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BYRON: There's a jukebox. MIKE WOLFE: Oh, yeah. Seeburg. God dang this thing's cool. I've got to rescue it. If I don't, it's going to sit here and ride. Byron, what are you thinking on something like this? I don't go over $5,000. MIKE WOLFE: Whoa! FRANK FRITZ: That's a pretty good lock on there. Now, put the hammer to it. Here. MIKE WOLFE: It's deep in there, dude. You know, I felt a little embarrassed how long it was taking Mike to pick that lock.
MIKE WOLFE: Don't do that. OK. Right here. These jerseys are incredibly hard to find. Wow. The big question is, will he want to sell it? I'd do $200. EARL: You've got to be kidding? MIKE WOLFE: No. This piece is the holy grail. MIKE WOLFE (VOICEOVER): I'm Mike Wolfe. FRANK FRITZ (VOICEOVER): And I'm Frank Fritz. MIKE WOLFE (VOICEOVER): And we're pickers. FRANK FRITZ (VOICEOVER): We travel the backroads of America looking for rusty gold.
We're looking for amazing things buried in people's garages and barns. What most people see as junk, we see as dollar signs. FRANK FRITZ: We'll buy anything we think we can make a buck on. MIKE WOLFE (VOICEOVER): Each item we pick has a history all its own. And the people we meet, well, they're a breed all their own. We make a living telling the history of America one piece at a time.
You know what? If we don't find something pretty soon, or a place to pick, all we're going to be picking is oranges. Oh, phone's ringing here. Who is it, orange queen? Yeah. Hello. Hey, I know you guys have been getting great stuff in Florida, but you still haven't hit the motherlode. You got the motherlode? She said motherlode. Now, these guys names are Byron and Lou, and they're in their 70s and 80s. They've been collecting for like, before they were even teenagers, like back in the day.
It sounds like this couple has tonnage. All right. You had my attention at motherlode. Send over the coordinates. OK. Awesome. They're really sweet and funny. You're going to love them. FRANK FRITZ (ON PHONE): All right. We'll hit it. See ya. MIKE WOLFE: Bye. DANIELLE COLBY (ON PHONE): Bye. MIKE WOLFE: Hey, I'm excited, man, if the guy's been collecting that long. We got a great lead. We're off to the races. MIKE WOLFE: We're definitely out in the country, man.
FRANK FRITZ: Yeah, this is good. MIKE WOLFE: Where is this place at? I have no idea. FRANK FRITZ: Supposed to be a barn. MIKE WOLFE: It's a big barn? The only big barn I see is this one over here. FRANK FRITZ: That could be it. MIKE WOLFE: If this place is full-- Of stuff. MIKE WOLFE: --I'm gonna throw it out there-- this could be a honey hole. FRANK FRITZ: This could be. All right, let's see what we got.
Man, look at this place. MIKE WOLFE: We're in the right place, man. Oh, hey, how you doing? Danielle sent us over here. She said you're a big collector, and from the doors being open on the garage, we can see we're in the right place. BYRON: Hi. FRANK FRITZ: What's your name? Byron. MIKE WOLFE: Byron? Nice to meet you, Byron. BYRON: My wife, Lou. FRANK FRITZ: Hi, Lou. This is some of the kind of stuff that we buy. This is kind of gives you-- just maybe jog your memory a little bit. MIKE WOLFE: If you'd let us look around, we'd-- It looks like we've collected every one of these things
on here. FRANK FRITZ: Everything on here? All right. - You want to start in the barn? Heck, yeah. BYRON: Let's go. LOU: We lived in Ohio way back in '48. He was already collecting, and I would be going with him everywhere he went. BYRON: We went to auctions. What I could buy for a dime then, I couldn't buy now for $100. It was unreal. It was a fun time. Yeah. MIKE WOLFE: Woo, hoo, hoo, hoo. Holy moly. Wow. We never get tired of that moment when the door opens up and we walk into a barn this big with this much stuff.
I mean, it's incredible. Man, you guys have been junking for a long time. When we got to Florida, we went nuts. BYRON: We bought out every junkyard we could find. We bought out every Ford garage we could find. We filled everything. MIKE WOLFE: Man, look at this thing. When's the last time this ran? BYRON: Oh, a year ago. MIKE WOLFE: No doubt. BYRON: So when I got out of the Army, we were only married a few years. I had already purchased about 100 Model As.
MIKE WOLFE: This was when you're 21? BYRON: Yeah. Did you find the collecting stuff together, or were you guys collecting stuff separately and then-- LOU: Oh, yeah. He could collect anything he wanted because he gave me anything I wanted. That works. FRANK FRITZ: A match made in heaven. Byron and Lou's love of antiques and collecting is something that really bonded them throughout their life. You could tell that they were truly in love.
Now, how old were you guys when you met? I guess I was 13 when I ran around with their brother, and then she kept looking better and better. And-- BYRON: --at 16, I told her I was going to marry her. Yeah, and what did you say? I ain't ready. BYRON: Oh, she was tough. I chased her and chased her. Finally, I said, yes, because I was getting sick of him asking. [laughs] MIKE WOLFE: Hey, can we look up here? BYRON: Certainly. Climb right up there. MIKE WOLFE: I'm climbing. I'm going in.
Wow. I'm digging in. Right away, I come across a box of old toys. It was all these little cars, there was a cap gun. People relate to toys because it brings them back to their childhood. What would you have to have for these four pieces? $30 for everything. I'd do $30. That would be the ice breaker. You broke the ice. BYRON: National Air Races, 1930. FRANK FRITZ: I come across this airplane stuff.
