Mike: Hey, hey!
Candy: Daddy used to always say, anybody that's
going anywhere comes right through here.
Danielle: Yeess! There she is!
Mike: This building was really, really incredible.
Mike: Uh-oh. Found something cool here.
Robbie: It is, all this stuff in here's brand new.
Candy: Wow, look at that.
Mike: Half the fun was finding them.
Robbie: Oh!
Fran: What in the world are you finding now?
Mike: 12 color prints. Look at these.
Robbie: Touchdown, there we go. Fran: Aaay!
♪♪
mike: You're my little brother, you look up to me.
Robbie: Yeah.
Mike: I get all that, you know what I mean,
that's been kind of a, you know,
a heavy weight to bear my whole life.
But you know, I've managed to like...
You know, raise above the occasion,
um consistently.
And I understand, like you know, you want the glasses I got,
you want the boots I got, like- like you wear
the same stuff that I wear-
robbie: Whaa- wait, wait, wait...
So my glasses, I've had way before your glasses came along.
So maybe it's the opposite.
Mike: I mean, next thing you know,
you're going to be getting transition lenses.
Robbie: Listen, no one is going to mistake me for you.
I'm like built like a lumberjack,
and you're built like a dancer.
Mike: [laughs] robbie: Yeah. [laughs]
mike: I'm going to take that as a compliment.
[phone rings]
mike: Dani d, what's up?
Danielle: Hey, how are you guys doing out there?
Robbie: Doing good.
Danielle: Hey, I got a lead for you,
I'm sending you guys to a killer pick.
I'm sending you to a building in tullahoma,
that was built in 1898.
It's called couch & company.
It used to be a general store, then it became a camera shop.
I mean, really the couch family has done it all.
Robbie: Wow.
Danielle: So you're going to meet fran and candy, okay?
Now they're to the point now where they sold the building,
they're closing down, and they really
just need to clear her out.
Mike: Dang!
I love places like this.
We'll let you know how it goes.
Danielle: Alright.
Hey, have fun out there, okay?
Robbie: See you, dani d. Mike: Bye.
♪♪
mike: Here it is right here, see it, look at the building.
Robbie: Yeah, couch.
Mike: Yeah, the windows are all boarded up.
Robbie: Couch... Couch's.
Mike: Right here, this is cool, oh my gosh,
I love this building.
Robbie: I like the front.
Mike: Look at the brick work on the front of the building.
Robbie: I know.
Mike: Alright, get a flyer.
Mike: Urgh...
Robbie: I love that door.
Mike: I love that stuff, I know. Hey-hey!
Fran: Hello. Come in!
Mike: Ms. Candy couch here?
Fran: I- yes she is.
Mike: [laughs]
fran: May I ask who's calling?
Mike: I'm mike and this is my brother, robbie. Hi.
Robbie: How are you?
Fran: Hi. I'm fran.
Mike: You talked to dani on phone?
Nice to meet you, fran.
Fran: Yeah, well welcome to the village.
Robbie: Nice to see you, fran.
Mike: We've heard a lot about you guys.
Fran: Hey candy!
Candy: Well look who's here!
Mike: You guys are infamous.
Robbie: Yeah.
Fran: Yeah.
Mike: [laughs]
candy: Well, we're in good company, aren't we?
Fran: Well, how 'bout y'all? Sisters and brothers.
Mike: Hey, I'm mike, nice to meet you.
How are you?
Candy: Mike, hi, nice to have you.
Robbie: Nice to meet you, robbie, nice to meet you, yeah.
Fran: I'm fran couch gray, and this is my sister,
candy couch.
And we are in tullahoma, tennessee.
Candy: Our great-grandfather opened our business here the
first week of December in 1893, as a grocery store.
Fran: Daddy billy, our great-grandfather,
came here to service the railroad-ers.
Candy: And we're in our 126th year in business.
Candy: Daddy used to always say, anybody that's
going anywhere comes right through here.
[group laughing]
fran: That's right. Candy: He did, that's right.
Robbie: That's a good saying.
Candy: That's right.
Mike: It's unbelievable that your family was in business
for as long as they were self-employed entrepreneurs.
Fran: The different generations brought a
new focus to the business.
Mike: Okay.
Fran: Yeah, daddy billy did the grocery business,
and then our grandfather, his son,
robert couch sr., loved electronics and brought
electronics into the business.
And he also loved photography and our dad grew up
with a camera in his hands.
And we did too.
I was a- a bookkeeper here, for maybe it was more...
Mike: Okay. So you guys have both worn
a lot of different hats.
Robbie: Yeah. Oh yeah. Fran: Yeah.
Mike: Is this him?
Fran: Yes, that's our dad, and our mom.
Mike: And candy...
Fran: And candy and fran, yes.
Mike: The needs of the community directly dictated
what they were selling.
So at one time it was a grocery store,
then it was a butcher shop and they sold appliances,
and they sold radios, and then they sold cameras.
Well all of that stuff was what the community needed,
but it's also things that required service after
the sale, which was brilliant.
Fran: Our dad always believed in service,
and- and taking care of customers.
And we continued to keep oven and stove parts.
