MIKE: Jersey, here's the deal. It's like your favorite tool.
If I came over your place and I'm like wanting to borrow
your favorite tool, you probably wouldn't let me.
JERSEY JON: No, I would not. MIKE: And if you did let me,
you'd be giving me a tutorial on like how to handle it.
JERSEY JON: Absolutely. MIKE: Okay, so when you ask
to drive the van, dude,
this is a bigger van than you're used to.
JERSEY JON: No, it's not. MIKE: It's taller. It's longer.
JERSEY JON: No, it's not. MIKE: This is bigger than your van.
This is way bigger than your van.
JERSEY JON: No, it's not. MIKE: Yes, it is!
MIKE: Oh my gosh, I've seen your van.
JERSEY JON: I've got the 2500. It's the same...
MIKE: You don't even have a high roof.
JERSEY JON: Yes, I do have a high roof.
I walk through the whole thing. MIKE: How tall are you?
JERSEY JON: I'm 5'10". MIKE: Oh, that ain't high roof.
JERSEY JON: What are you, 5'11"?
(phone rings)
MIKE: Dani D, what's up?
DANIELLE: Good morning, boys, how you doing?
JERSEY JON: Good morning! MIKE: What's going on?
DANIELLE: Oh, you know, keeping the shop in order,
doing Danielle stuff. MIKE: Uh-huh, good, good, good.
DANIELLE: Actually, this pick is for Mr. Jon Sazlay.
MIKE: Saladzay, who's that? JERSEY JON: Saladay?
DANIELLE: Sazlay. JERSEY JON: Who is that? Is he in the payroll?
DANIELLE: It's Sazlay, right? JERSEY JON: Dani, it's pronounced
za-lay. Szalay. S-Z.
DANIELLE: I don't know how to pronounce your name, I apologize.
JERSEY JON: Hungarian. MIKE: The Hungarian Oak.
JERSEY JON: Hungarian Oak. Ooh, ooh, ooh.
DANIELLE: Okay, anyway. This call is for Jon Szalay.
MIKE: Okay, I'm worried already. What is it?
DANIELLE: Jon, I'm sending you to meet Susie.
MIKE: What about me? DANIELLE: I'm gonna get to you.
Not everything is about you right now.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, really, Mike. DANIELLE: Susie's father, Bob,
was a jack of all trades. JERSEY JON: Cool.
DANIELLE: And he practically has an entire museum of tools.
MIKE: Ohh! JERSEY JON: Yes!
DANIELLE: Old school vintage antique tools.
JERSEY JON: Yes! I'm gonna love this!
DANIELLE: Dude's got player pianos. He's got cameras.
MIKE: I like cameras. JERSEY JON: Cameras are cool.
DANIELLE: See? Now we're getting to the Mike territory.
See, I never forget about you. (laughter)
MIKE: Okay. JERSEY JON: All right.
DANIELLE: They've even got a couple of trucks
that they just might be interested in selling.
JERSEY JON: All right, cool. DANIELLE: Unfortunately,
Susie's dad passed a couple years ago.
JERSEY JON: Aw. DANIELLE: They've already started going through
the collection. I mean, the neighborhood is actually
really still fond of the museum.
Lots of folks still come and visit it.
JERSEY JON: Oh, it's a museum? DANIELLE: It's like a private
personal museum,
like a collection that's displayed.
MIKE: That's cool. DANIELLE: But then there are parts
that are just like piles of collections.
I mean, that's nice. That's diggable.
JERSEY JON: Okay. MIKE: Okay.
DANIELLE: I would say 80 % of it is tools.
So, Jon, you're going to have a very good time.
JERSEY JON: Yeah! Maybe I'll find my Stanley
number one finally. (laughing)
MIKE: Oh, Danielle. JERSEY JON: My dream tool
could be in this collection, Dani.
DANIELLE: Aw, Jon, you're my favorite tool.
You're like a Swiss Army knife,
you know? I can't live without you.
JERSEY JON: Yes, I'm a tool, that's for sure.
MIKE: Yeah, you are a big tool. JERSEY JON: I get used a lot.
DANIELLE: Anyway, listen, they're expecting you guys.
They'll meet you out back. I'll shoot you the coordinates right now.
MIKE: All right, thanks, Dani. JERSEY JON: Thank you, Dani.
DANIELLE: All right, bye-bye.
MIKE: All right, here's the deal, Jersey.
You look at the tools.
If there's any anvils there, they're mine.
JERSEY JON: No. (Mike laughs)
JERSEY JON: No, no. That's not how it's going down, dude.
(upbeat music)
MIKE: All right, here it is. JERSEY JON: Interesting.
MIKE: Yeah. Grab a flyer, dude.
JERSEY JON: Yeah. (honking)
MIKE: Hey! ROD: Howdy.
JERSEY JON: Hey, what's going on?
MIKE: Man, this is like the last little piece
of heaven here, it looks like.
JERSEY JON: How are you? I'm Jon.
SUSIE: Susie. JERSEY JON: Hi, Susie. Nice to meet you.
SUSIE: Nice to meet you. ROD: I'm Rod.
JERSEY JON: Rod. Nice to meet you.
MIKE: How long has this house been here?
SUSIE: Since '59. Across the street was cattle.
JERSEY JON: So this was big farm country.
JERSEY JON: But this is stuff we're looking for.
MIKE: Right there, it says Fords, '36 Fords.
SUSIE: Uh-huh. (laughter)
MIKE: What's going on with that?
When's the last time this was driven?
JERSEY JON: Yeah, this is cool. SUSIE: So...
ROD: Two years ago, about.
SUSIE: It was my dad's last project.
MIKE: '33s and the '34s were beautiful trucks,
but they were built like tractors
and they rode like tractors.
'35 and '36 is where Ford planted the flag
with the truck. I mean, this is basically
the beginning of the F-100 series.
MIKE: Your father restored this?
SUSIE: He did. He was probably 85.
JERSEY JON: Whoa, really? He did this in what,
you say his 80s? SUSIE: Yeah.
SUSIE: It was quite a project for a man that age
to completely do a frame off.
I mean, he took the whole thing apart
and painted it and put it all back together again.
