How are you doing, Frank?
What's your name?
Tricky Dick.
Is this a story or what is it now?
What do you want for something like that?
This thing is sexy, man.
The thing that makes Tricky Dick tricky is
you never know if he's
going to sell anything or not.
Ah, I don't know.
Ah.
And I have a hard time understanding what he's saying.
Hey, Frankie, check this out.
Wow.
I love that.
It's an Ingo Bike.
It's like a big scooter.
See the spring frame?
Yep.
These things are extremely hard to find.
How long you been putting stuff in here?
30 or 40 years.
Just follow me.
I've got to make some money out of this somehow.
We have a saying, "I needs the money."
MIKE WOLFE: So, my
last offer is $40.
Telling you what, you better take and why
you got a hot buyer here.
I don't need no advice from you.
All right.
I'm Mike Wolfe.
And I'm Frank Fritz.
And we're pickers.
We travel the back roads of America looking
to buy rusty gold.
We make a living telling the history of
America one piece at a time.
All right, Mississippi, here we come.
Aren't you glad we got up at 6:00 AM, Danny?
No, I'm not.
No.
I knew you were going to say that, Danielle.
I don't like it.
It's OK.
You get an early start on the day.
We'll call you.
We'll call you when we get there.
I'll bring you back a Po' boy.
On no, it'll be bad by the time
you get here.
Keep it on ice.
Bring me back some good blues CD's.
Keep the leads coming, girl.
We're on our way to Mississippi.
We just crossed the state line into Tennessee.
We're off the super highways, out of the
sprawl, and into our office.
We're freestyle picking.
What about that?
Look at that.
Some people gamble on lottery tickets, some people
gamble on slots.
Free styling is a gamble for us.
Sometimes we might lose money on gasoline, but
we have the chance
of hitting the jackpot.
Wait, what's this stop right here?
This guy's got cars.
Let's try this place.
Is this a store?
I don't know, it looks like somebody's pad or something.
Oh, he's got some multitudes.
This guy's got the signs, he's got the gas pumps,
he's got cars laying over.
Looks like the perfect spot.
Let's check it out.
Hello.
This place is cool.
He's got some stuff around here.
Look at all these toys.
I walk up to the window and I'm
looking in this place,
I'm thinking it's a store.
I mean, it looks like a junk shot to me.
Hey, how are you doing?
Hey, man.
It's Mike.
Yeah.
Saw your gas pumps and your cars.
How you doing?
Frank, nice to meet you.
What's your name?
A guy with a name like Tricky Dick,
he must mean business.
You related to Nixon?
Yeah?
Anyway, we were driving by, we see you
got a multitude of stuff.
Here's a little list.
Yeah.
Here's a list of stuff we buy.
We're pickers, you know what a picker is?
Right away, I'm getting a good vibe from Tricky Dick.
But the question is, will he let us look around?
You sell stuff?
Is this a store or what is it?
Personal stuff?
OK.
I have a hard time understanding what he's saying.
Can we look around a little bit?
All right.
What do you got?
Give us a tour, man.
Whatever you want to show us.
Wow.
Uh-oh.
Dang.
Oh man, look at the Vega.
Oh yeah.
Tricky Dick's shed is packed with stuff.
He's got cars, toys, signs.
It's a lot of stuff.
Right.
I even spot a coffin.
Oh, look at this, Frank.
Hopefully this thing's empty I'm feeling pretty comfortable in here.
Oh yeah.
Hey.
What do you got on the big Texaco sign?
It's a nice size piece and it's in
really good condition.
I've got clients that have really big garage
spaces that would absolutely love to
have a sign this big to cover the wall.
What do you got to have for that?
I don't know.
$800?
Whoa.
$800 is full on retail.
I'm not smelling what Tricky Dick is stepping in.
Dang, wait hold on here.
I thought it was a heat.
It might have been an $800 price tag.
I'm hoping this isn't going to set the
tone for the rest
of this pick.
It's nice.
Well, we're just like you, Dick.
Remember, we're pickers, you know?
So if we buy something, we got to
have a little money left
on it.
Hey, what's that big grill off of back there?
Oh, that's a Hudson terraplane grill?
Yeah.
The terraplane was a car that was built
by the Hudson Motor
Car Company in the 1930s.
These cars were awesome.
They had a lot of power under the
hood and a great deco look.
And you can tell that by the design
of the grill.
I've been buying these grills and hanging them on the wall
because that's the car signature.
I love this thing.
What do you want for something like that?
That thing's sexy, man.
What's that crazy number on it?
I hear ya.
Same way I am.
$200.
Nah, nah, nah, nah.
$250?
Ah, no.
Uh-oh.
Hey, I'm trying.
Mike and I come across collectors all the
time that won't sell stuff.
The key is to find that one item.
So I mean, a lot of this stuff
you get at flea markets.
Why do you go on Sundays?
