(loud traffic, honking and sirens)
JERSEY JON: Whoa! You’re going to break an axle
on this thing, dude. Then we’re going to be stuck.
MIKE: I love picking New York City, I mean, this is basically
America’s attic. So many things were manufactured here,
the ports were here. And you know, if you want to buy
something old, you got to go to an old city,
and that’s New York. JERSEY JON: Just be careful, man.
MIKE: Quit telling me- JERSEY JON: Wait, watch this car.
And that dog with the lady.
(sighs)
MIKE: Alright, Jersey, where are we going?
JERSEY JON: Dude, I’ve been coming up here for years.
MIKE: Okay. JERSEY JON: And this guy
has got this sewing machine slash motor repair place,
and it’s packed full of stuff.
He’s got all kinds of crazy stuff.
And it’s all small stuff, like packed in there.
MIKE: Okay, what’s for sale?
JERSEY JON: Well, here’s the thing, I tried to get in there,
but he won’t let you in. MIKE: He wouldn’t let you in the door.
JERSEY JON: He’d let me in the door, so I could see what’s in there,
but he wouldn’t sell me anything, he wouldn’t let you in to buy.
MIKE: Like how long ago?
JERSEY JON: It was about eight years ago.
I heard from some other friends
that he’s selling stuff now.
JERSEY JON: Like a big soup of antiques.
MIKE: A soup of antiques.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, like a big soup, a pot,
like a bouillabaisse of antiques.
It’s like a paprikash of, of antiques.
(Mike laughs) JERSEY JON: It’s like,
it’s like a chicken paprikash, a goulash of antiques.
Like they’re all mixed together. MIKE: Okay, I get it! I get it, okay.
MIKE: Where’s it at? How far are we going?
JERSEY JON: I don’t remember exactly where it is,
it’s up this way... keep going uptown.
(laughs) MIKE: Okay.
JERSEY JON: You know what? It’s like...
MIKE: No, I love it!
JERSEY JON: It’s like the legend, man.
So much cool stuff in there.
MIKE: Is he more legendary than you?
JERSEY JON: Well, I don’t know about that, but...
(laughs)
(vehicles honking)
MIKE: Alright, so the guy barely let you in the door last time.
You should let me lead on this, you know what I’m saying?
JERSEY JON: No dude, no, no, no. MIKE: Because obviously...
JERSEY JON: No, dude... MIKE: You weren’t handling it last time.
JERSEY JON: Listen dude, you’re a corncob, man, you are not gonna lead.
I’ll take it, we’re in the city, dude, I don’t want to get hurt,
I don’t want you to say anything stupid. I’ll take care of business, alright?
Just let me lead. MIKE: Alright well, you know,
I mean, if I see things going south,
I’m going to step in.
JERSEY JON: No, if you see things going south,
just step out.
(Mike laughs) JERSEY JON: That means you pissed him off.
We’re getting close here, man. Here it is.
MIKE: This is it right here? JERSEY JON: Yeah.
Space is open, dude. MIKE: Look at that,
I know, yeah this is legit!
JERSEY JON: This is legit. I told ya. MIKE: Get a flyer.
JERSEY JON: Dude, we won’t need a flyer. We don’t need a flyer, alright?
(sighs) MIKE: Alright.
JERSEY JON: Now let me do the talking.
MIKE: Alright, alright... JERSEY JON: I got this under control.
JERSEY JON: Now dude, c’mere.
Look... MIKE: What?
JERSEY JON: This is my guy.
MIKE: When you say "my guy"
that means I’ve cultivated
that relationship.
So if I find a 1910 Harley motor,
Jersey’s going to be like, "Nope, that’s mine."
JERSEY JON: Hey. STEVEN: Hello.
JERSEY JON: Remember me? MIKE: Hey, how’re you doing?
STEVEN: Yeah... you look familiar.
JERSEY JON: Eight years ago. I was in here trying to buy
stuff from you, you threw me out.
STEVEN: Yeah, maybe. JERSEY JON: Yeah.
(Mike laughs) JERSEY JON: Definitely.
JERSEY JON: The thing about these old New York guys,
if they ain’t got the time for it,
they ain’t going to tell you about it.
JERSEY JON: I heard you’re selling stuff now.
STEVEN: Yeah, maybe. JERSEY JON: Maybe?
STEVEN: Yeah. JERSEY JON: Well, you mind if we look around?
STEVEN: Yeah, why not? We’ll take a peek.
JERSEY JON: Show me around this place,
I’ve been dying to get back in here.
STEVEN: Okie-dokie. MIKE: Wow.
Hey, how’re you doing? I’m Mike.
STEVEN: Alright, Steve, nice to meet you.
MIKE: Heard a lot about you. JERSEY JON: My friend, Mike, Jon.
MIKE: Do you remember him?
STEVEN: Eh... no. (Mike and Jersey Jon laugh)
MIKE: Jersey. JERSEY JON: What do you mean,
man, we were standing here, we were talking.
MIKE: I thought you said this is your guy.
JERSEY JON: This is my guy.
STEVEN: I’m the third generation owner
of the Hecht Sewing Machine and Motor Company.
My grandfather was a machinist in Austria
in the 1850s, and eventually
he immigrated to the US.
MIKE: How long have you guys been here?
STEVEN: Uh, about 130 years.
JERSEY JON: You don’t look that old.
(Mike laughs) STEVEN: Yeah, I age well.
Good lubricant, good...
JERSEY JON: Yeah, it’s all about the oil, right?
MIKE: All that machine oil... JERSEY JON: Machine oil, yeah.
STEVEN: My grandfather, he set up under the name
Imperial Sewing Machine Company.
And he came in here around 1910, 1915.
MIKE: So what do you got going on?
STEVEN: Yeah, it’s the old machine and motor company.
JERSEY JON: But for the garment industry.
STEVEN: For the garment trade, correct.
MIKE: Wow. JERSEY JON: This place has always intrigued me, man,
this is like a great place.
MIKE: Yeah, he’s been talking about it quite a bit.
JERSEY JON: Thank you for letting us in.
STEVEN: Yeah, it’s un-renovated.
(Jersey Jon laughs) MIKE: I see that.
JERSEY JON: Yeah. I wouldn’t want to renovate this place.
STEVEN: We use pretty much every inch of space.
MIKE: People like me dream about walking into
a generational business,
especially a business that’s so mechanical.
MIKE: Can we look around a little bit?
STEVEN: Yeah, why not?
STEVEN: Why sell now?
Because I’m starting to get
a little crowded, literally bursting at the seams.
STEVEN: That’s my delicate drill bit unit.
JERSEY JON: Rosewood, it looks like.
STEVEN: Yeah, it’s in a beautiful chunk of wood.
JERSEY JON: Woo! STEVEN: Those are delicate bits.
JERSEY JON: It’s so nice that they did this,
just for simple drill bits. STEVEN: Yeah.