MIKE: So this is something you wanna keep
because your dad restored it?
SUSIE: I'd say we think about it.
MIKE: Okay. ROD: But we got a lot of stuff.
JERSEY JON: Dani said there's tools.
ROD: We have a nice museum
with a lot, a lot of tools. SUSIE: Lots of tools.
MIKE: I know, I mean I can see him gritting his teeth.
JERSEY JON: I know! MIKE: I can see he's gritting his teeth over there.
Jersey's been so patient so far.
SUSIE: My dad passed away September 4th, 2022,
and my mom passed away September 8th of 2022.
And I just kind of sat there with it all
and then it just kind of reached the point where, like,
you can't keep all of this stuff.
JERSEY JON: Oh! Man, it is packed in here.
SUSIE: I'm very sentimental. So it is kind of hard
to let their things go.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, this is great.
JERSEY JON: It's really an interesting display.
There's a butcher section. There's a mechanic section.
There's a section on railroad building.
Each trade had its own tools,
whether you were a stonemason or a carpenter.
The tools are different, and here they all are.
MIKE: So have you guys thought about what you're going to keep
in here? Does he have a lot of friends
that collected tools as well?
SUSIE: All of his friends are dead.
MIKE: All his friends? How old was he when he passed?
SUSIE: He was 92. MIKE: Really? Wow.
JERSEY JON: Nice long life. ROD: Yeah, long life.
MIKE: You know what? I'm 60 and I still have my mom.
SUSIE: You're lucky. MIKE: And it's pretty awesome.
So for you to have your father until he was 92, wow.
SUSIE: There are still people that like to come and look at it.
He used to have a fourth-grade class
from the Lutheran school that would come every year.
Like little red hat society ladies.
MIKE: Uh-huh. SUSIE: People around know about it.
JERSEY JON: You guys are kind of a local legend.
Visually, it's interesting, but also it shows the way
that things were done. That's what tools are about.
SUSIE: Yeah. JERSEY JON: It's part of how we built America.
MIKE: So many collectors are obviously passionate
about collecting.
But when you add that educator gene to it,
that's when the small museums start popping up.
FRANK: Whoa! Oh my gosh. MIKE: Dang.
MIKE: In school, we learn world history.
We learn national history.
But when do we learn about local history,
community history, the thing that ties all of us together?
WOMAN: This is a homegrown museum
that started about 50 years ago.
MIKE: We learn about that from historical societies
or guys creating these museums.
JERSEY JON: There's a mystery tool there.
SUSIE: That is a mystery tool. JERSEY JON: What is it for?
I don't even know! I don't know.
Somebody's got to know what it is.
MIKE: It's hard to stump this guy on tools.
JERSEY JON: I'm looking for a Stanley number one.
You got one of them around here?
I'd love to find one one day. I've not found one yet.
MIKE: All I keep hearing about this the Stanley number one.
JERSEY JON: It's like a legend. MIKE: Yeah, it's like looking--
JERSEY JON: It's a little tiny jack plane that fits
in the palm of your hand. It's so cute.
MIKE: Trust me, if your dad had one, he'd be showing it off.
It'd probably be in a case with a light on it, Jersey.
JERSEY JON: Like a big halo around it.
MIKE: Jersey, check this out.
JERSEY JON: Whoa, that's beautiful.
That is gorgeous. Why's it got four lenses on it, though?
JERSEY JON: I love these large studio cameras.
They're beautifully constructed out of mahogany and brass,
and they're shiny, and they're instruments of science.
MIKE: "Coating the plate, taking the picture,
and developing the image had to be accomplished
with the collodion process."
JERSEY JON: This one camera with the four lenses, it's from 1858.
That's amazing that they had something
that technological at that time period.
MIKE: Is this something you'd sell?
SUSIE: No. That's a hard no. MIKE: Okay.
SUSIE: Daddy rebuilt player pianos
and refinished furniture, and these cameras
belonged to one of the very first photographers
in the city of Fort Worth. MIKE: Okay.
SUSIE: The photographer had one daughter,
and she had a player piano she wanted redone.
And so my dad swapped her
for all of her dad's photographic equipment
for doing her player piano.
MIKE: There's something about places like this
that directly connects all of us together.
So this is a very important part of the community.
MIKE: So what's going on here? He's got razor blades,
he's got some barber stuff, some hair tonics.
SUSIE: You know what? ROD: It's that pharmaceutical stuff.
MIKE: There's glass display cases,
and it's mercantile, general store,
photography. He's all over the place.
ROD: That's a drill.
JERSEY JON: Oh yeah, right. Can you imagine that?
Like, going to the dentist and him pulling this out?
ROD: I couldn't. (laughter)
JERSEY JON: You know? (imitates drill noise)
MIKE: This is the type of museum,
it's not if you're going to find something
you're connected to, it's when.
MIKE: Was this his when he was a kid?
SUSIE: I have no idea.
MIKE: It's got Indian on it.
And they call this a swivel head,
where the head actually moves on it.
That's been repainted over there,
so this wheel has been off at some point time.
JERSEY JON: Are those the original wheels?
MIKE: And you can see this rear axle's been replaced.
JERSEY JON: That's new. MIKE: That's new, but here's a break
in it right here. See that piece is gone.
JERSEY JON: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. MIKE: Cast-iron breaks so easy.
I mean, for a kid, if somebody had this
and they just dropped it or moved it, it would break.
JERSEY JON: But it's original paint.
MIKE: It's a great toy,
it's a great size, but the thing with cast-iron
or any toys with toy collectors,
it's like condition, condition, condition.
MIKE: Is this something you'd sell?
SUSIE: Yeah, probably. MIKE: Okay, so in this condition,
this break, this new axle,
these tires that have been replaced at one point in time,
if it didn't have all that stuff, it'd be 600 bucks.
JERSEY JON: Mm-hmm. SUSIE: Wow.
MIKE: But now that it's got this break and all this other stuff,
the retail on it's like $250 to $300.
So I'd do two and a quarter.
SUSIE: I'd do two and a quarter.
JERSEY JON: Yeah? ROD: Yeah, let's do that.