First time I met this guy, I was
like, man, I could tell I
was going to like him.
Uh-oh, whoa.
Look at that.
What do you got, Frankie?
I got Rambler Service sitting here.
Oh, this is cool.
Would that be something you'd sell?
Now we're 0 for three.
All right.
How about $275 on the grill?
0 for four.
What's the crazy number on that?
Tricky Dick may not be selling anything at all.
What's this?
You find something, Frankie?
I look over, here's this Studebaker Jack.
It says Studebaker right on the side.
I mean, advertising stuff is hot.
And Studebaker, they didn't make that much stuff.
I gotta have it.
How about something like this?
This could be sold to an advertising collector
and anybody likes automotive stuff.
I mean, this is a great piece.
I'd do $20 on it.
There's that look again.
I mean, we've got to get something going here.
I'll do $25.
I can't believe it, this pick just got a pulse.
Let's see what else he's got.
Look at all this stuff here.
This is the man cave.
So it looks like you've been hanging and collecting for a long time here.
Yeah.
I know.
It's like a gambler's high.
Man.
You can tell this is Tricky Dick's version of heaven.
A velvet painting of Bo Sefis, man.
So when you're in the doghouse, this is
where you come, huh?
Well, it was pretty apparent that Tricky Dickie
was a beer drinker.
I mean, he had over 400 beer signs in there.
So I'm fitting right in here.
This is a place we'd hang out.
I could see hanging out here.
Oh, that's neat.
All of a sudden, I see this really
cool aluminum horse.
I like that.
It's an equestrian piece.
There's a jockey.
The closer I get to it, the more
I could see it's age.
I love this kind of stuff.
What's this off of, do you know?
This thing must have came off a gambling
device, an arcade game.
This would make a great piece for anybody
that has anything to do with horses.
How much you want for this?
The thing that makes Tricky Dick tricky is
you never know if he's
going to sell anything or not.
$15.
Ah I don't give rid of it.
All right, $20.
All right.
I like it.
It's cool.
What do you got?
You never know which way Tricky Dick's going to go.
Oh, Frankie.
And where'd you pick those up at?
I see these two rides and I'm finally
thinking game on.
These coin op rides can turn this pick around.
The horse is sentimental to Dick, and that's fine.
The piece I'm focused on is the Candy
Apple red wild boar.
That's hot.
Oh yeah.
As a picker, you're driving around and you're
trying to find
things that are different, that spark emotion, things
that you've rarely ever seen before.
This is all those things.
How much is the pig ride?
$600?
Man, the price of pork is up there, huh?
People love coin-operated rides because they can connect
to their past.
How about $300?
You see horses and you see little trucks,
but when's the last time you
saw a Candy Apple red wild boar?
Is the coin-op mechanism in here?
Refurbishing the coin-op mechanism is going to cost money.
Also, the bottom of it is roached, it's
like growing out of the ground.
How about $325?
Uh.
How about $325 and a case of beer?
FRANK FRITZ: See?
You just eat how they ride.
We got to speak the language, man.
As it turned out, Tricky Dick wasn't so
tricky after all.
One, two, three, all right.
I bought the wild boar coin-operated machine for
$325 and a case of beer.
I think we should get it appraised.
Don't treat it like a butcher.
I paid $25 for the Studebaker jack, I
can at least double my money.
I bought the horse with the jockey on
his back for $20.
I'm going to ask $60.
All right.
Tricky Dicky.
Nice to meet you, buddy.
Overall, this was a great freestyle stop.
We met an awesome guy and we got
a few items.
And the thing is when you're picking, you've
got to try to buy
something every single day.
Thanks for giving us the tour.
Yeah.
Thanks, buddy.
Take care.
If we're ever in the area again, we'll
stop by and say hi.
Keep on picking.
See ya, Tricky Dick.
Hey, buddy.
Keep on picking, buddy.
You know what?
Johnny Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, these
guys all wrote their songs down here.
Me and Frankie are in the heart of
the Mississippi Delta.
There's a lot of music history down here.
We should write a pickers blues song.
You got a couple of lyrics you want
to start off with?
How about like darkness has fallen on the picker man.
What about barbecue sauce?
You know what I'm saying?
Is that Danny?
- Hello.
How are you doing?
We're just talking about writing some lyrics, making
our own picker song.
Oh, you can't write the blues unless you
feel the blues.
Hey, I'm feeling it, man.
I'm down in the Mississippi Delta.
It's a good day.
So what's going on, girl?
OK.
I have a lead for you.
And I want you to remember, it's all
in the name.
The name, Bubba O'Keefe.
So he's an Irish Hillbilly?
I was going to say, that sounds weird.
Exactly.
But what's he got?
He has a 15,000 square foot building, which
is pretty rocking.
This place used to be a bank.
But before it was a bank, it was
like a Delta Blues radio
station.
OK, that's cool.
