American Pickers' Mike Wolfe Struck A Deal So Kids Could Make Time Capsules
"American Pickers" host Mike Wolfe has a well-documented fondness for introducing children to the art of antique picking, even co-authoring a book called "Kid Pickers." In a bonus clip from Season 12, Episode 2, "Raze the Roof," Wolfe and former picking partner Frank Fritz visited a collector in Grayson County, Kentucky. During a search through the seller's collection, Wolfe discovered a small batch of small metal canisters with screw-top lids and speculated that they could have been used to store old film at some point. He struck a deal for the canisters and suggested that he could sell them to kids at his shop as a way for them to make time capsules.
"We have so many kids that come into the shop," Wolfe said. "I want to have something to give or sell these kids cheap, like fifty cents or a buck a piece, just so they have something they can take away from the store."
Beyond the canisters, Wolfe and Fritz left with several more items after striking some other notable deals for modestly priced items.
Wolfe and Fritz also scored a wooden park bench
"My family has been in Grayson County for at least 7 generations," Robert Wright, the collector, said in the clip. "The stuff in this building has come from different family members." Wright was unable to identify the purpose or origin of the metal canisters Mike Wolfe called "time capsules," but that didn't dissuade Wolfe from taking two boxes of them with him.
Wolfe and Frank Fritz continued hunting through the shop until Mike found an old wooden park bench, and was intrigued by the item despite a large chunk missing from one of its planks. "There's some damage to the piece, but who cares," Wolfe said. "The overall condition and the look is incredible." Wright asked if the bench was worth $100 and Wolfe responded by offering $200 before commenting that the bench was actually worth at least twice that. Fritz also made a deal for a cookie jar shaped like a bear and another one shaped like a pumpkin.
While their overall haul didn't contain any items of tremendous value, Fritz and Wolfe left happy and with a chance to make a modest profit. And, perhaps most notably for the Pickers, they also left with the chance to give some kids an entryway into the hobby that became their livelihood.