John: I taught a course in comparative law,
philosophy and religion. I was 24, I think.
Mike: You were 24 teaching at Yale?
John: But the Dean claimed I had a different girl every
weekend and I was setting a bad example for the students.
Mike: So the Kennedy bust, had you ever met
President Kennedy?
John: Oh yes, more than once.
Mike: Frank and I are meeting the most interesting
man in the world.
John: I designed the first computer cut
passive solar log cabin.
John: My great uncle rewrote the book of common prayer for
the episcopal church.
Frank: So you see why we're curious what he's got
in store for us.
John: I have something interesting here.
Mike: Oh my god.
Mike: Last time I was here in New York,
I got all the way down south into Staten Island.
But this time, we're all the way up in the mountains.
New York has paid off for us in the past,
and hopefully this trip won't be any different.
Mike: Hey Dani, what up?
Danielle: Hey, how's it going?
There's a guy named Frank that I'm going to send you to.
He comes from a family of firefighters.
This is for you, Franky.
He has so much firemen memorabilia.
Frank: Fire memorabilia? Definitely a market for that.
Mike: Alright, there's some foam building up on the corner
of his mouth right now.
Danielle: He's got great toy trucks and toy cars.
Frank: Toy trucks and toy cars.
Mike: Oh this is a mega Frank pick.
Frank: So he's got fire memorabilia, he's got toys,
and his name's Frank?
We're there. See ya, Danielle.
Mike: Alright, bye.
Danielle: Okay, bye.
Frank: I'm putting the pedal to the metal.
It's not every day that we go to a place
that's tailor made for me.
Mike: Alright, here it is. This must be the place.
Frank: The guy's got barns, he's got sheds,
he's got outbuildings.
I'm ready to destroy this pick.
Frank: Hey buddy.
Frank: You want me to handle this since the guy's name's Frank?
Mike: Frank was full on eye of the tiger, man.
Mike: You want me to stand back?
Mike: He gets out of the van, he goes, give me the flier,
I'll handle it.
Frank: Hey Frank, what's up? Frank, Frank.
Mike: Give me the flier, I'll handle it.
Frank R: Hello?
Frank: You Frank?
Frank R: Hey. Yeah. Yeah.
Frank: Frank, how you doing?
Mike: Hey, how you doing? Hey, I'm Mike.
Nice to meet you. Hello.
Frank: How you doing, partner?
Mike: You talk to Danielle on the phone?
Frank R: Yeah. Yeah.
Mike: She said, uh you were a firefighter.
Frank R: Yeah, I was, yeah.
Mike: That's very cool.
Frank R: Yeah.
Frank R: My family was all firefighters.
When I turned 18, I was old enough,
it was just natural for me to join up.
So I did.
You know, I really loved it.
I was, you know, it was excitement and all that kind
of stuff.
Frank: I did some of that myself.
Frank R: Did you ever see those glass ferganate balls?
Frank: Yeah, , oh my god.
Frank R: I got some of them. I got...
Frank: I got the six packs.
The twelve packs, the three packs.
Mike: You guys, you guys want to be alone with each other?
Frank: Salesman samples. Firefighters, I got them all.
Mike: I hate to interrupt the bromance going on here,
but I'm in business and we're burning daylight.
Mike: Can you show us around a little bit?
Frank R: Yeah.
Frank: Alright. So you got a lot of outbuildings?
Frank R: Yeah, I got a few buildings.
I needed them.
Frank R: I'm an original picker.
I really hunt down the old barns and dig
and dig and dig and dig.
Mike: You got guys that help you pick?
Frank R: My buddy, Mike.
Mike: So wait a second.
So you're Frank, and your buddy Mike picks with you.
Frank R: Yeah, yeah.
Mike: That sounds familiar, doesn't it, Franky?
Mike: This is the overflow room?
Frank R: Yeah, this was here when I got the farm.
I think this was like an old crafts room.
Mike: I came here initially thinking that this was going
to be a Frank pick.
Frank: Bob's Big Boys.
Mike: But after I look around, I think there's going to be
some stuff for me to buy here too.
Mike: Where'd you get this at?
Frank R: I picked that up down in the south towns in the hills.
Mike: Is this the only piece you have to it?
Frank R: Yeah.
Mike: Right away, I see a piece to a still.
Frank: That's the boiler.
Frank R: Yeah. It's pretty cool though, isn't it?
I was going to try making some sour mash one time,
but I was kind of scared.
Mike: Oh you were actually going to use this?
Frank R: I was going to try some day.
But, yeah, but I'd sell it if you want it,
if you're interested in it.
Mike: Everything moon shining right now,
southern culture is extremely hot.
Mike: Nothing. I was wondering if it had a coil on the side.
Mike: This isn't a complete still,
but it's the money shot.
It's all copper, cone top, it's got the age.
It's got the patina.
Mike: 150.
Frank R: I was thinking more like 250.
Mike: Oh really?
Frank R: Yeah.
Mike: When we go on to somebody's property,
the first item, that's the deal maker,
that's where you get to know each other.
Frank: You're feeling each other out.
Mike: Yeah, we're just really starting to get to feel each
other out.
Mike: Well I got to think what I got to get
out of the back end.
Frank R: How about 200?
Mike: Alright, 200. Make a little on it.
Mike: This is a great ice breaking item and it shows me
that Frank's not afraid to leave a little bit of
money on the table.
Mike: So how did you get injured?
Frank R: A fire at a, at a carpet factory store.
Frank R: It was a very intense fire because of the carpeting
it's all petroleum based, you know, product,
rolling flames and big black smoke and all that.
It was an arson fire.
We didn't know that then, found out after the fact.
We went in there and ended up pulling the kid that actually
started the fire out of the building.
Frank R: Pretty intense fire and the roof ended up caving
in and then when the roof came in, the walls gave out,
me and my partner got buried.
Mike: Wow.
Frank R: I was buried under there for 20 minutes before
they got me out of there.
Frank R: My partner didn't make it and, uh...
Mike: I'm sorry to hear that.
Frank R: He was still conscious.
He ended up breathing in all this toxic gases
and the smoke and stuff.
Where I was knocked unconscious and pushed in
between, I wasn't getting all that.
Frank R: It was pretty traumatic thing, you know.
Mike: Oh I can imagine.
Frank R: Broke my back.
I was paralyzed, you know, I was all smashed up.
