Mike: Look at that, there we go! Robbie: Wow!
Dean: '46. Mike: [wolf whistles]
Dean: Make an offer.
Mike: Whoa!
Jim: His name's josh.
Mike: [laughing] what...
Josh, what's up?
Jim: Hey josh.
Robbie: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop!
Mike: The good stuff is always buried.
So if you want it, you got to dig it out.
Mike & robbie: Urgh! Agh!
Robbie: Woo!
Mike: There you go.
Jim: Got it? Okay.
Mike: [high-pitched] ...Ahh!
Mike: I'm trying to just be so delicate...
Mike: Sorry! Ahh!
Jim: You're okay. It's only a piece of paper.
Mike: No, it's history!
♪♪
Mike: Dang, I love it up here. It's beautiful.
Robbie: Mount hope's 3 miles away.
[phone ringing]
Mike: Dani d, what's up?
Danielle: Hey, are you guys getting close to mount hope yet?
Mike: We're like 3 miles away from it.
What you got?
Danielle: Okay, now you're going to go see doug and dean.
Now check this out, they are third generation owners of a
100-year-old hardware store and confectionary.
Now their family has deep roots in that community,
I mean, their father even ran 2 movie theaters in town.
Mike: Wow! Robbie: Yeah.
Danielle: Now unfortunately, after a century in business,
This family's had to close their doors.
And their mom just passed away just a couple of years ago,
So now they're really trying to figure out what to do.
But step one; they got to clean it out.
Mike & robbie: Okay.
Danielle: But the thing you're going to love about this place
Is that mount hope is an old coal town,
So it's got a lot of history, and boy it's
Got incredible architecture.
Mike: Sounds incredible.
Alright, we're about 1 mile away.
Danielle: Alright, awesome, you're good to go then.
Hey, have fun, behave, and make sure to check your phone,
'cause I'm going to be messaging you.
Robbie: Thanks, dani d.
Mike: Thank you, dani.
Danielle: Talk to you later. Bye.
Robbie: Mount hope.
Mike: Oooh-ooo-wee!
It's a cool town, look at this.
The way they built these storefronts into these hills.
Robbie: It's amazing.
Mike: It is, it's really incredible.
Robbie: Wow.
Mike: It's like this town has grown out of the mountains.
Robbie: I could just imagine this place rocking back in the
Day when all the coal mines were going on.
Mike: Anything and everything you can imagine a small
West virginia town would be, is right here.
It's more than beautiful.
Mike: Bon-bon confectionary and hardware.
That's awesome.
Robbie: Yeah.
Mike: Get a flyer.
Robbie: I am.
Robbie: Man, this downtown's amazing.
Mike: It's pretty incredible.
Robbie: Ah.
Mike: This is awesome.
Robbie: How're you doing?
Mike: Hey!
Dean: Hey, hey. How are you guys doing?
Mike: How are you?
Hey I'm mike, this is my brother, robbie.
Robbie: Hey. Good to see you.
Dean: Hi mike. I'm dean.
Mike: Nice to meet you.
Robbie: Man, this place is incredible.
Dean: Hi robbe.
Mike: Hand him a flyer.
Dean: Welcome to bon-bon's.
Mike: This is amazing...
Dean: Hey doug! We got some customers.
Mike: For me, when I walk into a place like this,
It's ike I've been here before.
Because it's so familiar and it's so nostalgic.
I mean, this is the kind of place in my mind,
That I imagine and I dream about over and over again.
Mike: So what's going on?
Dani said you guys are 100 years in business?
Doug: Yep.
Dean: Yeah, yeah.
Doug: 100 years on the spot.
Mike: Unbelievable!
Dean: Yeah, yeah. Bon-bon's started in 1920.
Mike: And this is the original location?
Dean: Yeah. Here's one of our original pictures.
Mike: Oh wow...
Dean: That's my dad, floyd.
He was born upstairs and he worked in the
Store all his life.
Robbie: Wow.
Dean: The only time he ever left was to serve in world war ii.
But all his other time working here...
Mike: He's the one who started it?
Doug: No.
Dean: No, no, actually my grandfather, sam bonifacio.
Doug: Our grandfather came over from Italy in 1912 as a cobbler.
In 1920, he bought a piece of property here on main street,
And opened a shoe store-slash-confectionary.
Dean: But dad did the shoe shining.
Mike: Really? Dean: Yeah.
Doug: That was his first job.
Robbie: First job.
Dean: Yeah. Mike: Wow...
Robbie: When he was a kid.
Dean & doug: Yeah.
Doug: My grandfather died in 1941,
And my grandmother ran the store.
My dad came back after the war,
He started expanding into hardware.
Mike: Dani said that your...
Was it your father had 2 movie theaters in town?
Dean: He did, he did.
He was quite an entrepreneur.
Mike: I was going to say, absolutely.
Dean: Yeah, yeah.
Mike: So they, was the community basically
Carved out of the coal industry here?
Dean: Exactly, yeah.
Robbie: Yeah.
Mike: Okay.
Doug: The coal company had its own store, to buy with scrip-
Mike: So they were your biggest competition
Then, it sounds like.
Doug: In a way.
Dean: A lot of it.
Doug: The miners were paid in scrip.
And that's a type of money that was issued
From each of the different companies.
Mike: And that's the money that had to
Be spent in the company store.
Doug: And that was the money that could be spent
For that value at the company store.
Mike: Okay.
Doug: Or you could trade it in at other... Places.
Robbie: Locations.
So was your dad taking the scrip worth a dollar,
And he would say, I'll give you 75-cents for it.
Dean: Exactly.
Doug: Coal mines had what was called company stores.
There was company rental of the properties.
So a lot of the money that they made,
The coal mine got it back.
Dean: The reason bon-bon's survived for over
100 years is customer service.
We knew everybody who came in here.
Mike: Absolutely.
Dean: We would ask them about their family.
So it was personal.
Mike: This is the type of family,
And is the type of business that was the backbone
Of small-town america.
Doug: The '60s brought in change.
The mines were closing down.
People moved to other places to look for work.
Mike: When the community took a hit,
When the coal mines took a hit, they took a hit.
Doug: But of course, then we went through a change again,
When the high schools that's across the way was merged into
Oak hill, and we lost our high school altogether.
Mike: Oh wow.
