I watched bargain Hunt today (waiting in for a repair man)

[dotty.]

The red team spied a tea/coffee set, the same one we bought my Mum and Dad or their 30th (pearl) wedding anniversary in 1980, we bought it brand new from Boothroyds in Southport and it cost us £60. Tea Pot, coffee pot and milk/sugar, with matching tray. It's stainless steel, my sister still has the set, mum never used it and it was always displayed on the sideboard. The red team bought it for £30 but there was no coffee pot, the expert and tim wotnot called it 'deco' and dated it to the 1950s. My grandmother had the 1960s version which my other sister now has. The auctioneer didn't spot that the coffee pot was missing, even though it was glaringly obvious that the tray was rather large for just 3 items! It sold for £40 at auction. You can imagine that I was rather yelling at the screen calling them all eejits! Most of the stuff they buy is tat, why have an expert there at all?

[FredPuli43]

Ah well, the trade is always looking for the coming thing," the antiques and collectables of the future" . Stick around long enough and you'll see it go out again: Stevengraphs (silk bookmarks) came and went, Clarice Cliff ceramics came and are still hanging on, ceramic pot lids (from ointment jars etc) came and went. All Art Deco came and the market has weakened, but people now look for the 1950s derivative style.
And nostalgia always sells; people buy objects to remind themselves of their own past, which is why ordinary Hornby clockwork trains fetch money now.