My feet were smashed, my hands were smashed,
my ribs were smashed, I had internal problems.
I spent 96 days in the hospital.
Mike: Well the big man upstairs still wants you around.
Frank R: Oh yeah, yeah, somebody does.
Frank: I mean this guy's a hero. Plain and simple.
Mike: Let's see what else we got. That's early.
Frank: That's a big boy.
Frank: I'm looking around and all I see is household
furniture, where's the fire equipment?
Mike: Ooh here we go.
Frank, what can you tell me about this?
Frank R: Not much. Came from my old farm.
Mike: I find a dusty, crusty veneer peeled,
really awesome display cabinet.
Mike: This was in the property that you bought?
Frank R: My, my old property.
Yeah, it was in the old barn there.
Mike: I mean, really to be honest with you,
the only reason I'm interested in it is just because of the
shape of it.
Frank R: Right.
Mike: It's glass all the way around.
And I think it's funky that the top opens up.
But the veneer is shot man.
Frank R: It is what it is.
Mike: Can I move this off the top?
Frank R: Yeah, move it if you want.
Mike: Let me see.
Mike: Haven't seen one like this before,
arched in the front, opens on the top.
It's awesome.
Mike: Well what are you thinking on something like that?
Frank R: Two.
Mike: Two bills?
Frank R: Yeah. It's pretty unusual piece.
Mike: It is unusual.
How about make me feel like I'm getting a good deal. 175.
Frank R: 185. That's still a good deal.
Mike: People love to do the dance, man,
and a lot of these guys, they won't respect you,
unless you do.
Mike: Okay, you're at 185. Frank R: Yeah.
Mike: I'm at 180.
Frank R: Alright. I'll do it. Yeah.
Mike: Alright.
Frank R: That's probably been sitting in that hallway there
in my way for a good 10 or 11 years.
They did me a favor by getting rid of that thing.
Frank R: Some wheelchairs over there.
The top one there was mine, I used to
play wheelchair basketball.
Frank: Oh really?
Frank: How long were you into that?
Frank R: I played for 17 years. Mike: Really?
Frank R: Yeah, I traveled all over the country.
Frank R: Two years after I got hurt,
I got involved with the local team, the Buffalo Chariots.
I ended up liking it because of the exercise and all that.
Mike: Well how long ago were you injured?
Frank R: Uh, it'll be 29 years this November.
Mike: So at first you were, you were confined
to a wheelchair?
Frank R: Oh yeah, I couldn't do nothing in the beginning.
I was in a full body cast. Oh yeah.
Frank R: Right from the beginning they said I wouldn't
walk at all.
Frank R: I do more stuff than most able bodied people.
Mike: I see that.
You filled this place up.
Mike: What Frank has been through would break the
average person, but now, here he is giving us a tour through
a collection that he's built his whole life.
To me it shows the spirit.
And his passion for collecting.
Frank R: I got some more stuff back in this
little room over here.
Frank: What you got stashed? Anything interesting?
Frank R: There's just all rare junk.
Mike: That's really cool.
Did you specialize in anything in particular?
Frank R: Oh I like fire stuff a lot, you know, I'm a big...
Mike: Oh yeah, that's what Danielle said.
Frank R: I'm a big buff on fire stuff.
Frank: So here we are, we're in our third room.
Where's the fire apparatus?
Where's the fire stuff?
Where's the toys?
Mike: Whoa, alright, what is up with that dude?
Look at how scary he is.
Mike: It's ratty, his foot's chewed off,
he's got a wire sticking out of it.
You know, his pants are gone.
Mike: That, there, that looks like you.
Frank: I know it does.
That's why I was getting away from it.
Mike: Doesn't that look like him?
Frank R: Yeah.
Mike: It never ceases to amaze me that almost every pick
there's something that looks like Frank.
Mike: You know who that is don't you, Frank?
I think it's Emmett Kelly.
Mike: This is a guy that's like America's favorite clown.
1930's, yeah, but he was a hobo, exactly.
This is the guy that created that look.
This is the guy that made you romanticize about being a
hobo, you know what I mean?
Frank: About catching the rails and living that,
living underneath the stars.
Mike: Yeah. Mike: How much is this?
Frank R: Pretty neat item, you don't see too many of these.
I'll go 30 on that guy.
Mike: I'm like, listen, man...it's my boy here.
Mike: 20 bucks on Emmett Kelly.
He's got a blown out foot, his pants are missing.
Frank R: He's still cooler as hell though.
Mike: His beard is faded.
Frank R: 25, I got, you know, he's a decent thing.
Mike: 23? Frank R: 23? Alright.
Frank: You don't know how happy I am that you guys got
together on that.
Mike: This is an amazing piece of Americana and
it looks like Frank. I love it even more.
Mike: So all of these buildings are full, huh?
Frank R: Yeah.
Frank: I'm ready. Please take me to the honey hole.
Mike: Man, that's a big barn, man.
Pedal cars, girls' bikes.
Frank: Where's the fire bells?
Where's the helmets? Where's the suits?
Mike: The coats?
Frank: Where's everything?
I'm seeing nothing.
Frank: Hey Frank, remember this thing?
Frank R: Oh yeah.
Frank: I look around a little bit, I find a lamp.
Frank: Not super old, but it's got some age to it.
Frank: You know, it's not the oldest one.
Frank R: It's a nice looking lamp, yeah.
Frank: Rewired a little bit here.
What you got on something like this?
Frank R: 100 bucks? Frank: How about 75 on it?
Frank R: You bought it.
Frank: Alright, you got a deal.
Frank: <shrugging>
Mike: God, this place is huge.
Frank: It gets bigger and bigger.
Frank: I mean, this has got to have it all.
I mean, it's got to.
Mike: Man, that's nice.
Frank: This is it.
It's the best building.
It's got the best roof, it's got the most area.
There's cars in here.
Mike: Oh you got fire trucks?
Frank R: Yeah.
Mike: What's the years on these?
Frank R: The small ones are 1929 American Le France.
And the other one's a 1937 Brockway.
Mike: Every kid's dream man, to ride on a fire truck.
Frank: Fire trucks are great, I can't fit them in the van.
He's got to have something that I can
actually carry out of here.
Mike: Oh my god, look at that go kart somebody made.
Frank R: That was mine when I was a kid.
Frank R: I was rode that when I was 10, 12 years old.