JERSEY JON: Rosewood has a little bit of oil in it,
and that preserves the bits,
that keeps them from rusting.
It’s from Union Twist Drill Company,
probably around 1900, 1910.
JERSEY JON: Would you sell something like this?
STEVEN: Maybe. JERSEY JON: I mean, I got this
kind of stuff all through my shop.
STEVEN: Yeah, what are you thinking?
JERSEY JON: 75 bucks.
STEVEN: I don’t know, that’s...
Bring it a little.
JERSEY JON: 80 bucks.
STEVEN: That’s a good piece.
JERSEY JON: Mike, I’m trying to make a deal here,
chill out, dude.
(Mike chuckles) MIKE: Okay.
STEVEN: That actually has auction stamps on the bottom...
JERSEY JON: Hey, over here!
MIKE: Alright. STEVEN: Bring it up a little.
JERSEY JON: 100 bucks. STEVEN: Done.
That’s the right price.
JERSEY JON: I love these things for my shop.
And I’m willing to spend a little more money
for this thing, ’cause I want it.
MIKE: What are you thinking on that?
STEVEN: That is expensive. MIKE: Yeah? What’s expensive?
STEVEN: It’s a state fair, it’s...
MIKE: 1944.
JERSEY JON: Do the flowers come with it?
STEVEN: It’s got a Christie’s auction stamp on the bottom.
STEVEN: Christie’s and Sotheby’s
are the two big auction houses in New York.
AUCTIONEER: Sold, 2,100 dollars.
STEVEN: If Christie’s thought enough about that
to sell that back in the ’70s,
it speaks for itself.
High-end good piece.
STEVEN: The Greyhound Stakes. Was that a big race?
MIKE: I don’t know.
MIKE: I love trophies because they tell a story.
This one is interesting, it’s dog racing,
it’s state fair, it’s during World War II.
MIKE: What are you thinking?
STEVEN: I’m thinking that this is something
that might have come from Ralph Lauren at one time.
(Jersey Jon laughs) MIKE: Really.
STEVEN: When he opened and closed
his different divisions, for real.
MIKE: You knew him. STEVEN: Yeah, I knew him.
JERSEY JON: You knew Ralph Lauren?
STEVEN: Yeah. He was buying sewing machines, steam irons,
dress forms, we were setting him up in the sample room.
STEVEN: We were servicing him along the way,
we were selling him scissors.
MIKE: So you were setting up his equipment.
STEVEN: Yeah, exactly. MIKE: Really.
STEVEN: Right. MIKE: Like, what year did you
start dealing with him? STEVEN: When I was in
high school, in the ’70s.
MIKE: So he was just starting out.
STEVEN: Yeah, exactly. MIKE: ’Cause he started making ties, right?
JERSEY JON: He was making ties?
MIKE: Yeah, that’s how he started making,
yeah he was making ties.
STEVEN: Started making ties, and setting up in New York.
MIKE: So were you leasing machines
or were you just selling them back then?
STEVEN: Uh, it was primarily sales.
MIKE: Okay.
MIKE: It’s amazing to think about
how Ralph Lauren,
one of the biggest brands in the world,
started his business walking through this guy’s door.
MIKE: How much do you want for that trophy?
STEVEN: Ah, it’s a good piece. MIKE: Alright, I mean...
STEVEN: You’re going to... MIKE: You gotta...
STEVEN: You got to step it up.
This is a big heavy chunk of something.
JERSEY JON: Plus it’s got flowers in it, Mike.
(laughs)
MIKE: Alright, well how about 100 bucks?
STEVEN: I don’t know, you got to step it up from there.
MIKE: 175 bucks.
STEVEN: Eh...
I don’t know, you don’t think it’s a $200 piece?
MIKE: Okay, I’m doing it. JERSEY JON: 200.
MIKE: I’m doing it. JERSEY JON: You got it, bro.
MIKE: Alright, cool. JERSEY JON: Yeah.
MIKE: Let me see this thing again. Ahh...
MIKE: I’m just trying to get the ball rolling here.
This is the first thing I’m going to buy from him,
we’re only like 10 feet into this place.
That’s the entrance fee.
MIKE: Is this your personal collection in here or...?
STEVEN: Yeah, it’s stuff that we took in over the years.
MIKE: But how would you take this kind of stuff in?
STEVEN: Well... MIKE: I mean, were you going to auctions and stuff?
STEVEN: Yes. MIKE: Places that were closing?
STEVEN: Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
STEVEN: We would try to bid,
and if you were successful,
you would have to go up with a dolly
and schlep the stuff down.
JERSEY JON: You had to schlep it up.
STEVEN: Schlep, when I mean schlep, I mean, schlep.
STEVEN: Walking, you know, 10 blocks.
MIKE: Yeah. STEVEN: Pushing the thing.
STEVEN: New York Garment District
was the manufacturing center of New York City.
Thousands of various factories,
sample rooms, and design rooms.
Bustling racks of clothing being pushed back and forth.
Trucks coming and going.
And the Hecht Company pushing machines,
winding through the traffic.
The big factories that went in in World War II
were closing up,
the people were retiring or literally dying.
So I was getting calls from family,
property managers, supers,
"Come up, we need this space clear,"
and we would haul out what we can.
MIKE: Ooh! Look at that.
Oh he’s broke!
Look at that, inkwell.
STEVEN: We call that a flea bite in New York.
MIKE: That’s bigger than a flea bite.
Look at that, Jersey, put your pen there,
the owl, it’s wood.
JERSEY JON: Yeah. MIKE: But his face is broke off.
MIKE: Owls are a symbol of wisdom, self-actualization.
I mean, owls are hot. They’re great decorator pieces,
and I love this piece because it is so early.
You know, the way you open up his head,
the early inkwell’s there, it’s a hand-carved piece.
MIKE: Do you remember where you got this?
STEVEN: Uh... no.
I’m not going to pretend I do.
MIKE: Yeah. JERSEY JON: Looks German.
MIKE: What are you thinking on that?
It does look German. STEVEN: It’s got the original...
JERSEY JON: Black Forest. MIKE: Inkwell. Black Forest, yeah.
STEVEN: I don’t know, talk to me.
MIKE: 50 bucks.
STEVEN: Done. MIKE: Alright.
JERSEY JON: Cool. STEVEN: See, everything’s not high.
MIKE: See Jersey, I’m easy, I’m easy...
MIKE: You’re going to see I’m easier to deal with than Jersey.
(sirens wailing, vehicles honking)
STEVEN: Scissors are one of my personal passions.
These are by appointment to Queen Victoria.
JERSEY JON: No kidding, wow. MIKE: Wow.
STEVEN: Right. It has the Royal Warrant on it.
Thomas Wilkinson, Sheffield, England, 1850.
JERSEY JON: Wow! STEVEN: Just listen to it.