Airplane stuff is hot. MIKE WOLFE: Spirit of Aviation, 1928. FRANK FRITZ: Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic in 1927. This is all 1928 to 1930 racing airplane stuff. MIKE WOLFE: That's neat. LOU: That is cool. MIKE WOLFE: Bi-plane. FRANK FRITZ: This was the beginning of American aviation. Well, I think this stuff kind of goes with the banner. There was some really cool buttons. There was really cool pins there.
Some of it looked like it might came from a track official, and it might have been somebody that actually worked there and kept the memorabilia. What would you think on this stuff? Why don't you just take the whole pile. What do you want from the whole pile, then? $100? Take it. Get out of here. All right.
So you guys are picking now, too? LOU: Yeah. BYRON: Did I start to pick? I forgot this stuff was here. MIKE WOLFE: What do you got? - Oh, I know what this is. My old square dance pantaloons. [chuckles] This lady is a trip. I love her. This is what you wore square dancing? Yeah. Man. You guys are getting down. FRANK FRITZ: There you go. LOU: Under my skirt. Oh, OK. I was gonna say-- LOU: It's just a fun thing.
Life is a bowl of cherries if you let it be that way. MIKE WOLFE: What's this? LOU: That's a peacock. MIKE WOLFE: That's a stuffed peacock? LOU: Yeah. MIKE WOLFE: Slipped into a Bradly Knitwear. How much is that? Couple dollars. MIKE WOLFE: All right. How about five? Always round it up. LOU: Yeah. MIKE WOLFE: [laughs] That sounds better. MIKE WOLFE: Woo! LOU: This is my husband's collection of Model A stuff.
FRANK FRITZ: All right, we love Model A stuff. MIKE WOLFE: When we're walking around all these car parts, I'm like, hey, I need some headlights for a '32 Ford. BYRON: '32. - This is '32? - '32. MIKE WOLFE: Now, tell me how you know. BYRON: This bar is curved, but this is bigger. Here I'll show you the difference. He specialized in Model A stuff. He pulls down a '31 set. BYRON: See how much bigger they are? MIKE WOLFE: OK, so the bucket's not as deep, and it's larger in diameter. BYRON: That's right. That's great when you can talk to a collector.
That's how you learn as a picker. This is '37 right? BYRON: '37, '38, and '39. '37, '38, and '39, OK. BYRON: Here, Frank, reach in that box right there, and give him another lens. Guarantee that's a '32 lens. MIKE WOLFE: Hanging out with Byron and all his knowledge and everything-- I mean, I could not get any closer to Henry Ford. Man, I'm learning everything. This is great. And for $1,500, you can't go wrong. $1,500? Yeah. I start high. I can always go down. In their day, I have seen 'em bring $800.
MIKE WOLFE: $800? BYRON: $800. MIKE WOLFE: All right. I could shave that a bit. [chuckles] All right. Well, tell me-- let me-- go ahead, start bartering-- start bartering with yourself. You don't start low and try to go up. BYRON: Probably two and 1/2. MIKE WOLFE: So how about $200? BYRON: I never thought of that. You're at two and 1/2, I'm at two. I'm doing a '32 Ford right now, and I need these parts. BYRON: All right. MIKE WOLFE: All right, so I'm at $200.
All right. And here we go. So this is like the lamp section. LOU: I had a fetish for lamps. Wow, look at that one. That's an umbrella, you need to cover it with silk. Oh. It's an umbrella lamp. Yeah, but I just thought it was neat. Have you seen a lot of these before? No. Picking 101-- if you've never seen it before, and it's right in front of you, buy it.
What are you thinking on that? I mean, I'll just toss it around. Make me an offer, and see what it sounds like. 50 bucks. I think I'll take that. All right. You're on. All right, I'm on it. It's more than I've got right now. MIKE WOLFE: OK. [laughs] This is sacred picking ground, man. I mean, these guys have been collecting well before me and Frankie were even born, so it's an honor to go through some of this stuff.
FRANK FRITZ: How about this sign? LOU: Merry-go-round. Every rider must have a ticket. BYRON: $60. I'm looking at more like $40. It's wood. BYRON: I go $50. FRANK FRITZ: This is a really cool piece. It's hand painted, it's made out of wood, it came from a circus. Oh, look here. FRANK FRITZ: Somebody made that? That came from Ringling Bros. Ringling made this town.
Byron really embraced these people and took them all in and let them live on his property. One year, we had 35 trailers hid in the groves, hid in the farms, hid everywhere-- that would stay, and they only stayed for maybe six weeks over Christmas, and then they'd all go again. Imagine that. You know, you've got this big orange grove and then all of a sudden, a certain time of the year, all these people would come and live and they were all performers and they had all these animals. I mean, what a great experience. Willard Lawson started with Ringling when he was 12 years old. This was in his barn. This is just a great piece.
I mean, where did you find this stuff? You don't. How much for the clown? $75. I'm thinking more like $75 for both. We'll bundle them together. $80. All right, I'll tell you what. Let's do $80. - $80? - All right. - You're on. Bam. Any circus collector would love to get their hands on any kind of item from the Ringling Bros. Circus. Cold Schaefer beer. Oh, he's bad. He is. He is bad. Frankie and I are gonna look at these toys. BYRON: It's all empty.