That's cool.
Maybe it's got some memorabilia.
I mean in my mind, this is the
coolest pick in the world.
But hopefully it translates that way.
You had my attention at 15,000 square feet.
All right, girl.
- We'll let you know.
Bye.
Frankie and I are cruising the Blues Highway.
What more perfect of a pick than to
hit an old radio station?
We're in the center of it all, my friend.
This looks good, looks good.
I need to buy a T-shirt.
All right.
FRANK FRITZ: Aw, this place is huge.
Man, look how big it is.
Hello.
Hey, you Bubba?
That's me.
All right, I'm Mike.
How's it going?
- Good to see.
Good to see you too.
You talked to Danielle on the phone?
How you doing?
Frank.
I saw the sign out front.
This is a museum, huh?
It is.
It's been in the works since '99.
This building was built in 1920 and is
on the historical registry because WROX Radio station
was located upstairs from about 1946 to 1955.
Ike Turner started out as a janitor here
and then he became a
disk jockey upstairs.
Right here?
Yeah.
I'll be darned.
Well here, you talked to Danielle on the phone.
Here's one of our flyers.
This is just kind of a general list
of the types of things
we buy.
She said that you had maybe a few
items that you might
be interested in turning loose.
This place looks like a small town museum.
But as I'm looking around, I realize this
guy's a picker too
and I know he's got to have some stuff.
What's the significance of the automobile neon?
I found it in another building.
I buy buildings.
All right, so you were a collector before
you even started this place?
Oh yeah, since I was a kid.
I picked for my museum.
And so to see people that really appreciate
one's passion of collecting and
picking, it just makes me feel good because
not many people understand that.
I didn't tell you that Elvis played upstairs twice.
- What?
- Really?
Yes, yes.
Best I can figure is to promote his
concerts here, local concerts at
the auditorium.
It was in 1955.
The second floor is where the studios-- So
Elvis walked up these steps?
These right here.
- Just like me.
- This is it.
All right.
You just put your hand where he did.
- I did.
- Don't touch that.
So this is laid out the way it was?
Even if you don't like the blues, I
mean just being in one of
these rooms, it's remarkable.
That's the broadcast room.
When he told me that Elvis Presley might
have been here, when I was standing
in that recording room, I felt like I
was a kid.
Sit down there, Frankie.
All right.
Ike Turner could have been spinning some stuff here.
This is where it was all recorded.
This is it.
I imagine there, looking through there and looking
at Elvis playing there.
We walk into the sound room and you're thinking to yourself,
wow, did Elvis stand here?
Did Johnny Cash stand here?
And I'm trying to take in everything he's
telling me, but I'm in awe.
Listen to your voice in here now.
I know.
Sound proof.
This is deadening.
It's a lot more elaborate than I thought
it was going to be.
I can't help to think that this place
is inspiring my song, "Picker Man."
All right, this is where the 15,000 square
feet comes into play.
Now we're up to 10,000.
The room of mistakes is a lot of
stuff that's broken or maybe it's not good
enough to be on display.
Every museum has one of these rooms.
Oh, those are beautiful.
They came out of school.
This is a big boy right here.
The bird cages are great display items and
need a little bit cleanup,
but they're not broke.
And these things are hard to find.
What do you for the small one here,
the two small ones?
You've got to give me a reference.
Tell me.
$40.
Apiece?
No, that'd be for both.
I'm thinking $25 and $15.
Does that take-- I get to keep the cup?
Yeah, you can have the bird turds on the bottom
too.
How much you say?
$40 bucks for both.
We'll do it.
All right, let's shake on it.
I want to make sure.
I just totally fell in love with these.
These are all handmade.
You just do not find these kind of things anymore.
They're in great shape.
I had to have them.
I like that WROX.
Someone actually cut this sign out of a
piece of canvas.
That's original.
I know.
Where did you find that?
Well, I mean, that was where it was.
Oh, that's where it was?
They had a barn dance in his room.
Oh, they did?
The Fire Marshal made them quit because of
all the hay bales and people were smoking.
Said you can't do that.
Where these lights in here?
I'm not sure where they came from.
I see these white, porcelain, service station shade lights.
They're very cool, they've got an angle to
them, they would probably
would have came off the front of a
building and had the illumination come down
and light a sign.
Would you sell these?
You got two of them.
- Two of them?
You've got one over there and one here.
Name me a price.
Uh.
They rotate.
It's threaded in there.
Yeah.
The porcelain is nice on them.
They need to be rewired.
But you know what?
They're still awesome.
How about $30 apiece.
Yep.
That was fast.
Oh, apiece?
Yeah.
You said, "Yep." What is that?
I'm teasing you.
What do you mean?
Well, I'll let some things go because they
weren't so important for my mission
here at the WRXO museum.
Let's go up to the third floor.
This place keeps going on and on.
He finished this off a little bit more up here.