Doug: And that was the '90s.
Dean: Yeah.
Doug: Then we had booths and tables.
Robbie: Yeah.
Mike: So this was more like a soda shop.
Doug: It was, yeah.
Dean: And when it was the lunch break,
All the kids would come in here.
Robbie: Yeah. Mike: Wow.
Dean: I mean, all this area was just full of school kids.
Doug: Before, after school.
Dean: You got to capture...
Mike: I can't even imagine how busy this place would have been.
Robbie: Yeah.
Dean: Exactly.
Mike: That would have been incredible.
Doug: Yeah.
Dean: And all the kids, you know,
You ask any kid that grew up in mount hope...
Doug: Yeah.
Dean: ...And they will say, oh my best days was coming
In bon-bon's and getting a sno-cone,
Or a lemon sour...
Doug: Yeah. Robbie: Yeah.
Dean: And my aunt gisie waiting on them, or my dad.
Mike: There's probably a lot of married couples in
Town that were, that started dating here.
Dean: Oh, a lot of history.
Robbie: Yeah.
Doug: Oh, dating here, and went to the movies.
Dean: Yeah.
Mike: Their business evolved as the community evolved.
And that's when they had to get creative in order to stay open.
Dean: We finally closed the front doors to
This store about 3 years ago.
My mom was the last to run the store.
She's now passed away, but we continue to sell pop out
Here on the corner out of a pop machine.
Mike: Did ya? Wow.
Robbie: Yeah. Hey.
Dean: I wanted to be able to say we were selling something
Here on this corner for 100 years.
Robbie: Yeah. Amazing.
Dean: It's important.
Mike: The great thing about this space,
Is that doug and dean are still in here.
Dean: Now that we've closed the door,
You know, doug and I've been coming in here trying to clean
Up some things, trying to see what we may want to sell...
And what the future is for bon-bon's.
Mike: Well I appreciate that.
It's a big deal that you guys are at the
Point where you're at.
Dean: It is.
Mike: It is.
Dean: It's a cool place to be. Yeah.
Mike: 100 years.
Dean: Yeah. We made it, man.
Robbie: Yeah.
Mike: That's awesome.
Mike: So have you guys talked about it with your family as
Far as like, what things you're going to sell in
Here and what you're not?
Doug: Yeah.
There's a lot of items that we would sell.
Mike: I notice a lot of this stuff is like
From the '80s, the '70s.
This is a nice piece.
Mike: When I'm pulling a coca-cola clock off the wall
Of a business that's been around for 100 years...
Mike: Chicago, made in chicago.
Mike: ...And I'm still buying it from a family member...
To me that's epic.
Mike: Probably 250 retail.
I'd do... Like 150.
Dean: 175?
Mike: Appreciate it.
Dean: You good?
Mike: Alright. I'll do it.
Dean: I can still look at photos that were taken over the years,
And that clock may be there.
So you know, we still have those pictures,
We still have those memories.
Robbie: I saw a couple of seeburg speakers down here.
There's 2 of them, one's been painted...
Doug: Yep.
Robbie: It's got like a faux paint job on it.
Doug: Yep.
Robbie: Yeah.
And then there's another one up here.
Doug: That is an original.
Robbie: Yeah. This one's an original one.
And the case isn't broken on them.
Robbie: These seeburg speakers were accessory speakers,
They hung on the wall, they blended into the décor and
The ambiance of these ice cream shops.
Robbie: I can tell ya, looking at condition-wise,
There's no cracks in them.
Doug: Um-hm.
Robbie: A lot of these got cracked over the years.
This one, it looks like somebody...
Like they...
Tried to make this look like wood,
Like grain painted it...
Doug: That would have been my mom.
Robbie: She did this.
Doug: She did that.
Robbie: Um... The faux grain paint hurts it a little bit,
But not too much.
It probably could be stripped back off of there.
They retail around 3-and-a-quarter apiece.
I'd want to be... 425.
Doug: For the pair.
Robbie: Yeah. Doug: Okay.
Robbie: Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.
Robbie: Any time you find these seeburg speakers
That are actually not broken, not cracked,
Everything's intact, you always buy them.
Dean: That's my dad standing right here.
Mike: That's a great shot.
Dean: It is.
Mike: I like this piece, this is kinda cute.
That little muskie on there, look at that, robbie.
A little fisherman piece.
Dean: Muskie, yeah.
Robbie: It's a muskie, yeah.
Mike: Would you sell that?
Dean: Yes sir.
Mike: Alright. Uh... 30 bucks.
Dean: Deal.
Mike: Alright. I'll do it.
That's awesome.
That's not original, is it?
Dean: No, that's the one that was...
Mike: I was going say, man, that'd be crazy!
Dean: ...I was confident...
Doug: I know. Dean: I know.
Mike: [laughs]
Dean: It really wasn't a collection that my dad just
Started to say, hey I wanted to collect these things.
It was just the business.
Mike: This is where all the beans were
Counted over here, huh.
Dean: Falls city, yeah.
That's- that's my dad's office right there.
Mike: Oh wow. Can I go in here?
Dean: Sure.
This was his last office, and this is where we ran
The office right before we closed.
Mike: Oh your dad was the mayor?
Dean: Yeah.
Dean: He first started as a recorder for the city...
Mike: Okay.
Dean: Then the city council.
And then he served 12 years as the mayor.
Mike: Wow!
Mike: We walk into floyd's office,
And you really start to get a sense of who he was.
You know, because it's all over the walls.
Mike: Oh here we go, babe ruth.
This is a piece of a sign.
Dean: It is.
Mike: And his toes are broken off.
Do you have the rest of that?
Dean: No.
Mike: Red top did a hall of fame series.
And this babe ruth figurine is from one of those signs.
It's half of sign though,
But the important part is still there.
Dean: I mean...
Mike: I don't know, I don't even know what
To pay for something like that.
Dean: Hold it, there's a signature on the back.
Mike: What?
Dean: Babe, babe ruth.
Mike: Get outta here!
Dean: So the price just went up, mike.
Mike: What are you talking- what...
[laughs] no there's not.
Dean: [laughs]
Mike: You're good. What are you thinking?
Dean: I'm thinking... $40.
Mike: I was thinking 50.
Dean: Well 50 it is.
Mike: [laughs] alright.
Dean: Sold.