(snipping) JERSEY JON: You can hear it.
STEVEN: You want to hear that sweet swoosh.
MIKE: Listen to that swoosh... JERSEY JON: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
STEVEN: You hear that swoosh? MIKE: Watch out, he’s gonna get some of your hair.
MIKE: The best thing about my job is talking to someone
face-to-face, and to see someone get so excited
about a pair of shears.
STEVEN: It’ll give you that edge like butter.
You won’t know you’re cutting.
MIKE: Oh wow, yeah. JERSEY JON: How beautiful that is.
STEVEN: And this is heavy wool. MIKE: Yeah.
MIKE: And to hear the swoosh and to be able to cut something.
MIKE: So what is the value of something like that?
I’m not interested, just... STEVEN: Ah, very hard to find.
MIKE: Yeah, thousands?
STEVEN: Yeah, about 900, 1,000.
MIKE: That’s what’s lacking in the antique world now,
in the industry, to physically be in there.
JERSEY JON: What is this thing in here?
STEVEN: That’s a good piece. JERSEY JON: What is that?
STEVEN: That’s from the turn-of-the-century.
It’s a printing block for fabric.
JERSEY JON: Ohh... STEVEN: Handmade, copper.
JERSEY JON: It’s all copper. STEVEN: Yeah. Probably 1860s.
JERSEY JON: He says, you heat it up,
and then you put it on the fabric and it embosses the fabric. Brilliant.
JERSEY JON: How much?
STEVEN: Uh, you’re talking more than a skosh,
more than a bissel, you’re up there.
STEVEN: Scooch is the smallest,
then a skosh, and then a bissel.
JERSEY JON: 50 bucks.
STEVEN: Ah, you’re nowhere, you’re nowhere.
JERSEY JON: What do you mean? STEVEN: It’s 50 bucks to hold it.
STEVEN: You gotta be at 100, 150.
MIKE: You guys haven’t moved from this spot yet?
JERSEY JON: This piece is amazing.
JERSEY JON: I’m still finishing this up.
MIKE: Alright. JERSEY JON: So obviously,
you love this thing more than I do.
STEVEN: I do love it. JERSEY JON: So you keep it, my friend.
JERSEY JON: You know, you hold on to it.
STEVEN: In the years I’ve been here,
I’ve only seen one or two. Not a common item.
MIKE: Let me show you something back here that I’ve been looking at.
JERSEY JON: Yeah? MIKE: Yeah. This piece right here.
Look at that, Jersey. You know what that is, don’t ya?
JERSEY JON: That’s ticker tape. STEVEN: Stock ticker.
JERSEY JON: What is this thing?
STEVEN: I put that in there.
JERSEY JON: Max Wetzler. STEVEN: Right. That’s the--
JERSEY JON: The clamp guy?
STEVEN: That’s the clamp guy, that’s him.
JERSEY JON: Woodworking clamps.
So this is the guy who invented this thing?
STEVEN: Yes. In conjunction,
supposedly, with Edison. MIKE: Well, it says, with Thomas Edison.
JERSEY JON: He worked with Edison, he says?
STEVEN: This is the story that was told to me.
MIKE: Well, here’s the deal, if he worked with Edison,
it would have been way earlier than this.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, this is ’30s, dude.
MIKE: Yeah, so this is later. JERSEY JON: This is deco.
MIKE: But maybe this was part of the evolution
of what they were trying to do, I don’t know.
JERSEY JON: Right, Sure, I mean, this is an early computer.
MIKE: Today we check stock prices on our computers,
on our cellphones. But back in the day,
they used a ticker tape machine.
MIKE: The unit came out, see?
JERSEY JON: Oh! Oh...
Good call, buddy. MIKE: Okay, so... I would like
to see what’s going on here.
JERSEY JON: Yep.
MIKE: So it was basically a telegraph,
it was dedicated to the stock market.
And it was used for like 100 years.
JERSEY JON: Man, look at all the bells and whistles
on this sucker, huh? MIKE: What’s the age of that motor, you think?
JERSEY JON: Yeah, you know, to me, it doesn’t look
turn-of-the-century or 1910...
MIKE: I’m thinking it’s from the ’30s.
JERSEY JON: I think it’s from the ’30s too,
that’s what I’m thinking. MIKE: But look at this.
STEVEN: You think so? JERSEY JON: Yeah, I think so,
because this is the resin board.
And also that, this style of cabinet is deco.
STEVEN: It could be ’20s or a little bit...
JERSEY JON: Nah... look at the electric motor itself,
the way it’s got the bakelite pieces around the brushes, for the motor.
STEVEN: Yeah, you could be right.
JERSEY JON: I’m thinking ’30s.
MIKE: So it’s ’30s, okay. Love that it’s got
just a little bit of paper left in it.
STEVEN: Look how clean it is.
MIKE: How long have you had this?
STEVEN: 10, 15 years. MIKE: Okay.
JERSEY JON: Where did it come from?
STEVEN: Came from a local guy,
his family was in the clamp business.
MIKE: Okay. JERSEY JON: Max Wetzler.
MIKE: So you knew his son.
STEVEN: Right. He would pop in.
I knew him. He gave it to me to be the caretaker of it.
MIKE: Okay. STEVEN: He wanted this
to keep having life.
MIKE: And this was something that his family had all that time.
STEVEN: Right. MIKE: Wow.
Imagine what this sounded like working.
STEVEN: Like a sewing machine, right?
MIKE: Yeah. (making ticking noises)
JERSEY JON: Maybe that’s why they kept it in the cabinet, it’s so damn loud.
MIKE: This thing delivered some pretty incredible news...
STEVEN: And bad news. Right. MIKE: ...and also delivered
some really bad news. JERSEY JON: Yeah.
MIKE: Think about who would have had this machine.
The president of a bank,
or somebody that was a major player
in a financial institution, I mean, this was a prominent
piece in their office,
delivering very important information.
So the ones I’ve seen in the past were very elaborate,
underneath a glass dome, very polished.
MIKE: The crudeness of it, that’s throwing me.
Do you think this is a one-off?
JERSEY JON: Maybe. I mean, it’s very possible.
This might be somebody’s prototype.
Because it’s kind of crudely made.
There’s no castings here, Mike, that’s not cast,
that’s a piece of sheet aluminum.
MIKE: With the machine itself being a little bit more crude,
and the cabinet being very simple,
this could have been in a place like a newsroom,
you know, like a newspaper or something.
They were also getting this information
as fast as they could so they could publish it.
MIKE: So what are you thinking?
STEVEN: A lot of money.
MIKE: Like, what’s a lot of money?
STEVEN: More than a skosh, more than a bissel,
a (bleep) load of money.
JERSEY JON: Is that where it goes?
It goes from a bissel to a (bleep) load?
STEVEN: Yeah. A lot of money, you know.
JERSEY JON: How many bissels?