Candy: I mean, we have probably 100,
150 bacon broil elements hanging on the wall back there.
We have knobs and switches and defrost timers and gaskets,
and hell for 20 bucks why wouldn't you fix it?
Mike: So these guys are coming in here...
Fran: Sure.
Mike: ...They're used to working on stuff,
they throw something at you, and then you blow
their doors off with the knowledge right?
Candy: Ohh... The do -it...
Robbie: Oh I got it. Fran: Oh yeah.
Candy: ...The do-it yourself-ers are my favorite.
Robbie: Yeah. [group laughing]
candy: Oh man yeah...
Mike: If you can tap into a retail market that
also requires service, you're not just making sales,
you're building a business.
Candy: It was booming down here back in the day.
Candy: And then your little strip centers come along,
and your shopping centers.
It may have been more convenient for
people to go to those stores.
Fran: Our dad died about 6 years ago,
and candy has done a fabulous job continuing the business.
Our mother worked there for quite a while,
but she's not able to contribute like she did in the past.
Mike: So dani told us on the phone that you guys have sold
the building, you're liquidating the inventory and you're-
and you're closing up.
Candy: After all these years, it's- it's time.
The big box stores across this country have
swallowed up people like us.
And we're certainly proud of- of our friends that we've
made here and our customers we appreciate very much.
Mike: Yeah.
Candy: And as much as we hate to let it go,
it's... It's- it's time.
Mike: Fran and candy are proud people,
and they've been a part of their family's vision for decades.
Fran: Y'all want to look around up here?
And then we'll take you on a tour of the back.
Fran: We've got lots of old bulbs over there,
we've got film tanks.
Mike: The last phase of this business is right up front.
And you can see that they've really changed
direction over the past few years.
A lot of the inventory in the front of the store
is not camera-related.
Every once in a while, you'll find some contemporary gift
items, and then mixed in with that are items that look like
they've been there for 50 years or more.
It's really a patchwork quilt of where their business has been,
and where it is now.
Mike: Ugh.
Robbie: So much to see.
Mike: There's a lot to see.
Fran: Yes there is, and there's even more in the back.
Mike: Okay. Alright, come on, robbie.
Fran: Let's go take a look back there.
Robbie: Alright.
Mike: Whoa...
Mike: So we walk from a retail setting into a
completely different world.
♪♪
fran and candy's father, bob, passed away in 2016.
Shopkeepers from their father's generation believed
that any inventory was good inventory.
He was from a generation of savers.
So when you look around this room and everything's piled up,
there's lenses, there's camera bodies.
Anything and everything to do with cameras,
but from like the '80s, and the '70s.
Robbie: So on these cameras that we're seeing in here...
Fran: Yes.
Robbie: So are these all repair tickets that were left...
Fran: Um-hm.
Candy: Sitting there like...
Robbie: ...10 years ago, 15 years ago?
Candy: ...Every bit of it.
Candy: Bunch of wounded soldiers,
just sitting on the shelf waiting and they were repaired
and they're still sitting there to this day.
Mike: Let me see this service board,
this is pretty cool.
Fran: Oh, see the, these metal rings up here?
Mike: Uh-huh.
Fran: Our grandfather decided he didn't want service key-
mike: This is like basically when you go to the gas station
bathroom, they don't want you to steal the key.
Fran: Yeah.
Candy: That's out of a vegetable can.
Candy: We had this wonderful service board,
and it had hooks on it, and that's where work orders went.
Robbie: Says uh... Rush work, finished work...
Fran: That piece has been here all of our lives,
and it was put together in the '40s by our grandfather.
I'd say it's been hanging here 80-plus years.
Robbie: Is that something you'd sell?
Candy: I think we will...
Fran: Sure.
Robbie: The service board, you know,
it's just a cool piece of the history of this property.
Robbie: Hmm...
Fran: And the dust is included.
Robbie: Well, I like the dust too.
Candy: It's invent- inventory.
Robbie: How about... 100 bucks?
Fran: I think that would be very reasonable.
Robbie: Alright.
Candy: Yep.
Fran: Sold, america.
♪♪
candy: Yeah daddy, yeah he lovingly referred to this as his
computer room, and he could make a typewriter smoke.
Mike: I see... There's a desk under there.
Candy: Yeah, and there's a...
Mike: And there's another one over here.
So how long has this kind of been going on where...
This has been more of a catch-all?
Candy: As long as I can remember.
Mike: The further you walk back into the building,
the inventory gets older and older.
On top of that, there's a lot of appliance parts mixed in,
with a little bit of home décor.
Robbie: Pretty cool light over here.
The orbit light.
Mike: What year is that from, robbie?
Robbie: It looks probably- it's got to be '60s.
Sits like this, you put it on the spring.
Candy: And you could up-light, or you can...
Robbie: And then you can up-light or side-light,
or... You know.
Mike: Oh okay, yeah that's cool.
Candy: And they hold a big bulb like an eve light type bulb,
a reflector bulb in there.
And they have a wire rack that you can put under it so you can
position the light to be an up-light or to the left,
to the right.
We used them often in our windows for displays.
Robbie: 20 bucks...
