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Dr. Lori joined the Practical Preservation podcast to discuss her passion for helping people discover the treasures within their families. Jonathan and I meet her at a LNP (the Lancaster Newspaper) antique appraisal (you can watch that video here). When I reached out to Dr. Lori about an interview on the podcast she was so enthusiastic – I can tell she really loves to educate people about antiques and how to care for them.
Contact:
Website: https://www.drloriv.com/
You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/DrLoriV
Bio:
Dr. Lori is the star antiques appraiser on the History channel’s #1 rated TV show The Curse of Oak Island, Discovery channel’s Auction Kings and appears on FOX Business Network’s Strange Inheritance.
Dr. Lori has shared her expertise with Business Insider, NBC TV’s TODAY show, Anderson LIVE, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, NBC TV’s The Tonight Show, Inside Edition, and Lifetime Television. Dr. Lori is an award-winning TV personality and TV talk show host with the Ph.D. in art history.
Ph.D. antiques appraiser, Dr. Lori Verderame is an internationally syndicated columnist and an author with 30 books to her credit. She has contributed a blog to Lifetime Television and has been an editor of several lifestyle magazines. Dr. Lori is the director of www.DrLoriV.com.
Presenting more than 150 events every year, conducting in-home appraisal visits and appraisals online, Dr. Lori reviews approximately 20,000 items a year.
Offer:
Speaker 1:
Thank you for tuning in to the Practical Preservation Podcast. Please take a moment to visit our website, PracticalPreservationServices.com, for additional information and tips to help you restore your historical home. If you’ve not done so, please subscribe to us on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud, and also like us on Facebook.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the Practical Preservation Podcast, hosted by Danielle and Jonathan Keperling. Keperling Preservation Services is a family owned business based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, dedicated to the preservation of our built architectural history for today’s use as well as future generations.
Speaker 1:
Our weekly podcast provides you with expert advice specific to the unique needs of renovating a historic home, educating by sharing our from the trenches preservation knowledge and our guests’ expertise, balancing modern needs while maintaining the historical significance, character and beauty of your period home.
Danielle:
Today on the Practical Preservation Podcast, we have Dr. Lori with us.
Danielle:
Dr. Lori is the star antiques appraiser on the History Channel’s number one rated TV show The Curse of Oak Island, Discovery Channel’s Auction Kings, and she appears on Fox Business Network’s Strange Inheritance. Dr. Lori has shared her expertise with Business Insider, NBC TV’s Today show, Anderson LIVE, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, NBC’s TV The Tonight Show, Inside Edition, and Lifetime television.
Danielle:
Dr. Lori is an award-winning TV personality and TV talk show host with a PhD in art history. PhD antiques appraiser Dr. Lori Verderame … Am I close?
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Verderame.
Danielle:
I wasn’t close at all.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
That’s why I’m Dr. Lori.
Danielle:
Yes. Is an internationally syndicated columnist, and an author with 30 books to her credit. She has contributed a blog to Lifetime television, and has been editor of several lifestyle magazines.
Danielle:
Dr. Lori is the director of www.DrLoriV.com. Presenting at more than 150 events every year, conducting in-home appraisal visits and appraisals online, Dr. Lori reviews approximately 20,000 items a year.
Danielle:
Thank you for joining us.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Happy to be here. How are you?
Danielle:
Good. How are you?
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Good. I’m fine.
Danielle:
We met briefly.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Long list of stuff, right? [crosstalk 00:02:46] How much I’ve been doing.
Danielle:
You’re very busy.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Very busy. Yeah.
Danielle:
We met briefly, actually. You had appraised a pocket watch that my husband had gotten from his grandfather. So I thought about reaching out to you to talk to you for the podcast. Thank you for joining us.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I’m happy to join you. We all love historic items, historic preservation, the interest in, of course, keeping items intact and pure, as well as architecture. It’s something I love and have been lucky, lucky to devote my life to.
Danielle:
Yes. Very good. Thank you. Talk to us a little bit. How did you start your business? Was there anything particular that led you to antiques?
Dr. Lori Verderame:
My father led me to antiques.
Danielle:
That’s how I found preservation.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
People say, “Really?” Yeah. It’s funny because my parents were much older than many of the parents of my friends. My father served in World War II. So basically, most of my friend’s parents may have served in Vietnam or were now in their 70s. My parents are in their 90s.