JERSEY JON: Awesome. All right, cool.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. MIKE: I appreciate it.
MIKE: I'm excited that I found this toy because it's showing me
that there's a lot more sides to her father
than just collecting tools.
MIKE: And then he's got this toy. Isn't that cool?
JERSEY JON: Yeah, it's a Lehman.
MIKE: So Lehman German toys,
as far as like high quality toy collectors,
the European toys were so much more advanced
than the American toys.
MIKE: Lehman started making toys in Germany in the 1880s,
but they didn't start exporting them to the U.S.
until around the turn of the century.
JERSEY JON: The tin is like a lighter gauge.
They were able to do more with it.
The paint work was nicer.
MIKE: A toy like this would have been sold
at a high-end retailer in a larger city.
MIKE: In this condition,
this is around between three and four hundred dollars.
SUSIE: Oh wow. JERSEY JON: Yeah.
MIKE: You know, the retail on it.
SUSIE: I know nothing about toys.
JERSEY JON: Yeah. MIKE: Um...
You know, a couple hundred bucks.
SUSIE: Uh, can you do 225 maybe?
MIKE: Okay. JERSEY JON: Yeah.
MIKE: And I will. JERSEY JON: Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. That's great. Cool.
(phone rings)
ROB: What up, Dani D?
DANIELLE: Good morning, my sweet lone wolf.
How you doing? ROB: I know. It feels pretty
good being out here, the lone wolf on the road.
And the sun is shining.
DANIELLE: Ooh, I love that for you. Now listen,
I'm going to send you to Bob and Cheryl.
Now, Bob has been collecting for almost 50 years.
But they have been collecting together for 15
and have filled up a house,
garage, and an outbuilding,
all packed with advertising.
ROB: Wow. I like all that,
everything you're saying.
And I appreciate this lead.
So send me the coordinates. I'm looking forward to it.
DANIELLE: All right honey. Hey, have fun.
ROB: Thank you. I'm gonna send some sunshine your way.
DANIELLE: Ugh, please do.
(upbeat music)
(honking)
ROB: You Bob? BOB: Hey, how's it going?
ROB: Good. Rob Wolfe,
you talked to Danielle on the phone?
BOB: Yes. Yes. All right.
ROB: You said you got quite the collection of stuff.
BOB: Oh, looks like a little bit of everything.
ROB: Anybody that's got land like this,
you can have all kinds of good stuff here.
BOB: Yeah. ROB: I mean, what's up with the Gulf?
BOB: Planning on one day, set it up.
ROB: How long has this thing been sitting here?
BOB: Oh, a couple years. ROB: Dude, you got a bucket truck here.
BOB: Yeah, well, that'll help a little bit.
But you won't really believe the stuff
that I find when you're in the air
working on the power lines.
ROB: You can see everybody's backyard.
BOB: You can see everybody's yard.
You can see stuff on top of buildings.
ROB: I was gonna say, you ever find any signs on top of roofs?
BOB: Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
BOB: I worked for a cable company for 32 years.
Sometimes you're in a bucket up on the pole working on lines.
You can see a lot of stuff.
So that's where I find a good bit of my stuff.
ROB: Man, I love what you got going on here.
This is awesome. What's up with the Mustang?
BOB: Well, I've had it for two or three years now.
ROB: Dude, this thing looks... Wow!
BOB: I love showing off that Mustang. That is my baby.
BOB: It's stupid fast. It's got 351 original motor
bumped up to a 408. It's got a lot of horse.
BOB: That was my retirement present
to myself when I retired.
ROB: How much horsepower? BOB: Uh, 640.
It'll sit you in the back seat.
(laughter) ROB: You gotta love that.
Dude, you got everything in here.
BOB: Little bit of everything. ROB: Yeah!
What in here is for sale?
BOB: I'm taking offers on anything.
ROB: I see this fishtail up here.
BOB: Yeah, I think he does have a little crack
on the top left-hand corner. ROB: I see.
Actually, it's in the bottom right here.
BOB: Oh, is it the bottom? Okay.
I've had that in probably about 10 years.
I got it from a friend of mine, Greg.
ROB: You know, Lexan started around 1947.
You know, this sign probably
looking at, is late 50s, early 60s.
ROB: You know, they call that the fishtail.
BOB: Yeah. You don't see those too often.
ROB: The fishtail came out around 1958 for Coca-Cola.
ROB: I love the fact that it's embossed.
ROB: It's one of the most iconic soda signs there is to buy.
ROB: Actually, I love the can on that thing.
It's actually cool. BOB: Yeah.
ROB: It lights up.
It's in great shape. It's got the case.
ROB: Do you know if the ballast has been changed in this?
BOB: Don't know. ROB: Is it for sale?
BOB: It's for sale.
(exhaling)
ROB: Can you do 600 bucks?
BOB: Mm, 650.
ROB: 625 because it's got the crack.
BOB: Sold. ROB: All right.
(laughs) BOB: I think I paid somewhere
around 350 for it.
So pretty much double over the years.
So I'm very happy.
ROB: All right. Like that. Appreciate it.
SUSIE: Well, let's take a look at one of the pianos he restored.
MIKE: Okay. SUSIE: They all still work.
JERSEY JON: I'd love to see it. MIKE: Look at this one, Jersey.
SUSIE: This one was not originally a player piano.
MIKE: Okay. Did he convert it? ROD: He made it.
MIKE: Okay. SUSIE: He did.
JERSEY JON: He made this? ROD: He made it, yeah.
JERSEY JON: He put the player mechanism in here?
MIKE: And he did all this? SUSIE: Yeah.
JERSEY JON: So all this is all part of the same instrument?
SUSIE: Mm-hmm. ROD: One, two, three, go.
(upbeat piano melody)
(laughing) JERSEY JON: Yeah!
JERSEY JON: That was amazing!
(whistling)
JERSEY JON: Bravo. That was... I mean, he built this thing.
SUSIE: Yeah. JERSEY JON: I don't know anybody
who's ever built a player piano before.
JERSEY JON: This guy obviously was a genius.
To make a player piano, it was an amazing thing to do.
They had an electric motor that pumped air
through all these reeds and whistles and bells.