STEVEN: 1,500.
MIKE: Yeah. STEVEN: Where are you going to find one?
I’ve never seen another one.
Am I wrong? Should I go higher?
MIKE: I mean... no!
(Jersey Jon laughs)
ROBBIE: I’m on the road today to see a guy named Barry.
My brother sent me a picture of a century-old sign
that Barry has.
These things are worth thousands and thousands of dollars.
So when you get pictures like this,
you chase it down.
ROBBIE: Hey, how’re you doing?
BARRY: Can I help you? ROBBIE: Yeah, you Barry?
BARRY: I am Barry.
ROBBIE: Yeah, my brother sent me out here.
Said you had a pretty crazy looking sign out here.
BARRY: Yeah, I’ve got a Seiberling.
I guess you could look at it. ROBBIE: Alright.
So how long have you been collecting?
BARRY: Since early ’80s. Come on in.
ROBBIE: Alright. Oh you got a Coca-Cola sign, I see.
Oh here it is. Wow, wow!
BARRY: It’s a beaut. Two-sided. 4-by-8.
ROBBIE: Looks can be deceiving.
This beat up piece of tin is a highly desirable
punched tin Seiberling Tire sign.
This has tremendous value.
ROBBIE: It actually does exist.
Can I pull it down? BARRY: Sure.
ROBBIE: This was a handmade sign by a craftsman.
They’ve punched holes in the tin.
It’d have light bulbs in it. The light shone through.
This is a sign for Seiberling Cord Tires,
probably from around 1920.
This sign is incredibly rare.
BARRY: I’m not sure where this brand is, mid-east?
ROBBIE: Seiberling Tires started in Ohio.
BARRY: Ohio? ROBBIE: Yeah. Midwest.
This was their logo right here,
this was actually orange in here. BARRY: Mm-hmm.
ROBBIE: Frank Seiberling was the guy that started
Goodyear Tires in the 1800s.
In the 1920s, Seiberling left Goodyear
to open the Seiberling Rubber Company,
which became one of the nation’s top tire producers.
Frank Seiberling’s inventions changed automotive history.
He built the Seiberling tire machine,
which later became the tire machine
that everyone used across the board to make corded tires
in America. A corded tire basically had cords of cotton
in the rubber to reinforce the tire.
That was standard well into the ’60s.
So this sign is a huge piece of transportation history.
ROBBIE: It’s amazing this thing even exists.
It’s over a hundred years old.
BARRY: I had no idea it was that early.
The Seiberling, I bought it so many years ago
and was going to try to electrify it
and put lights in it. But I put it on the back burner,
so it was forgotten.
ROBBIE: Where the heck did you find this at?
BARRY: I picked this up at an auction
because I never seen one like it before.
ROBBIE: Wow! BARRY: It was one of those things that nobody else
was interested in.
I don’t know if it’s worth anything,
but I’m always learning.
ROBBIE: The condition is amazing on this sign.
To me, I just look at this sign and go, man,
this is like a unicorn in a field.
You never find these because they either got crunched,
they’re in a scrap pile somewhere,
or they’re sitting in somebody’s basement
rotting out on the bottom.
ROBBIE: The other plus to this,
it’s got the three panels down here.
They would have back-lit this sign behind here
with light bulbs. BARRY: That’s right.
ROBBIE: Yeah. None of the mounts, though,
are in here for the lights.
BARRY: So they took the lights out and the mounts came with it?
ROBBIE: Yeah, they must’ve taken it all apart.
Or they didn’t finish it. One of the two.
You know, this could’ve been a sign that it never got hung up.
BARRY: Hmm. ROBBIE: This side...
BARRY: That’s the worst side. ROBBIE: Yeah, I mean,
even down here, you can still read the maker’s mark down here.
I’d love to throw an offer at you on this sign.
Um...
I’d like to be at five grand on it.
ROBBIE: The sign market over the last five years
has changed so dramatically.
You can’t let these signs slip through your fingers.
This is one of the very first electric handmade
advertising pieces in America.
This was the precursor to neon.
If I put a little work into this thing,
I could get 7,500 to 10 grand out of it.
BARRY: I think I’d like to have a chance
to give it some thought. ROBBIE: Okay.
BARRY: Because I’ve got some other signs
you might be interested in. ROBBIE: They’re for sale?
BARRY: Mm-hmm. Maybe you see something else
you’re interested in? ROBBIE: Hey, I’m here.
BARRY: We could... barter on a package deal or something.
ROBBIE: Okay. I got an empty van right now.
BARRY: Okay. My barn’s full, let’s go.
ROBBIE: Alright. Full. BARRY: Top and bottom,
there’s two storeys in there.
MIKE: So what are you thinking?
STEVEN: A lot of money. MIKE: What’s a lot of money?
STEVEN: 1,500.
MIKE: Yeah. STEVEN: Where are you going to find one?
I’ve never seen another one.
Am I wrong? Should I go higher?
MIKE: I mean... no! (Jersey Jon laughs)
MIKE: 1,500. STEVEN: Done.
MIKE: Alright. I think it’s pretty cool.
STEVEN: To be honest with you,
not really that passionate about it,
’cause I have no way to plug in a Westin-Union signal.
If I could make it work and have the ticker tape
come out of it, would have been a different story.
MIKE: That’s the guy that gave it to you?
JERSEY JON: That’s the guy? STEVEN: That’s Max Wetzler.
MIKE: That’s Max Wetzler--
JERSEY JON: That’s the clamp guy?
STEVEN: That’s the clamp guy. JERSEY JON: That’s the guy
I buy clamps all the time from, huh?
JERSEY JON: There you go, thanks, Max.
MIKE: Okay, well how much is that? To go with this.
STEVEN: You know what, he bequeathed it to me,
I’m going to bequeath the picture to you.
MIKE: Alright. STEVEN: Is that fair enough?
MIKE: I love it. STEVEN: This way they stay together.
MIKE: Thank you. Appreciate it. JERSEY JON: Exactly, they should.
JERSEY JON: I mean, I love this story.
MIKE: So the gentleman that you got this from,
this was his father. STEVEN: Correct.
MIKE: Cool. JERSEY JON: Really cool.
JERSEY JON: Man, that’s the biggest square I ever seen, dude.
STEVEN: How could you not look at this?
JERSEY JON: I saw that.
STEVEN: Did you see the size of it?
JERSEY JON: Yeah, I did see that.
STEVEN: One, two, three, four, five dogs.
JERSEY JON: These are the dogs.
STEVEN: Yeah. That’s where they get the term
"batten down the hatches".
JERSEY JON: Oh! STEVEN: It’s from a battleship.
STEVEN: That’s 19 inches.
Each dog has a different function.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, so you got to go down like this.
STEVEN: You gotta know how to work the dogs.
JERSEY JON: And that opens that dog.
And then hold on, let’s make sure it doesn’t fall over.