Danielle:
[crosstalk 00:03:54]
Dr. Lori Verderame:
So became where a young person, I was the youngest of all the kids, where a young person was around all old people and old things.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
My father was a great flea marketer, yard saler, and collector. He loved everything. He loved objects. My favorite place, as I’ve said many times, was my father’s garage. He kept all this stuff there that my mother wouldn’t let him bring upstairs into the house. That’s how it started.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I did love history. I thought art history was very interesting. I came from a museum background. I worked in major museums as a masters student, as a PhD student. But we didn’t grow up with much wealth, so it’s not like we have beautiful paintings around the house or anything. We just basically …
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I was able to be exposed through education to, in fact, art, antiques, collectibles and the history that goes along with it. I had really good teachers, Danielle, people who would say, “Think about history not as dates and battles.” I try to think of history as the study of people, and artifacts are just the study of the stuff that they made.
Danielle:
Yeah, and a reflection, yeah.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
[crosstalk 00:05:04] teach that. I’m sorry.
Danielle:
I was thinking and art as a reflection of them …
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Yes.
Danielle:
… more so then than just dates on a page.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Yeah. It became really easy for me to basically say, “Well, there’s this person living at this time period. He needs this object, or he wants to make that object.” All of a sudden, that art comes alive.
Danielle:
Yes.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
[crosstalk 00:05:23] will oftentimes be very courteous and sweet to me, and say, “God, Dr. Lori, you made that come alive.” Well, I try to bring out the people. [inaudible 00:05:31] object that’s inanimate, that can’t talk, and I hope to talk for the object.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I have a lot of fun. Yes, I evaluate 20,000 objects a year. In home appraisal sessions, my YouTube channel, which is tremendously popular, thank goodness, where we highlight my events where the public and bring objects in and get a free appraisal. It’s a lot of fun.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
That’s how I got started. Then my parents, who didn’t go to college, said, “Go to college. Keep learning and keep learning.” So that, with a little bit of athleticism … I went to school on athletic scholarships, as well as academic scholarships, when I was thin. They, in fact, helped me to go through a lot of education. I have degrees from the University of Michigan and Wesleyan University in my home state of Connecticut. My PhD is from the [inaudible 00:06:19] Penn State.
Danielle:
Okay. Very good. So you were encouraged, and you wanted to bring out the stories of the objects, rather than just this is something that is here. It actually has a story behind it.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Yeah. Like many of your listeners and viewers, it’s very commonplace that people would have their best hobbies in the worst place in the house. My father’s garage was this great place where he also did his woodworking hobby. He loved Eric Sloane, and he loved American barns.
Danielle:
Oh, yes.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
[crosstalk 00:06:52] actually make little art things with barn wood. So sort of this place where old and new met. It was [crosstalk 00:06:58] place to grow up. I grew up in Southern New England.
Danielle:
Okay. There’s a lot of history there. Is there a certain time period or a type of antique that you focus on?
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Well, as I said, my dad was a World War II veteran, so many of my books are on post-war American art, and … American art of the 19th and 20th centuries. Also post-World War II. So while many of my books are about art, antiques, collectibles, you’ll also see what they might call my research area is American art.
Danielle:
That mid century modern era is fun.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Yeah.
Danielle:
They were really pushing boundaries.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
That’s right.
Danielle:
From a preservation standpoint, it’s really hard, because the materials they used weren’t able to be restored …
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Exactly.
Danielle:
… or easily restored.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Or easily restored. That’s right. Sometimes they say an 18th century piece is a little bit easier than a 1960s piece. That’s really true, because, of course, innovations in materials, or what we might call technological innovations, actually hurt us when it comes to restoration. It’s very difficult to do what a professional restorer does.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I actually know all of those different time periods. So people say, “What’s your specialty?” Well, yeah. Everybody seems to have a specialty, but I don’t only get one thing to come in. When you evaluate as many objects as I do, and if you had to teach at the university level, like I did, or work in major museums, like the Yale Art Gallery, the Allentown Art Museum, I’ve lectured at the Louvre, the Uffizi, in St. Petersburg at the Hermitage, you have to know all of these time periods, and you have to [crosstalk 00:08:40] identify all of these objects.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Now, I’ve done it for a long time. Lots of books, and lots of tests, and lots of jumping through hoops to get all these degrees. But again, it’s true that the American century or the 20th century, the 1900s in America is really an interesting time period.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
But you know what? I’ve seen so many wonderful objects, mascara jars from 60 BC that Cleopatra could have used, and George Washington’s wallet. What they say is that a part of the flesh of Napoleon … I’ve seen all kinds of stuff.