Mike: He's broken, and there's some other issues with him.
But it's still babe ruth, it's still an advertising piece.
I love it.
Robbie: So, where else do you guys got to show us?
Doug: We got 2 more buildings.
♪♪
Dean: Well let's go next door, guys.
Mike & robbie: Alright.
Dean: So mike, over here is some of the hardware.
So we got some other items in here.
Mike: So your dad picked up the hardware business
When you guys were getting a little slow.
Dean: Right. Yeah.
Mike: Did you guys already own this part of the building,
Or was he acquiring property as he went?
Dean: Right. They had both of the buildings.
Mike: So what were you utilizing this for before the...
Dean: This is hardware.
Mike: ...Before the hardware though?
Doug: Mostly storage.
All the things for like the drinks and
The syrups and things.
Mike: Oh okay. I love it. This is cool back here.
Mike: I got to have something solid to stand on here.
Dean: What's that, mike?
Mike: A coca-cola rack... Whoa!
Doug: Good lord!
Dean: The coca-cola? That's a cool piece.
Mike: Yeah. What are you guys thinking?
Dean: I'm thinking 250, mike.
Mike: Okay so if you want 250 for that...
What are you thinking on these?
Dean: Give me a price on it.
Mike: 30 apiece.
Mike: It's a big deal that they called us and it's
A big deal that they've gotten to this moment.
You know, we got to start thinking about plan b.
Mike: Alright, good catch.
Mike: You know, where it's like...
We got to turn this loose.
Dean: So the 3 items, 310, right?
Mike: Yeah.
Dean: Deal.
Mike: Like what else can these spaces be that can
Serve the community well beyond us.
Mike: Let's look through here, I mean,
I saw some stuff back...
Dean: You want to look over this way before we head that way?
Mike: Which way?
Dean: Just right over here. Got a few items.
Mike: Look at that! There we go.
Robbie: Wow! '46?
Dean: '46.
Dean: I remember when my dad got it.
And the work that he had to put into it to restore it,
To make it run-able.
Mike: Did he buy this new?
Doug: No.
Robbie: Huh.
Doug: It sat for about 10 years underneath an apple tree.
Dean: I remember him putting me in that truck,
And learning how to drive a stick shift.
Doug: Dad would ride around town using this when
He was still on mayor duties.
Doug: If the guys for the city were working in a ditch up at
The end of town, he would drive up there in that truck.
And people would know, here it comes,
Here's floyd arriving.
Mike: So at one point in time, it looks like it was blue.
See, you could see the blue paint on
The inside of the window.
Mike: You know, it's an old man restoration,
It's an earl scheib paint job.
Mike: Did you guys own it when it was blue?
Doug: No.
Mike: When's the last time it ran?
Dean: About 10 years ago.
Mike: But when you crawl underneath the truck,
It's pretty solid.
Mike: There's a tin patch on the inside of this.
That's patched here too.
Mike: There's a few patch panels.
But this thing's 1946, of course there's going to be that.
Mike: Yeah, the windshield cranks out.
Is it working, or no?
Dean: There it is.
Mike: There you go, that's your air conditioning.
Dean: That's your air conditioning.
Mike: That and this.
Robbie: Yep. Dean: Yep.
Mike: It's, overall, bone dry.
The interior is presentable...
Mike: Yeah, baby.
Doug: This looks like you. [laughs]
Mike: It's pretty cool, man. [wolf whistles]
Robbie: Yeah.
Just think if this was chrome, mike.
He painted this, this was chrome.
Mike: That, I like it like this though.
Mike: I love the fact that the waterfall grille
Is painted silver, and it's not chrome.
It just has more of an aged look.
It's got a great story, it was the mayor's truck out of
A small west virginia coal mining town.
If the truck runs and runs well, it's a great piece.
Robbie: 216.
It's, the motor's original in this car.
Robbie: That's a 216.
It's the worst motor chevy ever produced.
It has babbitt bearings in it that heat up,
And then the car doesn't want to run.
But we can work with this.
Mike: Can I make you an offer on it?
Dean: Yeah, make an offer.
Mike: 7 grand.
Because, the thing is, if you throw another 2,000 bucks at it,
I think the number on it's probably more like 12.
Dean: Let me tell you my number.
Mike: Okay, okay, you tell me your number.
Dean: I was thinking more like 9.
Robbie: Okay.
Mike: In order to get this truck,
And- and maximize what you could possibly get out of it,
There's going to have to be a lot done to it,
You know.
Dean: There has to be some done to it,
But I really believe with less work than
Most people would think.
Robbie: I think the most you could pay for this truck,
And be in a safe scenario is going to be 8,000.
Mike: I would love to have it, I'd do the 8 on it.
And I don't even know...
I don't know how it shifts...
Dean: Okay.
Mike: I don't know if it smokes like crazy,
I mean, I don't know anything about it.
You know what I mean?
Dean: I'll do 8.
Mike: Alright, we'll do 8. Okay.
Dean: Thank you, mike.
Doug: Soon, that truck is now going to be rolling down
The highway, being enjoyed by somebody.
It just is what dad would want, not having it sit.
Dean: Yeah, I think dad was happy with the decision today.
Dean: You know, since my dad passed away 10 years ago,
I do see a light that's starting to shine over this town.
Mike: Yeah.
Dean: So I- I see new businesses coming in,
New manufacturing.
Biggest thing is going on right now,
We've got the designation of a new river gorge national park,
Which is huge.
Mike: So you guys have a national park.
Dean: And one of the highest bridges in the world.
Mike: Get outta here!
Dean: Yeah. They shut it down one day out of a
Year and they have base jumpers come in.
And so you-
Mike: No way!
Dean: -Parachute...
Mike: Oh wow!
Mike: A lot of small towns that have lost manufacturing and
Lost population are reinventing themselves.
Robbie: Yeah.
Dean: Exactly.
Mike: Dang, that's...
Dean: There's a future.
Mike: They have the best of both worlds - heritage tourism,
Telling their story which is epic;
And adventure tourism, right down the road.
It's awesome.
Mike: Your dad would be proud.
Dean: Oh very proud, very proud.
Robbie: Yeah. Your dad's smiling down.
Mike: Hey man, once a mayor, always a mayor.
Robbie: Awesome.
Mike: I'm going to put this thi.