Look at that. STEVEN: Feel that glass.
JERSEY JON: Ooh man, that’s like a half-inch thick.
STEVEN: Yeah. And then it has the battle hatch or cover.
JERSEY JON: Oh yeah! Sure, this is the cover that covers the glass up,
and the dog holds that in, and then ugh...
STEVEN: That’s battleship. JERSEY JON: Battleship.
STEVEN: Big battleship. JERSEY JON: Wow.
STEVEN: If you pop out all the screws under the rim...
JERSEY JON: Yeah? STEVEN: It says, US Navy Mark-something.
JERSEY JON: Of course there’s no guarantee
this came from a battleship.
JERSEY JON: I love the patina’s still all there. STEVEN: Yeah.
JERSEY JON: But what’s cool about it, is that it’s bronze.
STEVEN: And look at the hinge on there.
JERSEY JON: The hinge is amazing.
STEVEN: The hinge is like a bank vault.
JERSEY JON: It’s so mechanical. The way it’s mounted
on this piece of chestnut.
STEVEN: Very hard piece of wood.
JERSEY JON: I mean, I love this thing,
and it really speaks to me.
JERSEY JON: You want to sell this?
STEVEN: Maybe.
JERSEY JON: I think this thing, in a retail environment,
because it’s military, I think it’s worth 1,500 bucks.
STEVEN: Yeah, I’ve seen it as high as 2.
JERSEY JON: I would depend upon the history,
it’d depend upon where... If you could attribute
this to a battleship
or a destroyer or something like that.
STEVEN: Not going to know.
JERSEY JON: So it’s kind of a generic military porthole.
STEVEN: And I didn’t want to pop out the...
JERSEY JON: No, no, no... the screws are beautiful.
STEVEN: It’s like putting a screw in sheet metal, it is heavy.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, this is heavy, heavy wood.
So what are you thinking?
STEVEN: I don’t know... it’s a nice piece,
I’ve never seen the five-dog.
JERSEY JON: 1,000 bucks.
STEVEN: I don’t, I didn’t hear you, what’d you say?
(laughs) JERSEY JON: Come on, bro.
STEVEN: Ah, it’s a good piece!
JERSEY JON: Yeah, it’s a good piece, but I gotta make money too.
STEVEN: I don’t want to throw you out again.
STEVEN: Come on, come on, you gotta bring it.
You gotta step it up a bit. JERSEY JON: I appreciate you
letting me in the door, my friend.
STEVEN: You gotta bring it up a skosh.
JERSEY JON: How about a little chooch? 1,200.
STEVEN: Bring it to a bissel. JERSEY JON: A bissel?
STEVEN: Yeah. JERSEY JON: 1,250.
STEVEN: 1,250.
Is that a bissel or a pack? JERSEY JON: Hmm...
JERSEY JON: I think he wants a skosh, and a lot more bissel.
STEVEN: Why don’t you make it a lucky 13.
JERSEY JON: Lucky 13, I kind of like that.
STEVEN: It’s a good number.
JERSEY JON: I’m going to take it for 13.
STEVEN: You can’t go wrong.
STEVEN: 1,300 for the porthole was a fair price.
JERSEY JON: Batten down the hatches.
STEVEN: Now did you see the bronze?
JERSEY JON: Oh yeah, yep. STEVEN: It’s like a baby’s butt.
JERSEY JON: Yep, it is nice, it is a wonderful piece.
ROBBIE: Where’s all these signs you’ve been telling me about?
BARRY: They’re in the main barn here.
ROBBIE: Alright. Holy Toledo!
BARRY: I have quite a collection of porcelain
and tin signage I’ve collected over the years.
ROBBIE: Wow! You know, I always say it,
when you got space, you’ll fill it up.
BARRY: I’d have to spend hours listing
everything I collect,
signage, neon, and porcelain.
I got sports memorabilia and antiques.
There’s never too many.
ROBBIE: I love that you don’t pigeonhole yourself
into collecting one thing. BARRY: Mm-hmm.
BARRY: But at my age, it’s time to start selling,
because I can’t take them with me.
ROBBIE: What is for sale in here, Barry?
BARRY: Basically, everything...
I would like to keep my Chevy.
ROBBIE: Okay. Yeah, that’s a great sign.
I do have to ask about this Sterling Gasoline.
BARRY: That came from a local auction.
It’s one that was in really good shape. I...
ROBBIE: Yeah, 30-inch signs are great for display.
BARRY: Mm-hmm.
ROBBIE: Sterling was a gas company
in the early 1920s and ’30s.
What makes this sign so rare is the condition of it.
There’s no chips in it, color is fabulous on it,
the porcelain condition is perfect.
And the value of these things have skyrocketed.
Guys are looking for dead mint signs.
ROBBIE: What are you thinking on this sign?
BARRY: I’m thinking around 15.
ROBBIE: Okay. I’m really interested in the Sterling,
but I’m also interested in that H-C Sinclair.
H-C, you know, to me, is one of the iconic signs.
ROBBIE: Sinclair is one of the top brands
that people are looking for constantly.
They started in the late 1800s,
and they were a huge oil company.
The H-C brand was a later version.
Everybody loves the color,
and this thing just pops in any collection.
ROBBIE: I’d like to see the other side,
but what are you thinking on price on that?
BARRY: I’m not sure, you’ll have to...
ROBBIE: On that one? Let me go up there.
Is there a way to get up, I can take a look at it?
BARRY: We got stairs over...
ROBBIE: This barn is huge! BARRY: Yeah.
ROBBIE: Wow, you got some stuff up here.
BARRY: This side is all my wife’s.
These are all baskets for crafts.
ROBBIE: Hey, you gotta give your wife some space.
BARRY: You got that right. ROBBIE: You know.
Yeah... that’s what I was thinking.
I was thinking you had the better side shining out there.
A little bit of whammies up there,
there’s no bullet holes in it.
There’s a couple of touch-ups right there on the end.
BARRY: Oh... ROBBIE: Painted on the white.
BARRY: Okay. ROBBIE: Yeah. Overall condition,
it’s got great shelving on it,
and the colors there, it’s not faded.
ROBBIE: It’s got the original ring on it,
and the cool thing on this,
where it’s got the original grommet holes.
They’re always worn out. BARRY: Are they?
ROBBIE: Yeah. So this sign doesn’t even look like
it’s been hung that long.
Um... you said 1,500 on the Sterling.
Looking at the other side of the Sterling,
it doesn’t look like it has any touch-ups on it.
That’s got great color on that.
One of my favorite signs. BARRY: Mm-hmm. Mine too.
ROBBIE: This sign too. BARRY: Yep.
ROBBIE: I think the high retail
on this thing’s gonna be about 25.
Um... 3,200 bucks for the pair.
BARRY: I’d like to get a little more for...
ROBBIE: The H-C. BARRY: The H-C.