Used to run good. Not fast, but it ran good.
Frank: Looks like it was heavy.
Mike: This was a coming of age piece for Frank, okay?
Any 8 year old kid out there wanted something
with wheels and a motor on it.
I'm talking a little sawed off shade tree
mechanic put this together.
Frank R: Almost got arrested on it once.
The cops stopped me cause I was the only one they could
catch cause I was slow in this thing.
Mike: Looks like a blacksmith made this thing, man.
Frank: I mean, it's heavy duty.
Frank: He's pulling it out.
Mike: Woo! Fire it up!
Frank: Go kart racing started out in the 1950s,
it went from a recreational activity
to a competitive sport.
People started putting real engineering into making these
things.
A lot of big name drivers from like Formula One, NASCAR,
Indy racing, all got their start in go kart racing.
Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, even Danica Patrick,
it was a great way to introduce young
people to motor racing.
Mike: What are you thinking, Frank?
Frank R: 3? Frank: Dollars?
Mike: Hundred? Frank R: Yeah.
Mike: Just messing with you.
Mike: He was right on the retail number, I mean,
he knew his stuff.
And that's good.
But you know, I can't pay the retail price.
Mike: If you want to be the guy that gets the three bills,
I can't, I can't be the guy that buys it for three bills.
But I understand it. I mean...
Frank R: How about...250?
Mike: I'll tell you what, I'd do 200.
I'm going to put it at 400.
And some guy's going to give me 300.
That's the way that's going to roll.
Frank R: Alright, you bought it.
Mike: I love. Mike: $100.
Frank R: $200.
Frank: You know whatever you say he's going to double up.
I already got that.
Frank: I seen this dance before.
Mike: 125.
Frank: Let me do it for you, Frank. 150.
Mike: Then I start negotiating with him.
Frank: I already knew what it was going to be.
Mike: 140. Frank: 5.
Mike: Figure out if you're going to wear a blue coat
Frank: We're still picking here at Frank's house,
Mike's killing it here.
Mike: It's a pretty nice cabinet, Franky.
Frank: I'm still looking for the firefighter stuff that
Dani told me about.
Mike: Me and Frank are getting along great, I'm,
the money's flowing, the deals are flowing.
Mike: How much for the recipe book?
Mike: I see the cookbook, it's worn, so I'm thinking, hey,
if it's been used that much, it's got to
have some good recipes in it.
Frank R: 10 bucks. Get it out of here.
Mike: I'll take it. Oh Frank, look at this.
Mike: Industrial lighting is something I've been buying a
lot for the past two years, because it's so easy to sell.
Mike: What are you thinking on these four?
Frank R: 125.
Mike: Alright. Hey, I like it.
Mike: I can't get my money out of my pocket fast enough,
I'm buying so much stuff here.
Frank: And I'm starting to slow down.
I feel like somebody needs to light a fire underneath my
butt to get me going.
Mike: How about this trike right here?
Mike: It's got the teardrop seat, total air flow,
streamlined.
Mike: What about 70? Frank R: 73.
Mike: You're working with me.
Frank R: Oh you got to play for every last dollar,
don't you think?
Three dollars is a beer.
Mike: Alright.
Frank: So this is another storage area?
Frank R: Yeah.
Frank: He gets in his pocket, pulls out the key.
Undoes the lock, this is it.
I feel it.
I mean no other building's had a lock.
This is where he's got everything displayed.
I know it.
Frank: Looks like my garage, bunch of oil cans.
Mike: Man, you got this sucker packed.
Frank R: Oh I love it in here, yeah, I'm here a lot.
Frank: What do I smell? I smell oil.
Do I smell carbon tetrachloride? No.
Do I smell anything to do with fire fighting stuff? No.
Mike: I didn't know you're an oil can guy.
Frank R: I love my cans.
Mike: You're an oil guy.
I think in a normal situation that you would have bought an
oil can in there, because there was some
really cool oil cans.
Frank: But I was too jacked up on the other stuff.
Mike: Exactly.
You were too jacked up, you, you had the blinders on, dude.
Mike: This is a nice piece.
Here's the biggie, let's see if it works. Kinda.
Frank R: Kinda works.
Mike: The klaxon horn is an accessory piece for a
motorcycle or a car.
These are getting harder and harder to find.
Mike: It's almost there. Missing the bottom clamp.
Somebody put that wood handle on there.
100 dollars.
Frank R: 200 dollars.
Frank: You know whatever you say he's going to double up.
I already got that.
Frank: I've seen this dance before.
This guy doubles whatever you want.
Frank: I figured Frank out from a long time ago.
Mike: It did take me a while to get that.
Frank: I mean, I've seen his dance card before, been there,
done that, played it.
Mike: 125.
Frank: Let me do it for you, Frank. 150.
Mike: Then I start negotiating with him.
Frank: I already knew what it was going to be.
Mike: 130. Frank: I can't. 150.
Mike: Can he? Frank R: No.
Frank: I can't buy. I might as well try to sell.
Just try to keep in the game.
Mike: What's the bottom dollar before I put it back?
Frank R: You tell him again.
Frank: 150.
Mike: That's, alright, make me feel like
I'm getting a good deal. 135.
Frank: 145. Mike: Let me walk out...
Frank R: You are getting a good deal at 150.
Mike: Let me walk out of here with some pride. 140.
Frank: 5.
Mike: Figure out if you're going to wear a blue
coat or a grey coat, okay?
Mike: 145.
Frank R: Yeah.
Mike: Alright, who's hand do I shake?
Frank R: Shake his.
Mike: This is the kind of piece that when you put it on
your bike, you're a proud dude, man.
And nobody notices that you're a proud dude,
you're going to honk it a couple times and they're going
to realize it real fast.
Mike: No admittance. Can we come in here?
Frank: Yeah, we're authorized? Frank R: You're authorized.
Mike: Alright. Dang. Frank, you're going to freak.
Frank: This is it. I'm finally here. I'm free! I'm here.
Frank: Pretty cool.
Frank: I was a fire inspector 25 years.
I want to see what somebody really thinks is a big
collection.
Man, I'm ready, I'm ready.
Frank: Hey look at the sides of the spotlight,
that came off like a fire truck, didn't it?
Frank R: Yeah, yeah.
Frank: I'm not even three steps in, I look in and bang!
There's a searchlight.