♪♪
Dean: Come on guys, follow me.
Mike: It's great to see that even though doug and
Dean's journey with their family business is ending,
They're excited about this new chapter for the community.
Dean: That's the house that we grew up in,
My mom and dad's.
And here's where we've got a few things underneath here,
If y'all like to look at them.
Robbie: Uh-huh.
Mike: Yeah, heck yeah.
Dean: And we always called that "the big hole."
My dad didn't throw anything away.
So it also was a storage place.
It's been kind of out-of-sight, out-of-mind for a long time.
Doug: Yeah.
Mike: Oh wow.
Robbie: Woo!
Mike: Holy crap!
Mike: Underneath this porch is incredible,
It's like a cave, it's like a cavern.
The good stuff is always good, and a lot of times,
The good stuff is always buried.
So if you want it, you got to dig it out.
Mike: This big piece right here, this massive one...
Robbie: Yeah, right there?
Mike: It's a huge, like, back bar mirror.
Robbie: It probably was inside...
Mike: I can't really... I can't see... There.
Oh wow, look at that coke sign, man!
Robbie: I think we could lift this up and over, mike.
Don't- don't step on that...
Mike: Ready? 1, 2, 3! Ugh!
Robbie: You want to come up?
Mike: Hold on... Hold on... There we go, I got the bottom.
Mike & robbie: Urgh! Agh!
Mike: What are we doing with it?
Robbie: We're going to come up.
Mike & robbie: Urgh! Agh!
Robbie: Right there.
Mike: Okay. [heavy sigh]
What are we doing with it now?
Robbie: I don't know.
Mike: Seriously.
Doug: Heheheh...
Robbie: Okay.
We're doing this way.
Mike: You're going to break that sign underneath!
Robbie: No, no, no I'm not.
Mike: Alright.
Robbie: We got it right here.
Right here, we're good.
Mike: 1, 2, 3! 1 -2 -3!
Robbie: Right?
Mike: Right that way.
Robbie: Right there, put it there.
Mike: Oh my gosh, do you guys remember this?
Doug: Yeah.
Dean: Oh yeah.
Mike: You guys remember this sign?
Doug: Yeah. Hung outside.
Mike: Oh my gosh, this is crazy. Okay. So let's-
Robbie: Hold on.
Mike: -Here, let's figure out what we're doing here.
Doug: Heheheh...
Dean: What we do... Is come this way.
Robbie: Yeah, we're just going to come right here.
Mike: Alright, you got that side?
Robbie: Yeah. Just come...
Mike: We got to get past that pole.
Doug: Back... Shoot, when I was 8 years old, I remember
That sign hanging out in the front of the first building.
That was what you saw when you came down
The hill and you saw bon-bon's.
Mike: Whoa, whoa!
Robbie: You go that way, and you grab that, right there.
Doug: We had it.
Robbie: Yeah. We have a hold of this.
Mike: Pick this up, 'cause it's-
Robbie: I got it, here we got it.
Mike: Oh this is a dr. Pepper.
Robbie: Yeah.
Robbie: This way.
Mike: This is all intact too.
Robbie: Yeah, hold on, hold on.
Mike: Alright.
Robbie: Want to go back, and go up.
There, there we go. Okay. This way.
Up, you guys go up, up-up-up-up-up-up!
Mike: Agh! God!
Robbie: There we go! Up! There it is.
Mike: There we go.
Robbie: Woo! Mike: Woo!
Robbie: Damn! Mike: [laughs]
Mike: The original bon -bon's sign,
The coca-cola sign, porcelain, double-sided, incredible.
Robbie: Let me get this metal stuff out of here.
Mike: That's what I'm saying to ya.
They blocked it with all this plastic.
Robbie: Yeah.
Mike: Next to that, is a later version of the bon-bon's sign.
The lucite sign that's dr. Pepper.
Mike: 1, 2, 3!
Ugh, oh my god! 1... Agh!
Doug: Hold on.
Robbie: I got my end up.
Doug: There's the rest of it hiding there.
Robbie: Oh there's a piece on the bottom,
It says "ice package beer."
Mike: Woo! Yeah, can you fold it over?
Robbie: There. There, right there.
Mike: Their father could have easily tossed all of this stuff.
Mike: Alright here...
Robbie: Let me get this stuff all the way here.
Mike: He's basically got the history of all the family
Businesses stored underneath this porch.
Mike: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Robbie: This ouch!
Mike: Look at this mirror. Look at that "p" at the top.
Robbie: "p"? Dean: Princess!
Robbie: What? Dean: Princess!
Robbie: Prin- oh princess!
Mike: Wait, this isn't a mirror.
Yeah it isn't... Wait...
Robbie: It is a mirror.
Mike: No it's not, no it's not.
Look, that's killer, man.
Dang, these are amazing.
Mike: The big thing is, the time he took to save
All of the theater lobby marquees.
Mike: That would have been inside the theater,
That would have been for what they call lobby cards.
Doug: Exactly.
Robbie: Yeah.
Mike: You got 4 small ones.
Robbie: Okay.
Mike: And then we have one, two...
Robbie: Three.
Mike: ...Three...
Robbie: And this one.
Mike: Four. Does that have any, a "p" on it anywhere though?
Robbie: No.
Actually, this must have hung from something...
Doug: Yeah.
Robbie: Because both sides are seen.
Doug: They used to hang from the marquee.
Mike: Because this is wood, and this would-
Doug: The marquee stuck out over the...
Robbie: And this would have hung on the...
And you can see both sides of it.
Mike: The care that he took to put all of this under there,
Is huge to me.
Mike: I'm just going to shoot you a price
On all of it - 3,500.
Dean: For 4 of these...
Robbie: And then 2 of the big stand-ups, and this.
Dean: A total number of how many pieces?
Robbie: 7 pieces total.
Mike: For 7 pieces.
Since they all have the "p" on the top,
I think to be honest with you, they all need to stay together.
Robbie: Yeah. Dean: Yeah.
Mike: I got one guy in mind.
Dean: I really realized, at that point,
That I'm just not selling an item that's just
Going to never be seen by anyone.
He had a buyer in mind that a lot of other people
Would enjoy it for years to come.
Doug: Yeah.
Dean: What do you think, doug?
Doug: It- it's better than, than staying in the hole.
Mike: What about these 2 signs?
Would you consider selling those?
Dean: Well mike, let me think about this at 35,
For this set here.
And let's look at the signs, then.
Mike: Okay.
Doug: That first sign that they pulled out in that big hole,
Just to see it again, and I mean it's in great shape.
I mean...
Dean: Yeah.
Doug: Dirty, but heh...
Dean: Yeah. It was in great shape.
Doug: It was really...
Dean: Yeah, it was stored good back here.
Doug: ...Brought back, yeah.
Mike: Do you guys remember when this sign came down?
Dean: Mid-'60s.
Robbie: This flipped up on there.
Dean: Um-hm.
Robbie: Yeah, like that.
Dean: Yep.
Mike: And then the lights came out.
Robbie: Yeah.
Mike: And you know what?
Dean: Yeah, there's a wire...
Mike: Those lights I bought...
Doug: That you bought, that's it.
Mike: Those are the lights that sat in this.
Doug: That's what went on this.
Dean: And that's why you have 2.
Mike: That's right, that's amazing!
Mike: These artifacts are the archives of
Their family's business.
Robbie: I mean, it's not rotted out.
Dean: Looks good.
Robbie: Yeah.
Mike: You know, when we actually pulled it out of there,
It was sitting on top of plastic milk crates.
Robbie: Yeah.
Dean: That's what saved it.
Robbie: That's the only thing that saved it.
Mike: So he, so when your pops put it back here...
Dean: Yeah.
Doug: Thinking of that...
Mike: ...He- he thought enough of it to...
Dean: Thanks, dad.
Mike: ...To keep it off the dirt, you know.
Robbie: Yeah.
Mike: It took so much time to put this stuff under there.
It's incredible that we even have the opportunity to buy it.
Mike: And that was a little bit more of a modern sign.
Robbie: Yeah. ...Sign lit up.
Mike: That whole sign lit up.
That was very bright.
Dean: They made a lot brighter when it
Came up in the evenings...
Robbie: Yeah.
Mike: Yeah, and it allowed them to also put "iced package beer."
Robbie: Picnic supplies.
Dean: Um-hm, yeah.
Mike: And it also says "confectionary" on it.
What are you thinking on that one, robbie?
Robbie: No, it's actually in not too bad a shape,
But plastic has not come into its own right now.
I mean, you know, the fact that it says
"bon- bon confectionary", that's cool.
Dr. Pepper, you don't see a lot of advertising on.
Mike: But that's '60s.
Robbie: Yeah. It's 100% '60s.
Robbie: The fact that these still exist,
They're not broken, they're not damaged, but...
The history - that's the cool thing.
Mike: I'm freaking out on this sign.
Doug: Paper box, yeah.
Dean: Yeah, this is uh, this is the baby here.
Mike: We need to be real tight on this.
How much can we give these guys the most we
Can give them and still make something on it?
Robbie: [sighs] I'm thinking 10,000 on all of it.
I'm thinking 6 here on this, I'm thinking 500 on that,
And 35 on those, on the marquees. 10,000.
Dean: That's the number I was thinking of too. Yeah.
[group laughing]
Dean: Yes sir.
Robbie: Awesome.
Mike: Thank you, my friend. Thank you. Wow.
Robbie: I can't believe you found the lights.
Dean: Yeah. You have the whole set.
Mike: I can't believe these guys didn't let us know these signs
Were here as soon as we got here!
Doug: [chuckles]
Dean: It takes a little digging.
Mike & robbie: Yeah. [laughs]
Robbie: It takes a little digging.
That's right.
Mike: Woo!
Dean: I was glad we made some deals
Today with mike and robbie.
They found the connection to the town.
They had a connection to what hard work is in america,
And how it pays off.
Mike: You got it?
Dean: They could relate to our story here,
To the little town of mount hope. It was cool.
Doug: Yeah. Mike: Alright.
Mike: The great thing about harvesting all of this stuff out
Of here, is that it's going to be repurposed
Into someone else's business.
This coca-cola sign can hang in a soda shop again.
Mike: You got her?
Mike: These theater marquees, these lobby pieces,
Can be in a theater again.
That's exactly, I'm sure, the way their father and
Their grandfather would want it to be.
Mike: Thank you.
Dean: Good day.
Robbie: Appreciate ya. Thank you guys.
Mike: Appreciate you.
Doug: Appreciate everything.
Robbie: Seriously.
Doug: Good day.
Mike: Hey... Awesome. Bless yu guys.
Robbie: You guys are part of this community.
Dean: Oh yeah.
Thank you for letting us share this with you.
Robbie: Huge.
Mike: Yeah. American dream, my friend.
This is the american dream.
Doug: Yeah.
Dean: This is americana.
Robbie: Yeah.
Mike: Thank you guys.
Dean: Take care. Bye -bye.
Doug: Alright.
Mike: Appreciate you.
See you on the flip side. [honks horn]
Robbie: Thanks guys!
Dean & doug: See you guys! Take care! Bye-bye!
♪♪
Mike: Wooo!
♪♪
Robbie: I think it's going to be a good day, I think.
Robbie: [laughing]
Mike: Robbie, look at the road!
Robbie: I'm watching!
Danielle: Mike, I'm so jealous.
I mean, he's got really cool stuff,
But he is so cool.
His life story, I mean like,
He's been doing this his entire life.
Mike: I know, I'm excited to meet this guy.
Danielle: I'm so excited for you to do this.
Mike: Girl, I'm on it!
Danielle: Alright, have fun, I'll talk to you later.
Mike: See you, honey.
Danielle: Bye.
[honks horn]
Mike: Hey-hey!
Jim: Hey.
Mike: I'm going to take a guess, you're jim.
Jim: I am.
Mike: Hey I'm mike.
Jim: Hello.
Mike: You're off the beaten path here, my friend.
Jim: We are. Back side of nowhere.
Mike: Well, I mean, dani was telling me,
You're all into circus stuff, and then I saw this vehicle,
And I was like, this has got to be the place.
Jim: Oh yeah, yeah.
Mike: Yeah.
Jim: Pastor, circus, all kinds of stuff.
Mike: Yeah.
Jim: I am primarily a methodist minister.
Some people would never believe that.
Because I have been talking to animals as
Long as I can remember.
Jim: Well to make it easy to understand,
I have serious learning disabilities.
Mike: Okay.
Jim: Always have.
Didn't talk to anybody outside the family till I was like 17.
Had a very hard time getting through high school.
And my first grade teacher got me through,
And she says, you're going to have
Something to do with animals.
Jim: I did venture into the live entertainment industry -
Circus, carnivals, stage, music.
It was loads of fun.
Jim: I have been passionate about circus and carnival people
And their industry and their work for my entire life.
Jim: A circus is constantly moving.
You do not see anything for more than just a very few minutes.
And that just comes right down my alley.
Jim: But it's time to downsize.
Mike: Hey, especially when you have trailers
This big full of stuff.
Jim: Yeah, yeah.
Mike: So what do you got going on here?
Jim: This was the ticket office and the concession wagon.
Mike: For your own circus?
Jim: My own circus.
Mike: What was the name of your circus?
Jim: It had 2 names.
If I was working for a church organization,
It was called the circus hope.
If it was a secular organization,
It was dr. Lavender's circus.
Mike: [laughs] I love that.
What's this stuff here?
Jim: Oh, see I haven't seen it in a long time.
Oh okay.
These are little circus wagons that my father made for me.
My parents built and gave me a little miniature circus for
Christmas when I was in the third grade. And...
Mike: Wow.
Jim: I mean, I was king of the block when I had that.
Mike: I bet, absolutely.
Jim: Everybody wanted to come to our house.
But the purpose was to get me to talk.
Jim: I did not like people.
I didn't want to be around people.
The only time I would talk was when I'd go in the backyard and
Turn mom's trash can upside down and get on top of it,
And announce the greatest show on earth.
And neighbors would very quietly lift their windows,
And listen, and then go call one another and say,
"the kid's talking."
Mike: So there's a lot of stuff in here
From this time period, or no?
Jim: Um... I don't know. I can't remember.
Mike: Okay.
Jim: My parents had a great deal to do with my
Fascination with the circus.
And later they didn't want me to have anything to do with it,
They said, that's no life, you don't want that.
Parents are notorious for saying you don't want to do that,
And the child says on the inside,
"yes I do."
Mike: Like, here's a goose.
Jim: We have box after box after box,
Of all kinds of stuff like anybody else,
Only instead of having a garage, we have a 53-foot semi trailer.
Mike: Alright, here we go.
This looks like an older piece. There it is!
Jim: Gee.
Mike: Li'l abner.
Mike: Li'l abner was a comic strip that got started in the
Early 1930s, about a simple country boy,
And li'l abner's main squeeze, daisy mae,
The town smoke show.
Jim: It was about a fictitious town in the hills
Of the ozarks called dogpatch.
Mike: It was hugely popular and influenced
Pop culture for years to come.
Shows like beverly hillbillies, dukes of hazzard,
Anything with a lovable buff southern gentleman and the
Gorgeous southern belle in cutoffs.
Mike: This is back when they made toys so incredible.
I mean, look at the lithograph on that,
The artwork.
Jim: It is.
Mike: All this stuff was hand drawn.
Mike: This drum is a perfect example of the kind
Of merchandise that surrounded this comic strip.
Anything from figurines, tin wind-up toys,
Clothing, board games - the comic strip had a
Huge run from the early 1930s to the late '70s.
And in all that time in between, think about all
The merch that was connected to it.
Mike: So is this something you've had a while?
Jim: A long time.
The subject of li'l abner is how my life transformed from
Speaking to no one, to speaking to huge crowds.
My uncle dave was involved in the
Li'l abner dogpatch facility in arkansas.
Jim: I wanted to go to the circus.
And so I kept telling him, I want to spend my life there.
Mike: [chuckles] jim: And so, a letter came in
The mail from al capp enterprises.
Jim: I said, "for what?"
And he says, "you're going to be the next li'l abner."
Jim: The very first day, the wardrobe lady put these one
Strap overalls on me that were skin tight.
Mike: [laughs]
Jim: And daisy mae shows up...
Mike: Yeah.
Jim: Drop, dead, gorgeous.
Mike: I was going to say, how'd she look?
[laughs] jim: Yes.
And she says, "have you ever picked up a girl?"
And I said, "I'm not sure I know what you mean."
Mike: [laughs]
Jim: She said, "pick her up, and put her on your shoulder."
Your job is to sing the song with daisy mae on your shoulder.
And go down on one knee and smile.
So the very first time, out there on the stage,
The music's going, we're doing the dance,
And I went down and the overalls split in half,
Fell off on the stage...
Mike: [laughs]
Jim: ...And there I am, in an athletic supporter.
At 18 years old, scared to death!
Mike: What!?
What does the crowd do?
Jim: Lost it.
Jim: There were about 2,500 people on the place that day,
And they had a tremendous laugh.
Mike: [laughs]
Jim: [laughs] they lost it.
So that was the day that I decided I was not afraid.
Jim: And since then, I have spoken to tens of thousands
At one time, and it doesn't bother me at all.
It just went away that day.
Mike: [laughs] that's amazing!
So this is a keeper then.
Jim: Well, sort of, I mean... I got too much!
Mike: Yeah. Okay so, condition's obvious everything.
Jim: Yeah.
Mike: But the graphic is still got some decent color and then,
You know, there's some holes in the side,
But overall, you know, it still displays well.
Mike: It's still a cool piece that can connect with
Generations of people that read this comic strip.
Mike: In this shape, like... I mean, like 60 bucks.
Jim: 50.
Mike: 50?
Jim: 50. [laughs]
Mike: [laughs] you feel sorry for me?
I appreciate ya.
Jim: Yeah.
Mike: Alright.
Mike: The fact that I'm buying it from the guy that played
Li'l abner himself at dogpatch, is priceless.
Mike: Can I look up there too?
♪♪
Mike: How many acres you got here?
Jim: We have 18 acres.
Jim: When I began to expand my ministry to children,
We had 200 animals that were part of thank god for kids.
Jim: We had zebras, camels, llamas, horses.
There were 27 big cats and bears here.
Mike: Really?
Jim: Yeah. Lions, tigers, black bears, mountain lion.
Every one of them bottle raised by my wife.
Jim: This is our animal barn.
Mike: Oh you still got some.
Jim: Yeah. We have some.
Mike: I can't even imagine what this place was like at one time.
It'd be like living in the jungle out here. Whoa!
Jim: Yeah, there, his name's josh.
Mike: [laughs] what! Josh, what's up?
Jim: Hey josh. We had our circus, which was
The fundraising arm of thank god for kids outreach.
Mike: [laughs]
Jim: And we went to 28 states over 30 years.
And we had an audience of 2 million children.
There was no real big agenda, just simple -
Bring kids and their families to the church.
Mike: You know, it's funny, you get around
Something like this, you feel like a little kid.
Jim: Well sure.
Mike: Jim combined his love for the circus with his passion for
The ministry to create something that had never been done before.
Mike: What's up with the egg?
Jim: We used it on easter, and this thing rolled out,
And it opened up, and there's the
Easter bunny dancing to celebrate.
Mike: [laughs]
Jim: And then 2 grown white tigers appeared
On either side of it.
Mike: Sounds like vegas.
Jim: It- well... Sort of.
Mike: [laughs]
Jim: Methodists don't get that glitzy, but...
Mike: Yeah.
Jim: But we do try.
Mike: He understood what motivated people,
Inspired, and entertained them, and he used that to connect
Them to something bigger than themselves.
Mike: Ooh... Check this out.
Jim: Now mike, that's got your name on it.
Mike: [laughs] I know, right?
I used to love the tilt-a-whirl, boy.
Oh yeah...
Mike: This is exactly the kind of thing that
I was hoping would be here.
Something that was unique and different,
That can be repurposed from a carnival or a circus.
Mike: Some of my earliest memories were in like,
The mall parking lot...
Jim: Yeah.
Mike: ...Where they were set up.
Mike: As soon as you say, something is from a carnival,
It sparks all of this interest in people.
Could be a poster, it could be a paper-maché clown head,
Whatever it is, it invokes all of these memories that they
Connect to as a child, but also all the folklore
Comes alive as well.
Mike: Where'd you pick this up along the way?
Jim: A carnival that had wintered in south carolina.
Jim: I had always had this love affair with the tilt-a-whirl.
Mike: Everybody has those coming-of-age
Memories of the tilt-a-whirl.
And that's what's driving my passion and my thoughts
On what this could be repurposed into.
Mike: The way to get the money out of the back end on it,
Is to do something with a seating area.
Jim: Yeah.
Mike: Seating in bars, seating in restaurants,
All of that kind of stuff.
Mike: This must be like a later version,
'cause it's got a fiberglass top,
The earlier ones were metal.
Jim: Lighter weight... Right, lighter weight.
Mike: Yeah.
And you could see the clown image right here.
Jim: Yeah.
Mike: What are you thinking on it?
Jim: Oh well... 3?
Mike: If you'd do 3, I'd do 3.
Alright, let's do it.
Jim: I'm happy it has a home.
Mike: Alright, very cool. [laughs]
Jim: Someone will enjoy it.
Mike: I'm crazy enough to buy it.
Mike: Joe dirt ran the tilt-a-whirl.
Jim: This is where we keep the archives of the circus.
Mike: Okay. Your- your circus?
Jim: All circuses.
We have all kinds of stuff in here.
Mike: Haha! Oh my gosh.
Jim: We have posters, we have programs,
We have tickets. 60 years of it.
Mike: Jimi was very meticulous and he was very driven to
Collect all of these posters over the years.
Jim: The ones that are rolled are smaller,
The ones that are folded are larger.
Mike: None of this stuff was made to last.
It was all disposable.
Jim: Got it?
Mike: [high-pitched] oooh -oohh... Ahh!
Jim: Okay...
Mike: I'm trying to just be so delicate with so much of this
Stuff, but he's like, just open it up,
Just take a look at it, it's going to be really cool.
And I'm like, oh my gosh, I don't want to ruin it!
Mike: Ahh... Oh man, [laughing] I know, I'm just... Sorry.
Jim: You are.
Mike: And that's why it's so important,
In my mind, of like, what is the next step with this,
How are we going to display it?
Mike: I mean, I love the big stuff,
But obviously, like in a retail setting,
The way to sell that, to present it...
Jim: Um-hm.
Mike: ...You have to have it shrink-wrapped or framed or
Something, because you cannot have people
Grabbing this every day, in and out, in and out.
Jim: No, no.
Mike: You- they'd ruin it.
I would not be a good steward of these items if
I wasn't thinking about how I was going to display them,
So I could sell them.
Mike: Oh this one's cool.
Jim: This is cole brothers.
Mike: Uh-huh.
Jim: Predecessor to clyde beatty and cole brothers.
Mike: I've found a lot of cole brother stuff in the past.
Jim: Yes. They were very popular.
They were out of peru, indiana.
Mike: So what do you value this one at here?
Jim: Oh let's see...
Mike: There's a few things going on here as far as value -
The circus name, how long they were around,
How large they were, how many shows they did,
How many limited number of posters they made;
Then it's condition, and it's also the biggest thing
Is subject matter.
Jim: 100.
Mike: Yeah, I think you're right on the money.
I mean, this is obviously missing a piece here,
And there's some damage down here.
Jim: Yeah.
Mike: But I think retail on this is like 120.
Jim: Um-hm.
Mike: You know.
Jim: Tell me what you think is fair.
Mike: I have to get this shrink-wrapped at least,
So... For me like 60 bucks.
You want to do that? Okay.
Jim: Sold.
Mike: I appreciate ya.
Jim: I want it to have a good home.
♪♪
Mike: What's this big bad boy right here?
Jim: Okay, that's called a shell,
Which means it is a poster that anyone
Can use to put their title on it.
Mike: Oh, okay.
Jim: They added their title to the top or the bottom.
Mike: Yeah.
So what do you think the value of this is?
I mean, even though it doesn't have a circus on it,
I mean, it's still big, it's bold,
It's in charge.
Jim: It is. It's fun, it'd be cool in a kid's room.
Mike: Yes.
Jim: I would guess no more than 50 bucks.
Mike: Really.
Jim: No more, yeah.
They just aren't that valuable if there's no title on them.
Mike: I'm taking it to the next level in my mind,
Of who's going to buy this in my shop,
Because think about it, you can walk into a store,
You can see an original piece of art that has age to it,
That's got great subject matter, it's very colorful,
It's very large, and you can buy that for your home,
For not a lot of money.
Mike: 30 bucks.