Candy: 20 will work.
Robbie: Okay. This is a lot to take in here.
Candy: Sure is. Fran: Yeah, sure is.
Candy: There's some radios over here. I have a...
Fran: Oh there's an iron.
Candy: Oh yeah. Robbie: Yeah.
Candy: They shelves up front that had small
appliances like hand mixers and...
Robbie: Yeah.
Candy: ...Electric rollers.
We had the first electric rollers in town.
Robbie: Yeah.
Candy: And that, blow-dryers and that kind of thing.
And would put new cords on those,
on irons and repair them.
And we had people who worked for us that could do that.
Robbie: Right. Right.
Candy: But then people didn't want to fix them anymore,
they just throw them away, got them a new one.
Robbie: So that's how this became like, just piled up.
Fran: Yep.
Mike: Ugh, I can't even see... I'm going to-
oh it's just- it's a marquee sign.
[grunting and rummaging]
mike: The state of tennessee made these state-shaped
plates from 1936 to 1956.
Mike: Candy!
Candy: What'd you find?
Mike: Plates. Candy: Yeah.
Mike: Have you seen these? Seen those?
Candy: I have.
Mike: You've seen these back there?
Candy: Sure. Look at...
Mike: Just dug 'em out. Okay so they're sets.
So that's '53... Here's '55...
And here's '52.
Mike: Every once in a while, you'll find one of these plates.
But it's getting harder and harder to find pairs.
Mike: You know what's cool about the state of tennessee is,
you can register these plates to your car.
So if you got a '53 car, you can put those plates on it.
If you'd sell them I'd do... 500.
Candy: I think they need a home with you.
Mike: You want to do it?
Candy: I'm for it, I'm... Oh thanks, mike.
Mike: Thank you. Appreciate you.
Candy: Thank you. Yes, thank you.
Danielle: I'm passing through cleveland today,
I'm going to take some time to visit my old friend from the
burlesque world, her name's bella sin.
Danielle: Alright.
Danielle: The beachland ballroom is a punk rock venue.
This is the same bar that the black keys,
the white stripes cut their teeth in music at.
Danielle: alright... I hear music...
You must be this way.
Danielle: And this punk rock venue opened up its door to
bella sin and her burlesque performances,
and cleveland loved it.
Danielle: [clapping] yeeessss! There she is!
Bella sin!
Bella: Hey!
Danielle: Cleveland's very own.
Bella: How are you?
Danielle: I'm so excited to see you.
Bella: Welcome to cleveland.
Cómo estás hermanita!
Danielle: Bien y tu?
Bella: ...Rehearsing a new number.
Bella: My name is bella sin from cleveland, ohio,
and I'm cleveland's burlesque queen.
And I'm also a historian, producing and performer.
Danielle: You've been performing here for 10 or 11 years.
Bella: Yes. Danielle: That'scrazy!
Bella: Been our home venue, the home of the ohio burlesque
festival, cleveland burlesque.
It's the home of ohio burlesque, essentially.
Danielle: So bella sin and I go back...
Years and years and years.
I judged a contest at the burlesque hall of fame,
and bella sin was my contact.
And that's how we met.
Discussing burlesque history, judging a burlesque contest,
and meeting the legends of burlesque.
Bella: I have something to show you.
Danielle: Okay.
Bella: You know the poster.
Danielle: I have wanted to put my eyes on this
poster in person for so long.
Danielle: Collectors love to get their hands on
rare pieces from different eras.
So I know that there is a market for them.
Burlesque is so much more than just strip-tease
or scantily -clad dancing.
Danielle: Burlesque has deep roots in prohibition,
the great depression, women's rights.
I cannot stress enough the importance of keeping
this history alive.
Bella: Here she is...
Danielle: Blaze fury, here you know what,
look, let's put blaze right here.
Bella: She's big.
Danielle: I have been trying to buy this poster
from bella for years.
And she wanted to hold on to it.
But now she's ready to talk.
♪♪
fran: Are you having fun over there, mike?
Mike: Completely. Finding a lot of old photos...
Some advertising...
Mike: This building was really, really incredible.
Really tall original beadboard ceilings,
large wooden structural posts, original wood floor,
interior brick walls, a lot of square footage.
But a lot of stuff is inside of this place.
And what's cool about it is, is that you never know what
you're going to find, because there were so
many different types of businesses in there.
Mike: Like the calendar I found in the back,
it was for a business in their community
that was work wear related.
Mike: Look at this.
Candy: Tennessee overall, it's right down the street,
1970, wow.
Mike: This- these guys are still here?
Candy: Yes they are.
And, tennessee apparel now, is what they're called.
Mike: Okay.
Candy: That's pretty cool.
Mike: So this isn't really old, but the subject matter is great.
Mike: Bulls eye brand pants, overalls, dungarees, work wear.
Mike: You know, this is advertising, denim.
Mike: And what a great slogan - "the kind we wear."
mike: I mean, the top sheet isn't that great,
but some of the bottom sheets are in better condition.
Mike: You could actually frame each page of the calendar,
that's what I'm looking at.
Mike: So on something like this, I'd do...