Frank: You got it electrified?
Frank R: Yeah, yeah, it works.
It lights this whole room up really nice,
that's why I have it up there.
Frank: This is a vintage cast iron searchlight from about
the 1930s, it was manufactured by a company from upstate
New York called Crouse-Hinds.
It's got a great look.
Frank: What are you getting for something like that?
Frank R: I'd have to get like 300 bucks on that.
Frank: 300? Frank R: Yeah.
Frank: We were real close, I was thinking 250.
Frank R: I'll think about it. Frank: 275.
Frank R: I'd love to get 300 out of that,
that's a pretty nice piece.
Frank: I want to get some money rolling here,
I want him to know I'm a serious buyer.
Frank: You know what? I'll take it for 300. I try it.
Frank R: Alright. Frank: Alright, I like it.
Frank: This could be a decoration for somebody or
they could use this as a functional piece.
What a great buy.
Frank: Alright, I'll keep looking.
Mike: I like that.
Frank: It's got a nice color to it.
Mike: It's a girl's grip.
Frank: What about this clockwork toy here,
what can you tell me about this?
Frank R: Clockwork toy. Frank: Yeah.
Frank R: I think it's a Dayton.
Frank: He's got an older toy here,
it's kind of like a hill climber,
it's got a little weight on the back.
Frank R: He's old, I'm guessing 20s or something.
Frank: It's in, you know, so so condition.
Frank: It's a little damaged on this side.
It's missing a little bit.
Frank R: You'd be damaged too if you were that old.
Frank: It's got the driver, that's a good thing.
Frank R: That's a plus.
And he's the original guy.
Frank: What do you got on something like that?
Frank R: I'd go like 400 on that thing.
They're hard to find.
Frank: Yeah, I know...
Frank R: Them are real hard to find.
Frank: How about 275? Frank R: 375?
Frank: 275. Frank R: 375.
Frank: Yeah, that's only 25 down.
Frank R: I'll go to 350.
Frank: I'd do, I'd split you in the middle at 300.
Frank R: I paid almost 300 for that thing when I bought it.
Frank: Well I'm going to stick...
Frank R: I'm 350.
I'm going to stick at my price too.
Frank: He prices his fire stuff too high.
I was hoping for a fire sale, but instead,
I'm getting hosed.
Frank: Hey Frank?
I see you have a lot of auto fires,
you got some sure stops down here.
Frank: All of a sudden there it is,
I see his small portable fire extinguisher collection.
Frank: A lot of stand pipes, a lot of, uh, carbon tets here.
A lot of stuff.
Frank R: I've been collecting it for years.
Frank: He's got the old ones, the pull handle ones you
sprinkle on, he's got the carbon tet,
he's got the pumps.
Frank: What about the sure fires?
I know you're going to really love these.
I used to have these like in different plants and stuff.
Red Comet made the three packs, six pack, twelve pack.
Frank: This is a six pack of carbon tetrachloride grenade.
These things were outlawed midway through
the 20th century.
Back in the day, you'd throw these at the base of the
flames and they would explode with the liquid all over.
Frank R: Carbon tetrachloride which is what the balls are
filled with, is a hazardous substance.
They put out the fire, but the fumes put out the people.
Frank: What do you get for something like this?
Frank R: I know it books probably around 350 or
something like that.
I'd go like 275 on it.
It's pretty clean, it's like almost mint.
Frank: Well these didn't have a lot of use, you know,
they sat up on the wall and they hung,
you weren't playing with them every day.
Frank: You don't see these all the time and then sometimes
when you do find them, there's one or two missing.
Frank: You know, at 275...I think there's a little room
left on it, I can make a little bit.
I'll take them.
Frank R: Alright.
Frank: 275, I still think there's a little money left.
You don't find them everywhere and they are in great
condition.
Mike: There he is. Frank R: He's pretty cool.
Mike: This is going up front with me.
Frank R: I enjoy having Mike and Frank here.
They were smiling guys.
I'm happy that they came and they bought some stuff.
Frank: Frank it was a pleasure.
Mike: God bless you, my friend.
Mike: Frank was an inspiring dude, man.
Frank R: Happy picking.
Mike: His energy, man, you know, I mean,
we're walking around, I'm getting kind of tired digging
through a lot of this stuff.
And he's still going for it.
He's definitely got a big heart.
Frank: See you, Frank! Frank: See ya!
Robbie: Turn it a little bit more.
Gotta go that way with it.
Danielle: Construction on the new wing of the store is going
full steam ahead.
After we finally overcame the problem with the sewer line a
few weeks ago.
Robbie: We're going to move the building over four feet.
Danielle: Those construction guys have been working their
tails off.
Man: And that's where should be
the man door with the transom above it here.
Danielle: The girders are going up,
the walls are starting to go up,
I'm amazed at how fast this process works after you know,
all of the big stuff is done.
The best news is that the bricks for the outside of the
building are finally here.
I did a lot of research and found this old fashioned
company out of Illinois that makes each brick by hand.
So no two bricks are the same.
This place is going to look like a 1930's garage,
which is exactly the aesthetic we were looking for.
I'm really hopeful that they'll start that brickwork
by the time the guys get back from New York.
Mike: Danielle has finally torn herself away from the
construction of the new store to give me and Franky a lead.
Frank: We're heading up to meet a guy named John.
I guess he lives in the mountains.
Mike: This guy's going to be like the
Jeremiah Johnson of junk.
Frank: Probably.
Frank: You know, Danielle really didn't tell us a lot
about what this guy has, but she's been trying to get us in
for a long time.
Frank: Wow.
Mike: Alright, you think you know where you're going.
Frank: The GPS says right here.
Mike: Whoa. Wait, wait , wait a second, this is a gate.
Frank: That's where it says. Keep on going.
Mike: There's like 9 no trespassing signs on it.
Frank: Well this is what the GPS says.
This is like an old, uh, campgrounds or something.
It's pretty up here, dude.
Mike: Wow. Frank: That's cool.
Mike: It's a beautiful piece of property.
Frank: Alright, this, okay, look, now this, the,
that's it.
The GPS just went off, so I go that way or this way?
Mike: Go this way. Frank: Alright.
Mike: If the guy's going to have a house,
it's going to be on higher ground.
Frank: Alright. Uh oh, there's another gate.
What do you think about that?
Mike: Wait, just a second...