Yeah.
I got a lot of different tastes.
I see that.
The one thing great about this pick was
you just didn't know
what you were going to find.
All right, Bubba.
Found a sign, man.
What's up?
No way on that?
No way?
That's Highway 1 Is this the Blues Highway?
Well, I mean, 61 is the Blues Highway.
OK.
But Highway 1 is the River Road.
You know, you don't see a Highway 1 sign like that
anymore.
Won't find them.
All right, I'm going to put it down.
I'm walking away.
It's one of a kind, and I got it.
It's very cool.
Nice paperweight.
Yeah.
You know, I'm not sure where I picked that.
It's nice, man.
Bubba, what do you get for these shirt displays?
What are you thinking?
This is kind of a simple one, you know?
Yeah.
It adjusts up.
These old times shirt displays, I mean, these
probably came out of a men's fashion store
or something.
And they're really cool.
You just don't see stuff like this anymore.
How about $20 a piece?
All right.
I'll take these two then.
I bought two of them for $20, great buy.
So this is kind of like that the
Bubba man room.
Hang out, chill out.
Oh nice.
That's cool.
Oh yeah, New York.
He's got a really cool wooden rail, wooden
leg pinball machine from the '50s.
And with pinball, it's all about the subject matter.
And this one is New York, not just
New York, Times square.
Lots of color, the playing field is nice.
It's missing the coin mechanism, it's missing the glass.
But you know what?
It's great subject matter.
You don't have this piece, do you?
No.
Where'd this thing come out of?
Found it in an old and just-- - Here locally?
- Yeah.
- Local?
- Yeah.
This is a good piece you saved.
This thing's rough, but the only thing I'd
be interested in it
for is the subject matter.
Right.
And that's the whole point.
That's what it's all about.
What do you thinking on this?
I mean, the thing needs to be completely
restored, but I like stuff that's
rusty, dirty, and has a life before us.
I'll lay an offer on you.
Deal.
$75.
$75?
Yeah.
I mean, if this thing was up and
rocking and rolling, what would it be, Frankie?
$600 or $700.
I was going to say, that's the highest.
Yeah.
Anybody that lives in New York or somebody
that just has a connection
to New York City, this is the perfect piece.
I made an offer, tell me where you're at.
Well, I was up in the stratosphere.
I was up at $200.
$200?
Yeah.
Would that be delivered to Iowa?
You know what?
That might work out.
If you deliver it.
Deliver it.
I'll tell you what-- This is a beautiful machine.
It's got wooden legs.
I'd up a little bit.
I'd do $100.
That's not too far apart.
I mean, we got some cash flowing here, you know?
And you know what?
Let me rephrase.
Where's the cash flowing?
I'll do this, how about $135?
Mike and Frankie, they were pushing me a couple of times,
but it's picking, you know?
What was it?
$135, out the door, cash and carry like
they do with roses.
Cash and Frank will carry.
You're breaking my heart.
All Right, $135.
It was very hard to let go of
the pinball machine, but I'm glad to see
it going to
people that are going to make sure that
somebody that really likes that will get it.
FRANK FRITZ: Look at all the records, all those record.
A lot of those came from WROX.
Hey, Frankie, check this out.
It's an Ingo bike.
Oh, is that one of those kind of
a woom, woom, woom.
Yeah, you jump up and down on it.
It's got some great stuff on it.
It's got the original front wheel, the frame's nice.
These things are extremely hard to find.
They were made by a company called Randt
Ingersoll from like '34 to '37.
And you actually jumped up and down on
this bicycle to propel yourself.
The offset rear wheel would throw you forward.
You see how that's laced in there?
Mhm.
One side of the wheel, one side of
the spokes are shorter
and the hub is offset.
So when you jumped up and down on
it like this-- That's what kept you going.
You see the spring frame?
Yep.
It's like a big scooter.
A big kid's scooter.
Big time.
It's funny how it really attracts people's attention.
Oh, I know.
Well, it's just so massive.
Yeah.
Bubba, would you sell this bike?
You know, I don't know.
We're going to have to soul search on this.
You're going to have to-- we're going to
have to figure it out.
Make you an offer on it?
Well, with anything, it's all about condition, you know?
The bike is solid, the frame is solid.
It's got the wrong rear rim.
It's missing the tread here.
These are the wrong grips.
I mean, it's got some issues on it.
But overall, the hardest thing to find is
this head badge where
it says "Ingo Bike." Those are really hard to find.
So those are always gone.
I'd be into it for like $300.
It hurts it that it's got the wrong
rim on it.
Actually, it's a Schwinn rim, that's why it's
got this neural on the center.
So you're saying this is the-- The rim itself.
Someone re-laced this wheel with this rim.
Oh, I got you.
This hub is original to the bike.
What about $375?
I mean-- Yeah, I couldn't do $375 on it.