LOU: Yeah, those are empty. MIKE WOLFE: Woo! Man. You guys got the motherlode on these. Holy crap. LOU: Oh, yeah. Those are astronaut pennants. BYRON: Oh, yeah. This whole shelf is full. Ah! FRANK FRITZ: Those are-- Look at this. BYRON: They came from Ringling. MIKE WOLFE: Byron said he got these pennants from the Ringling Bros. Circus back in 1969. What's that one say? BYRON: First American-- LOU: Landing on the moon. They were made to commemorate Apollo 11's first moon landing.
How much for a stack of these? LOU: Why don't you take them all? MIKE WOLFE: You know, why don't I buy 'em like you do? BYRON: Buy 'em all. How much all of them? You gotta think big. All right. I'm thinking big. I know. I'm starting to do that when I'm around you. $1,000. [cuckoo clock chirp] MIKE WOLFE: I'm gonna wait for Byron to come back down from the moon, back to Earth on his prices.
Those are originals. But I could probably do better. MIKE WOLFE: Probably do better. You know what? How about-- $800, huh? The tails-- [laughs] No, I didn't say that, yet. Man, if I could seal this deal, this is going to be one small step for man, but one giant step for a picker. How about $400 for all of them? Ooo. I won't have enough gas to get the town tomorrow. Go 5. You got me from $1,000 down to $500. But the thing is, you know, you'd probably sell a hundred of them right away, and then I'd be stuck with--
BYRON: That's the-- - You know what I'm saying? LOU: Oh, is it getting close to lunch yet? OK, do this. MIKE WOLFE: What? $450. How about $400 for all of them? BYRON: You're on. Go. Here. LOU: [laughs] $400 for all of them. BYRON: I've got to look in these boxes. I haven't looked at them for 20 years. They're letting us look through everything. They're accommodating. There hasn't been one thing that he says, I don't want to sell.
How much is it? Name a price. $35 All right, what did I buy? What'd I buy? MIKE WOLFE: $10. $20. FRANK FRITZ: Byron, what about your old fireworks here? How about $75 for everything? You're on. $60? We'll let you go with it. All right. LOU: Ain't this fun? Yeah. How about a gas mask? Y'all need a gas mask? MIKE WOLFE: Um, Frankie hasn't been eating beans lately. BYRON: Good thing for that.
MIKE WOLFE: Brand new shirt. Large. Slipped away from me. MIKE WOLFE: What's under the sheet? BYRON: Oh, yeah, there's a jukebox. MIKE WOLFE: Wow. God dang, this thing's cool. This 1940 Seeburg jukebox is called the trash can model because it's round like a trash can, and also, because of the way the lid opens up. Looks like it's got all the guts in there. BYRON: It had the plastic when we moved it in, but then-- FRANK FRITZ: It broke?
This side looks good. Yeah, no, this whole piece on the other side is gone, as well. FRANK FRITZ: Oh, it's gone? MIKE WOLFE: All the mirror is gone in the front. This thing is in really rough condition. It might even be a parts machine for somebody, but I've got to rescue it. Because you know what? If I don't, it's going to sit here and rot. Byron, what are you thinking on something like this? I mean, this thing needs to be completely restored. I don't go over $5,000.
MIKE WOLFE: $5,000? - No. [laughs] MIKE WOLFE: Whoa! BYRON: No, I'm only joking. $300. MIKE WOLFE: $300? FRANK FRITZ: Yeah, these pieces can be reproduced, but you know, they start costing you some money. You know? MIKE WOLFE: How about two and 1/2? Ah, you're killing me, but I'll do it. All right. Thanks, man. $250. All right. MIKE WOLFE: I think they're one of the coolest because they look like a robot.
This is all just a bunch of material. Yeah. BYRON: Oh, over here, I got some license plates. MIKE WOLFE: Looks like you got a few. Oh, there's about 50,000. MIKE WOLFE: Get out! [whistles] BYRON: I got 'em to shingle a barn with. MIKE WOLFE: Yeah? One of the things I love about Byron is he's not afraid to dive in, man. 50,000 license plates? No problem. LOU: It wouldn't be anything for him to call up and say, honey, get the big truck. We always bought more than we sold. So you guys are moving all this stuff around with these-- I guess, what? Semi trucks?
No. A truck with a trailer. MIKE WOLFE: OK. BYRON: She still drives truck. You're still driving truck? That's awesome. LOU: I'm still driving trucks. MIKE WOLFE: All right, good for you, man. That's great. He don't want me to, but he can't keep me out of it. Hey, I can tell, man, you're a firecracker. I could show you my truck. We figured tractor and trucking is going to be what we're going to make a living with. We'd made enough money junking, but we still had to have something that was every day, so we bought an old dump truck.
I don't know where to grab you at. It's not every day that you see an 80-year-old woman behind a massive dump truck. MIKE WOLFE: Hold on for your lives, boys. We're gonna shift gears. MIKE WOLFE: Punch it! Yeah. Put your foot in it, Lou. FRANK FRITZ: Yeah, don't-- MIKE WOLFE: Whoa! Don't put your foot in it. MIKE WOLFE: So how long you been driving dump truck? LOU: 50 years. MIKE WOLFE: 50 years? Yeah.
We know we're going to go into top soil, because top soil, you'd make more money. I would haul dirt. They loaded my truck for $0.25, and I sold it for $2. And the most I ever hauled was 40 loads in one day. MIKE WOLFE: Is this your favorite truck? Yes, it is. FRANK FRITZ: How many miles have you logged on it? 160,000. MIKE WOLFE: No doubt. LOU: I raised a baby on the seat beside me. That was the life his mother had, so he was tied in. Lou! All right. You rocked it!