Danielle:
Oh goodness.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Oh my gosh. It doesn’t really matter what it is. A prosthetic leg from the Civil War [crosstalk 00:09:34] kinds of objects because people have all kinds of needs. It doesn’t really matter what the object is, there’s a great story behind it. And I can teach you something from the junk [crosstalk 00:09:44] to be valuable, to be fun and interesting.
Danielle:
Well, and it does teach you about the people who thought to save that.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
That’s right. That’s right. Can you imagine Great Great Grandpa Joe, and he lost his leg in the Civil War? Well, his prosthetic leg is in the attic for another hundred years. It’s kind of interesting.
Danielle:
Yeah. The things that … They played a game at my bridal shower, almost 20 years ago now, that was what’s in your purse. It was the weirdest thing in your purse. Well, my husband to be, at that time, his grandmother had the receipt from her mother’s funeral in her purse. She won the award.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
But see. This is the kind of stuff. It’s interesting what people will bring to me that they wouldn’t bring to somebody else, because people will watch me, know me, follow me around the country to my public events, or have seen me on [inaudible 00:10:44] They say, “You know what? Dr. Lori is a girl. She’s our friend. She’s going to help us. I’m just going to bring it to Dr. Lori, and she’ll just shoot straight with me.”
Dr. Lori Verderame:
[crosstalk 00:10:50] realized, it doesn’t have to be precious and wonderful and Meissen and gorgeous. Yeah. That’s nice. I’ll appraise it, but I’ll also appraise the stuff that, maybe if your grandmother was like my grandmother, who didn’t come from particular wealth, that was just always on the countertop, but means something to you.
Danielle:
Right. Yeah.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I’ll tell you about that too. There’s a wonderful history to all of that. It doesn’t have to be a million dollar piece, or warrant being in a museum, to be an interesting thing.
Danielle:
Yes. Yes.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I’m everybody’s appraiser is what happens.
Danielle:
You recommend, on your website, getting an independent appraisal. Is there a reason for that?
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Yeah. This is where I get serious and people say, “Oh oh.” But this is the thing. I started this career after a happy career, university professor, museum curator, museum director. I met a 75-year-old woman who sold a $50,000 document to an appraiser who offered her $50. So I’m sitting there saying, “Oh, my mother would do this. My mother would think, ‘Oh, 50 bucks? Good. I can pay the electric bill this month.'”
Danielle:
Right.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
“I don’t need that,” whatever that thing is, whatever that object is. An appraiser should not, in my opinion, also be someone who wants to buy your object.
Danielle:
Right.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
[crosstalk 00:12:08] appraising your object, they need to appraise only. If they’re appraising your object, “Oh, it’s not worth that much,” because they know it’s worth a lot, and then they make you a purchase offer, they’re no longer an appraiser, in my opinion.
Danielle:
Right.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
There are many appraisers who are working in the field, who are actually doing all different things. They’re buying. They’re selling. They’re just appraising. They’re brokering. They’re doing all this stuff. I think you need an unbiased, independent appraisal. Well, they’ll say, “I’ll give you the appraisal for free,” but you know what? You get what you pay for.
Danielle:
Right.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
They say that you’re getting the appraisal for free. You’re not getting it for free. The minute that you sell that piece to that person, guess what. You lost money. You paid for that. Those appraisals are worthless.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
You have to have an unbiased appraisal, and you have to have it from someone with my credentials. People say, “Well, not everybody has your credentials.” Well, I didn’t just walk through those three degrees. I had to earn those three degrees. I didn’t just walk through looking at all these objects. I’ve been running around the country for 20, 22 years, teaching people, learning from people, and keeping track of everything, and researching everything.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Basically, what I want people to understand is, look, if you want to get somebody to buy your object, that’s different from someone who’s going to tell you the true value and show you where the markets are.