Mike: It's dirty, and there's a little bit of water damage,
there's some tears, but subject matter
is everything with this piece.
Mike: 75 bucks.
Candy: Wow.
Mike: We're doing it?
Candy: We're doing it.
Mike: If you look at the square footage of that room,
and what I pulled out of there,
that's how difficult this pick is.
There's a lot of paperwork, there's a lot of photos.
But the photo subject matter is really just portraits and stuff.
You know, but you have to go through everything
to feel good about what you're doing.
You don't want to drive away and go,
man, I wish I would have looked under that desk.
I don't want to do that.
I want to go through everything.
But even after I went through everything in that room,
this is what I pulled out - just this calendar.
Even though there's a lot of stuff here,
that doesn't mean there's a lot of great stuff.
Robbie: So fran...
Fran: Yes.
Robbie: What was this room back here?
Fran: Over here was where we did repairs on appliances
because we had several servicemen who
would repair refrigerator, stoves, ovens.
And now it's a... Shelf full of old projectors.
Robbie: Yeah. I found an early one here.
Fran: Yes.
Robbie: And... It looks like it's a hand -crank,
it's keystone.
Fran: Uh-huh.
Robbie: Moviegraph.
So I mean, it'd be a great display piece,
cleaned up would be awesome.
Robbie: I'm one of those guys that's always attracted
to anything mechanical.
I have to figure out how it's going to work,
how it's going to run.
This is no different.
Fran: My grandfather loved making movies,
and 16mm. Daddy also made a lot of movies.
We sold a lot of projectors, and we repaired them,
and we rented them.
Robbie: So this is something you'd sell?
Fran: Yes.
Robbie: $35.
Fran: Hmm... How about 50?
What do you think?
Robbie: How about 45?
Fran: I think it's sold.
Robbie: Alright, appreciate that.
Robbie: Anybody that's a movie buff is going to love this.
[train bells & horn]
robbie: So do you find yourself sitting at your dad's desk?
Candy: I do.
Robbie: Reminiscing?
Candy: You- um-hm.
Robbie: It looks brand new.
Robbie: 1965.
I don't think it's ever been played with.
Candy: Oh my god, there's the scoreboard.
See who's behind, you are. [laughs]
fran: Did you have one?
Robbie: The foto-electric football.
I never had one of these when I was a kid.
Fran: Well now's your chance.
Robbie: You open the box up, it's never
even been played with.
Robbie: $40. Fran: Sure.
Candy: Touchdown. [laughs]
fran: Sold.
Robbie: Touchdown, touchdown.
Fran: Aaay. Robbie: Alright.
Fran: Maybe we can find something else
for an extra point.
Robbie: There we go. Candy: [laughs]
mike: Fran. Fran: Yes.
Mike: What about this light right here?
I call it a task light.
Fran: Uh-huh.
Mike: It clamps to the bench.
Fran: Yes.
Mike: There's a couple of knobs that you can adjust it in any
position you want.
Fran: Uh-huh.
Mike: And the shade is porcelain on it.
Fran: Is this something of interest to you?
Mike: Yeah, I mean, it needs to be rewired,
but that's no big deal.
Mike: This is an industrial task light,
it's articulating, it has a porcelain shade.
These are getting extremely hard to find,
to the point where they're starting to reproduce them.
This type of light got its start in the medical field,
and then moved into every other kind of trade
or industry that you can imagine.
Mike: $100. Fran: I'll take it.
Mike: Okay, we're going to do that.
I need a regular screwdriver.
Mike: These are great lights.
They're industrial, they're over-built,
but they're very simple in design.
They're really made to stand the test of time.
Robbie: Hey fran. Fran: Yes.
Robbie: Kodak sign, 60 bucks.
Fran: I think that's reasonable.
Robbie: Thank you. Fran: Um -hm.
Fran: Hey, what did you find?
Mike: Are these christmas bulbs?
Fran: I think they would fit into a,
a string of lights, but I think they were also used in,
some really modern... Fixtures... In the '60s.
Mike: So it was like a light, was it a- was...
Fran: Like a chandelier...
Mike: ...Was it round?
Fran: Um, no the- the- it would have... Arms...
Mike: Like a sputnik light.
Fran: Um -hm. Very space -y. Space -age.
Mike: Okay, and these were the bulbs for that.
Fran: Uh-huh.
Mike: Originally, I thought that these were christmas lights,
but after talking to fran, I realized that they're decorative
bulbs for a mid-century modern light.
Fran: They're very unusual, aren't they?
Mike: They're really unusual.
Fran: Um-hm. Yes.
Mike: What is that, is that plastic? Glass.
Fran: Uh, I think it's glass.
Mike: Look at how much it was back then, a buck -25.
Fran: They're brand new.
Mike: 65 bucks for all of them.
Fran: Oh I think that's very generous.
Thank you.
Mike: Okay. Let's go find robbie and see what he's getting into.
Fran: Okay.
♪♪
danielle: Ohh look at how beautiful she is.
Bella: Isn't she?
Danielle: Oh man. Blaze fury in all her grandeur.
Danielle: Blaze fury is an incredible burlesque
queen from the rust belt circuit.
