An guest shared the backstory to a family heirloom which revolved around “big fat lies”.
The episode, filmed at Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa, saw expert Ken Farmer meet with the owner of the ventriloquist doll, often referred to as “The Shucker”.
The guest revealed that the doll was created by her husband’s great-grandfather Glen Christian, who led a “wild life”.
She shared: “He was born in Chicago to German parents. They immigrated to Indiana, then moved to Nebraska and he ran away from home and joined a circus and that’s where he learned to do ventriloquism”.
However, she then unveiled a darker twist to the tale, stating: “Well, we found out in 2014 it was a big fat lie. His name was actually George Redgate. He was born in Nebraska.”
Antiques Roadshow guest confesses ancestor’s ‘big fat lies’ from fake name to joining the circus as his marionette gets big value (Image: CBS)
Antiques Roadshow expert Ken Farmer valued a marionette for around $3,000. (Image: CBS)
She continued: “He had eight siblings. George grew up and made a lot of bad decisions.
“He ended up having four marriages and he was sent to prison for four months for adultery.”
To this, Farmer humorously responded: “Good thing they don’t do that now!”
The guest added: “He passed away in 1952. He was an inventor and he was a ventriloquist and he could throw his voice and he used to terrorise his grandkids with this marionette.”
Farmer expressed his admiration for the marionette, stating it had “so much personality” and playfully manipulated its mouth, asking in a high-pitched voice: “How you doing there Shirley?”
An Antiques Roadshow guest’s family ancestor went by the fake name Glen Christian but was really called George Redgate. (Image: CBS)
He went on to say: “I would say that he really treasured this, because it is in such good condition. He’s really cool.
“Someday, somebody needs to untangle all those wires and figure out how he used it.”
After confirming that she hadn’t previously had it appraised, Farmer estimated: “OK, well we talked about it at the folk art table and we think this would probably be in the $2,000 (£1,554) to $3,000 (£2,331) range.”
The owner responded: “OK. That seems realistic, yeah”, agreeing with him that it held “more sentimental value”.
She remarked: “It’s absolutely more sentimental and it’ll be handed down to our son and then to his oldest son.”
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on One and iPlayer.