I'd come up to $325 on it and
then that'd be maxed out on it.
What if I have a picture of Tennessee
Williams on this bike?
I'd probably give you a couple hundred more.
$325.
$325?
All right.
- Yep.
- All right.
All right.
Thanks.
I'm a bicycle guy.
I love bicycles.
This is going to be something easy for
me to sell because I'm plugged into the
antique bicycle community.
That's cool, dude.
You see the back wheel?
I know, I love it.
It's not broken.
It's supposed to be that way.
For a day of picking down here in
the Delta, I think we had a great
day.
I bought some awesome stuff today and I
feel confident that we can make some cash
on.
I bought the Ingo bike for $325.
I'm going to ask $600.
I bought two antique birdcages for $40.
I think I can get at least get
$200 for both.
There it is.
That baby's heavy.
I got the Times Square pinball machine for $135.
I'm going to ask $400.
- Y'all come back.
- Good luck with everything.
Yeah, thank you for coming to the museum.
It's a great project.
I feel like having Mike and Frank at
our WRXO Museum was a great blessing.
And it was just a great experience to
walk through the building
and look through things, pick through things, and
hear their take on it.
And I love for them to come back.
- See ya, buddy.
- See ya, man.
Bye.
All right.
MIKE WOLFE: You're supposed to be riding a blues song.
What do you got?
I got barbecue on my shirt.
I got the barbecue on my shirt.
That's what writing blues is all about.
I mean, it's life experiences.
That's my experience.
And I've got a working title.
I've got "Picker Man." You want to hear this?
- Yeah.
- All right.
Then give me some beat.
I need a beat one.
One, two, three.
(SINGING) Was down the alley.
(SINGING) In the garbage can.
(SINGING) It looks like a Honey Badger.
(SINGING) No, it's the Picker Man.
That's all I got so far.
That didn't sound too bad.
I liked the part about the Honey Badger.
You like the Honey Badger?
Cause he don't care.
Hello?
Hey.
I have some information for you in regards
to the appraisal.
Danny found us an appraiser for the metal pig.
We're going to head over there and see
how we did.
All right.
Thanks boys.
Have a great day.
Take care.
Flag says this is it.
This looks like it is because it's an auction place.
"Please use wood beside door to knock." I'm knocking.
That's all right, man.
Hello.
- Are you Chuck?
- I'm Chuck.
- I'm Mike.
- How you doing?
I'm Frank.
- Glad to know you, Frank.
Hey, you the pig appraiser?
- I'm the pig appraiser.
- All right.
Can we grab it?
Bring her on in.
All right, we'll get it.
My name is Chuck Ryan, I'm a real
estate broker and auctioneer.
And I've been in the arcade game business since 1967.
All right, Chuck.
We're going to blow your mind.
All right.
We buy, sell, trade, and restore all types
of arcade games.
There.
Look at that.
Well guys, let's see what you've got here.
It's a Sandy pig, made by the Sandy
Company from 1951 to 1954.
They also produced a riding horse.
The Sandy horses were much more popular.
The pig just didn't go over as well
as the horse did.
And so they ultimately quit making them.
They made some out of fiberglass, some out of metal.
This is metal instead of fiberglass, makes it extremely rare.
When he said it was super rare because
it was a metal one, not
the fiberglass one, I was thinking the number,
who knows, could be up to $1,000.
Of course, you're missing the range, the saddle
is in rough condition.
You're missing your coin-mech.
The bottom box will have to be rebuilt, as well.
The condition of this one is pretty rough,
but it can easily be restored.
He's had a hard life here.
He's just sitting outside for 15 years in
the cold and the wind and the rain.
It's in great condition, considering the age and
from it being outside, obviously.
You guys have done really well.
I don't think I've seen another one at auction.
This guy's been around the block.
He does coin-operated stuff, he does appraisals, he does auctions.
When he says he hasn't seen the pig
very much, then we know we got a
rare item.
Well, you've seen it.
What do you think it's worth?
Well, if you restore it, finished out one
of these would be
worth $2,500, $3,000.
In its current condition, I would guesstimate maybe
$600 to $800.
- Really?
- Yes.
That's good.
I'm into it for $325.
Right.
I think you've done extremely well.
In fact, I may know someone who might
have interest in it.
Really?
Yep.
He does restorations.
And we use him all the time.
And just about a week or so ago,
he had said he was looking
for a metal pig.
He's a very good friend of mine if
you want me to give him
a call?
That's the guy we need.
A guy that does the restoration.
Somebody that is going to bring it back
to life so it can be in its
full
glory like it was when it was outside
the 5 and 10.
Give the guy a call.
Hey, that'd be great if we could get
it out of the back of the van.
$1,600.
I mean, hey, $700.
Money is money.
This is the perfect scenario for us.
We roll up, we get the appraisal, and
then the appraiser knows
a guy that might buy the item.
Hey, Mark.