The rust belt circuit really would have run
from like pittsburgh to chicago, but it went
through cleveland in the process.
Cleveland was a big part of the rust belt.
Danielle: There's a burlesque historian named leslie zemeckis,
who wrote a book called "behind the burly q".
In behind the burly q, there's a little blip on blaze fury.
That was the first time I had ever heard the name.
It states that blaze fury was on the flash circuit,
which means she was one of the more risqué
burlesque performers, who would flash a little bit.
But you got to understand, these performers
oftentimes wore murkins underneath, so it looked like
you get a little flash, but in reality, these performers
were smart, they don't want to give that much of themselves,
so they were just kind of playing up on the
tease of burlesque.
Bella: This used to hang at the roxy.
Bella: Before the beachland,
there was the roxy burlesque theater.
That was the main theater in cleveland for performing.
And it brought very high profile burlesque performers,
comedians like phil silvers and red buttons.
We had amazing jazz singers.
The entertainment industry essentially with the
roxy became so rich and it continued all the
way through the late '50s.
Bella: And like our posters now for burlesque shows,
this is what drew people in and told what features were there.
And this is one of the big ones.
And not a lot of them survived it.
Danielle: Right.
Danielle: This poster came out of the roxy theater
right there up on the marquee.
It would have been a headliner poster.
So it's a very important piece of burlesque history,
cleveland history, and roxy history.
And the roxy is no longer there.
Danielle: Is that ostrich feather or
is that like mink or something?
Bella: It looks like there's an attachment on the front...
Danielle: Yeah it does.
Bella: So it could be both.
Danielle: Now when I'm out on the road,
and I'm picking with the guys, I see a lot of mechanical stuff.
I see automotive, motorcycle, and all these things have
mechanics behind it.
But so do burlesque costumes.
They're very specifically designed so that you have
surprise reveals around every corner of the costume.
And you almost don't even notice that the disrobing is happening,
because it's so entertaining.
Danielle: That takes ingenuity and design.
Bella: Other ones that I've seen have been painted over.
Danielle: Well and- and a lot of times they painted over
the nude parts, only like would paint on a bra...
Bella: Really?
Oh my god.
Danielle: Yeah, or paint on... A g-string.
Because after 1937, all of the codes changed...
Bella: [laughs] ...Yeah.
Danielle: ... All of the laws changed,
that when blue laws came into effect.
Bella: She needs work, and I can't do that work.
Danielle: Sure.
Bella: So I need her to go to somebody that she's going to
be safe with, and restored, and properly taken care of,
because I think that's part of being a historian,
a lover of history.
Danielle: Yes.
Bella: Is you need to understand when it's time
to seek a new home for pieces like this.
Danielle: Sure. Um...
Danielle: To me, this poster is perfect as she is right now.
I don't need to spit -shine it, it's great.
But I was hit with the reality that in order to buy this
poster, I'm going to have to restore it.
Danielle: So here, this is the most difficult part for me.
Bella: Yeah.
Danielle: Because... The condition is obviously it's,
it's not good condition.
Bella: Yeah. Danielle: Um...
Danielle: And the only way she's going to sell
me this poster is if I restore it.
Bella: So... Danielle: [sighs]
mike: So when you guys opened in 1893,
do you have photographs of the exterior of this,
like, around the turn-of-the-century?
Fran: Oh sure.
Mike: Was the façade similar, or...?
Fran: No, those were all open windows.
Mike: Okay.
What were you guys utilizing the upstairs as?
Fran: Uh, the upstairs had all kinds of offices, we rented out.
Fran: Okay! Here we go!
Mike: Okay, so we get to the top of the stairs...
Robbie: Holy cow.
Mike: The foyer to this building is huge,
it's a long hallway with all of these different doors.
And it's dark and every time you cast your flashlight somewhere,
you see something that basically draws you into these rooms.
These rooms are incredible, there's transom windows
above the doors, again beadboard ceilings,
a lot of them had fireplace mantels in them.
Very elaborate.
Think about what these rooms were used for back in the day,
a lot of them were doctor's offices,
insurance offices, but the square footage
here is unbelievable.
Mike: Uh-oh, found something cool here.
Fran: Oh...
Mike: Ah, it's broke! Fran: Aww...
Mike: Ah it's for freezers. Pak -a -way freezers.
It's cool. There's a neon ring on the inside of it.
Here, take that, you got it?
It's kind of heavy.
Fran: I'll try. Mike: Got it?
Fran: Yep.
Mike: Watch the glass.
Fran: Okay. Mike: Alright.
So let's grab that out of there...
Alright...
Fran: Check out the door.
Mike: I know, right?
Fran: It's a skid... Uh -oh.
Oh those must- oh those were on the front of the store.
Fran: I was really tickled to see them,
I had remembered the merita bread screen doors
because of pictures I've seen of them.
They were not in use when we came along.
Fran: Buy merita bread today!
Mike: Okay. There's the other one. Aaghh... Yeah!
Mike: These are storefront screen doors with advertising.
Fran: Those are nice.
Mike: ...It's amazing like, if you think about... Advertising.