JERSEY JON: That's great.
JERSEY JON: They were mechanical wonders.
MIKE: Did he share with you guys the value of these?
SUSIE: He kind of felt like these were not that valuable
anymore because people just weren't that interested in them.
MIKE: Well, I mean, the people that are collecting this stuff
unfortunately are aging out. SUSIE: Right.
MIKE: I mean, not to say that there's not a market for them
because there's a market, I think, for everything.
SUSIE: Probably. MIKE: But most dealers
won't mess with something like this
because they're so mechanical.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, if something goes wrong, it's hard to fix.
MIKE: And to find someone to do it
because those guys like your Pops are just passing,
you know, and all that knowledge goes with them, you know.
SUSIE: The pianos, those are kind of
almost an albatross. What do you do with them?
JERSEY JON: Cob organ.
(cob organ plays)
JERSEY JON: This is like a miniature version
of what all's going on here.
This is like the first player piano or organ.
This is probably, you know, 1890s or so.
It's got the bellows in it. Same idea behind all this stuff.
The reason they call it a cob is that
it looks like a corn cob. You stick it in there
and all these little pins, you know, made a little thing work.
JERSEY JON: The second you look at a cob organ,
it paints a picture in your mind
of its historical significance.
If you're going to cross country in a Conestoga wagon,
you could bring your cob organ.
It doesn't get much better than that.
It's like the boombox of 1890.
JERSEY JON: Would this be something you'd be
thinking about selling? SUSIE: Um. I don't know.
What do you think it's worth?
JERSEY JON: This one, he's worked on this one.
It's like a restored cob organ.
The more cob's you have, the more the price goes up.
Sometimes the cob's are worth more than what the organ is.
SUSIE: Yeah. JERSEY JON: So you've got
two cob's here, one on the machine.
So retail on something like this, you know, 400, 450.
SUSIE: Okay, how about 300?
JERSEY JON: I was thinking more like 275.
SUSIE: Uh... I'll do 275. JERSEY JON: You'll do 275?
SUSIE: Yep. JERSEY JON: All right, great.
You have a lot to find today. Thank you. Woo!
JERSEY JON: What I love about this cob organ the most
is that it was restored by Bob.
(horn blows)
(Susie laughs)
MIKE: Susie, how much for this light?
SUSIE: I have no idea. Where did you find it?
MIKE: It's down here, bottom shelf.
It's beautiful because,
look, that's copper, and then this is brass.
SUSIE: Okay. MIKE: So is this.
It's industrial. It could be nautical.
MIKE: Industrial lighting has been so hot for so long
that they've been reproducing it now for a very long time.
But when you find an original piece,
the way it's manufactured, it's so overbuilt,
it's built to stand the test of time.
MIKE: 75 bucks.
SUSIE: How about 100?
MIKE: How about 85?
SUSIE: All right.
MIKE: Okay, thanks. I love it.
ROB: So what's going on with this neon sign
that's behind you? I'm a neon freaking guru.
BOB: I've had it probably three, four years, maybe five years.
ROB: So I mean, this is a big neon.
What was the plan for it? Are you gonna put this in your house?
BOB: Well, I was actually going to put it on the wall back here.
But there's so much stuff. ROB: That's a big chore.
BOB: It's kind of changed a little bit.
(laughs) BOB: I was told it came off an old coral machine.
It flashes red, white, and blue. ROB: Does it work?
BOB: Yes. ROB: Can we plug it in?
BOB: Yes.
It's a little slow, but it does flash.
ROB: Does it get going faster? BOB: It does go a little faster.
Yes. There's the red
and then it comes up to the white and then the blue.
ROB: Remember that ketchup commercial?
BOB: Yes. ROB: The anticipation?
BOB: Yeah. ROB: That's what I'm feeling right now.
(laughs)
ROB: It's got to have a mechanism in it.
You could turn it up so it would flash faster.
BOB: Yeah, I did look in there to try to find that at one time,
but I didn't know what I was doing. So I left it alone.
ROB: So you never took this all completely apart?
BOB: No.
ROB: I'm trying to figure out why they would put it so slow.
ROB: A chaser is a mechanism that's installed in the back
of a neon sign to make the movement faster or slower.
ROB: If this was at a carnival, it would be going really fast.
Yeah, they're actually exposed, man.
I don't need to be zapped.
BOB: Nah, me neither. (laughs)
BOB: I get enough of that at work.
ROB: It's weird that it doesn't have a box.
ROB: I can't find the chaser. It's not inside the sign.
I don't even want to get in this sign
because whoever wired it, wired it wrong.
ROB: You know, the value in this thing is like...
This thing was an attraction back in the day.
So the faster it would move, it would catch your eye.
BOB: Yeah. ROB: I've seen a lot of neon signs.
I mean, this thing is kind of an oddball.
ROB: It half looks like an arrow.
ROB: Almost looks like half of an arrow
or half of a shooting star
that's missing other pieces to it.
ROB: They repainted this piece
down here on that porcelain. I don't know why.
ROB: I'm trying to figure out when he said it was part
of a carnival, how it was used,
because there's other pieces missing.
BOB: I'm open. ROB: I know. I'm thinking.
BOB: Let's hear your number.
ROB: Honestly, I'm thinking a thousand bucks.
BOB: Yeah, um,
I got a little bit more than that into it.
ROB: I'm interested in this thing
and I know how to do the work on it.
I'm just not sure I want to go the extra mile on it.
BOB: Well, let's make a bundle.
ROB: What else you wanna show me?
BOB: We got a couple over there.
We got some over here. ROB: Let me see what you got over here.
MIKE: You guys have decided that you're gonna keep
a lot of this intact.
So, how much of it are you gonna sell
and how much of it are you gonna keep?
SUSIE: I would be willing to sell some of it.
To me, those are kind of very similar.
MIKE: Yeah. SUSIE: With my dad,
if one was good, five was better.
So we had plenty of similar cameras.
MIKE: This one, the case isn't in great shape.
The leather's kind of getting tore up on it.
MIKE: Any camera with a leather bellows,
we can sell, no matter what size it is.
MIKE: So these...
