when I saw them, yes.

And you realised that...

That it was true, yes.

So if you're stuck for a Christmas idea for a gift this year,

how about starting your own collection of leg irons?

Maybe not.

But how about a free gift that might just enhance your enjoyment

of the Antiques Roadshow?

So far over one and half million of you have played our red button

valuation game and from the New Year,

we're pioneering the BBC's first free app,

which will allow you to play on your smartphone or your tablet.

You can find out how to download the app by visiting our website -

As we approach the close of this look-back on our year,

time to remember some of our greatest finds.

We've witnessed some amazing values.

Why not visit a Roadshow this coming year?

Because this could happen to you.

And I suppose too, that you must know what it's worth.

No, I'm sorry, I haven't got a clue.

-Do you want me to tell you?

-Yes, please.

£60,000 to £80,000.

Oh, my goodness!

I would stick my neck out and say if you had to buy this is the Sablon

in Brussels, I think it would cost you between

30...

thousand...

..and maybe 35.

Wow, that's amazing!

I really think it could make that.

I'll be quite comfortable in saying this should be insured for

at least £200,000.

Yeah.

It is such an important piece of English furniture,

so it takes my breath away, it's absolutely stunning.

You've got several thousand pounds,

possibly ten thousand pounds...

Gosh!

..if there are enough in good condition.

I've got another one at home.

LAUGHTER

But it melts at over £10,000 at today's price of gold.

That's quite an increase.

I think we're probably looking at something that's got to be worth

£25,000, £30,000.

Oh, dear!

LAUGHS

I'm convinced this IS a Renaissance work of art.

No!

I would think about £25,000.

Whoa!

As a copy, this is worth somewhere in the region of, let's say,

£500 to £1,000.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Ah.

Yeah.

Perhaps I like him a bit more now.

-You do?

-Yeah.

Actually, I don't think it is a copy.

So we'll bump it up a bit.

Shall we say somewhere between £20,000 and £30,000?

No!

I wasn't going to do the gasp, but I've gasped!

If I said £8,000 to £10,000, would that make you happy?

You're darned right!

LAUGHTER

Oh, that's amazing, yeah. Absolutely amazing.

My aunt had a good eye, obviously.

She had two good eyes.

LAUGHTER

Platinum, pearls, diamonds,

1915, Boucheron.

I think that your piece of jewellery is worth...

£35,000 to £45,000.

CROWD GASPS

For me, this is the most wonderful thing that I've seen on the show.

Wow.

APPLAUSE

Perhaps you'll be the next person to hear exciting news

about your family treasure.

Wagons roll for the next series in May,

and we're delighted to be able to share with you,

for the first time, our venues for 2013.

From Scone Palace in Scotland, to Exeter Cathedral,

we'll be touring the country, and we'd love to see you.

Entrance is free.

I hope you'll be able to join us at one of our venues.

More details can be found on our website.

Before we go, Christmas is undoubtedly the most exciting

time of year for a child. Pretty keen on it myself.

And we've noticed a bit of a growing trend with young collectors

arriving at Roadshows, eager to show their proud finds.

Here are three recent visitors.

I found most of these in the corner of my brother's field,

where his horses graze, and there's a river, and the river

kind of washes away all the soil, and it pulled out some crockery,

so we thought of digging there, and we kept on finding bottles.

And these came out there and got you hooked on digging them up?

Yeah, bit addictive.

Congratulations, because I think this is a first.

I don't think I've ever met anybody of your age

that's bought such amazing things,

in the 20 years that I've been doing the Antiques Roadshow.

Thank you.

I've got a collection, roughly 30 of them.

And I obviously I collect them, I've been collecting them

about four years and learning about them, and it's just my hobby really.

Where do you store them?

I keep six of them in my bedroom.

Right!

And I keep all the rest in my shed.

OK.

How old are you?

Ten.

It's very exciting, isn't it?

Yeah, very exciting.