Thanks, Lou. Today was incredible. Me and Frankie got to hang with two amazing people that had this incredible collection that reflected their remarkable lives. It's a restoration project, but it's cool. These Seeburg trash can models, if they're up and working, can be worth as much as $2,000. This one's in rough condition. I'm hoping someone can buy it off me for $500 and or it for parts. FRANK FRITZ: I paid $80 for the signs.
I think the merry-go-round sign-- I mean, to the right person-- could be worth $150. And the clown sign, who knows. MIKE WOLFE: All right, Frankie. For $50, I got a great lamp. It needs a little bit of work, but I think, to the right person, it could be worth $150 to $200. Thank you so much. Have a great back. All right, see you guys later. They were fun, and I had a good time joking with them. And he has always been a jokester.
No matter what happens, it's usually a big joke which sometimes, is hard to take. [honk] BYRON: Take care. MIKE WOLFE: Oh, man, these guys are so cool. They were so sweet. MIKE WOLFE: All right, here's the deal, man. What I'm thinking is, we're in Florida. This is orange juice country. FRANK FRITZ: Well, let's get some oranges then.
MIKE WOLFE: We'll get some oranges. That's what I'm saying. FRANK FRITZ: Danielle. DANIELLE COLBY (ON PHONE): Hey. Wow, it's nice to hear from you. Here's what I have. Pam works with chimps, Kay works with tigers. Entertaining audiences with animals. What? I'm not exactly sure what's on the property.
They're not exactly sure what's inside, but you know, you can go check it out. Send us the coordinates to these two ladies, and we'll see what we find. - OK. Let's go. Let's go check out the chimps. You know what? If I had a monkey, I think I'd name him Mr. Bojangles. Hey, what about Michael Jackson? Michael Jackson had the-- MIKE WOLFE: He had a monkey. FRANK FRITZ: He had the monkey. It was called Pebbles or something.
You think that's why he had that silver glove on, so he couldn't bite it? That could have been. That could have been his feeding glove. MIKE WOLFE: He got bit one time. - That could have been. MIKE WOLFE: You know what I'm saying? All right, this has got to be it. FRANK FRITZ: This is it. Oh, this is cool.
MIKE WOLFE: Oh, it's not open. Hey! [tarzan yell] They didn't have a doorbell, so we just made our own, jungle style. Here she comes. FRANK FRITZ: All right. MIKE WOLFE: Hey, guys. PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: Hey, how you doing? FRANK FRITZ: How you doing? MIKE WOLFE: Hey, how are you? I like that. Frankie. Hey, I'm Mike. - Clayton Rosaire. MIKE WOLFE: Nice to meet you, Clayton. Who is this? This is Chance.
Hey, buddy. What's up? Give him a high five. MIKE WOLFE: So what's going on? Danielle said you guys had a few older pieces that were related to the circus here in town? Yeah, I'm one of them. MIKE WOLFE: Oh, you're one of them? Well, if you guys got the time, we would love to look around. It's the Big Cat Habitat and Gulf Coast Sanctuary, and it actually just started out to be a place for animals that needed a home.
MIKE WOLFE: How many animals do you have here? KAY ROSAIRE: We have over 100 altogether. We have 40 big cats. We have 10 bears, all different kinds of bears. MIKE WOLFE: Wow. KAY ROSAIRE: And a variety of smaller monkeys and lemurs and-- FRANK FRITZ: Brown bears? KAY ROSAIRE: That's a young grizzly bear right there. MIKE WOLFE: Are these animals that you're still using, that you perform with? Well, not too many, no. The majority of the animals here are all from illegal owners or bad situations. So this is actually an animal sanctuary that you guys have funded through--
KAY ROSAIRE: Through our work that we do. MIKE WOLFE: What do you specialize in? I specialize in big cats. I've raised chimps my whole life, since I was seven years old. MIKE WOLFE: Who was your mentor, when you were growing up, as far as learning to work with the chimps? My father, Derrick Rosaire. And my mother and father were both born in the circus. Now we're into 10th generation Rosaire family.
Frankie I had no idea that we were in the presence of circus royalty. You guys have lived it your whole lives. I mean, for so many generations of this stuff, you've got me even more excited about wanting to look around here. I have no idea what we're going to find here, but if there's any cool vintage stuff, I'm going to find it. PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: People always come here and leave all their stuff. MIKE WOLFE: They ever leave you anything good? PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: Sometimes. We walk into this barn and it's dusty, it's grimy, and there's stuff all the way up to the rafters.
What's in here? PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: I have no idea. It was on the road. A bunch of jeans. PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: [laughs] Somebody's clothes. Here's a whip. You interested, Frank? FRANK FRITZ: Nope. Hey, Pam? Are these like, maybe they went on the chimps? No, actually, those belonged to my daughter. Whoops. MIKE WOLFE: Find anything, Frankie? FRANK FRITZ: Nothing so far, but I'm looking. MIKE WOLFE: I like these old trunks here.
There's no telling what kind of funky stuff we're going to find in these circus trunks. Pam told us that people have been leaving these trunks in her barn for decades. What was this? PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: The headdress we wore for the entrance. Oh, OK. I see. Oh, wow, look at this. PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: That's an old headdress. MIKE WOLFE: Yeah, I think so. Oh, wow. These things look like something Cher would have worn back in the day. [laughs] Frank.