Remember you told me you wanted a red metal pig?
I happen to have one in our place right now.
It's the original red pig, metal one, not the fiberglass.
Metal is in pretty rough condition, but it's
something you could restore if you have interest
in it.
I'll let you talk to the fella that
owns it and you can find out from
him.
Wants to know how much you want for him.
Hey, Mark.
How are you doing?
When Chuck put me on the phone with
a potential buyer, I was a little bit
skeptical.
I mean, this is going to be too
good to be true.
An appraisal and a sale?
This is perfect.
So he gave you the overall general idea
of what the shape
the pig is in?
I'd take $600 for it.
And that's where I'd have to be on it.
I'm from Iowa, we're just driving through here.
So if I can get $600, I'll leave it here.
And if he can pay us, that'll be
great and it's yours.
If not, we're going to toss it back
in the van.
Chuck, he said if you think it's worth
$600, he'll take your word for it.
Even I heard that.
Tell him I think it's worth every bit of $600.
He says it's worth every bit of it.
All right, my friend.
We're going to leave it here.
- Sounds like we got a deal.
Hey.
Thanks.
It's good doing business with you.
All right.
Buh-bye.
We got a deal.
At $600, I don't have to restore this,
it's not taking up any space in the
van,
I don't have to haul it all the
way back to Iowa,
and I'm making a little bit of money on it.
Thanks, buddy.
Who said pigs don't fly?
That's exactly right.
Great doing business with you guys.
All right.
This is just one more instance that Danielle
did a great job.
We got some more room in the van and more cash to spend.
Yeah.
Sweet picking.
MIKE WOLFE: Hey, I've already wrote two verses.
What have you done?
I got my one verse, "Barbecue on my
shirt." Let's hear it.
Wrote a song about it, like to hear it go.
(SINGING) You got gates, cookies, Frank's special sauce.
I'm going down the road going to use my horse.
Come on people try my sauce, I'm doing it now.
Oh no, I'm in the bathroom, how?
I think you should lose "Frank's special sauce."
The special sauce works
out in the bathroom.
That's a little bit edgy.
And two, that's rap, not blues.
Oh that was rap.
If we could get into Phil's place, this is going to be amazing.
We're in Mississippi here today and we're going
to go see an old friend of ours.
Hey, Phil.
We saw those.
- The gas pumps?
- Yeah, yeah.
What do you thinking on these?
Couple of thousand for both of them.
Whoa.
I'm glad I was hanging on here.
Phil was kind of like the local historian, man.
He was buying architectural stuff.
He was keeping the stuff here in the community.
Advertising stuff.
There's his car.
Where?
The white car, remember?
That's his car, yeah.
You know what that means?
What?
He's home.
All right.
This is it.
Think he's going to remember us?
He'll remember us.
This place looks the same.
Hello.
Yes.
Remember us?
How can I forget these faces?
We're pretty unforgettable.
I was just glad to see that Phil
was in a good mood.
Last time we were here, his house burned down.
The reason we stopped back is because last
time you said you had a building
down at the end there and we didn't
get a chance to get inside there.
I thought you went in the building.
No.
We went in the building next door, but
we never got into that one.
It's kind of rough.
It's rough in there?
- Well, the ceiling is.
- All right.
We're used to that.
We're like honey badgers, we'll dig forever.
All right.
Let's go down to the big building and
then work our way back down.
OK.
Phil owns a building that's just down the street.
He's been storing stuff there for years.
You're going to see a lot of stuff in there.
- Oh yeah?
- All right.
We're looking forward to it.
Phil is a really eclectic collector.
So it's driving me crazy to actually see
what he has inside this building.
Look at this place, Frankie.
It's old and it's falling apart, but it's big and we can't wait to
see what's inside.
It's made of stone.
I mean, it looks heavy duty.
It was built from salvaged material from the
old King's Daughter's hospital, which is like 1923.
And how long have you been putting stuff in here?
30 or 40 years.
All right, Frankie.
Just follow me.
Oh, you're going to need a flash light, Frankie.
I got mine.
No way.
Walking in that front door was incredible.
This is the kind of places we love.
Darn right.
I love architectural stuff, and Phil is an architect.
He's been collecting architectural items out of this
town in the South for many years.
When you walk into this place, you can
see old doors, old
windows, old stained glass.
This is exactly why we came back to Phil's.
Wow.
So much stuff in here, I really lost
track of it.
So you still buying stuff?
I'm still collecting stuff.
Are you?
It never leaves you.
You can't get it out of your system.
When I say something interesting to me and
I can afford it,
I'll buy it.
From yard sales to estate sales, but I
never sold anything.
And that was my problem.
See, that's why this building is so full of stuff.
It looks like you've got a leaky roof.
Yeah.
When's the last time you were in here, Phil?
I haven't been in a couple of months.
Phil is one of those guys that we
call "loving it to death."