Just the thrill of when you pull them out the ground is amazing.

Especially with some rare ones, like these Codds.

I went to a local auction and I saw something silver for sale.

It was a piece of English silver and I bought it and I decided to

resell it and I quite liked it, so I continued doing that.

Then I was looking at auction houses across the UK,

and I came across pieces of silver like this, with the enamel on

and I decided I really liked them

so I started buying them to keep, really.

This one, this is 1880s, I believe, or maybe 1890s.

It's a Follows and Bates, Manchester.

Right.

And I only know of seven of these in existence.

-These are the poison bottles, aren't they?

-Yeah.

Because of the little stripes on them.

Yeah, they've got ribs.

That's so blind people would know not to drink it,

otherwise they'd die.

This one at the back here, one of these recently sold

on an online auction site a few months back, for...

I believe it was around £300.

Wow.

So, well done, keep doing it and one day,

we might see you on the Antiques Roadshow as an expert - who knows?

Thank you.

And then this one at the front here, very rare,

only seven of them as far as I know, so that might be more like £500.

Good Lord!

So, altogether this is maybe £800 worth of lawnmowers.

You are a true expert and a true collector and I know,

you know, I sympathise and understand that entirely because

about other things I felt similar as a child, so I'm truly inspired.

Thank you.

APPLAUSE

Well, this young man caused quite a stir with our audience

when we first met him at Falmouth and I'm delighted to say,

Seb, you've joined us again today.

Welcome back, and so many people were so struck by your knowledge

and your self-possession

when it came to talking about your collection of lawnmowers.

Why did you choose lawnmowers?

Well, I've always been interested in vintage machinery,

traction engines, tractors and so on,

and I've also always liked collecting things,

and lawnmowers was something that combined both hobbies.

And what is it about lawnmowers particularly that

excites your imagination?

They're easy to collect, they're nice machines, good to repair,

to work on, and there are just various different things

that make them nice to collect.

Interesting for you.

Well, a few years back on the Antiques Roadshow,

we met a man called Brian who's one of Britain's greatest collectors.

-Radam?

-I think it might be.

-Brian Radam, yeah.

He owns the British Lawnmower Museum up in Southport.

I can see I'm not going to be able to teach you anything, Seb,

but he was so impressed by your collection of lawnmowers,

he decided he'd like to add to your collection.

-Oh, right!

-So there's a little something here.

-Oh, right, yes.

-Under the tree.

-I wonder if you'd like to open it and have a look.

-OK.

Just rip the paper, go on, in good old Christmas tradition.

Now this is the JP Maxees.

I knew you were going to tell me about it!

I can't quite tell, it looks like a 12 or a 14-inch.

We've got the handles as well, incidentally.

-Yes, yes.

-They're just too difficult to wrap.

Yes, they had a design which had handles like that and like that,

and it was the steel plate handles.

And...

Now, the interesting thing about this, actually, erm...

I think this cutting cylinder is removable.

Well, I was told, Brian told me, that the company that made these

was the kind of Rolls-Royce of its day.

They were. I've got two of these already.

-Have you? Just the same?

-No, no - different models.

So this is a good addition to your collection?

Yeah, yeah.

-So, an early Christmas present.

-Yeah, OK, thank you.

-For you, Seb.

Ladies and gentlemen, you are watching a future expert

for our Antiques Roadshow.

-I'd say in about... What are you, 12 now, Seb?

-Yes.

In six years' time, bring your lawnmowers to the Roadshow.

I probably won't be on it any more, but Seb will be there

with his marvellous collections to tell you all you need to know

about your collections!

What a Christmassy way to end our year!

Do join us for more Roadshow revelations,

because we're back on air next week,

and don't forget to try our new play-along game

on your smartphone or your tablet

that maybe waiting for you under your tree, who knows?

It's all new for 2013. From Seb and from me and the lawn mower, bye bye.

Subtitling by Red Bee Media Ltd