Danielle:
Right.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I show people, “Here’s where a similar piece has sold.” You get the appraisal, you see where another one sold, and then go off and negotiate with anybody. You get your best deal that way. That’s what I’m after. I’m after you’re getting your best deal, if you want to sell your piece.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
If you don’t want to sell your peace, I want you to know the background of the piece. I want you to know what your family history was like.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I have actually had pieces come to me that families have said, “I know that’s from my grandmother in California. I know that’s from my grandmother in California.” I look at the piece and I say, “Is anybody from Baltimore? Because this is a piece of [inaudible 00:13:58] silver, and it was made in Baltimore.” “Oh yeah. My other grandmother was from Baltimore.” [crosstalk 00:14:04] family history goes aside, because they don’t realize that this particular piece actually is telling you something.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
So it’s good to have a true expert, and not someone who just looks like an expert. Somebody who has the credentials to back it up.
Danielle:
That and, I think, ethically, there’s a definite conflict of interest …
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Thank you.
Danielle:
… if you’re going to offer to buy something that you’ve appraised, and you’re not going to tell the true value.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Here’s an example that relates to you. You and I met over, let’s call it, about a $2,000 pocket watch. I knew what that pocket watch was immediately … You didn’t have to even open your mouth. I knew what it was. I knew what it was worth. I knew the whole deal. I knew the markets for it before you even say anything, once I see that object.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Okay. An unethical appraiser, which is not me, might’ve said, “I’ll give you 200 bucks.” Typically, what they offer you is 10%. “I’ll give you $200 for it.” “[crosstalk 00:15:05] dollars, really? Wow. $200.” You don’t know anything about it. You have no idea [crosstalk 00:15:10] really worth. All right?
Dr. Lori Verderame:
So then what ends up happening is you might’ve taken that $200 without any more information. That’s the reason. When you have a real life example, then you start to understand.
Danielle:
Right. Yeah, definitely.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
[crosstalk 00:15:22] has a lot on you. They know things. So you want to be careful. You want someone unbiased, and you want to pay those people, that appraiser, for their service, for them being [crosstalk 00:15:31]. Don’t [crosstalk 00:15:34] make money on you on the other end, because the fee is so small compared to how much money they can make off your object.
Danielle:
Yeah. It’s the same thing that we tell people about the free energy audits. Whoever’s offering you a free energy audit, on the back end, is going to be selling you windows, or whatever their audit is going to prescribe for you. It’s the same idea.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Right. I see. No, that makes sense.
Danielle:
Yeah.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
So really, you’ve got to think about that, because really, you paid for that energy audit that was [crosstalk 00:16:04] Right?
Danielle:
Yes, yeah.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
You paid for it with too much money paid for your windows, for example.
Danielle:
Right. Their prescription, they’re already going in knowing what they’re going to tell you you need.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Right.
Danielle:
Yeah. I think it’s the same idea. Paying for a service doesn’t … You should pay for it. It shouldn’t be free.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
It’s the same idea. But what ends up happening is I am literally, with my background, the only one who does it this way.
Danielle:
Oh goodness. Yeah.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
[crosstalk 00:16:35] Then they say, “Well, I can’t get to her.” You can’t get to me? You can get to me. You can get to me on the cell phone. You can get to me at a public event. You can see me in person. I’m all over the Internet. I’m all over television. No reason why you can’t get to me at DrLoriV.com. You have no reason why you can’t get a true, honest, ethical, intelligent appraisal from me. No reason.
Danielle:
No. I agree.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Because I do so many of them, because I really want people to get it. You know? I meet the millennials who are trying to decorate their new apartments, because they love something vintage. I have the 95 year olds who are like, “Oh, we’ve had this in my family centuries and centuries back.” Everybody can get to me. I will tell you what you’ve got, tell you what it’s really worth.
Danielle:
Yes. That’s a very valuable service. You are very accessible, and you are on a lot of different media outlets.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Yeah.
Danielle:
Your television appearances, your syndicated columns, your YouTube channel. Are you trying to just reach more people? Is that your goal with that?