ROBBIE: 3,500 bucks for the pair.
BARRY: That sounds good.
ROBBIE: That work for you? BARRY: Mm-hmm. Yep.
ROBBIE: Alright. Appreciate it.
So am I getting any closer to my number on the...
punched tin?
BARRY: That was the 15,000 one?
ROBBIE: Oh yeah, that’s where we’re on that? I...
(Barry laughs)
MIKE: We’ve bought stuff like this for the store.
So do you have any full body Wolf mannequins?
Stuff like this?
STEVEN: Wolf’s out of business.
MIKE: Oh they are? STEVEN: They closed up around 2000.
MIKE: You know what? I guess I’ve never bought a new one,
so I’ve never even dug into it.
Would you say that Wolf was a casualty
in what happened in the garment industry?
STEVEN: 100%.
MIKE: This was the garment industry right here.
STEVEN: Yeah. MIKE: You were right in the heartbeat of it.
STEVEN: This is the center of it.
MIKE: Okay, so how far did it span?
STEVEN: 8th Avenue to 6th Avenue...
MIKE: Okay. STEVEN: 34th to 40th
is the heart of it.
MIKE: Are they producing a lot in this area still?
STEVEN: Sample rooms. MIKE: Okay.
STEVEN: Where, where they do the design work
and make the samples.
Actual production, not so much. MIKE: Yeah.
STEVEN: With big manufacturing being done overseas,
the Garment Center still exists,
but on a smaller, more compact scale.
MIKE: So when you go to these places,
you’re servicing everything that they’re actually using.
STEVEN: All the machines, the steam irons.
MIKE: So there’s enough of the business
in the Garment District here to keep you rolling.
STEVEN: Yes, yes. MIKE: Okay.
And are you the only one doing what you do?
STEVEN: I’m the... one of the originals,
there’s not too many like me.
We put in business Ralph Lauren,
Calvin Klein, Oscar De La Renta,
Anne Klein-- MIKE: Okay, so when you say--
STEVEN: Donna Karan. MIKE: When you say
put them in business, what do you mean?
STEVEN: I pushed the machines up one at a time.
MIKE: Oh they were just starting.
STEVEN: Right. Plug them in and said,
here’s your machine. Try it out.
MIKE: No kidding. They all walked in the door here.
STEVEN: Right. Literally. MIKE: Wow.
MIKE: It is incredible for me to speak to somebody
that has been in the industry for so long,
and still be a player in it.
After 130 years,
obviously these guys are doing something right.
STEVEN: We had Halston
was the hat man of Bergdorf Goodman.
He came in and said to my dad,
"I want to open a boutique on Madison Avenue, set me up."
And I was always being sent for the cheque.
That was my job. (laughs)
STEVEN: In addition to being the schlepper, I was...
MIKE: Yeah. STEVEN: ...the schnook who had
to go sit there and beg for money.
Now once he sent me to Halston
when he moved to Olympic Tower,
which was a new building,
and he did everything in mirrors.
So I’m in the front entrance,
you know, poking around, there were no doorknobs,
and I push a glass panel open,
and it’s a sauna.
Halston is sitting in there
with Andy Warhol and Lou Reed,
and one of his illustrators. MIKE: Get outta here!
STEVEN: And he says, "Steve, what’s up?
What are you doing?"
I said, "Dad wants me to bring back a cheque."
He goes, you know what, take your shirt off,
schvitz awhile, sit with us.
(laughs)
STEVEN: So I’m sitting in there,
I’m schvitzing like a pig, it’s pouring off of me.
MIKE: Yeah, yeah.
STEVEN: Right, and at this point,
it’s well past five o’clock.
So I said, look I really gotta get home,
it’s beef stew night... I gotta get back to the Bronx,
they’re going to be waiting for me.
Could you take care of me?
MIKE: Yeah. STEVEN: He goes, you know what?
It’s Thursday night, we’re going to go out.
I’m going to take you out.
MIKE: Did you go out? STEVEN: Yeah, we went out.
MIKE: No kidding, where’d you go?
STEVEN: They took me downtown.
MIKE: Yeah? STEVEN: To the back room
of CBGB’s or something. MIKE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. (laughs)
STEVEN: The back room, not the front room.
So when you go downtown
with Lou Reed in 1970-something...
(Mike laughs) STEVEN: ...and you’re
a 17-year-old kid from the Bronx.
MIKE: Yeah. STEVEN: That opens your eyes
to a new reality.
I didn’t make it home-- MIKE: Did you ever get a cheque?
STEVEN: No. (Mike laughs)
STEVEN: I didn’t get the cheque,
and I didn’t make it home that night.
But I did come back in the morning
carrying my shoes.
So my father takes me aside and says, I have to talk to you.
You always tie your shoes together
and put them over your shoulder.
Otherwise, you’re going to lose a shoe,
and in war and in Manhattan, you cannot lose a shoe.
STEVEN: That works in the South Pacific too,
if you’re stranded in the Solomon Islands,
you want your boots tied together.
MIKE: Never asked you what you did.
STEVEN: No. And he said,
did he give you a cheque?
I said, they’re going to mail it to you, I guarantee it.
It’s not an issue.
MIKE: Out of all the stories I thought he was gonna
tell me, this is not it.
MIKE: This would be like a dress form
for a student or something, wouldn’t it?
STEVEN: It’s a scale model form made to exact scale.
MIKE: ’Cause I’ve bought a bunch of these out of a college one time.
STEVEN: It was for people who didn’t have much room.
MIKE: Okay. STEVEN: And wanted to get
a lot of forms into an area. MIKE: Yeah?
STEVEN: This particular form,
Halston liked the half-scale form.
MIKE: Uh-huh. STEVEN: Because he would put
out a dozen at a time.
MIKE: This was his. STEVEN: That is his design.
What you’re holding in your hand--
MIKE: His design. STEVEN: No, that’s his. He pinned that.
MIKE: Oh you mean he pinned this on here.
STEVEN: He put that on there. MIKE: Get outta here!
STEVEN: That is his design. MIKE: So how did you know that?
Where’d you get this? STEVEN: I got it from the office where it was.
MIKE: No kidding! STEVEN: When he passed.
MIKE: Here’s what I know about Halston.
He was from Des Moines, Iowa,
and he was one of the first premier luxury brands
in America. This piece is from his office.
Something that he pinned,
something that he designed.
You know, this should be in the Met.
It’s that significant.
MIKE: What are you thinking on that?
STEVEN: I don’t know if I want to sell that.
We took in about a dozen of those.
And my mother said to me,
Halston pinned that up,
here’s his stitching, don’t sell this one.
That’s a part of my life.
If I sell that, I won’t remember my trip downtown.
(laughs) MIKE: Fair enough.
STEVEN: It’s a true story.