Jim: Sure.
Mike: Alright, I'm doing it.
Jim: I'm happy.
Mike: Alright, I'll do that.
Mike: When you take it into appealing as art,
Something that's a statement piece,
I'm nailing it with this stuff.
Mike: Oh wow, look at that.
Jim: This is 1 of 2 that I'm aware of,
In this country.
Mike: Oh wow, this is tall.
Jim: And you will not see another one like this.
Mike: What are you thinking on this one?
Jim: 175 to 2 -and-a-quarter.
Mike: I'd do the 175.
Jim: Would you?
Mike: Yeah.
Jim: Okay.
Mike: It's in great condition, it's really fragile and it's
Really beautiful, it needs to be framed.
Jim: Yeah.
Mike: And he really stressed to me that this was
Only the second one he had ever seen.
Mike: What are you thinking on that?
Jim: 100 bucks.
Mike: Alright, 100 on that one.
This looks like the subject matter of this
Would be expensive.
Jim: Yeah, this in mint condition,
It could run 3,000.
Mike: What do you want in this shape?
Jim: $75.
Mike: Oh I got to buy it.
Alright, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.
Jim: Send it to a happy home.
Mike: Jim went from being a fan in the audience,
To somebody on stage, to somebody backstage,
And then owning his own circus.
Mike: You've seen all facets of the industry.
Jim: Yeah.
You have to be totally independent of any other...
Sourcing around you, where you are.
Jim: The first thing that you have to have on the piece of
Ground where the circus is going to be,
Is the cook house.
And somebody is in there preparing food before daylight,
For all the crew that is still on the road.
Jim: And they serve many, many meals.
At one time, the greatest show on earth
Would serve 7-8,000 meals a day.
Jim: The water truck will fill the tanks for the elephants that
Are just about the arrive and be unloaded.
Jim: You connect with the water department.
Mike: You're like a little city.
Jim: Yes.
Jim: It's a synchronized family, of people who look out
For one another, and they really are family.
Mike: You have to have heard of ward hall.
Jim: Oh yeah.
Mike: Okay well, you know, I- I...
Jim: The sideshow king.
Mike: I, yeah, I bought some stuff off of him.
Mike: The last time I was able to talk to anybody that had
This kind of depth, and this kind of background,
That was in the industry, was ward hall.
Ward: My show cost 10 cents to get in,
And $6.20 to get out.
Mike: [laughs]
Jim: He had the gift of saying, "it's alllllive."
Mike: Yeah.
Mike: "spooks."
Ward: That show is so spooky,
It'll scare the yell right out of you.
Mike: [laughs]
Mike: It never gets old. Hearing their personal experiences
And all the wild and crazy stories of a time
In america that will never come again.
Mike: Oh this is a big one, I can tell.
Jim: It is, it's an 8-sheet.
Mike: Okay.
Jim: A, a leopard, on a green background,
Ringling brothers -barnum & bailey.
And it is uncirculated.
Mike: Oh wow.
Jim: It's new, it's new.
Mike: I can see the colors.
Jim: Yeah.
Mike: Ooh.
Jim: Yeah.
Mike: So I don't even know how we...
Jim: You'd- you'd have to take it outside.
Mike: Oh really.
Jim: That poster had never been completely unfolded.
Mike: Alright.
Jim: I'll be alright.
Mike: Okay.
Jim: I promise.
Mike: Alright.
Jim: It has been folded up like that since the late '40s,
Possibly early '50s.
Jim: You got to be able to see it.
Jim: And so it is somewhat fragile.
Mike: Alright.
Jim: But no one should purchase a piece of paper ephemera
Without unfolding it to see exactly what you're getting.
Mike: Ahh!
Jim: You're okay...
Mike: [chuckles] I'm freaking.
Jim: You're okay.
It's only a piece of paper. [chuckles]
Mike: Alright... Oh it's history, it's history!
Jim: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mike: Argh!
Wait, wait, wait!
Okay, oh my gosh, look at this thing.
Mike: All of these posters are designed to draw you in,
To capture your attention.
The colors, the subject matter, the barnum & bailey
One is by far my favorite.
Mike: Now I can see why you wanted me to open it.
I mean, you- you've sold me now, I mean,
It's gorgeous, I'm just trying to think...
Again, back end, like how do I display this,
You know?
You have to get some like, serious foam core or something.
Jim: Sure, that'll work. Mike: Yeah.
Jim: It will work. I've done it.
Mike: And still even to mount it,
How do you mount it?
Jim: Carefully.
Mike: If you can't display it, how can you sell it?
Jim: Don't fear any of these compromises you see.
None of those are going to be an issue when it's mounted.
Mike: So you've done this.
Jim: Yes.
Mike: You've been here.
Jim: Many times.
Mike: Alright.
Jim: They sell for anywhere from 4 to 7.
I would say... 4 and a quarter.
Mike: I just, I don't know what I'm going to have on the back
End of doing it.
I love it, I absolutely love it, don't get me wrong, man.
I mean, it's just- it's- it's un- unbelievable.
Mike: The simple powerful graphics of this barnum & bailey
Poster, you know, the leopard, you're staring death in the
Eyes, fangs, you know, it's like very hypnotic.
It just pulls you in and lets you know,
The circus is dangerous, it's exciting, it's intoxicating.
Mike: 350 bucks. [chuckles]
That was fast. Alright.
Mike: All of this is happening for $350.
I'm hoping someone loves it for 6.
Mike: Alrighty.
Jim: Okay.
Mike: Alright, man, I got some good posters here.
Jim: I got a drum.
Mike: The story of the circus is an incredible american story,
But to learn the back end of the parts and pieces that make it
All work, is a new journey for me.
Mike: Alright, my friend.
Jim: Okay. Great.
Mike: Thank you for sharing your faith and your passion with me.
Jim: Absolutely, what a pleasure.
Mike: I mean that.
Mike: Not many people get to live out their dream.
Jim was fortunate enough to live out
Not just one, but two.
Mike: Alright, I'll see you down the road.
Jim: Okay, bye-bye.
Mike: Come to nashville.
Jim: It's sort of like having a child,
And you want them to have a great place to be.
I want these things to go to good homes,
Where somebody will enjoy them, long after I'm gone.
[honks horn]
Mike: See you, buddy! Jim: Bye!