Looks all right. It's different. Unfortunately, this isn't Cher's and I don't think I can sell it. FRANK FRITZ: What are you finding, Mike? Just some old wardrobe from the '70s or from the '60s? PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: '60s, yeah. MIKE WOLFE: I wasn't really interested in buying any of the circus clothing that we found. It was all ladies clothing and I wasn't on a chick pick. Frank, you want to get measured for a flap? Plus, it's not going to fit Frankie.
What's in here? These are the chimp astronaut suits? PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: Yeah, look at this one, it's got the little thing on it. MIKE WOLFE: She has tons of tiny chimpanzee costumes from circus acts over the years. God, they're made really well. PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: Yeah. These things are really cool, but the chimpanzee costume market fell out five years ago.
The big trunk interests me, because she knows what's in that big trunk. Pull it out. FRANK FRITZ: It doesn't-- it feels like some stuff's in there. MIKE WOLFE: Heavy? FRANK FRITZ: A little bit. That's a pretty good lock on there. MIKE WOLFE: Obviously, you probably don't have the key. FRANK FRITZ: I got one. MIKE WOLFE: Let's see it. FRANK FRITZ: No, I doesn't have a lot of meat to it, but let's see if we can get through.
MIKE WOLFE: Yeah. I was dying to get in there. FRANK FRITZ: See, now I think we need a hammer, and hammer down on it. Let me get-- here, here. Get it in there, then put the hammer to it. Pam told us we could try to bust the lock. Here. MIKE WOLFE: It's deep in there, dude. You know, I felt a little embarrassed how long was taking Mike to pick that lock. Yeah, don't worry about the latch. There you go.
Now we're cooking. Perfect. Watch out, I'm cutting from top. MIKE WOLFE: OK. He just did it. FRANK FRITZ: And then take it like this. MIKE WOLFE: Holy moly. FRANK FRITZ: Whoa. And then take it like this. MIKE WOLFE: Holy moly. FRANK FRITZ: Whoa. MIKE WOLFE: Try that belt buckle. It's got an 1881 silver dollar in it. FRANK FRITZ: Here's some riding belts. There was a lot of cool little small things in this trunk, but nothing was really speaking to me.
MIKE WOLFE: How old are these boots? Those are cool. Finally, in the bottom drawer, I find these really cool vintage cowboy boots. Those are cool. These boots are killer. Anything Western sells fast. What you gotta have for those? PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: I don't know. Make me an offer. How about $30? Yeah, $30. They're cool, man. What are you thinking? I'm at $30, where are you at? How about $50?
Done. You let me tear open the trunk. That was like $100 worth of fun for $50. A lot of times on a pick, you've got to dig down deep through piles of stuff. PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: Oh, you're brave. MIKE WOLFE: Other times, it's like Mount Everest, and you've got to get your climbing boots on. I see a bunch of harnesses. Is that a table? What is that? You know, sometimes, when a Mike's on a mission, he kind of ignores his own personal safety.
You wouldn't catch me dead up there. I don't care if the Holy Grail is in one of those crates. MIKE WOLFE: Nah, that's a bunch of wood planes. PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: One of those dolls that you hooked to your feet and do a dancing thing with them. Oh, you hook your feet and hands in it, act like you're dancing with it? How old is it? PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: It's old. It's probably from the '40s. They found a dancing doll, which came from a very famous old clown, Rudy Docky.
Rudy Docky? PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: Yeah, and he did the dancing doll thing. It was a famous act and a famous old clown. Hey, you could take her out dancing. Mike fell in love with it. I think he wanted to date her. [laughs] MIKE WOLFE: Here, hold it. Let me see it. Let me take a look at it. She is kinda cool. If this doll came from a famous vaudeville act, I know I could sell it to a collector. How much would you have to have for this?
PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: I don't know. She looks like she's a wealthy woman to me. This could have been back in the day, you don't got a prom date, what the heck. What are you thinking on there? How much do you want for her? - $100. $100? She's very pretty. Yeah, she's pretty rough, though, man. I mean, she's-- She's definitely been put away here. How about-- how about $60?
OK. MIKE WOLFE: $60. You got it. All right, cool. This is going to be in the back of the van. It's going to haunt us. This doll is a piece of vaudeville history. It would have wasted away on that shelf if we hadn't come along. Swing her over your shoulder. Load her up, man. These cowboy boots are very cool. I bought 'em for $50, I'm going to ask $150. A prop from a famous vaudeville clown-- I paid $60. I'm thinking I could get $300 to the right collector.
All right, guys. Thank you so much. PAM ROSAIRE ZOPPE: Take care, guys. See you real soon. Be careful driving! Be safe! Now, treat that girl right! MIKE WOLFE: All right! I thought they were awesome. MIKE WOLFE: See you later! [honk] What would you want to work with? You want to work with tigers or the monkeys? Tigers. MIKE WOLFE: I think you'd be better at the monkey training. I mean, they'd be easier to train, I think. We could teach them to do Danielle's job.