MIKE: Because people are using them
for an aesthetic, it creates this, like,
worldly traveled aspect to any room.
MIKE: This is a camera I could probably get 300 bucks for.
MIKE: But the other larger camera
with a flash attachment was built for professional use.
I mean, this would have been something that you'd see
like somebody working in the press. It's very cool.
MIKE: 25 bucks for this. SUSIE: Okay. And...
MIKE: 30 for that. SUSIE: 30 for that.
MIKE: 35 for this. SUSIE: Okay.
MIKE: 225. So...
SUSIE: 315 for all of them. MIKE: Yeah.
SUSIE: 325, and we're good.
MIKE: Okay. (laughs)
SUSIE: Perfect, thank you.
MIKE: Thank you, I appreciate it.
SUSIE: Oh, I got some cameras. MIKE: No, I love this though.
I mean this is the kind of stuff, seriously,
I mean, that's what people are putting on their shelves.
SUSIE: Yeah, I'm in real estate, so I work with stagers
all the time, so I see things like this
used for decoration a lot. MIKE: Yeah, absolutely.
All right, very cool. I love it.
JERSEY JON: Hey, Rod. ROD: Yeah?
JERSEY JON: Oh, I got some stuff I want to show you.
I've been digging around back here.
It's a little gold mine for me. ROD: Nice.
JERSEY JON: I found some great books.
And these two things are fantastic.
Look at these babies.
It's like a piano tuner's touch up kit.
ROD: Oh, wow. JERSEY JON: Isn't that great?
And furniture refinishers use the same thing.
This is probably from the '30s and '40s.
This is actually the tuner's kit.
Look. That would tighten the strings on the piano.
ROD: Okay. JERSEY JON: Tuning fork.
(fork dings)
JERSEY JON: You can hear it.
And then if you had problems with the finish on the piano,
this is all the touch-up stuff.
ROD: The fact that Jon was so excited about it
and knew what they were, and they were tools that he had used before,
we know that Susie's dad used them.
And that was nice to see that connection there.
JERSEY JON: And I also found these great books.
Furniture Finishing, Decoration and Patching.
And its old, 1795 to 1840.
That is cool. And then this one,
How to Repair Musical Boxes.
You can't find that information on the internet.
JERSEY JON: I started my business pre-internet.
I had to learn these things
from books like this
and whatever mentorship I could get.
JERSEY JON: Is this something you want to sell?
ROD: Yeah, I think we'd sell it.
JERSEY JON: So the kit,
complete like that, it's probably about
$125 to $130 retail on this kit.
And then this thing's not so much
because the chemicals are gone. It's just more of like
a decoration in somebody's shop or something like that.
That might be worth like $50.
And the books, they're another $30 or $40.
I'd go $150 on the group.
ROD: Yeah, we'll do 150. JERSEY JON: You'll do that?
ROD: Yeah. JERSEY JON: Hey, listen, I also found something back there.
ROB: What else you got to look at?
BOB: This car show I take my Mustang to,
the car shows every now and then.
Actually starting to put a few signs on the walls.
Just haven't been able to finish it yet.
ROB: Oh, yeah. Heck yeah.
BOB: So there's a few in here. I'm getting started.
ROB: Do you want to sell some of this stuff?
Whatever you want to keep... BOB: I'll sell a few of them.
ROB: I got to ask about this Pure Twin sign.
It looks to me like that was a pump plate.
So these were two different types of gasoline for Pure.
BOB: Found that one in an old barn.
BOB: I found those together.
I had to crawl in a whole bunch of crap
to get to them, but I got to them.
BOB: I've seen that one before,
but I've never seen this one before.
ROB: Pure Oil Company started around 1895 in Pennsylvania
as an independent. The Tiolene brand
was their brand of oil that they pushed.
Around 1914, they moved to Ohio
and became a branded company there,
and they pushed pure gasoline.
ROB: The Pure and the Pure together.
750.
BOB: 800.
Let's close it.
(Rob laughs)
ROB: How do know you got me already?
We've been spending too much time together today.
All right? BOB: Oh, Lord.
ROB: What's the condition of this thing?
BOB: It's about the same condition on the other side.
Pretty cool sign. I've had this one probably 10 years.
ROB: Yeah, it's got a great art deco hanger
that goes above this and attaches to that.
That's a really hard hanger to find.
ROB: When they actually produced these signs,
the ornate bracket was made by the same company.
BOB: I paid up for it. ROB: Yeah.
Well, hit me with a number.
BOB: 3,000.
ROB: I tell you what. I appreciate you throwing a number at it.
ROB: Can I think a little bit about it
and see what else you got? BOB: Yeah.
Well, let's go inside the house.
BOB: You might want to take a look at this garage area.
This is just where I keep all my stuff
before it goes into the house.
ROB: Yeah? So a two car garage with all the stuff that goes in?
BOB: I don't ever put any cars in here. Never have.
ROB: Are you kidding me? They're like stacked up
in here like cordwood, man. BOB: Yeah. Little dune buggy.
ROB: Wow. BOB: When I first get something,
it goes to the garage first.
It eventually comes in the house one day.
(laughs) My daughter Hannah
decorates the house with all the signs.
ROB: What's up with the Winchester sign right here?
BOB: I don't really know where it come from.
ROB: What do value it at? BOB: 25.
ROB: It's kind of faded out. BOB: I know, it looks like
it was hanging outside.
ROB: So did the hanger come with it? BOB: Yes.
ROB: Winchester was the brand that won the West.
And Western was the brand itself
that was the ammunition.
So when these guys partnered together
and they stayed partnered from the 1930s to present day,
it was Winchester Western.
ROB: This, what's this?
BOB: I bought it off of a guy but...
didn't know that much about it.
ROB: Oh, oh, oh, oh! BOB: Oh.
ROB: It's French, right? BOB: Got it at a yard sale.
It is French.
BOB: Whether it's a French sign
or American sign,
I love them all.
ROB: So what's it say on there?
ROB: You know I really don't understand what the sign
says on it, but I do understand
that it's got a guy sitting on a keg drinking a beer.
Everybody understands that language.
ROB: The Winchester and this sign right here.
BOB: Yeah.