Frank: Let's just try it, dude. Whoa.
Oh, look at this, it's modern, modern civilization.
It's all paved. Oh wow.
Mike: This is it? Frank: This is it, dude.
Mike: This says lodge, this is a lodge.
Frank: This is awesome though.
You know he's going to have some cool stuff here.
Frank: I've seen resorts that aren't this nice.
This place is like a paradise.
I can hear the birds chirping, the wind in the trees,
I tell you what, I wouldn't mind living here.
Frank: He said it was kind of like a big cabin place.
So this looks like it.
Mike: Dang.
Frank: This place is huge, dude.
He's got his own pond.
Got his own little sanctuary here.
Mike: The guy's got his own bird.
This guy's rolling.
[bird chirrping]
Frank: Hello. Camilla: Hello.
Mike: The door opens and wow.
Frank: How you doing? Mike: How you doing? I'm Mike.
Camilla: Camilla.
Frank: We're looking for a guy named John. Frank.
Camilla: Is he expecting you?
Mike: Yeah. Yeah, we spoke...
Camilla: Alright, hold on one sec.
Frank: Okay.
Frank: Man, this place is perfect.
John: Hello. Mike: Hey, are you John?
John: I am.
Mike: Hey, you talked to Danielle on the phone.
John: You're Danielle's friends.
Mike: Yeah, I'm Mike. Camilla: What is this?
John: Sort of a resolution of a conversation I had with
Danielle out in Iowa.
Camilla: You're going to get rid of some things.
John: Well, I... Camilla: It's about time.
John: About time. Mike: Oh I like her.
John: My daughter, my daughter
Camilla: Come in. Frank: Sure.
Camilla: Well, can you take it all?
Camilla: My father has accumulated things over the
past 50 years.
Garages that most people would put cars in,
we have filled to the brim with things.
John: This is our dining room.
Mike: When you first walk into the place,
it's got a great presence.
It's rustic, but it's sophisticated.
Mike: Wow, this is a Pondarosa, huh?
John: No this is built in 1884 of chestnut,
which was the number one wood in the United States
for 230 years.
John: I'm John Atwater Bradley.
Founding trustee of the Awosting Reserve,
a non-profit line trust.
As a Boy Scout, I started out with a fascination for this
mountain range.
It's called [inaudible]
which means place of the white rocks in
the Indian tongue.
And from there on, I gradually with colleagues acquired, uh,
a few thousand acres of land to preserve and protect it and
yet to enjoy and make good use of it.
Mike: Frank, here you go, what's the significance of these?
Frank, Frank's been to Oktoberfest in LaCrosse, what?
31 years in a row?
Frank: 30 years.
Mike: He's going to be a fest master.
Tell him what the fest master is.
Frank: They tap the golden keg, they have, they have...
Mike: They tap the golden keg there.
Frank: They have the master's, the test master's ball,
you know, and stuff like that?
Camilla: And this happens in Wisconsin?
Frank: Wisconsin, it's the big one.
John: It's called the lederhosen.
Mike: Yeah.
Frank: Germany- especially South Germany,
is famous for two things- drinking beer and wearing
leather pants.
What they call the lederhosen.
Camilla: Men wearing lederhosen I have a thing for.
Frank: Is this something you'd sell?
John: I would consider it.
Camilla: What are you going to do with those?
Frank: Oh I would wear them. John: No, they would fit him.
Frank: These are beer drinking pants right here.
Camilla: All the photographs we have from the 70s is him
wearing the lederhosen.
Frank: It says Germany on the back. West Germany.
John: Well, her grandfather was Ambassador there.
Camilla: My father has lived an incredible life.
Every single piece you pick up has a story.
John: I rode a bicycle all through Italy, France,
and Switzerland and these were what I wore.
John: Well, they're wonderful, I mean, that's, uh,
pretty old and it's never required any cleaning.
Camilla: Oh.
John: Give me an idea what you think they're worth.
Frank: How about 50 bucks?
John: If you could do 75, I think we have a deal.
Frank: How about 65? Mike: I think this is...
John: If you wear them, I'm happy,
that's part of the deal.
You will wear them.
Frank: I mean, not today, but...
Camilla: Yes. I'm answering for him.
John: Okay. Frank: Alright. Done deal.
Frank: As a fest master, you got to look the part.
These are going to be just perfect for me.
John: Now that piece over there is from the
film Analyze This.
Frank: Robert DeNiro?
John: Robert DeNiro, right.
When I bought it at auction for Robert DeNiro who was a
friend of mine.
Mike: Robert DeNiro?
I mean, we're just getting to know this guy and then all of
a sudden bam!
He's dropping Bobby DeNiro's name.
John: These chairs were a gift by Nelson Rockefeller,
cause he was giving up his Monte Socorro Estate in
Venezuela.
Mike: I'm like, this guy's had a pretty interesting life.
Mike: Oh yeah, that feels like money.
Mike: I can't wait to see the rest of his stuff.
Mike: I think that's the first time you've ever broken the
ice with a pair of lederhosen.
Frank: We're here with John and his daughter, Camilla,
on a land trust in upstate New York.
And I just bought a pair of leather shorts.
I love this job.
Camilla: Well can we show you some other,
can we get them into some barns?
Frank: We've already found one thing.
Mike: We'd love to look around.
Frank: You bet.
Camilla: Where we are now was actually a Girl Scout camp
until we took it over, so there are little cabins
throughout the woods.
John: The Girl Scouts were sort of a pro bono of mine,
I helped them out, found another property for them on
the Delaware River.
Mike: Ooh. Frank: Whoa.
Frank: Our first barn and the place is stacked.
This is a great sign for today.
Frank: Oh man, this is cool, Mike, look at that.
Mike: Old...
John: There's another old sleigh.
Mike: JB, where did you get this at?
John: That came off a building near
Cornelius Vanderbilt's house.
He just...
Mike: Cornelius Vanderbilt's house?
John: Yeah.
John: I love to, these old symbols that were found on the
tops of buildings that showed the wind
direction and so forth.
Mike: These pieces were expensive,
they were status symbols.
The wealthy farms were on the east coast.
You're not going to find something like this on a back
road in Iowa.
John: They're...
Mike: He's had some major repairs here.
Here and here.
John: Well also bullet holes there.
Mike: No I saw that. That's character.
I could deal with that.
But this stuff, it's been painted yellow.