She didn't hear that. It's raining like cats and dogs out there, dude. FRANK FRITZ: What happened to sunshine and oranges? Every day can't be good. It's crappy weather in Florida. But you know what? Me and Frankie are out freestyling. Rainy days and Mondays don't always get us down, man. When we're out picking, we got a big old smile on our face. If it's raining, you just have to feel the picking thunder,
dude. - I feel it. Feel the picking thunder? This neighborhood's looking good, though. Everybody's got every single thing they own out in their yard. FRANK FRITZ: Laying outside. Keep your eyeballs peeled, son. FRANK FRITZ: Oh, dude, look at his motorcycle. This motorcycle. Back it up. Back up. MIKE WOLFE: Oh, that's an Indian, dude. FRANK FRITZ: I know it. MIKE WOLFE: That's a zebra striped Indian. FRANK FRITZ: I mean, these guys probably look like they got some stuff. MIKE WOLFE: Oh, yeah.
This place looks janky. It looks sketchy. It's cool, just like this bike. I knew we had to get in. No way. That's a zebra shark. Look at the teeth. He's got an electric start on there. You can tell, this guy is a motorcycle guy. He's got 12 volt ignition. He's got the crash bar. He's got trick stuff on this bike. We need to find out who owns us, and where he's at. Looks like the door's open.
MIKE WOLFE: Oh, this place looks perfect. Hello! When you're this far away from home, your mojo better be tight. FRANK FRITZ: Hey, how you doing? MIKE WOLFE: Hey, man, what's up? - Good. How are you guys doing? MIKE WOLFE: We saw your zebra shark. Oh, yeah, man. MIKE WOLFE: That thing's cool, dude. FRANK FRITZ: Cool, man. - Oh, thanks. How you doing? My name's Frank. Hi, Frank. Me and Mike start chatting this guy up, and this guy's name is Earl. - We're pickers.
You know what a picker is? FRANK FRITZ: We buy a little bit of everything. Looks like you got a little bit of everything here. Is this your place? EARL: Yes. Well, this is where my father lived. MIKE WOLFE: Oh, this is your dad's house? This was his house. He died in '06. My father spent his retirement years here. I own the property. And I have to decide whether to demolish it or salvage it.
Is that bike for sale? EARL: That is not for sale. That was my father's bike. The family horse that never dies. Hey, I can appreciate that, man. - But I got other stuff. - You do? What are you interested in? I got stuff. MIKE WOLFE: I can see you got the garage open. [whistles] Hmm, Frankie. FRANK FRITZ: Kind of cool. MIKE WOLFE: Dog bones. FRANK FRITZ: Hey, Earl? EARL: Yeah. FRANK FRITZ: I'm looking at a lot of these pants and stuff here.
They were motorcycle wear. How did he get-- how'd you run across so much Indian stuff? He was an Indian dealer. Oh, your dad was? EARL: My dad was an Indian dealer back in the-- No kidding? --'30s and '40s. You know, when Earl told us that his dad had his own Indian dealership, the sun wasn't shining here, but it was shining on me. EARL: This is my dad's shop in Pennsylvania. The Indian shop. FRANK FRITZ: Look at this, Mike. EARL: K40s. MIKE WOLFE: Oh, wow.
FRANK FRITZ: I think the reason that he's got this stuff left over is because this is the stuff that no one could fit into. Yes. Bad thing about 'em, the waist is like 21. You know, they're ladies. Good thing about 'em? They're mint condition. We've got like three pairs of pants here and this small jacket, I believe. Mm-hmm. What would you be thinking on these? You got one pair, two pair here. EARL: Why don't we say $200 for the whole thing.
FRANK FRITZ: All right, I'm breaking the ice here. It's a deal. These items could be going in a museum, they could be going in someone's personal collection. There great, great display items. EARL: When my father got ill, I came down to be with him, and then he passed away. But in the time I spent here, I realized that having come here in my youth, I actually had fallen in love with it then. Frankie and I, a lot of times, get to know people through their things. And that's exactly what Earl is doing right now, through Herman's stuff.
Oh, that's cool. That tank is-- FRANK FRITZ: That's a real cruncher. MIKE WOLFE: I like this envelope because it says posters on it. Uh-huh. - All right, check this. - Yeah. Indian wins. EARL: Oh my god. MIKE WOLFE: Isn't that cool? And this is Bill Tuman. Bill Tuman was actually from our area.
Isn't that you? MIKE WOLFE: That looks kind of like me. He's got the schnoz going. Whoa. You got any Indian jerseys like that? EARL: I have an Indian-- - Jersey? - --sweatshirt. Oh, you do? When Earl said he had an Indian Jersey somewhere on this property, I knew I had a mission, but right now, I've got my sights set on all these Indian posters. How many posters are there? MIKE WOLFE: Like five or six in there. There's all the legends, man, back in the day, that were racing Indian motorcycles.
Wow. EARL: Mm-hmm. These things are extremely hard to find. Win with an Indian Warrior and Warrior TT. When you're looking at vintage posters, there's three things I look for-- rarity, condition, and subject matter. These posters have it all. Here, I got something else I found here for you. Check these out. These two white motorcycle jackets-- one female, one male-- got red silk inner linings. Those are cool, man. EARL: Yeah. They're cool because they're white. That's unusual. Most of time, if you see a motorcycle jacket, it's black.
I mean, this is like full on Nancy Sinatra type stuff here. Not in the best shape. I don't know if these stains are going to come out. I mean, this garage roof has been leaking for a long time, but I had to take the chance to see whether or not I can clean 'em. Here's where I'm at. $400 on this, two bills on this. $600. EARL: Oh my god. You would do $400 on those posters? I was surprised at the prices Mike was offering at that point.