It's interesting that they would come up with a process to,
you know, print so heavy and so durable on a screen.
I mean, every inch of everything had advertising.
This is the first thing you saw when you came in,
the last thing you saw when you left. It's brilliant.
Fran: Just think, those doors are... Old.
Mike: Oh...
Fran: Very, very, very old.
Mike: Kids slamming them... Fran: Yeah.
Mike: The incredible thing about these doors,
is that they're in such good condition,
but the best thing about them, is the merita bread advertising.
Mike: I do a lot of architectural salvage,
I do a lot of advertising.
I mean, this, I've probably seen... 15, 20 sets of these.
They usually bring around, anywhere from 5 to
600 bucks a pair, you know what I mean?
Fran: Um-hm.
Mike: 400 bucks.
Fran: How about 450?
Mike: Alright, I'm prepared to do that.
[chuckles] half the fun was finding them.
Fran: Aaay.
Mike: Now what about the clock?
Fran: Oh...
Mike: What about the clock?
Fran: [clears throat]
mike: Here watch- watch the glass now, it's cracked.
Fran: Alright.
Mike: The subject matter isn't really that great,
and it's got a big crack on it, but it's still cool,
somebody's going to want it.
Mike: Pack-a- way freezers.
Mike: A lot of these advertising clocks are
getting so hard to find.
This one is going to be inexpensive for somebody,
just because there's so much damage.
But I'm not going to leave it here.
Mike: I'd do 100 bucks.
Fran: Okay. Mike: Thank ya. [laughs]
fran: What are you finding?
Mike: Just old postcards, I'm looking for
anything that's related to nashville...
What's this?
Mike: This is an old kodak display piece.
Fran: Oh gosh.
Mike: It says "kodak combination lens attachments...
For better... Pictures."
it's a nice little countertop display piece.
Fran: It surely is.
Mike: 35 bucks.
Fran: Okay.
Robbie: So what are all these photographs up here?
I mean there's...
Candy: Well, you know, I just noticed there's
somebody's birthday, wedding anniversary.
Robbie: And he was the photographer
that took all these?
Candy: Yes, um-hm.
He photographed weddings for 53 years and I'm on my 35th.
He instilled the joy of photography in me.
Fran: Listen, when I was a little girl,
this was where daddy made frames.
Mike: So this is where he was cutting frames.
Fran: Yes. Mike: Okay.
Fran: And glass. Um-hm.
Mike: The more I dig through this property,
the more I realize how many hats her father wore.
He was doing the framing, he was doing the developing,
he was running the business.
I mean, the guy had his hands in everything,
but that's the beauty of owning your own business.
Every single detail is up to you,
and the couch family has been doing this for generations.
Fran: Check this out. Tennessee.
And it unfolds, isn't that neat?
Mike: So you got the parthenon, you got the ryman...
Fran: Uh-huh. Mike: Look at these.
Fran: Oh the moon landing. [laughs]
mike: Oh wow.
Fran: Pictures, they're actually pictures for a whole 98 cents.
Mike: Wow.
Fran: The moon landing.
Mike: On the back it says, "color print, 98 cents"
and you get "12 color prints from officials nasa photos."
mike: These are new-old stock, in the original packaging,
and they're 51 years old.
Apollo 11 was one of those moments that
we all experienced together.
As the world, we all watched it together.
Think about that.
[apollo 11 radio chatter]
mike: That never happens anymore.
With 24-hour news, the internet, social media,
we're constantly bombarded by all different types of news.
But back then, news anchors didn't voice their opinions,
they delivered the news.
It wasn't so theatrical, it wasn't so presentational,
it was just the news.
But I can remember when I was a kid,
it was a big deal to sit down and watch the evening news.
We all did that as a family.
Mike: I can just barely remember when the
capsule came down into the ocean, 'cause I was only...
I was 4.
Mike: This is one of those moments that was epic.
And I can just barely remember it.
Mike: So you got these 2 boxes full...
Fran: Yep.
Mike: Would you sell these?
Fran: Oh yes, um-hm.
Mike: So the different photos are buzz aldrin steps to the
surface of the moon, aldrin deploys solar wind collector,
buzz aldrin sets up seismic experiment.
Can I open one of these?
Fran: Yes, please do.
Mike: So these are basically inexpensive
souvenirs from that moment.
They got the original hang tag on them,
original packaging, there's 12 photographs in here.
They're incredible.
They're a snapshot of the moment,
and they're new-old stock.
I think they're brilliant.
Mike: 500 for the both boxes.
Fran: Sold.
Mike: Thank you.
Appreciate you.
Fran: Alright, you are welcome.
Mike: Very cool.
Mike: The type of person that's going to buy this is somebody
that's romanticizing about that moment.
Candy: This is our daddy's dark room,
we spent a lot of time with him
and he enjoyed being in here too.
Mike: When was the last time you guys were in this room?
Fran: Probably 8, 9 years.
Fran: Daddy absolutely loved cameras,
he loved taking pictures.
Candy: Look at all of his reels still here...
Mike: Yeah.
Candy: 35, 120.
Mike: It's untouch- it's interesting,
I mean, I love the space because...