It was probably gilded at one time.
Camilla: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mike: So how long have you had this?
John: 30 years.
Mike: Let me bring it out in the light.
So there's some severe damage here and here.
Part of his leg is missing here and his tail's gone.
There was a model called the Blackhawk,
where the horse's mane was flamed like this.
Mike: If this one is the blackhawk,
which I think it is, it was made by Harrison Company right
around the turn of the century.
This is a very cool piece.
Mike: Let me ask you this, is it something you'd even
entertain selling?
John: Oh yes, very much so.
Mike: Do you have an idea what you want for it?
John: Um, well I think I paid...
Camilla: But that has nothing to do with what it's worth.
Mike: No, just back then what were they bringing back then?
John: I think it was about 130 dollars.
Mike: Yeah, well they've gone up considerably.
John: Yes, they have. Mike: I'd pay 800.
John: You would? Mike: Yeah.
John: You just made my day.
Mike: You know, would you sell it for 800?
John: I certainly would.
Mike: If this was mint, it'd probably be like 5 to 6000.
John: Wow, that's great.
Mike: Yeah, but it's, it's far from that,
but to be honest with you, I like the imperfections.
Mike: What a proud statement this horse would have been up
on top of any barn up on top of any barn,
I'm going to get it appraised.
Frank: John, what's the story on this?
Frank: Well Mike found a horse and now I found one.
This is called a pommel horse.
These things were invented thousands of years ago
originally they were trained people to mount a horse
correctly.
Now you see people use them at the Olympics.
John: This horse I bought at auction for Robert DeNiro.
John: It was to be for his new gym where he'd put in the, uh,
boxing ring from that movie that he did.
Frank: From Raging Bull? John: Raging Bull, yes.
Frank: Is he coming back to get it?
John: I've left him messages the last 10 days or so,
waiting to get it to him.
All it needs is a little leather care.
It's held up very well.
Frank: What, what would you have to have for something
like this?
John: I don't like, much prefer you make...
Frank: Make you an offer? John: Yeah.
Frank: $350. Camilla: Come on.
John: Can you raise it, uh...? Frank: 365.
John: Sold.
Frank: You got it. Alright. I like it.
If Robert DeNiro wants it now, tell him to give me a call.
John: Will do.
Camilla: The best thing about Frank buying the pommel horse
is that DeNiro doesn't have to screen my dad's calls anymore.
[phone ringing]
Camilla: It's gone. You're fine, Bobby.
Mike: I'm seeing all these gear patterns.
John: These were used as molds to build gears.
Mike: Yeah.
Mike: During the Industrial Revolution,
factories ran on gears, and making gears was big business.
These wooden patterns made the molds that the liquid cast
iron was poured into.
The fact that these patterns were made out of wood made
them light enough to carry around the foundry.
And it's fitting that these gears are in a barn on the
east coast, because the industrial age of America took
place here.
John: Everybody who's seen them likes them.
Mike: Yeah, I mean, they're just cool statement piece.
They're works of art.
John: Yeah, they are. I agree with that.
Mike: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...So you got 16 of them.
John: Right.
Mike: What are you thinking on a price for all of them?
Camilla: What do you think, daddy?
They make great table bases.
Mike: Yeah. Camilla: With the glass top.
Mike: Yeah, we can really repurpose them into anything
if you want.
Let your imagination run wild.
John: That's right. So are in the 2, 3, 4, or 5000?
Mike: Man, your imagination really is running wild.
Camilla: You don't think that it's a good deal?
2000 for 16?
You don't think that's a good deal?
Mike: How about...
Frank: 2000 for 16 of them, you know,
that's only a buck twenty-five apiece.
Mike: I know, but there's some small ones here that...
Camilla: That's good math.
Frank: Yeah, I'm quick on the...
Mike: He is, he's an abacus.
Why don't we do this?
On all of them, a number that I can live with,
that I've got some margin on, 1500.
Camilla: 1750. Hard. Hard. Mike: I can't do that.
Camilla: He stood his ground, and I kind of thought that
maybe I could flick my hair and get an extra few hundred
dollars my way, but it wasn't that easy.
Mike: If you value these higher because of the
repurposing factor.
Camilla: Yes.
Mike: Then you have to understand the money you have
to put into them to repurpose them in anything.
Camilla: I do. Fine, so we can do 1500 and we keep one of
the gears and we keep one of the chandeliers.
Camilla: As soon as somebody else wants something or they
see value in something, you're like,
I kind of want it now too.
Mike: 1600, I'll take them all.
Mike: I want to put them all together into a big old bundle
like Franky says and just get the deal done.
Camilla: Okay, so now I'll go to 1713.
Mike: 1713?
Camilla: Yeah, my lucky number.
I just went down.
I felt like I just compromised.
Mike: 16 and you can keep a wheel.
Camilla: Alright.
Frank: There you go. That wasn't too bad.
Mike: Dang. She's tough. Frank: I know.
Camilla: He, he, uh, he won, can I say that?
It's like really hard for me to say he won,
but I think he might have come out victorious there.
Mike: I've already got in my mind what I'm going to do with
some of this stuff.
I'm going to make a table out of some of them,
the other ones I'm going to hang on the wall,
maybe put the gears together, they're connecting.
Like all these things are going on.
Frank: John, what do you got on this pump extinguisher?
Frank: This is what I was hoping to find
at our last pick.
This is a brass Duraguarde fire extinguisher,
probably from the 30s.
It's one of tho pump ones with the original hose
still intact.
This is a fire extinguisher you could actually
fill yourself.
It was a very universal fire extinguisher.
Frank: This is a cool piece. I like it.
John: I like it too.
Camilla: I like it, cause it looks pretty.
You could put it in the middle of my dining room table and
I'd be like, that's not a fire extinguisher, it's art.
John: How much? Frank: 35.
John: Make it 50. Frank: Make it 40.
John: 45. Frank: Make it 42.50.
John: Sold. Frank: Got it.
Frank: With these carbon tet grenades I got back at Frank's
and this pump extinguisher, I'm getting some pretty good
fire stuff up here in upstate New York.
Mike: What's this? Timothy's Coffees, where was that at?
John: Best coffee in Manhattan.
Mike: We're still at John's place in upstate New York,
and it's getting interesting.
Mike: Alright, what else you got in here?
Frank: This place is awesome. Mike: Frank.
Frank: Sears rough.
Mike: Check out the headlight dude.
Mike: That's a Marilyn, that's a Marilyn carpet.
Frank: I got one.
Mike: You got one? How about this?
John: This is a real painting.
Camilla: And I would have paid 25 max for that.
Mike: What's this over here?
Is that like a parade float piece?
Mike: That's Okawega.
That was made by two Indians, they lived in a teepee.
John: The first two people that helped me when we
acquired this property, uh, were two Indians of the
Delaware Tribe.
And they had created that piece of the last chief of the
Delaware Indians called Okawega.
Mike: So it's like paper mache over a plaster.
John: Right. Mike: How old is it?
John: 50 years old, easily. You can lift it.
It's heavy. But it's not that heavy.
Camilla: He sure is scary looking.
Mike: It's amazing.
Mike: If you study local history,
you know that each region belonged to a different tribe.
Like where I'm from it was Sack and Fox.
What really gets me excited about this piece is that it
was made by two members of the local tribe called
the Delaware.
Mike: So this was on the like the front of the gate
of the property?
John: No at the lodge under a big sign that says Okawega.
John: And through a major storm about five years ago,
that was damaged with north winds coming in,
ice and limbs of trees and just chewed it up.
John: It's a good face, good nose, good eyes.
Mike: Oh his face is incredible.
Mike: The look on his face, you know, a strong jaw,
high cheekbone, very cool eyes.
Mike: You can see the pride in his face.
John: Oh yeah.
Mike: With any kind of art, it always has to speak to you.
This one is talking to me.
Frank: He's got a little life, he's got a pipe there.
Mike: Yeah.
Camilla: This land is the Lenny Lenape and that is where
this Okawega came from.
So it's part of the land, part of the heritage here.
And we love the heritage.
John: Yeah.
Mike: What are you thinking on something like this?
I mean, you have sentimental attachment.
John: To restore this it's going to cost
you maybe 1000 bucks.
Mike: Oh yeah, probably at least.
John: To, to redo it. Yeah.
Camilla: So what would you sell it for now?
Cause I know what I would.
John: Don't tell me $100 sweetie.
Camilla: Yeah, I would sell it for 100.
No, but I think that...
Mike: I'd pay more than 100. I'd pay 200.
Camilla: Yeah, I think that's a good, daddy, that's a-,
put it in a good home.
John: You're going to sell it as it is or
you're going to restore it?
Mike: No, actually to be honest with you...
Frank: Leave it the way it is.
We don't restore a lot of stuff.
Camilla: So it's done. Mike: Camilla.
Camilla: Deal, 200. Mike: Are we at 200?
Camilla: Yes. Phew.
Mike: Thank you. I love it. I love it.
Mike: This piece is majestic.
I mean, right now it's hanging on the wall in a Morton
building and the weather has not been kind to it.
But it deserves to be preserved.
John: This is the living room. Mike: Ooh, look at that.
Frank: Quite the nice place here.
Frank: This guy's living room is like a combination of
Indiana Jones and Winston Churchill.
Mike: Put it this way if Shakespeare was a cowboy,
this is the place he would hang his hat.
Frank: John, what is this?
This is intriguing me.
Camilla: It looks like it's curtains, doesn't it?
John: Yeah. Mike: What's this right here?
Camilla: Um, a camera for an airplane, right daddy?
Mike: Uh oh.
Camilla: Isn't that what it is?
Mike: Yeah, a camera aircraft...
John: This is a World War II...
Mike: This is bigger than the one we got.
John: Aerial camera. That fit in the bottom of my L5,
which was a World War II plane that was used in the Korean
War to fly MacArthur into the border of North Korea and
China, so they could look at where the troops were.
Frank: Sure.
Frank: It is unbelievable all the stuff this guy knows.
Camilla: My dad loves to tell his stories.
John: I have something interesting here.
Frank: Okay, when John Bradley says,
I got something interesting, I'm all ears.
We've been hearing interesting stuff all day.
Mike: So the Kennedy bust, had you ever met
President Kennedy?
John: Oh yes, more than once.
John: I was the first one to have a bicycle at Princeton.
John: I was involved with studies on Mayan culture.
John: I designed, uh, the first computer
cut passage solar log cabin.
John: Here are all my films that I made when I
did Nobel Laureates.
John: I taught a course in comparative law, philosophy,
and religion.
Camilla: My dad has met many incredible people.
John: Richard Conger who is married to my cousin is the
direct descendant of the first signer of the
declaration of independence.
Camilla: He played tennis with Emperor Akihito.
John: We had a lady who rented the house who was the leading
tap dancer on Broadway.
Camilla: Nancy Reagan, Billy Crystal, Queen Elizabeth.
John: My great-uncle rewrote the Book of Common Prayer for
the Episcopal Church.
Camilla: He went to college with Donald Rumsfeld,
he played in Teddy Roosevelt's playroom at the White House.
Mike: So you're dancing with Jackie Kennedy?
John: Oh yes, yeah. We used to play charades.
Frank: So you can see why we're curious what
he's got in store for us.
John: It's a typewriter from 1913.
When I met Albert Einstein and had tea with him...
Frank: Albert Einstein?
John: In Princeton. Yeah.
Albert Einstein borrowed this typewriter from me.
I made that box when I was a freshman.
Frank: You did? Mike: A freshman at Princeton?
John: Yes. Corona. 1913. Frank: Wow.
Frank: The Corona model 3 folding typewriter
is a classic model.
It was sort of the first laptop,
because the carriage folded over the keyboard to make it
very portable.
Mike: So this, this typewriter,
you loaned it to Albert Einstein?
John: That's right. Frank: So you're telling me...
John: His typewriter, the keys got stuck,
and he had urgent letters to write to the president.
He died two years after I met him.
Mike: So I'm doing the math here.
Albert Einstein died in 1955.
That means John would have loaned
him the typewriter in 1953.
John: Turned out that he had this for almost two months,
6 weeks, and he wrote several letters on it
to the President.
Mike: Back then Eisenhower was President.
Who knows what they would have been talking about.
Mike: So this, this typewriter,
you loaned it to Albert Einstein.
John: That's right.
Turned out that he had this for almost two months,
6 weeks, and he wrote several letters on
it to the President.
Mike: Do you remember the first time you
met Albert Einstein?
John: Yes. But I didn't know who he was.