MIKE WOLFE: So then, we're at six bills. EARL: All right. OK. And I was like, oh, wow. [laughs] I'm feeling good. I got the posters. I got the jackets. Now, I've got to find that Indian jersey. I think I'm shopping here. FRANK FRITZ: I'm seeing stuff here. MIKE WOLFE: You find something, Frankie? FRANK FRITZ: Wow. EARL: What did you find? FRANK FRITZ: I pick up these cat face tail lights.
They were back in the '50s. You could take your stock tail light off and it would bolt right on. Oh, that's the light. It has the light. That's great. - You know what I mean? - Yeah. Remember, these were made in Japan. You've got probably six of them back here. EARL: Oh, yeah? FRANK FRITZ: There was two original ones, and then there was four replacement lens. A type person that would buy these would be a vintage restorer, somebody who's trying to recreate a nice '50s, '60s look.
What would you have to have for-- Well, I don't know what that kind of thing's worth. I mean, $30 a piece? How about $60? Not for all of that, I don't think so. How about $75? My negotiations with Frank I found a bit amusing, because he wasn't offering as much money as Mike. FRANK FRITZ: They were a buck 85 back in the day. I'm going to take the best offer that I can get. Would you do $90 on that?
I'd do $90 for both those and the replacements. OK. Let's do that. FRANK FRITZ: OK, deal. EARL: OK. FRANK FRITZ: These can be great collector pieces. I don't even know if I want to sell 'em. This thing it keeps going on and on here. Yes. The condition of the property is abysmal. FRANK FRITZ: Wow. MIKE WOLFE: Dang. The roof's leaking, water's coming in, there's grease, there's oil, there's stuff piled all over the place.
I mean, this is what we dream of. I got excited. MIKE WOLFE: Wow. FRANK FRITZ: Whoa. MIKE WOLFE: Earl? Hold onto your bike, Earl. Oh, gee. MIKE WOLFE: I see two pair of Miami Motorcycle Club coveralls. AMA patch. EARL: That's like for working the races. MIKE WOLFE: That's cool, man. The guy that wore these coveralls was in the pit crew, wrenching on stuff, twisting the throttle, man, making sure the bike was humming oh so perfect.
All right, Earl. EARL: Yeah? MIKE WOLFE: On these two here-- $100 apiece. This stuff has been sitting in that trunk, probably since the late '40s, maybe early '50s. I love vintage motorcycle clothing because it's got style, it's got edge, it's got personality. Can I get them for that? Yeah. All right. Cool, man. I can see cruising down the road with that on. What do we got here hiding? This is the kind of pick that we want to be on.
Look at these. I mean, Earl's father held onto this funky stuff till the day he died. He could've got rid of it, but no, he saw the value in it. Do you care if we break the drawer? I mean, it's not worth anything. MIKE WOLFE: All right. I'm still searching for that Indian jersey he mentioned. What's this say? Ho, ho! EARL: Uh-oh. MIKE WOLFE: Mission accomplished. I found Herman's racing Jersey from the late '30s, early '40s in the dresser drawer of his bedroom.
I mean, how much more history do you need? These jerseys are incredibly hard to find. EARL: Wow. FRANK FRITZ: That's a cool one. Can make you an offer on this? EARL: Sure. MIKE WOLFE: I'd do-- I'd do $200. EARL: You've got to be kidding? MIKE WOLFE: No. There was a couple of moments in this pick when I made Earl offers on stuff, and he was totally blown away by it. But you know what? When I throw a number out there, I want to grab his attention.
I'd do $200 on it. EARL: Yeah. MIKE WOLFE: All right. Sweet. As much as it was a very coveted design, it was full of moth holes, so I couldn't do anything with it. I love vintage clothing. I love motorcycles. I mean, this piece is the Holy Grail for Mike Wolfe. All right, man. FRANK FRITZ: I bought some stuff, but it's not too heavy. EARL: Oh, man. FRANK FRITZ: Hey, has the sun come out? I'm very happy that Mike and Frank came by. It's hard to sell things that have a special connection to my father, but it would be silly to keep them all.
Thanks for sharing your dad's stories, man. Appreciate it. Keep your knees in the breeze, my brother. All right, brother. FRANK FRITZ: I paid $200 for vintage Indian clothes. I think I can get at least $500. MIKE WOLFE: I shelled out $200 for this Indian jersey. I'm not sure what it's worth in this condition, so I'm going to have it appraised. FRANK FRITZ: I paid $90 for cat faced tail lights.
I think I can get $200 for the set. [honk] MIKE WOLFE: See you, Earl. EARL: Arrivederci! MIKE WOLFE: Dude, look at this thing. This is a frickin' Indian jersey, dude. FRANK FRITZ: Dude, stop freaking on it. It's not that good of condition. Today, me and Mike want to get this appraised. We just don't know what it's worth in this condition. So Danielle got us hooked up with this guy that owns an old vintage motorcycle shop.
This guy's versed in motorcycle apparel, old motorcycle collectibles, so we're headed there to see what he thinks. I think this is it, dude. MIKE WOLFE: Let me grab a jersey. FRANK FRITZ: All right. MIKE WOLFE: Let's hit it. This guy's going to freak out when he sees this, man. Shop's cool, dude. FRANK FRITZ: Looks cool, man. MIKE WOLFE: See, all painted. - I know. I see it. Are you Aaron? Yeah. How you doing?
MIKE WOLFE: Hey, I'm Mike. - Glad to meet you. Frank, glad to meet you. FRANK FRITZ: Talked to Danielle on the phone? Yeah, she said something about a sweater or something? MIKE WOLFE: Yeah, we got an Indian jersey, man. Cool. Let's see it. MIKE WOLFE: Yeah, you want to see it? AARON: Hell yeah. All right. Check this out. Got to be careful. It's very fragile. It's my baby here. AARON: It's cool. It's a wool sweater.