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Well, I’ve been very fortunate, because most of … When people see me, whether it’s folks like you running podcasts, or television producers, or Hollywood or whatever it is, they say, “You know what? We want her.” I’m lucky in that. But people also understand that I can basically explain, and make you excited, and give you the history of all of it.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
The Curse of Oak Island is a very good example. The show traces its 223-year-long treasure hunt on Oak Island, Nova Scotia. They needed an artifact expert. Basically, they dig something up, and nobody would know what it was. They’d have people who were guessing, but they had to stop the guessing. That’s when they called me in. We have found some wonderful pieces on Oak Island, and they continue their treasure hunt there.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Other shows which have been very popular, like Auction Kings, or Strange Inheritance, or any of the news outlets, where I’m talking to Anderson Cooper, or I’m talking to the folks at Fox, for many, many years. So yes, I think they appreciate, I’m honest, I’m ethical. I’m going to tell you the truth. I’ll break some hearts, but I’ll [crosstalk 00:18:46]. I’m just going to tell you, “This is what it is.” I’ve seen wonderful objects, and I’ve heard great stories.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
The film … A woman comes in, and she has the actual film and film camera from one of the people who are in the Enola Gay, who are going to drop the bomb on Hiroshima during World War II. She’s the daughter of one of the pilots. She said, “Well, my father brought home the camera with all the pictures.”
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Or, “This has been in our attic for years and years and years,” or, “This has been in the basement,” or, “I was out with my metal detector and I found this, Dr. Lori.” I have that a lot too. So it comes from all different places, but most of the time, people want to know how do I preserve it. What you do all day, every day, preservation.
Danielle:
Yeah.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
How do I identify it? How can I learn more? So you want someone who’s trained in research like me. “How do I learn more? You’ve told me a lot, but how do I learn more?” And what’s the real value? What’s truly the value if I want to know, in all markets globally?
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Because now, with the beauty of the Internet, we can actually hit all markets globally. We can do that through our smartphones. So we really have the opportunity. If you have a Mickey mouse collectible that Mario in Milan has to have, you can get to Mario.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
My appraisals help you with all those types of things. But really, the fun of it is being around the objects and being able to impart the history.
Danielle:
Yes. Well, and I know that with the Internet, the antiques market really changed, because things that were thought to be very rare were found to be less rare. I’m sure that impacted your work then too.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Well, that impacts everybody’s work. Now, remember, as an appraiser, what ends up happening is you have a lot of people who, when you go to search on the Internet, you get incorrect information. I spend a lot of time correcting other appraisers, or correcting other people who think they know because they found something online.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
They find something when they Google it, or they Yahoo it, or they Bing it. Basically, they find out, “Oh, I think it’s that.” Then they bring it to me, and I go, “It’s not that,” because of all this other criteria. Because the source …
Dr. Lori Verderame:
People will go to a website and assume it’s correct, just because somebody put up a website. Well, who are those people? What is their background? Then people’s heads start to pop off. They go, “Oh no, Dr. Lori. I didn’t even think of that. I don’t know who that guy was who told me …”
Danielle:
Right.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
He could be your friend Louie in the 7-Eleven who was just getting coffee with you who knows antiques. Doesn’t always happen.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
You really have to know your source. That’s why DrLoriV.com, people know it as a research tool, and they can use it. Just like a lot of folks who are experts in your field. They do it all the time.
Danielle:
Right. Yeah, yeah.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Expertise-
Danielle:
That experience … In every job, I learn something new. You’re always learning. You’re always … The more things you do, the more you learn.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
That’s right. You have to be a special type of expert to want to keep learning.
Danielle:
Right. That’s true. Yeah.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Right. Because there are a lot of folks to go, “I know how to do what my job is. I do the same thing all the time.” That’s great. But the person who solves a problem and then continues to learn from the next appraisal, the next project, the next job, is really the expert you want, because they love it.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
When you meet me … You’ve met me, so you cannot deny that I love it. I love it bad. I was like, “It’s really what I do.” People get excited by that, because in your family, it might’ve been, “Oh, why does Susie care about that old jar? Nobody cares about that old jar,” but Susie cares about that old jar. I want those people to come out and to enjoy the research process, really. It’s like a treasure hunt.
Danielle:
It is. It is. Are there common mistakes that you see people make with their antiques? Or do you have any tips that people can avoid making?
Dr. Lori Verderame:
That’s a really good question. The biggest myth and the biggest tip I have is don’t assume just because something’s yours, that it is not valuable. Everybody wants you to believe, “You don’t have anything valuable. You’re not the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts, the wealthy.”
Danielle:
Right. True.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I have seen some of the best pieces, some of the most fascinating pieces and most valuable pieces, in places where you would think, “Wow. This is really not a place where anything good will possibly be living.” Oftentimes true.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
People will say, “Oh, it’s only in the big cities.” Not true. It could be in the big cities, but it could also be in rural areas where people take care of their stuff and don’t trade stuff a lot.
