After Antiques Roadshow epiphany, man living on disability sells old family blanket for $1.5 million

Blanket.
(Image credit: Screenshot/CNBC)

An old family blanket changed Loren Krytzer's life. After losing his leg in a near-fatal accident, the 53-year-old former carpenter from California was jobless, and had been living off disability checks. But then he saw a Navajo blanket, nearly identical to the one his grandmother had passed down to him, on an episode of Antiques Roadshow. It was valued at around $500,000. So Krytzer took his blanket, which had been sitting in his closet for years, to an auction house. He'd hoped to make enough money to buy a house, but when the heirloom sold for $1.5 million, he was shocked. The sale "gave me a new lease on life," Krytzer told CNBC. He has since bought two homes and married his longtime girlfriend. Christina Colizza

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up
Explore More
Christina Colizza

Christina Colizza is chief researcher and writer at The Week magazine.