I was on the Raratan Canal from Trenton to Princeton,
and this one guy came down to see what I was doing.
He's standing there looking at me.
And he's wearing dungarees, which you didn't wear at
Princeton, because that was a Yale thing.
Mike: Well of course.
John: He was there, he said, what are you doing?
And I said, I'm an amateur malacologist.
He said oh, and these beautiful eyes sort of focused up.
Oh, very interesting.
Mike: So you said something that interested Albert Einstein?
John: Yes. Well I didn't know who it was and that was it.
And I said, goodbye.
And I got on my bike and I rode down the street and about
a quarter of a mile away there was this guy standing there
with his hands on his hips, with a fedora hat on,
and his car left rear tire's flat.
And he said, you know what to do?
And I said, I think I can help you.
Takes me 20, 25 minutes.
And he said, that's very nice, what's your name?
I tell him Bradley. He writes it down.
Where are you? I said Kyla Hall.
Guess who that was? Robert Oppenheimer.
Mike: Robert Oppenheimer was a physicist who was known as the
father of the atomic bomb.
Frank: This guy could split a plutonium atom but he couldn't
change a flat tire?
John: I finish him up, he takes off.
And then I ride my bike.
I get this invitation to come to dinner at
the graduate college.
Frank: So he's out one day and he met these two dudes and
then he goes to dinner and then that's when they learned
their names are Einstein and Oppenheimer,
who were both at Princeton and they become friends.
Mike: So you're having dinner with the atomic bomb creator
and Albert Einstein.
John: That's right.
Mike: To hear his stories, I could sit there all day with a
glass of cognac next to the fireplace,
but I'm trying not to forget that I'm here to work.
Mike: Is this something that you would sell?
John: Yes, I had planned to sell it.
Mike: Do you have a picture of you handing it to him?
John: No. Frank: The story's amazing.
Mike: If you were to type me up a letter on this typewriter
saying that you loaned it to Albert Einstein.
Mike: I need this letter to help document
the history of this piece.
Just him telling me the story is very cool.
But it's not going to be as cool to the next person,
cause they weren't there.
They didn't hear him say it.
Mike: So what are you thinking on this?
John: I, uh... Camilla: How much, daddy? 400?
John: Why 400, I never considered 400.
I think it's worth quite a bit more,
but I don't want to have you spend money without
my being able to assure you.
Mike: No, I, no, I believe you.
I'm just wondering what you would feel comfortable with in
a particular auction.
John: If you would pay 1200... Mike: 1200?
Mike: This typewriter by itself without the story is
worth maybe 125 bucks.
How do you put a price on something that was loaned to
somebody famous?
It's not theirs.
It wasn't theirs.
And that's, that's what he's saying.
This is mine.
And I loaned it to Einstein.
Mike: No, I can't do 12. John: You can't do 12?
Camilla: No. Mike: What I'm saying is...
John: If we agree on 500, and you find out it's really worth
2 or 3 times that...
Mike: Okay, let's do that.
John: In good faith, you let me know.
Mike: Okay. I'll pay the 500.
And say we find out it's worth $2000 then
I will send you another 500.
If I make 1000, and I pay 1000.
John: Done.
Mike: Alright. I love this.
So before I leave, you will write me a letter.
John: Right.
Mike: What a great end to an incredible day.
This typewriter might be a huge deal for us.
So I'm going to have it researched.
Mike: Look at this pile man.
John: Many of the things I have are not that well known
and, uh, Mike and Frank understood what they were,
where they came from and what they might be used for.
John: You guys are leaving? Okay.
Frank: Thanks for letting us look through your stuff.
I got to try to make it down this road here.
Mike: Alright.
Frank: John's probably the most interesting guy
we've met in a long time.
Mike: See you guys! John: Cheery me!
Camilla: Bye guys.
Frank: Next time we're on the road and we run out of
stories, we should just call this guy.
I mean, we could just put him on the speaker phone.
It would be like NPR.
John: And my uncle was a clergyman who had a graduate
degree in psychology.
Hugh Hefner hosted me one night at one
of his so called mansions.
Frank: Wow.
John: All of it comes from the influence of the
Hamaradi Code in Babylonia.
Mike: <laughing> Frank: <laughing>
Mike: We've been on the road for a couple weeks now.
It's time to head back to the shop and see what Danielle's
been doing on the new construction.
Me and Franky have seen pictures,
we haven't physically seen the building until now.
Mike: No way!
Mike: We pull up to the lot. It's real! It's finally real.
Frank: Right. Mike: Dani!
Frank: Hey. Danielle: What do you think?
Frank: It's cool.
Mike: Oh my gosh, are you kidding me?
Danielle: Who's your mama?
Frank: I love the brick on the sides.
Mike: Are you serious? Danielle: Yes.
Frank: Looks great.
Mike: Franky look at the steel beams.
Danielle: Yeah, the brick's tight.
Mike: Check the rust. Frank: It's already coming.
Mike: Nice touch on the rust, Dani.
Danielle: I know, I know. Frank: Look it...
Mike: Where's the counter going?
Danielle: The counter's going right here,
it's going to be about 14 feet.
We're going to have four lights going across this way.
Frank: There's some natural lighting right there, huh,
coming through?
Danielle: Yeah.
Mike: That side's the garage door, right?
Danielle: Yeah.
Mike: And this is man door side?
Danielle: Man door side right here.
Frank: Okay. I love the windows here. Look at that view.
Mike: I know. See how high they are?
Frank: Yeah.
Mike: Okay. So you can put motorcycles underneath.
See what I'm saying? Boom, boom, boom, boom!
Frank: Gotcha. Mike: Yeah.
Frank: It looks like it's coming right along, Danielle.
Mike: It is. Hey, I want to see the brick.
Danielle: Oh, the brick is amazing.
Danielle: I wanted this place to look like you guys had gone
and picked it out of the dirt.
Frank: Just picked it out, huh?
Danielle: Pulled it up, just plunked it right down.
Mike: Thank you honey, it's cool.
It looks amazing.
Danielle: This is why you're out making the cheddar every
day, you know.
Frank: I mean, you know when you were sending us the
pictures, we could tell it was looking good,
but now that I see it up close, it's great.
Mike: Hey, New York was so crazy.
Danielle: Stories. I want stories.
Mike: Oh believe me, I got plenty of those.
Frank: Oh man.