MIKE: It’s amazing. I mean, it’s great to hear the story,
but what’s better is to hear it
from somebody that was there. STEVEN: This was a true artist.
MIKE: It’s unbelievable.
Thank you for sharing that--
STEVEN: You know how people tell you not to leave
your drink unattended? MIKE: Yeah.
STEVEN: There’s merit to that.
(laughs)
MIKE: I’ll show you a piece right here
that I was interested in. STEVEN: Okay.
MIKE: What’s going on with this license plate topper?
STEVEN: Uh, it came out of a local shop.
MIKE: Back in the day. STEVEN: Yeah.
Original paint, blue and red. MIKE: Yeah.
STEVEN: Good patina. MIKE: What are you thinking?
STEVEN: I don’t know, talk to me.
MIKE: 100 bucks.
STEVEN: Is that the right price?
MIKE: Yeah, I seem to think so.
MIKE: You walk into a place like this,
it’s like something that you would just dream of.
You open the door, the bells rings,
the floor creaks, the smells.
And then you can see all the walls
that are adorned with so many different things.
MIKE: Look at this, this is cool.
City Athletic Club, 1917-1918.
STEVEN: Good shape for the age. MIKE: That’s early, yeah man.
MIKE: I can see why Jersey
was extremely excited
to walk into this place for the first time.
MIKE: So what are you thinking on this? I offered 100 on this,
and I’ll do 100 on this.
STEVEN: I thought we were at uh... 250.
MIKE: No! STEVEN: 150 and yeah...
MIKE: No, no, no, no. I’m at 200 bucks.
Would you do 100 for this? STEVEN: Yes.
MIKE: Okay, so we’re doing that.
Okay. And then let’s do it this way,
would you do 100 for this?
STEVEN: Eh, looking for a bissel more,
I think it’s better than that.
MIKE: Alright, let me think about this.
STEVEN: For real.
STEVEN: Just pushing him up,
that’s the name of the game.
JERSEY JON: It’s dense in here. STEVEN: We saved everything.
JERSEY JON: I could see that. MIKE: The original sign’s up here.
STEVEN: That’s the one that my grandfather hung up.
JERSEY JON: Double-sided tin sign,
hand-painted by some New York sign painter?
Man, it doesn’t get much better than that.
JERSEY JON: It’s such a cool piece, man.
You should get it out of here.
STEVEN: It’s preserved up there.
JERSEY JON: You don’t want to sell that sign, huh?
STEVEN: I think that would be bad luck.
JERSEY JON: Alright. I get it, man. Family history.
ROBBIE: Every man needs his barn, right, Barry?
BARRY: Outbuilding, shop, you name it.
ROBBIE: What’s this doing here?
BARRY: Oh that’s my late father’s portrait camera.
ROBBIE: Yeah. BARRY: He collected antique cameras.
BARRY: My late father was an avid
amateur photographer, a very good one.
BARRY: Loved wooden cameras.
Loved the mahogany and the refined woods.
BARRY: My dad got the collecting bug from me.
ROBBIE: Really. BARRY: Believe it or not. Yeah.
BARRY: I helped him build this collection.
It’s a good feeling to know
that I did something with my dad.
ROBBIE: Is this something you’re going to sell?
BARRY: I’m trying to liquidate all of this,
so yes, it’s for sale.
ROBBIE: The bellows on this thing are actually
in great shape. They’re not torn at all.
And the wood is great. We actually have these
in the store, and a lot of guys use these for, you know,
a statement piece sitting on a shelf. It’s large,
it’s in charge, and it looks like it’s all here.
What are you thinking you gotta have out of this?
BARRY: It’s probably worth about 350.
I’d be comfortable at 250.
I’m at the stage I got to liquidate my dad’s stuff.
ROBBIE: I’ll do it. BARRY: Okay. Sweet.
ROBBIE: 250. Thank you. I appreciate it.
BARRY: You’re welcome. ROBBIE: I got to ask, Barry,
where did this sign come from?
BARRY: Local. Olympia.
Had a sign fabricator, he passed away,
and his whole warehouse was brought up here for auction.
ROBBIE: Motion, I think, in neon
is one of the biggest pluses.
We have a shop down in Nashville.
We live in a music city.
ROBBIE: Every neon sign has its own charisma.
This sign is multi-colored,
it’s got music notes dancing across on it.
The saxophone’s lit up.
A lounge, any music venue,
they would want this, because it’s inviting people in.
ROBBIE: What’s the number on it? I gotta ask, it’s just...
BARRY: I’d like you to throw a figure out and see if we’re...
ROBBIE: ...even close? BARRY: Even close, because...
ROBBIE: Wow. Man, getting crazy now.
BARRY: Well it’s... I haven’t seen another.
ROBBIE: I know. I guess in my mind,
I’m going to process it and basically what it would cost
me to make that sign.
Um... 3,800 bucks.
BARRY: How about 4?
It’s going to be a big hole on my wall.
ROBBIE: You got anything to fill it with?
BARRY: Not anymore. (chuckles)
ROBBIE: Here’s a question now. BARRY: Okay.
ROBBIE: I’m throwing it at ya.
If I step up and give you the 4 on this,
do I have a deal on the punched tin?
BARRY: What’s the deal on the tin?
ROBBIE: 5,000.
BARRY: You got a deal. ROBBIE: So If I can give you 4 on this,
we got a deal on that? BARRY: You got a deal.
ROBBIE: Dude. Dude, seriously. BARRY: Okay.
I’m happier, I mean,
I’m just ecstatic. Woo! BARRY: Well, so am I.
ROBBIE: The biggest thing you gotta do to this sign right now
is do a light cleaning on it.
Re-electrify it with the original porcelain sockets.
Once that’s all done,
this thing is going to look magical.
ROBBIE: Look at that. BARRY: Yeah.
ROBBIE: Huh? BARRY: It fits ya.
ROBBIE: It fits me, man.
BARRY: The Seiberling was an easy sell for me.
I probably got it for around $75.
BARRY: Heh, so the two of us
came to a price point where we were both happy.
ROBBIE: Barry,
I’d drive 10,000 miles for a sign like this.
ROBBIE: Today was a good day.
I’m on cloud nine right now,
because I got to walk away with a 100-year-old sign.
The neon and the two porcelain signs,
they’re just a little cherry on top of the icing.
ROBBIE: Dude, it’s been a heck of a day.
Even if it was for one sign, I’m happy as can be.
BARRY: I thoroughly enjoyed Robbie.
He’s a card, he’s a lot of fun
and I don’t think anybody pulls the wool over his eyes.
He knows what he’s talking about.
(honks horn) ROBBIE: Come look me up in Iowa, Barry!
BARRY: Will do it! ROBBIE: Thanks!
JERSEY JON: Steve, look at this thing.
This is pretty crazy.
STEVEN: I would say that’s Gilded Age, right?
Never had that drawer open.