The conditions of the building are so bad,
the roof is caved in, there's
tons of water coming in on it.
I mean, he sees the condition a lot
of this stuff and he knows that he's
got
to start turning loose of it.
What's that?
Recruiting service stuff.
Yeah.
That's cool, man.
Hey, Phil, what about these cards here?
You got little cards of Uncle Sam.
Oh my God.
They're like in mint condition, you know?
There's a lot of roof damage in this
place and there's a lot of
things getting wet, but these are one of
the things that survived.
They got great graphics and I'm sure somebody that collects
military stuff or any kind of Americana would love these.
How much you got to have for these?
About $5.
$5?
I broke the ice.
All right.
Phil brought all this stuff into one area
and preserved it because
he saw the history of it.
But now, he's really got to start selling
some of this stuff.
And I think he sees that me and
Frankie are red hot
and we got cash.
Man, this place is killer.
How about some of these signs over here?
Any of those for sale?
Oh yeah, I like that.
Yeah, it's cool.
It was a 12 foot hot woman painted
on galvanized metal with a wood frame.
What about this woman?
Looks like she's water skinned.
Oh God.
It came off of a motel.
That was a feature, they had that out front.
She's in the bathing suit.
And at that time, it was kind of risque.
I could see, I'd pull in.
That'd make me want to stay there.
It was a piece of advertising.
Someone hand-painted this piece.
Now, it's a piece of art.
How much is that?
You ain't going to like this.
All right, hit me hard.
$200, you can have it.
$200?
It's a beauty.
Yeah, it's pretty faded out though, you know?
How about $125?
$150 you got it.
How about $130.
No.
I've got to make some money out of this somehow.
We have a saying, "I needs the money."
Work with me here.
I'm trying to get some money.
Hey, I'm trying to give you some money.
Phil hasn't changed one bit, he's still tough as ever.
But I really want this sign.
I said $150 and that was the bottom line.
$150.
That's the bottom line.
Now get it out of here.
All right.
I got it.
I think my eyes are very close to
the picker's eyes because they like my stuff.
Got some engine blocks, pistons.
The packet of hub caps is over there.
I see those, yep.
Let me see that one right there with
the Indian face on it.
- It's broached.
- Oh yeah.
When me and Frankie are digging around this
room, I find a really cool
Pontiac hood ornament.
It's still got the plastic face of the Indian.
How much is that?
It's a Pontiac.
Let me see it.
- Yeah.
How much?
That's $100.
That's $100?
It's just too pitted for me because a
guy is going to put this on a
car, he's
going to have to re-plate it.
I'll let you have it for $50, how about it?
$40.
It's been oxidized, but it's still got the look.
Phil, my last offer is $40.
I'm like $40, going, going, going.
Telling you what, you better take it why
you got a hot buyer here.
I don't need no advice from you.
All right.
I'll let you have it.
You let me do the $40?
For the Indian.
All right.
I'd do the $40.
Let me grab it.
I think Phil thought in the back of
his mind, I'm never
going to get $40 for this.
It's going to sit here and rust away.
I better take his money while I've got a chance.
Hey, Phil, what about this sign?
It's a laxative sign.
Nature's Remedy.
Right.
It's porcelain.
The subject matter, laxative, it's going to go
to like a pharmacist guy,
somebody that runs apothecary shop.
How much?
$35?
$50.
$40.
$50.
All right, I'll tell you what, good deal.
Now we're talking.
Once it's cleaned up, on the market, it's gone.
Get on up.
- Let's see what we got here.
What's this?
- What is it?
Got a big hole in it.
This big wheel's cool.
That's a gorgeous thing there.
It is gorgeous.
This is something that's early, probably had a
strap that went to it, had it belt,
and it probably drove some piece of farm
equipment or drill press or something.
See, that thing would be an eye-catcher.
Like in a restaurant?
In a restaurant, anything like that.
Put a clock in it and put some
numbers on it, hell.
It's cool.
It was broken a little bit, it was off-centered.
It's got a little bit of damage around
this side here.
Well, don't poo-poo my stuff.
I'm not poo-pooing it.
How about $35?
No, hell no.
You tell me.
I got to start somewhere.
We're not even close.
$100 for that.
That's a beauty there.
I think I'm going to pass at $100.
All right, $80.
How about $60?
$80 is my bottom figure on that.
All right, well I'll tell you what, let
me look around or something and maybe I
can put something with it.
I like to bundle.
I like to buy two or three things
at a time.
I don't like to do that with you.
When we're walking around and we're negotiating with
Phil, one of the things that
I'm going to stop doing is mentioning the
condition of things.
I mean, he had his house burned down.
The building that we're digging in, the roof
is caved in on it.
I mean, this guy's been through a lot
and I forgot about that.
So Phil, how do you get upstairs?
I don't want to go on those steps.
Hey, neither do I.
We can go up the fire escape.
