Pawn Stars Is a Man's Show

 

 

My cousin recommended I watch his favorite TV show Pawn Stars about six months ago. Ever since then, I've been hooked.

People bring in their stuff to sell to a pawn shap in Las Vegas. The show's draw: You never know what they'll bring in and you'll often be surprised. War artifacts, Superbowl rings, celebrity knicknacks and clothing, weird inventions, Dracula killer kits, vintage cars, fighter planes, ancient weapons . . .

One thing I have noticed: This is a man's show. Bartering, trading, negotiating. All the pawn shop principals are men. I'd guess the viewership is mostly men. 

Comments

[Bill Bush]

Check out Storage Wars, too. For those of us with yard sale addiction, it is a treasure hunt to see what is found in the auctioned storage units.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

A lot of readers have chronicled their yard sale journeys rendering many radio treasures on the cheap.

[ace]

The problem with Pawn Stars and Storage Wars is that they 'salt' the discoveries.

Open an abandoned storage unit in O.C. that's full of moldy household crap and there's a silver Civil War chamber pot, or they blast open the old bank safe and there's a love note from Abraham Lincoln??

"Reality" has become a fluid term ...

[Jeffrey McMahon]

I'm not bothered by the loose term reality. The cynic in me knows they have to "edit" the show to maximize entertainment value.

[S Patrick]

Pawn Stars shows the utter decline in cable tv. On memorial day, the History channel instead of honoring veterans and the military like they used to (it is the HISTORY channel), was playing a Pawn Stars marathon. The show is obviously staged and fake.. and real men don't watch fake reality shows.

[Jeffrey McMahon]

My fanship of Pawn Stars clearly evidences my declining mental capacities and manhood and calls into question the general authenticity of my soul.

[Bill Bush]

Don't worry, Jeff. There'll probably be an authentic one available at a yard sale in your neighborhood this spring. Big lesson I've gained from yard sales over the last few years: it's all just stuff. Value is a mix of need and quality, while price is merely one or several potential numbers not yet dispositively quantified.

[Keith Beesley]

Shows like these and "Antiques Roadshow" on PBS cater to the dream or fantasy (that probably all of us have had at one time or another) of finding some old piece of junk that's worth thousands or millions.

[Angelo]

We don't need the History Channel to help us honor veterans and the military----there are loads of great articles on the internet and books in the library----and I don't miss an opportunity to tell my seven year old son how unbelieveably lucky we are as people and as a society to be served by the men and women in the U.S. military---and how the fallen are the biggest heroes in my world. As for Pawn Stars---I have to say, it has rekindled my interest in history. The owner is so intriqued by items that are somehow connected to great Americans (John Hancock, George Washington, etc.) his enthusiasm rubs off. My son and I have learned things about American history that we didn't know---by watching this show.

[Ed S.]

I agree, Angelo, one of the things I learned from Pawn Stars is how to identify real Confederate money: the bills were all hand-cut and thus are unevenly trimmed.

[Dan]

Real men don't watch Pawn Stars. We go to estate sales, and hunt down the treasures for ourselves. Including apex radios from the 1970s, and professional tools made in the United States.

[Ed S]

I'm with you Dan, except real men can do it all: I'm at every 7AM Hamfest scouting out those apex radios, and can also just relax and watch vicariously the cable collector shows. It doesn't have to be one or the other.