Media

“It’s a Louis Vuitton trunk,” said Debra Corp, Mueller’s granddaughter. Louis Vuitton is a French manufacturer of chic luggage. A quick search of the Internet shows that Louis Vuittons are eminently collectible, with the older trunks selling for thousands of dollars. But Debra and her mother, Janette Corp, don’t have any intention of selling the trunk and other heirlooms; they just want to know their value.

“It’s just curiosity,” says Janette. “These are some of our favorite things.”

Shown locally on KNPB, public television’s most popular series stopped in Reno on Saturday. The Corps were joined at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center by some 5,000 other people carrying everything from ancient powder horns to knickknacks and gewgaws to furniture. Kathy Hall, of Placerville, Calif., even brought in a space capsule that once carried an actual monkey into space.

The lines were long but steady, moving some 1,400 objects and 700 people per hour past some 70-80 appraisers in some 20 categories, including books, glass and textiles.

So what do the Corps think their treasures might be worth?

“I guess we’ll see,” said Debra with a grin. It turned out to be worth about $3,000.

The Reno edition of Antiques Roadshow will run sometime next season.