Danielle:
Right. Where it’s just been passed down.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
[crosstalk 00:23:43] Just been passed down. And condition. They cared for what few things they had. That’s part of it.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
So that’s the biggest myth. Assuming it’s always somebody else who has something valuable.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Thinking that everything on the Internet is accurate. Not true. I’ve had things about myself written that are wrong. My Wikipedia page was changed to say that I was a sports medicine doctor. You tell me. I’m looking at Wikipedia, and I know [crosstalk 00:24:15] have done the Wikipedia page years ago, and I’m going, so somebody went in there and confused me, and said I was sports medicine. Okay.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
The stuff that’s inaccurate is really problematic. So you got to get a real expert who knows. That’s where, really, we should be moving with technology, toward who is the source. So that’s the things I think people should be [inaudible 00:24:36].
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Try not to be overzealous cleaning. I grew up in an Italian Catholic family. My mother was immaculate. That house was clean. I say that because she doesn’t like it when I say, “Be a little dirty. Don’t clean, clean, clean everything.” [crosstalk 00:24:51]
Danielle:
Right, because you can damage …
Dr. Lori Verderame:
You can do damage. Use a white cotton cloth. Try not to use commercial cleaners. Try not to submerge things into water. You can do damage. Leave it alone. Try to get surface dust off. Okay. But for the most part, don’t be overzealous cleaning, scraping, scrubbing, because you can do more damage.
Danielle:
Right. There was actually, we had a spring cleaning tip, and somebody had emailed me back and asked me why. I didn’t know the answer. Is there a reason that you shouldn’t use feather dusters? Is it the oils from the feathers?
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Usually oils from the feather dusters, and other commercial cleaners, and some of those other treated pieces of cloth or textile can actually leave residue. You want to be aware of that.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
You just want to be careful and not overzealous cleaning. I’m not saying keep everything terribly dirty with mud on it. [crosstalk 00:25:45] you want to think about not being overzealous. So don’t clean, clean, clean. I always say there’s certain …
Dr. Lori Verderame:There are lots of tips on DrLoriV.com about how to do preservation of certain objects. There are some good books out there, particularly the one from the Smithsonian about how to preserve pieces, from their conservators, because it becomes relatively important.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
The other thing you want to think about with respect to objects is how you display them. You want to be careful of china closets. You want to open them up, let some of the heat escape. Everybody worries about dust and dirt in china closets, but you really want to let some of the heat escape.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I always say … This is the thing my grandmother used to do when she was actually sitting, making an Italian dish called braciole. I don’t know if you know it, but you actually put all these different spices in this flattened meat, and you roll it up, and you put it in tomato sauce. She would always sit. She used to say … Most people stand when they cook. She would always sit. It was funny, because we would think, “Why are you sitting?” She said, “You can concentrate better if you’re sitting.”
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I found that it was interesting that we sit when we study, we sit when we read. We sit when we clean an object, an art, antique or collectible, it’s a good idea to sit. Don’t do it when you’re tired. Don’t do it as an aside. Make it [crosstalk 00:27:07] That way, you’ll be less apt to drop it. You’ll be less apt to damage it. You’ll take your time. It has to be done, not as an aside, but these objects have to take first priority.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I like white cotton clothes, as most conservators do. You all know me because I wear my white gloves almost all the time. I don’t touch objects without them. Other appraisers who do touch objects without protecting their hands from your objects are not experts. So when you see any of these people on any of these TV shows, and they’re just handling objects, or pointing to them with sharp sticks, or any of that, it’s a problem.
Danielle:
Right. You could damage.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Yeah. Museum professionals do not touch objects without wearing the gloves, because the oils on our hands can be transferred to an object, attract dirt, and deteriorate the object. That comes from my years in museums, where they would say, “Oh, Lori, you’re going into storage at the Yale Art Gallery? Here are your gloves.”
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Be careful what you touch. Make sure that you’re holding things from a base, and you’re supporting it with your other hand. Don’t carry five things at once. Don’t have your Picasso under one arm and your Renoir sculpture under another arm. You really want to think about that.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Preservation is really important. You’re not only preserving it for you or for the value, you’re preserving it for other generations to learn about you.
Danielle:
Yes. Yeah, yeah. That is really … Our best clients are people who view themselves as stewards of the home. They’re only going to be here for a period of time.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
That’s right. That’s right. It is important, because you are now representing a time and a place, a culture, to those who come after you.