Well the whole upstairs here feels like it's...
Just time has stood still.
You know, everything was put in its place,
and then just walked away.
Fran: Yes.
♪♪
robbie: So it looks like this is just an early,
was his catch-all for tools of some sort. I mean...
Candy: Is that a saw?
Robbie: I think so.
Candy: Looks like it's brand new.
Robbie: It is, all the stuff in here is brand new.
Candy: Wow, look at that.
That's a treasure chest.
Robbie: A viking. Well for me it is. Yeah, it's tools.
Candy: [laughs] wow.
Robbie: So you guys did sell tools.
Sold everything.
Candy: Um-hm.
We were told that we fix everything from a
broken heart to the break of day.
Robbie: You know, the one thing about the tools,
is the box that it's in.
I love the green paint, it speaks to me.
Not just about the new tools inside of it,
but another place for me to hide some tools.
Robbie: How about the whole box including all
the tools that are in it?
300 bucks.
Candy: You know what, they need a home.
Robbie: Everything in here. 300.
Candy: Load 'em up.
Robbie: Okay.
Robbie: There's another piece that I saw up
here that I wanted to ask you about.
Candy: Okay.
Robbie: Right here this...
It's an early advertising piece for cameras.
Candy: Oh yeah.
Robbie: Yeah right here, the graflex. Prize-winning.
I think this would have had a light that went underneath it.
Candy: If we can find it.
Robbie: I mean it if, you know, it went like this
and then this piece lit up.
Robbie: It's pot metal, but the top is like plexiglas or glass,
and all these signs were meant to light up.
That's what made them stand out.
Robbie: If there's a light...
Candy: Look around over there, I bet you you can find the light.
Dig and ye shall find...
Robbie: What do I say.
Look at that, I think that's the light that goes to it.
There it is. Ha!
Robbie: You know, the graflex camera sign was cool,
but to find the light that went in it, that was the key.
Robbie: 120. That work?
Candy: It's yours. Robbie: Okay.
♪♪
danielle: I just didn't realize that you're end
wish was to have her restored.
Danielle: The reality is that condition on this poster is bad.
It's not beyond repair, but it's pretty rough.
Danielle: Looking at all this damage,
it leads me back to what mike says all the time...
Rarity doesn't really always translate to dollars.
Bella: Yeah.
Danielle: You know. Like... Condition is
everything and all of it.
If you look down here, you can see that there's paint,
there's all kinds of paint splashes,
but then there is also, you know,
the mildew and the water damage.
We can see that there's a lot of aging,
and somebody has taken a wash cloth,
a wet wash cloth and wiped off a lot of the color in the poster.
Bella: Um-hm.
Danielle: It is not in good shape.
Bella: Yeah.
Danielle: But it's imperative that we salvage the history.
Bella: Yeah.
Danielle: Because there are so few left.
I mean, it's the same thing with the old texaco signs
and stuff like that.
Bella: Yeah.
Danielle: People would use them to patch up holes in their roof,
and that's, you know, and they didn't realize
they'd be worth thousands of dollars eventually.
Danielle: Now in excellent condition,
this poster, the value would be through the roof.
But the reality is, we're not talking about a poster in
excellent condition, but we're talking about an important piece
of history that tells a really important story in terms of
entertainment history and the rust belt history.
And the harsh reality, is that there's only one,
and this is the only time to get it.
Danielle: So your wishes are that I restore and preserve the
poster, which I have the opportunity to do because
that's actually what my father and grandparents did.
Bella: Oh you don't say.
Danielle: I'm going to try to do it myself,
I was taught how to do it by my father who was taught
by his mother who was taught by her father.
I learned at a really young age with my grandma's
equipment, with her paints and her paintbrush.
Danielle: I learned how to do all this.
Bella: That's awesome. Yeah.
Danielle: I'll take a lot of work,
I'm not going to lie.
Danielle: This is going to be a- a family project, I think.
I'm going to have to bring my dad in on this one.
Danielle: So since it's your most important desire...
Bella: Um-hm.
Danielle: ...That this be restored.
Bella: Yes.
Danielle: I know how much that's going to cost.
Bella: Yes.
Danielle: And that's going to be a pretty penny.
I feel comfortable at 300 bucks.
Bella: That is good to me as long as she's
getting preserved and restored.
Let's do it.
Danielle: Alright. I love it.
Danielle: We're basically going to have to re-colorize the
poster, because right now she looks like a vampire here,
and she has color from here down.
So we just need to balance that, fix that,
and make it look just like it was when it was new.
Mike: Look at that, see the water damage on the corners.
Fran: Yeah.
Mike: But it's still kind of cool. 15 bucks.
Fran: Okay. Mike: Alright. Thank you.
Robbie: So these are early, for the early camera.
They're kind of neat.
Candy: I remember...
Robbie: A little freckle-nosed girl with her little puppies,
showing ya...
Candy: I remember that was hanging downstairs.
Candy: We have a lot of advertising,
old advertising in the store, because our folks
didn't get rid of anything.
Robbie: So kodak was, you know, they used kids in their
advertising on this, because it appealed to the family.
Candy: Sure.