Fire escape?
We came all the way to Mississippi to
check out this building.
There's no way we're leaving without seeing the whole thing.
This looks easier than the other steps, Phil.
Whoa, there's all kinds of stuff up there.
Whoa.
Be careful.
This place is full on backwoods guerrilla picking.
The roof is caved in, the floor is
falling in, it's like 100 degrees in here.
That's how we roll.
When you moved in up here and had
this stuff up here,
was there one day when the roof was still good?
Yeah, it was a wonderful place at one time.
The first thing that happened is that trust broke.
Oh yeah.
They framed it the wrong way.
They should have framed it to the centerline.
It looks like the roof has been down
for quite a while.
It has been.
I got hot up there.
If I had known I was going to
be doing this today,
I got my things to do.
You know, Phil gets around pretty good for an older
gentleman, but he's starting to run out of steam.
We need to get as much picking in
as we can get before he
throws in the towel.
How much for the fire buckets?
$10 apiece?
$10 apiece, I'm your guy.
The further I dig into this place, the more cool stuff
I find.
Look at those.
Oh my God, my monkeys.
$10 for both of them.
All right.
I like them because they're all rusty.
This building is trashed beyond repair.
I'm glad we can buy some of this
stuff and get it off Phil's hands
before it's totally toast.
That's good.
Those are nice.
They're like little that you would put on the cigar
box.
That way you can have the back of it open.
There are glass tops and what you did
is you opened up the cigar
box and you put them down.
It was to keep them fresh.
It was also so you could be able
to see the cigars.
These are really cool items, but they just
weren't in the best shape.
Since I have an extra piece of glass,
how about these five here?
And the box?
I don't care about the box, you can
have the box if you want it.
There's like five of them.
I like $10 apiece.
I'm going to do you a favor.
OK.
$60 for all of them.
OK.
So the whole lot, $60?
$60.
OK, you got it.
These are classic, great things.
Anybody that collects cigar stuff, humidors, anything to
do with that, they're
going to love this.
These are shelf brackets here.
What do they say on that?
Peoria, Illinois, right about where I live.
Whoa.
I almost fell through the floor right here, dude.
It's rough being a picker.
I'm about ready to fall through here.
Look at this.
Found this hay carrier.
These hay carriers are really cool.
They're cast iron, they're ornate, they've got wheels
on them, and a lot of people
are starting to repurpose them as light fixtures.
How much for this hay carrier?
God, I haven't seen nothing in a while.
Remember, I had to risk life and limb
for this piece.
I know you did.
So I'm going to give you a good price, $100.
$100?
Man.
You make your own price.
$50.
Uh-uh.
That thing is really valuable.
Phil says he doesn't like to negotiate, but
you know what?
I think he loves it just as much
as we do.
I should be getting first cousin price now.
I've been stepping up.
$60.
Work with me.
$60 and let's get out of here.
OK.
I can stay here and pick all night.
I'm talking full on sleep here, but I
can tell Phil's getting a little
bit tired so I'm backing off.
I don't want to overstay our welcome.
Get that stuff loaded up.
You bet.
They enjoyed being with me and I enjoyed
being with them.
Well, we got through this place without it caving in.
Come on, you poured it on me, dude.
What did you pour it on me for?
I bought 15 fire buckets for $150.
I'm going to double down and double my money.
FRANK FRITZ: I bought the recruiting cards for $5.
I couldn't see why I couldn't get at
least $35 to $50 for them.
The cigar tops, I got 10 of them for $60.
That's like $6 apiece.
I know I can get at least $15
or $20 for the good one.
All right, Phil.
You're breaking my heart.
Several of the things that I've let go
are hard to get rid of,
but I just decided that it's time to do it.
You're always rough on us, but we always
enjoy doing business with you.
That's why we keep coming back.
Come back any time.
Coming back to see Phil was totally worth the trip.
We walked away with some great little items.
And you know what?
I think Phil had a good time too.
You know it's a good pick when you're this dirty.
Boy, you are filthy.
I just wish I could go in that
truck with them and help them.
All right, Phil.
Thanks, buddy.
Goodbye.
Come back any time.
What are you doing, man?
Writing a blues song.
This is going to be a good one,
dude, I'm telling you.
This is like Albert Collins is going to
come back from his grave.
What about BB King?
Play this thing.
You know what?
He's too mainstream for me.
I'm more Howlin' Wolf.
Howlin' Wolf.
I am the Howlin' Wolf.
I want to hear it, man.
Let me hear a couple hits.
All right.
You give me a beat.
All right.
(SINGING) Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.
What's that down the alley.
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.
In the garbage?
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.
Looks like a honey badger.
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.
No, it's the picker man.
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.
He's coming at you looking long and lean.
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.
He got something to sell.
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.
It don't have to be clean.
Ba-ba-ba-ba That's all I got.
That was pretty good.
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