Danielle:
Right. Yes. Yeah. You’ve shared a lot, but do you have any other advice or tips for our listeners?
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I always say, love it. Just love it. Enjoy the pieces. Love it. Display them proudly in your home. Talk about them as conversation pieces. Bring them up. Curios. People will come back to my events and say, “Oh, Dr. Lori, you appraised something for me five years ago, or 10 years ago. Wow. It’s really a wonderful thing. Every Thanksgiving, we talk about it, because it was grandma’s painting.” [inaudible 00:29:25] So I have a little piece of me in a lot of people’s homes all over the United States, because I appraised something for them.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
It’s really interesting because they’re curiosities. Curio cabinets, curiosity shops actually started from this idea that we were curious about other places. So you’ll see [crosstalk 00:29:44], because we’re curious about other places. So what we want to do is have that conversation. I just hope you have a lot of conversation pieces, and you use those objects as a starting point to learn about others.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Appraisals are very important, because we need to know the value so we can … I don’t know. If you have to flip something to educate a child or to pay for healthcare or whatever it might be, [crosstalk 00:30:04] really is important. They really can be the savior in a lot of ways. If they’re not worth a lot, they also are oftentimes really interesting in terms of their historic background.
Danielle:
Yes, yes, yes.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Preserving them is key.
Danielle:
Yes, yes, yes.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Sorry. Preserving them is key.
Danielle:
Yeah. No. I agree. Sometimes it’s the day-to-day things that are more interesting than the big museum pieces.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Yeah. For example, you think of a Greek vase. You think, “Ooh, it’s a Greek vase.” Well, in the fifth century BC, a Greek vase was like our Tupperware. That’s what it was. It was just storage, basically. We think, “Ooh, it’s a Greek vase.” Well, [inaudible 00:30:49] tells us a lot about the Greeks of the ancient world, but basically, it’s Tupperware [crosstalk 00:30:55] “Oh, wow. How did she just do that?” But now, all of a sudden, that Greek vase means something to you, because now, it is revealed as how it’s part of your life.
Danielle:
Yes, yeah.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
[crosstalk 00:31:07] museum thing that you don’t really know what it is or understand it. Now, it’s very easy.
Danielle:
Yeah. And it makes the connections. I think those connections are what make people want to then preserve and retain these things.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Right. Exactly, exactly. So I’ve had a lot of fun. I’ve been fortunate, but I had a lot of fun. I’ve met wonderful people like you, and I’ve heard their great stories of history through objects.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
As for appraisals, we have a lot of fun, a lot of laughs at my public events. I try to give many different options in terms of services for our appraisals. So you can always find out from the authority in the country, that’s me, what is really worth.
Danielle:
Okay. Very good. How could someone contact you? Should they go to your website?
Dr. Lori Verderame:
They can start with our website. Sure. DrLoriV.com.
Danielle:
I’ll make sure that’s on our site too.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Thank you. Basically, I’ll ask … You can go right to our website. If you want to send a photo of your object for an online appraisal, you can do that. I’ll look at all of them myself. I look at them. I’ll get back to you with, “This is what it is. Oh, it’s not worth it. Oh, it is.” Whatever. You can start there.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
If you just have a question, you can go to the website, just ask a question. I get back to all those as well.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
Our YouTube channel is great. If you subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube, Dr. Lori V. You can watch the appraisals as they happen live. You can watch all of our videos on the website as well as at YouTube. It’s a lot of fun. You’d be surprised at some of the things I encounter, and you’d be surprised at some of the values too.
Danielle:
Yes. Okay. Very good. Did you have anything that’s coming up that you wanted to promote, any [crosstalk 00:32:49] or appearances?
Dr. Lori Verderame:
I hope you’ll go to our website at DrLoriV.com/events, which basically [crosstalk 00:32:55] all of our events, my events where I do public appraisals free of charge, and all kinds of events all over the United States. Go there. Hopefully, I’ll meet you in person.
Danielle:
Okay. Very good. I’ll make sure that’s on our site too, so that people can go right there when they’re listening.
Dr. Lori Verderame:
That’s great. Keep doing all the good work that you’re doing. Thank you.
Danielle:
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1:
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Speaker 1:
Join us next week for another episode of the Practical Preservation Podcast. For more information on restoring your historic home, visit PracticalPreservationServices.com.