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In search of hidden treasure Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Antique expert John Humphries, host of "Cash or Trash?," a syndicated television show broadcast on Medford television Channel 10, checks out a Fred Flintstone brass ornament presented by Kim Hiser of Grants Pass. Flintstones and rhinestones among the antiques appraised for TV show By Paul Fattig GRANTS PASS � Kim Hiser knows precisely how to turn trash into cash. When she was dropping off some trash into a dumpster in Malibu, Calif., a few years ago, she noticed several brass ornaments in the form of Fred Flintstone someone had tossed into the trash. Being a Flintstones fan, she couldn�t bare to see them end up in the trash. She fished two out. One of the ornaments was among the items she submitted to antiques expert John Humphries during a televised taping of "Cash or Trash?" at the Sixth Street Antique Mall in Grants Pass on Saturday. "Very nice � you�re looking at least $125 for each one," said Humphries, the show�s host. That was both good and bad news to Hiser, a Grants Pass resident. There were nine other Flintstone garden ornaments in the dumpster, she explained. "There was Wilma and Barney and Betty," she said. "I kept the two Freds but I wish now that I had the others." Hiser was among about 150 people who showed up with collectibles Saturday. "Cash or Trash?" is a new syndicated television show broadcast on a handful of Medford Channel 10 at noon on Tuesday and Thursday. It is also shown at 6 a.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays. "My job is to help people identify their hidden treasures," said Humphries, a Chico, Calif. resident who has been working in antiques for 40 years. "You�re always finding things that are fascinating," he said. Consider one item that surfaced Saturday. It was a $20 gold piece that had been turned into a watch. "That was something people did back in the �60s," he said. "They opened up the gold piece and inserted a miniature watch into it. "It was very well done," he added. "We�re looking at two, three, four thousand dollars." White City resident Marcia "Sparkles" Brown, an expert on costume jewelry, was available to identify old rhinestones and sign copies of her book, "Unsigned Beauties of Costume Jewelry." Her interest in costume jewelry comes naturally, says the 1949 graduate of Medford High School. "I was one of 11 children," she said. "Nothing you have belongs to you when you have ten brothers and sisters." Talent resident Robby Miller, who formed the non-profit Southern Oregon Antiques & Collectibles Club, helped organize the show. "People want to know what they have," Miller said. "Antiques are very popular right now. This is an excellent way to learn things." Grants Pass resident Winnie Grant brought in an old violin, which had been in her husband�s family. "We had no idea what it was," she said of the make. "My father-in-law had used it and played it." Unfortunately, it was no Stradivarius. Humphries determined it was made in Germany between 1890 and 1930. About $250, he said. Tops. In any case, Grant said, it will stay in the family. One of the antique collectors at the show was Hugo resident Lillian Hiser, Kim�s mother. She presented a toy clown sitting on a trike. "I got it at a yard sale for 25 cents," she told Humphries, who looked at it critically. "This is a very nice example of a tin litho toy," he said. "This would go for $125 and up." "I�ll be handing it off to a grandchild," she replied. Ashland resident Gerry Johnson brought a Civil War enlistment appreciation document issued by the Union Army. "When I was a kid back in Michigan I mowed a lawn for a Civil War veteran," Johnson said. "He was about 100. He was a bugle boy. But I couldn�t ever get him to talk about it." Johnson, who is now retired, has collected Civil War era antiques ever since. His document, encased in an old frame, was dated Dec. 15, 1864. It was made out to Pvt. Thomas Mitchell of the 141st Illinois Volunteers. "I wanted to find out whether it was actually signed by Abraham Lincoln or had been blocked (stamped)," he said. "It is blocked." Still, the document is worth about $150, according to Humphries� estimate. The frame is worth another $75. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA