A Motown memorabilia collector from Detroit made the discovery of a lifetime when Marvin Gaye’s 1964 passport came tumbling out of an old album he bought for 50 cents at an estate sale.
The collector appeared on the Feb. 3 episode of PBS’ Antiques Roadshow to price the item.
“When I got home, I was going through them and out of an album fell this passport,” the man said on the show. “And so it literally fell into my hands.”
“The thing I’m in love with is how young he is here,” appraiser Laura Woolley said. “This is dated 1964, which is great, and it is after he added the ’E’ to the end of his name, because when he was signed as a solo artist with Motown, he decided to add that ’E,’ and there’s a lot of different theories: People say it’s because he wanted to separate himself from his father or because he actually liked Sam Cooke so much, who had an ’E’ at the end of his name, that he wanted to imitate his idol.”
The man was stunned after the appraiser said, “I wouldn’t put less than $20,000 on the passport if you were to insure it.”
“Wow. I never would have thought,” he responded. “I mean, I’m just shocked. I mean… wow. Oh gosh, thank you.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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