Robbie: It's about taking pictures.
This one here, and that's about being out in the wilderness.
And how to capture that moment,
with their automatic 35mm camera.
It's got the film box on here with the camera on it,
and this actually lit up on the back.
Robbie: To me, advertising in the early days was about
catching the american dream.
It was about the memory that you made,
whether it'd been a vacation, a baptism.
Candy: Aren't those fun?
Robbie: All 3 pieces...
Candy: Um-hm.
Robbie: $60 each. Does that work?
Candy: Take 'em, take 'em with you.
Robbie: Alright.
Candy: That works. I would love to share one
of daddy's quotes about photography. He would say,
"when our memory dims, we still have our pictures."
robbie: Always.
Candy: And the other one is,
"history and photographs and love, the one thing
they have in common, in order for them to be effective,
they must be shared."
there you go.
Robbie: Alright, coming. I'm in here.
Mike: Pull... Pull that out, pull that piece out,
that range piece, yeah.
Robbie: Oh! Mike: You alright?
Robbie: Yeah.
Mike: Put this one in front of you too?
Let me see...
Keep going...
Robbie: I am.
Mike: Watch, watch there...
Robbie: The glass... Friggin' huge.
Mike: They're cool. Is the glass beveled?
No. It's the original glass.
Fran: What in the world are you finding now?
Mike: Another set of doors.
Fran: Really. Robbie: Ugh...
Mike: Pull that out there, robbie.
There. Okay there. So you can see the hardware, fran.
Fran: Uh-huh.
Mike: Got the original door hardware on them.
Fran: Yeah, sure can. Mike: Yeah.
Mike: What are you- how tall do you think they are, robbie?
Robbie: Probably... That's probably like...
That's probably 9 foot...
Mike: Okay.
Fran: I would say every bit of it.
Mike: Let's see the inside of it.
Robbie: I think it's 10. The glass is not beveled.
Mike: The inside's not painted.
It's stained. It's cool.
Mike: These are large exterior storefront doors.
Probably 9 feet tall, original glass,
they're painted green on the outside,
original staining on the inside.
They've got the hardware on them. These are great.
Robbie: Do you remember these?
Fran: Those have been replaced, or the whole façade
had been replaced before I came along.
Mike: And you know what, depending on the climate,
like you can still use these.
Fran: Um-hm.
Mike: I mean, these are the type of doors
that are a statement piece.
These are the type of doors that someone is going to build
an entrance around.
Because it you want it to be dramatic.
You know, you want people to just feel special
when they walk in.
As soon as they grab that old brass handle and feel that wood
door move, you know, there's- there's nothing like it.
You know, these doors can create that kind of scenario.
Mike: 500.
Fran: I think that's good.
Mike: Thank ya.
Fran: Dirt to dirt.
Mike: Appreciate ya.
Robbie: Dirt to dirt.
Fran: Alright.
Mike: Alright...
Mike: The impact that the couch family has had on this community
will live way beyond the walls of this building.
Mike: Here we go.
Robbie: What a day. Ugh...
Mike: What do you think, how do they look outside?
How do they look outside?
Fran: I think it looks older. Do I? [laughs]
mike: Ain't it cool?
With the green, the green and the black. Ain't it cool?
Fran: Yeah, it's- it's really kind of pretty.
Mike: Here robbie, you got it?
Robbie: Yeah. Mike: Here you go.
Fran: One of daddy's expressions that he loved is,
"this is not the end of the story,
'cause there's a lot more to come."
mike: Alright...
Fran: ...The color... You know, green....
Candy: Yeah.
Mike: Alright, I think that's it.
Robbie: Oh... Mike: I think that's all of it.
Candy: Okay. Mike: Ahh...
Mike: Generations of their family have
serviced this community.
Think about everything that can change in the
world over that amount of time.
The economy, industry, taste, trends, world events.
Their family has been in business through all of that.
And they survived all of it.
Candy: Thanks, mike.
Fran: Thank you.
Thank you so much, it's been a real good day.
Robbie: I had a good day. It's been a good day.
Yeah, it's not over yet.
Candy: Come back to tullahoma.
Mike: I will. Alright.
Candy: That's right, the word home is in
the word tullahoma, okay?
Mike: That is the american dream,
and a testament to the work ethic of the couch family.
Candy: Travel safe!
[honks horn]
mike: See ya guys! Robbie: Thank you!
Candy: Thank you!
Fran: Bye!
Candy: This is a bake element for an oven.
Mike: Okay.
But like what year, what model is that?
Candy: You don't know your way
around the kitchen, do ya?
[group laughing]
mike: I absolutely, I absolutely don't.
Danielle: Girl, I was born ready.
Fran: Mike wolfe would teach you everything you need to know.
Mike: Look at this, see the chicken head.
[making chicken noises]
danielle: Exactly, I say that about my face all the time,
it's just patina, it's patina at this point,
just the age showing.
Mike: Alright... Ahh!
Danielle: Gaaarr, you're never going to get me again!
Danielle: What are you going to do about it?
Danielle: Beauty, the beauty and the booty.
Robbie: [laughing]
mike: Yo... Bongos!