Uh...
2500.
ROB: 23.
BOB: 2350.
(laughing) ROB: Wow, that was quick!
ROB: I got stuck on that for 50! All right.
ROB: If you see something that you've never seen before,
you buy it.
SUSIE: There are two things that defeated my dad.
MIKE: Okay. SUSIE: That jukebox.
MIKE: You mean as far as him being able to fix it?
SUSIE: He could not fix it. And he gave up.
And then he had a player baby grand piano.
And that defeated him too.
And the player baby grand, he got so mad,
he dug a hole in the back and buried it.
MIKE: Get out of here! Just to get it out of his mind?
SUSIE: He never wanted to see it again.
MIKE: Off his bench and out of his mind.
MIKE: So if it defeated him, is this something you'd sell?
SUSIE: Yeah, absolutely. MIKE: Okay, well it's 1962.
It's what they call a model 2600.
MIKE: All of these jukeboxes are reflective
of the time period. It's industrial art.
MIKE: This has got great colors.
The chrome on the front is nice.
It almost has like a 1960s car look to it.
You know what I mean? It's very futuristic.
MIKE: At first glance, it's like Austin Powers
meets James Bond. It's 1962.
It's got a little bit of an Impala look to it.
It's made to grab your attention
to make you want to spend some money.
MIKE: Condition-wise, obviously, if it whooped his butt,
there's something seriously wrong with it.
I mean, because I feel like he probably got into it.
You know what I mean? SUSIE: He did.
But he had never done a jukebox. This was the one and only.
MIKE: Okay. In this condition,
I'd pay about 400 bucks, you know.
I would sell this to somebody that's gonna repair it.
SUSIE: Yeah. MIKE: And then they would sell it.
SUSIE: Yeah. MIKE: I could probably get...
six, six and a half out of it.
SUSIE: Um...
How about 5?
MIKE: How about 450?
SUSIE: I'll do 450. MIKE: Want to do that?
SUSIE: Yeah. Absolutely. MIKE: Okay, cool.
SUSIE: The jukebox, it was like moving on down the road.
MIKE: All right, cool.
ROB: Dude, what is up with this?
Did you like take this off the building?
BOB: That one came off a building, a Southern Bell.
When they changed names, they took it off the building.
It was Southern Bell, and then Bell South. Now it's AT&T.
ROB: Is it for sale?
BOB: Uh, let me talk to the boss.
ROB: Oh, it's the boss's sign.
BOB: Boss's sign. You have to talk to her.
ROB: Can you go get her? BOB: Yeah. Yeah.
ROB: I know all the big heavy hitters
when it comes to telephone collecting.
And I guarantee you, none of them
got this thing in their house.
So that's why I gotta try and buy it.
BOB: Hey, Robbie. ROB: How are you?
CHERYL: Good, and you? BOB: This is my wife, Cheryl.
ROB: He said this is your collection, not his.
CHERYL: Exactly, it is. ROB: It is?
So I'm interested in this.
CHERYL: That has a special attachment to me
because my best friend from growing up,
my childhood best friend,
that's where she worked. She was an operator
and she's no longer here. So that's kind of...
ROB: When you look at it, you think of her.
CHERYL: Mm-hmm. ROB: It's attached to her friend.
It reminds her of her. I can understand that.
This sign needs to stay in this place.
There's so many signs here
that don't have a sentimental attachment.
ROB: How come it hasn't gotten made into the house?
CHERYL: There's no room. BOB: Because there's no room in the house.
CHERYL: I forget what we've got. You know.
ROB: I've been digging. There's a lot to be dug in here.
CHERYL: Be careful over there. Don't break or bend anything.
ROB: I know. I know. Wow, look at that!
CHERYL: Ain't that cool?
ROB: I love it, even though it's cut up.
CHERYL: I know, right? ROB: Dang!
BOB: I actually forgot about it.
I remember buying it from an old country store
that we used to ride our bicycles to.
Go play pinball, get soda pops.
ROB: What were they using it for?
It had to have been a patch or something.
BOB: They had to use it for a patch or something
on that building. ROB: They chopped off the side of it.
ROB: Man, this is a Merita Bread sign with the Lone Ranger on it.
This is the embossed version.
This is the hardest one to find.
ROB: I mean, what the heck is on there?
I mean, it's kids gum! BOB: Yeah.
(Cheryl laughs) ROB: It's your chewing gum from that day.
ROB: Merita Bread became the sponsor
of the Lone Ranger show.
When you thought of Merita Bread,
you thought of the Lone Ranger.
They used it in everything they did.
ROB: 150 bucks.
BOB: Woo!
ROB: I mean, it's chopped up! The side's chopped off.
CHERYL: How much did you pay for the last one
you bought like that?
ROB: One complete,
and this is the embossed one... CHERYL: Yeah.
ROB: I paid $4500 for it.
CHERYL: And you want to give us 150?
ROB: It's chopped up! CHERYL: You can still see the man,
Lone Ranger, and the bread,
even if it is cut off on the top right.
ROB: I like her. BOB: Hey, she is my negotiator.
ROB: Okay, so what's your number?
BOB: 600.
ROB: 400 bucks.
BOB: 550.
ROB: How come this thing ain't hung in the house?
CHERYL: There's not enough room in the house.
So if you pay us enough for that,
we'll let you go in the house and look.
ROB: 475.
CHERYL: 5.
And I'll let you in the house.
(Rob laughing) ROB: I'm doing it.
Because the entrance to the house
might be worth more than that. CHERYL: Exactly.
CHERYL: They call me The Closer. (laughs)
ROB: Dang.
Most expensive chopped up sign I ever bought.
(laughs) ROB: I'll tell you that right now.
MIKE: Jon, did you see this?
JERSEY JON: Whoa. That's a broadaxe, dude.
MIKE: I know, dude. JERSEY JON: See how the handle's curved?
ROD: We have two of those if y'all want to joust with it.
(laughter) MIKE: There's another one right here.
SUSIE: He's got everything to build a log cabin.
So that's what?
JERSEY JON: Oh, that's what all this is?
ROD: Yeah, that's all log cabin.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, this would do it, too.