It's got the felt Indian letters on the front. It's got the original AMA patch on it. MIKE WOLFE: American Motorcycle Association. Yeah. It does have quite a few holes in it. MIKE WOLFE: I call this personality. AARON: Patina. MIKE WOLFE: Yeah, it's seen some action. You know this isn't a factory racer sweater, right? This is one you got to get at the dealership. Oh, OK. There was two different types of these sweaters.
There was factory racers, and the racers that wore these, they raced for the dealer. MIKE WOLFE: Like privateers. Yeah, privateers. This guy's father had an Indian dealership in the '30s. AARON: The guy you got this from's father? FRANK FRITZ: Yeah. AARON: Oh, really? MIKE WOLFE: Yeah, his name was Herman Levine, and he raced Indians. This is original piece. This is real deal, man. I'm loving it. - It's cool. When Mike and Frank pulled that jersey out of the box, it was like our collectors dream.
You just don't see those things very often. Well, Aaron, what do you think it's worth? Well, I'd say it's worth somewhere between five or six hundred bucks. Really? In this shape? Yeah. MIKE WOLFE: Awesome, man. FRANK FRITZ: That's good. At 5 to $600, I'm really happy. Frankie. I mean, just the fact that you guys know who wore it, where it came from. I mean, that makes it really cool. If you know the story behind that vintage piece of clothing, it's not just a piece of cloth anymore, it's a piece of history.
I'll bet there's some guys out there that'll really like to have this thing. I know. I'm loving it. I'm loving it right now. Mike's loving it too much. What do you think you're going to do with it? MIKE WOLFE: You know what? Seriously, I haven't found anything like this before. I got plans of keeping it. You know where any of these guys bikes are, or if they still exist? There's a guy in North Carolina, his name is Dale Walksler, I don't know if you know him or not? - Oh, yeah.
Yeah, I know him. Dale Walksler is a guy that owns a museum. It's called Wheels Through Time. And he's a huge motorcycle collector. Because the antique motorcycle scene is kind of a small world, me and Frankie you've had the opportunity to deal with Dale on a couple occasions. His son told us that Dale has this guy's bike. Oh, really? FRANK FRITZ: He bought the bike. He's got the '35 Chief that this gentleman raced. AARON: Dale Walksler, he's got everything. Thanks for the information. You place is amazing. Thanks. FRANK FRITZ: Thanks for having us on in here.
Great find, you guys. You should be proud to own that thing. FRANK FRITZ: All right, Aaron. Thank you so much for the appraisal. AARON: You guys take it easy. MIKE WOLFE: All right, dude. I think you did good, man. I can't believe that. 5, $600. FRANK FRITZ: Yeah. MIKE WOLFE: I love this thing, man. It's so damn cool.
FRANK FRITZ: Don't love it to death now. You know where I think it should go? Dale Walksler. Dale would be excited to have the actual jersey that went with the bike. MIKE WOLFE: Believe me, I understand this importance of putting it with the bike. It's just I don't think-- I'll never be able to replace it. FRANK FRITZ: Think about it. You're going to be the guy that's putting it in the museum that hundreds of thousands of people are going to see it.
Just give it a shot. All right, let me call him and talk to him about it. It wasn't easy, but I knew I had to do the right thing. DALE WALKSLER (ON PHONE): Wheels Through Time, Dale speaking. Hey, Dale, this is Mike Wolfe. Frank Fritz, Dale, what's up? DALE WALKSLER (ON PHONE): How you doing? We're down here in Florida, and we came across an Indian racing jersey from a guy that supposedly, you got the bike.
A guy named Herman Levine. DALE WALKSLER (ON PHONE): Herm Levine, from Easton, Pennsylvania. That's exactly right. That's the guy. Well, guess what? We were over at his son's place and I pulled out of the dresser this jersey and I tell you what, Dale, it's cool, man. Frankie and I took it to a guy's place. He felt that, in the condition that it was in, but with us knowing the history of it, he felt that the value of it was like 5 to $600.
DALE WALKSLER (ON PHONE): Tell Frank to tell you to sell it to me. Oh, he's been telling me. That's why I called you. DALE WALKSLER (ON PHONE): $500 would be the gentleman's cool price. MIKE WOLFE: When I'm talking to Dale, I'm thinking to myself, you know what? To put the pieces of history together, he might have to own this thing. I'll sell it to you for $500 if you can send us like a little snapshot or something of maybe you like the bike on display with the jersey, you know, just kind of cementing the thing, because it needs to go with the bike.
DALE WALKSLER (ON PHONE): I'm stuck like glue, man. Dale promised he would send us a video or a photo of the jersey sitting right next to the bike. At the end of the day, it was the right thing to do. I'm breaking up with it. - All right. I'll tell you what. I'll get you some chocolates or something later, do a little life coaching. You'll be fine. You made me feel good. MIKE WOLFE: I feel good, too. FRANK FRITZ: Awesome.
Mike and Frank, thank you very much for sending this to me. Checks in the mail. The bike here, Herm Levine's 1935 Indian Speed King. This was most likely his favorite motorcycle. Oh, one more thing, Herm's extremely cool picture, sitting on this motorcycle. The Speed King. Just goes with the history. Crank it up. [engine revving]
