History Detectives peer into potentially valuable claims
History Detectives, PBS's cross between Antiques Roadshow and The Da Vinci Code, returns with a new season tonight, and not a moment too soon.
This season's upcoming investigations include a character in Parkersburg, West Virginia who owns what could be one of the first known examples of Coca-Cola advertising, and a man in Chicago who notices the material he is using for roof insulation contains dozens of old posters for a Harry Houdini magic show.
Other antiques investigations on the horizon: a man in San Jose insists a letter in his possession proves his granddad invented the twin-cone roller rock oil bit, which historically has been credited to Howard Hughes; nd a Seattle dude insists a baseball, given to him by his father and signed by Dizzy Dean, came from a wartime ballgame that brought together Dean and Negro League star Satchel Paige.
History Detectives is an oddity, thoughtful at times but also sweetly engaging. The hosts are a little nerdy, but not so nerdy that you're constantly reminded that you're watching PBS. Auctioneer/appraiser Wes Cowan describes himself as a passionate explorer of "the grand panoply of American history," but he's not as pompous as that sounds. Art historian Elyse Luray often resorts to her boundless charm to get tight-lipped experts to share their secrets, and architectural advisor Gwen Wright relies on her keen sense of curiosity to get at the truth behind those stories that seem, well, too good to be true.