This is all hand-forged.
JERSEY JON: You buy a piece of property. It's got trees on it.
You fell the trees, but you square them up
to build a building with a tool like this.
JERSEY JON: For both of them?
SUSIE: How about for one of them?
JERSEY JON: All right. 75 bucks. You keep this one.
SUSIE: Yeah, I'm good with that.
JERSEY JON: All right. MIKE: What about this umbrella?
This would have been something that would have sat
on an implement, take somebody out of the sun
into the shade. And obviously, back then,
they were putting advertising on everything.
MIKE: The ones that are more desirable are the ones that
might have a denim company on it.
This one does have saddlery and harnesses,
so a lot of horse people would be interested in this one.
But the problem with it is that whole edge is...
JERSEY JON: The condition. MIKE: It's bent.
MIKE: What better way to advertise
than on something that's utilitarian
that you have to use over and over again?
MIKE: 80 bucks.
SUSIE: How about 100?
MIKE: All right, I'll do it. I like it.
JERSEY JON: That's awesome.
MIKE: And they're getting hard to find.
I used to see these all the time.
SUSIE: I didn't think anybody would be interested in it.
That was kind of surprising.
CHERYL: Come on, Rob, I'll show you.
ROB: Wow! Holy cow!
I see some spots though that you could hang a few more things.
BOB: There's a few. There's a few.
ROB: Honestly, I think I earned my way in here.
I've got to at least try to buy something out of here.
ROB: Let me ask you this.
Are any of these clocks for sale in here?
BOB: Yes. ROB: There's a couple of them
that really, like, stood out. BOB: We're open for...
CHERYL: Negotiation. ROB: Yeah?
This Greyhound clock down here.
BOB: I can't even remember where I got it from.
ROB: It says Pam clock on the bottom.
Pam was the biggest advertising company in the world.
I mean, any of these clocks that are in here, a lot of these are Pam.
Royal Crown, Dr. Pepper, Coca-Cola, all those were.
I mean, the condition of it's amazing actually.
They always put too hot of bulbs in there.
CHERYL: Right. BOB: Yes, and it burns them.
ROB: And it burned the whole back of them.
So this one doesn't even look like it's been lit that long.
ROB: Greyhound bus is one of the most iconic bus lines
in America.
This is an advertising clock probably from the '50s or '60s.
But remember, Greyhound bus started in 1929.
ROB: How much is this Greyhound Clock?
BOB: 750.
Because it's Greyhound.
ROB: I understand that. And it's a Pam.
525.
BOB: 600.
ROB: 550.
BOB: 575. ROB: 550.
BOB: 575. ROB: I think the clock,
I'm trying to leave just a little bit left
on the back side. BOB: 560.
ROB: I think it's-- I.... okay.
All right. (laughter)
BOB: That clock's been there so long,
I'll just buy another one to replace it.
CHERYL: Yeah, he just wanted to move it.
ROB: There's one more that's here,
and because I'm a gas oil guy,
I gotta take this one off the wall here.
BOB: That's... ROB: I love the size.
BOB: You don't see them that size that often.
ROB: Pennzoil, "Sound your Z." CHERYL: Yep.
ROB: The one thing about Pennzoil is it's always about
the Z. You know, if you notice on the clock,
it's got the big Z in there,
and that's what makes this thing appealing to collectors.
ROB: Do remember where you got this from?
BOB: Uh... CHERYL: Was that Georgia?
BOB: No, that was in Tennessee somewhere.
ROB: How long ago did you get it?
CHERYL: About four years, maybe.
BOB: No, it's been a lot longer than that.
CHERYL: Has it? BOB: Yeah.
CHERYL: I lose track of time. BOB: Yeah.
ROB: See how the hand's moving on that?
BOB: Yeah. ROB: It's not the end of the world.
BOB: No. ROB: But it does deserve a little bit of a discount, Bob.
Just a little bit there. BOB: Well, talk to me.
ROB: 560.
BOB: 600.
CHERYL: 650.
BOB: She's going up on me. On you.
ROB: I was just going to say 575 and shake your hand.
BOB: Well, let's do it.
ROB: All right. BOB: Good deal.
ROB: All right. Thank you. Thank you.
BOB: Hopefully, I'm not in the doghouse.
(laughs)
JERSEY JON: Look at that. ROD: Still works.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, it still works.
It needs a foot pedal grinder.
ROD: Yeah. JERSEY JON: No electricity needed.
And there you go. Whoa, that's sharp.
ROD: It's sharp? JERSEY JON: Yeah.
MIKE: You got a couple different candlestick phones.
These are easy sells.
Somebody that wants it for an aesthetic.
Looks like you got two of them.
MIKE: I'm going to hit the general antiques
because I have a store that I got to feed all the time.
MIKE: What about that? What do you think about selling that?
SUSIE: Yeah.
MIKE: And there are certain staples. These wall phones,
candlestick phones.
JERSEY JON: Ready? MIKE: Yep.
MIKE: Brass blade fans.
MIKE: That thing's heavy.
MIKE: Brass cash registers.
This token machine from a bus.
These wooden barrels.
What I call the must-haves for the entry-level collectors.
SUSIE: How about 200 for all of them?
MIKE: All right, let's do it. SUSIE: Okay.
MIKE: 50 apiece.
150. SUSIE: I'm good with that.
MIKE: Thank you. Thank you. 300 bucks.
ROD: I'll do 325. MIKE: Okay. Let's do that.
MIKE: All of those are simple things that are easy to sell.
MIKE: All right, help me get this.
(laughter)
ROB: Can we go back and revisit
the neon and that Coca-Cola sign?
BOB: Yeah. CHERYL: Let's do it.
ROB: All right.
ROB: You know, I've still been thinking about
that neon sign and that Coca-Cola sign.
I've got one more shot at this before I get out of here.
ROB: Did you have a use for this?
CHERYL: Sure. ROB: I mean, he said
he was gonna hang it up in here, but it would look
kind of good in the house. CHERYL: Where at in the house?
(laughter) CHERYL: There's nowhere to put it.
ROB: I know. I get it. BOB: Kind of running out of room,
but it's very cool piece.
