A bloke on the US version of Antiques Roadshow was left speechless by the value of a collection of rare letters from a famed missing pilot sent to his aunt before her disappearance.
The guest rocked up to the show in Knoxville to have the letters valued by experts. The selection of eight letters were sent to his aunt by the American aviator Amelia Earhart, as he claims they were once close friends.
Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic back in May 1932. But the aviator, from Kansas, US, vanished without a trace on July 2, 1937, as she attempted to circumnavigate the Earth. She was declared dead on January 5, 1939, 18 months after she went missing.
READ MORE: ‘Promising lead’ in 87-year hunt for Amelia Earhart as ‘plane spotted’ on ocean floor
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(Image: roadshowpbs/TikTok)
He explained: “I have a collection of letters, personal letters from Amelia Earhart to my aunt, along with a telegram sent to my aunt and her husband when Amelia landed in England on her solo crossing. When my aunt passed away, she left them to me.
“My aunt’s introduction to the aviation community was through her soon-to-be husband, Porter. Porter Adams was part of the early aviation crowd, and when they started dating, she was included in that group. They were close enough so that Amelia agreed to be her maid of honour.”
(Image: roadshowpbs/TikTok)
The PBS appraiser asked the guest if his aunt shared any interesting stories about the famed pilot. To which, he said his aunt had conversations with her about her last flight and how “they were concerned that maybe this was a little bit too risky.”
Analysing the fascinating find, the expert added: “The great thing about this collection of letters is that it shows us what some of her other talents are. I think one of the things she had a talent for was public relations. She was a great controller of her image of the message.
(Image: The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
“And the other thing was she had an incredible entrepreneurial spirit. You have an archive of about eight letters. There are four typed letters, and four handwritten letters. This one’s written on the letterhead of the New York, Philadelphia, Washington Airway Corporation, which we learned from a later letter.
“She had a role as vice president of public relations for this. And in this letter, she’s talking to your uncle about trying to get involved in selling swimming pools. This typed letter is on Hearst International Cosmopolitan magazine letterhead, and it reminds us of her role as a journalist.
(Image: roadshowpbs/TikTok)
“She’s the aviation editor at Cosmopolitan, and the other letters to indicate all of the interests and entrepreneurial efforts that she was involved in, in promoting aviation. She’s a very important figure in aviation history. She’s a very important figure in women’s history.”
She noted that “letters are more valuable than telegrams” before confirming the value of the collection at $12,000 to $18,000 (£9k-£14k). The bloke couldn’t stop grinning as he said it was “excellent”.
It comes just weeks after the search for Amelia Earhart has had its “most promising lead” since it began 87 years ago. New sonar images of what appears to be a crashed plane which could have belonged to the pioneer may throw up new clues about her fate.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