The Declaration of Independence could be in there.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, it’s stuck in there really good.
Got a screw in the bottom. It unscrews.
STEVEN: Locks together. JERSEY JON: It takes the whole thing apart.
So to me, this was something that a lady would travel with,
this was a lady’s sewing stand. STEVEN: It’s a sewing box.
JERSEY JON: It’s a sewing box. STEVEN: You open it, yeah--
JERSEY JON: There’s a pincushion on the top.
STEVEN: Yeah, and you put all your accoutrements inside.
JERSEY JON: This is probably 1810 to 1830.
STEVEN: Really. Earlier than I thought.
JERSEY JON: This is pre-Industrial Age furniture.
JERSEY JON: This is the earliest sewing thing
you’ve got in here, man. Early American furniture.
STEVEN: The only one who truly loved this piece was my wife.
JERSEY JON: Does she still love the piece?
STEVEN: She loves this piece. JERSEY JON: She still loves the piece?
STEVEN: Yeah. JERSEY JON: This is worth 650.
JERSEY JON: Maybe $700. But your wife’s gotta be...
the one who gotta say yes or no on this.
STEVEN: She wanted a few things. JERSEY JON: This is her piece.
STEVEN: Yeah. JERSEY JON: You know, love to buy it.
If you talk to your wife and it ever becomes available, I’m your guy.
STEVEN: 100%. JERSEY JON: Okay?
STEVEN: Yeah. Happy wife, happy life.
JERSEY JON: That’s what they say.
STEVEN: Is that true?
STEVEN: I thought it was 1860s to 1880s.
And he schooled me on that.
Good education.
JERSEY JON: Man, this is so wonderful.
STEVEN: So that makes me 1851 Howe, the first machine...
JERSEY JON: That’s an early machine.
STEVEN: This is supposedly one of the first in the world.
This is what we used to sell in Austria.
JERSEY JON: Oh no kidding. STEVEN: Yeah.
JERSEY JON: This sewing machine is unusual
because it’s very early.
It’s one of the first sewing machines invented,
made by Elias Howe.
STEVEN: Is that butter? JERSEY JON: It is butter.
STEVEN: Is that butter? It doesn’t get better than that.
STEVEN: Look at the engine turning on the early pieces.
JERSEY JON: Is that for sale?
STEVEN: I don’t know, I would never replace it.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, it would be impossible to replace.
JERSEY JON: It’s working, in nice condition.
You know, right in Steve’s shop.
It’s a great piece.
MIKE: What about this other piece
I saw over here?
This plant stand.
How long have you had that?
STEVEN: Ah, that’s been here a while. Yeah.
MIKE: Yeah. I was going to say, that looks Victorian Era to me.
STEVEN: Yeah, Mom used to put cactuses and stuff on there.
MIKE: Yeah, exactly. So obviously condition’s everything,
but you know, there’s a lot of it that can be tweaked.
You know, nobody’s looking for perfection or anything, but...
STEVEN: It has a look to it.
MIKE: Yeah, there’s a definite look to it.
I think Victorian Era.
STEVEN: This has been here since before me.
MIKE: Really. STEVEN: Yeah. Long time.
MIKE: Wow.
MIKE: This is a great early
Victorian plant stand.
It’s an interesting piece because it’s very simple,
but it’s also very complex.
When you look at it, the way it’s made.
MIKE: Would you sell that?
STEVEN: Yes.
MIKE: 175 bucks.
STEVEN: 175 bucks...
MIKE: Yeah, I’ll put 3-and-a-quarter on it,
and someone’s going to kick me to 275 to 300.
STEVEN: I don’t know, bring it up a little.
MIKE: Alright, 180.
STEVEN: I don’t know,
it’s a piece of my family’s history.
(Mike chuckles)
STEVEN: It’s my legacy, this is my inheritance!
(laughs)
STEVEN: This is my... my nest egg.
This is... How am I going to retire with 100...
MIKE: Okay, 185. It’s not in good shape.
STEVEN: Make it 2.
MIKE: Yeah, I’ll make it 190, we both feel good about it.
STEVEN: I could see my mom gently watering the cacti.
(chuckles) STEVEN: Telling me,
you know what she’s telling me? MIKE: What?
STEVEN: Don’t sell it for 190.
MIKE: Ah! STEVEN: Get two.
MIKE: Okay 195.
Make me feel good.
Make me feel like I got something out of it.
STEVEN: Alright, I’ll do it.
MIKE: Okay, I appreciate you, man.
STEVEN: You got a piece of Hecht history.
MIKE: Thank you. You got something to cut that, don’t ya?
I think you got a pocket knife on you, don’t ya?
Okay, there you go. See if it works.
STEVEN: Any piece of metal you pick up here
that’s supposed to cut,
is going to be like a razor...
except this.
(laughs)
STEVEN: It’s a piece that’s been here for a good 50 years.
When the shop is empty and there’s room,
I put plants on it.
MIKE: Alright, we’re going to carry this out of here.
Here we go.
MIKE: Steven’s family’s skillset, contribution,
hard work, is the reason they’ve become an institution.
A legacy. And one of the foundations
of the American garment industry.
JERSEY JON: Cool. MIKE: Alright.
JERSEY JON: Thank you so much, dude.
STEVEN: Alright, it’s a pleasure. Nice to see ya.
MIKE: Hey seriously, thanks for sharing your family’s history.
JERSEY JON: And also, thanks for letting us come back.
JERSEY JON: I mean, let me come back.
STEVEN: Yeah. You’re lucky I let you in.
JERSEY JON: I appreciate-- I’m glad you remembered me.
MIKE: Hey, Jersey. STEVEN: Yeah, a little bit.
MIKE: You’re with me. JERSEY JON: Yeah, right.
STEVEN: We’ve been doing this for three generations,
130-somewhat years,
through war, through Depression,
through death.
We come in the next day,
put the key in the lock, and get it done.
JERSEY JON: Thanks a lot, buddy. STEVEN: Alright. Safe ride.
JERSEY JON: Save a shekel for me sometime, man.
STEVEN: Sweet pickings.
JERSEY JON: Alright, sweet pickings to you.
STEVEN: I have to tell you, I do rub this every day.
(crew laughing) I love this chunk of metal.
CREW MEMBER: I do, I knew it. STEVEN: Yeah.
STEVEN: Exactly. MIKE: Alright, I feel like
I’m on Home Shopping Network. (laughs)
STEVEN: So in addition to being...
JERSEY JON: Hey, it’s a fascinating machine,
you know what I’m saying? Hey!
STEVEN: The only one who truly loved this piece was my wife.
(STEVEN’S WIFE): Yes, it’s mine. JERSEY JON: Ha!
STEVEN: Add a little psychedelic to that.
MIKE: Okay, I got you.
STEVEN: Add more... Add a bissel of psychedelic.
(laughs) STEVEN: Not a little. A bissel.