ROB: I'll tell you what.
I like the Coke sign. The one that's in the trailer.
CHERYL: You're talking about the Coke that says
Fountain Service? ROB: Yeah.
CHERYL: Okay. ROB: It's double-sided.
I took Bob's word that both sides are the same.
BOB: Mm-hmm. CHERYL: They are.
ROB: Final offer. One offer.
CHERYL: For both, right? ROB: For both.
CHERYL: Okay. BOB: Let's hear it.
CHERYL: Give it to us. ROB: 3,700.
BOB: 3,750.
ROB: I'm at 3,700.
BOB: Shake his hand. ROB: I got to rewire this.
CHERYL: Done deal. ROB: All right, appreciate it.
BOB: That was a really good number. We did very well on it.
ROB: Wow. All right.
CHERYL: I'm glad Robbie got a lot of it,
because you could just see the enthusiasm.
ROB: I'm gonna put a wood frame on that one.
It's a cool piece. I love it.
CHERYL: Just like we get enthusiastic
about stuff that we like that's different, and we buy.
CHERYL: Appreciate it. ROB: Who's this little dude?
CHERYL: This is Mary-Marie.
ROB: Mary-Marie. All right. Appreciate it.
BOB: Appreciate it. Good meeting you.
CHERYL: All good. BOB: You got a few of them.
ROB: I got a few pieces. I didn't even put a dent in it.
I can come back. BOB: Next time, there'll even be more.
CHERYL: There will. ROB: For a guy that hasn't sold
stuff in over a decade,
you just got to keep throwing darts at the wall.
You don't have to buy everything.
You just got to get a few items.
(honking) ROB: Come see us in Iowa!
CHERYL: All right. Bye! Thanks!
MIKE: Have you guys thought about the truck at all?
SUSIE: We were just talking about that.
MIKE: Can we look at it again? SUSIE: Yeah, absolutely.
MIKE: Because, I mean, he did some upgrades to it
that were pretty spot on. Jersey, where you at?
MIKE: In '35 and '36,
everything changed with Ford trucks.
I mean, they actually became trucks.
Longer wheelbase, bigger vehicle, standard V8.
MIKE: He put the Corvette engine in it or it came that way?
SUSIE: No, it came with the Vette engine.
MIKE: I mean, the firewall, to be honest with you,
for cranking that engine in there...
JERSEY JON: I know. MIKE: The firewall's pretty intact.
JERSEY JON: It's still there. MIKE: I love the front end of these things.
JERSEY JON: It's beautiful. MIKE: These '30s Ford's trucks, man.
No one's ever made you an offer on it or anything or?
SUSIE: Mm-mm. I know what he has in it.
MIKE: Yeah? SUSIE: I'm pretty sure he paid 16 for it.
MIKE: Did he really? Before he worked on it?
SUSIE: Mm-hmm. MIKE: Wow.
I was going to say 14 on it.
I mean, I'd do 15 on it.
If you got it running and slammed some tires on it
locally here, I think you could probably pull 20.
I mean, I gotta be at 15 on it
just because I gotta pay shipping. But...
SUSIE: I have some friends who can help us.
MIKE: And here's the deal too, it'd be cool...
I'm just saying, if you kinda saw it cruising down the road.
JERSEY JON: But keep it in the neighborhood.
SUSIE: Oh, people... they knew it was his.
MIKE: These trucks are hot. I mean, I don't mean to talk
you out of it, but I mean... (Susie laughs)
MIKE: Seriously, I feel like...
SUSIE: It wouldn't take a whole lot to talk me out of it.
MIKE: Yeah, see what I mean? I know, I know. I mean,
This is tremendous amount of work your Pops did to this.
ROD: Yeah, he did. MIKE: I mean a tremendous amount of work.
JERSEY JON: Anytime I see a truck like this,
the reason why it survives
is because of guys like Bob Fitzgerald.
MIKE: And he was in his 80s? ROD: Yep.
MIKE: Wow. SUSIE: He never stopped moving.
JERSEY JON: Yeah, he's got some good blood.
MIKE: I tell you what,
he's the kind of guy that sounds like Jersey and I
could just sit and talk to for hours.
SUSIE: Oh, you would've had a ball.
MIKE: We would have been a sponge.
JERSEY JON: We would've been talking all day.
MIKE: Let's load some stuff up. I love it.
JERSEY JON: Thank you. MIKE: I think it's a great truck,
but I think you make more money local and do it.
SUSIE: It is just really hard. I'm so sentimental.
I miss my parents so much.
I want to keep everything they ever touched.
It was just good to learn to let things go.
MIKE: Okay, I know this is tough, but I still love it.
MIKE: Bob's collection wasn't just his own.
It was there to inspire.
MIKE: You got a lot to be proud of. SUSIE: Thank you.
MIKE: I'm glad you're keeping that together. SUSIE: Yep, we love it.
MIKE: He worked so hard on it. JERSEY JON: Yeah, thank you so much, man.
I really appreciate it. A great day today.
Come here, sweetie. Thank you so much.
MIKE: We'll see each other down the road in Nashville.
JERSEY JON: Glad we found your toys.
SUSIE: Yes. MIKE: He wanted to teach people
about things that were so common in his day, but now so uncommon.
SUSIE: Thank you. MIKE: See you guys!
MIKE: Think about all the kids that passed through his museum
and the mark that he left on all of them.
(honking)
ROD: Bye! JERSEY JON: Take care, guys.
SUSIE: Thank you! ROD: See you!
MIKE: What are you thinking on that light?
(laughter)
JERSEY JON: Mike's a big collector of Barbie dolls.
MIKE: Yep, right there.
We're obviously going to edit that out.
ROB: I can put some Go-Go girls in there.
Go-go. The go-go girls.
MIKE: What is it? What the...? Okay, let's get back.
(Susie laughs) MIKE: I'm digging a hole in it.
SUSIE: Yeah, you dug a hole. MIKE: Okay, 100.
MIKE: Okay. ROB: What?
MIKE: Is that better than spinning it?
CREW: No.
(laughing)
SUSIE: It's fun. MIKE: We're talking all over each other,
we can't use any of this. (laughter)