‘American Pickers’ is looking for good pickings

Do you have a large collection of bicycles from the turn of the century to the 1960s?

Maybe you have collected pre-1950s vending machines. Perhaps you have vintage 1940s Christmas cards sitting in storage tubs inside your garage.

If it’s something you’ve been collecting for a long time, it could land you on the TV show “American Pickers,” according to Kathleen Dodge, executive director of El Dorado Lake Tahoe Film and Media Office.

The reality TV show that can been seen on the History Channel is coming to California and would like to make a special trip to El Dorado County.

Dodge, who has scheduled many TV show and film shootings in El Dorado County,  said that Jodi Friedman, a producer for Cineflix USA that produces the series, is looking for county residents who may have a huge but private collection that they would be willing to sell some, if not all of it.

“American Pickers” hosts Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz and Friedman are looking for: Vespa, Lambretta or Cushman motor scooters, old advertising signage, motorcycles, bicycles from the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries up to 1960, old toys that are wind-up or cast iron, pre-1950s vending machines, old movie posters, transistor and tabletop radios, antique casino and gaming machines, vintage movie memorabilia, vintage advertising items, taxidermy, vintage concert posters and T-shirts, early Boy Scout items, pre 1960s vintage diner collectibles, pre-1960s, TV merchandise, pre-1950s western/equestrian gear; classic motorcycle memorabilia, sports memorabilia, Houdini items, old rodeo items, airlines collectibles that are from Pan-Am and TWA, various military items from the late 1970s and before, extraordinary mobster memorabilia, vintage police officer collectibles, firefighter collectibles, pre-1940s telephones, folk art, vintage BB guns/cap guns, early Halloween items, pre-1940s Christmas items, Hawaiian/tiki collectibles, vintage sports collectibles, vintage election memorabilia, musical instruments, Civil War antiques, vintage gas pumps, pre-1970s old neon signs, strange wood cravings, vintage collegiate collectibles and casino tables.

“They should be willing to sell some of their stuff or all,” Dodge said.

Dodge points out that Wolfe and Fritz seek only private collections. Public businesses such as stores, malls, flea markets, museums or auctions are not wanted for the show.

According to a press release, Wolfe and Fritz are embarking on an “epic road trip across the U.S.”

The series follows the “highs and lows” of the trade, as the duo gets their hands dirty in search of “weird and wonderful hidden treasures.”

For more information contact Dodge at 530-626-4400 or e-mail film@eldoradocounty.org. or e-mail Friedman at JFriedman@cineflix.com.

Contact Mike Bush at 530-344-5079 or mbush@mtdemocrat.net. Follow @MBushMtDemo on Twitter. 

Mike Bush

Mike Bush has been working at the Mountain Democrat since August 2011. Mike is the Sports Writer and Features Writer.

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