American Pickers is an American TV series which is very popular among the youth, that premiered on January 18, 2010, on History TV channel and was produced by A&E Television Networks partnering with Cineflix Media. Ancient pickers, Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, who wander around the country to buy or pick various items for clients, for resale or for their personal collections.
Overview
Danielle Colby runs the office of Wolfe’s Antique Archaeology Business from her home in Le Claire, Iowa, U.S., and also has a second location in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S… They used to travel in a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van and then in a Ford Transit. Frank Fritz Finds, upriver in Savanna, Illinois. The American Pickers go on the road, not only for the leads that Colby has generated but also “free-styling” – stopping at places that look like they might but some items that are worth buying. They also go to some places more than once.
The series introduction is narrated by Fritz and Wolfe. The first three seasons used the complete Beginning, but from season 4 they used a shortened version of their beginning:
We’re pickers. We can go the back roads of America looking to buy antique gold. We’re looking for great things that went down with people’s garages and barns, what most people see as junk, we see as dollar signs. We’ll buy “anything,” we think we can make a profit on. Each item that we pick has a history all its own.
Mike and Frank explore houses, sheds, barns, outbuildings, other places where they can find the stored antiques and collectibles. Mike and Frank also call casual hoarders, collectors, and occasionally people who have inherited overwhelming, antique collections of junk.
Wolfe has been picking since age four, and he has a particular interest in old bicycles, penny-farthing, antique motorcycles and air-cooled Volkswagens (referred to as VOTES-wagons by Wolfe), while Fritz has an interest in oil cans, antique toys, and old Hondas, with a special love for peanut-related items.
They have also purchased commercial signage, film posters, old advertisements, and a rare 15-gallon visible gasoline pump, and a Piaggio Ape that one of their good friends told them is probably the only one in North America.
American Pickers shop Antique Archaeology is based on the leased section of a former 1914 car factory in Nashville, Tennessee, in December 2011, which originally made the Marathon automobile, and they opened a second business location to decrease the distance required to haul their finds and save time from the southern states. Mike Wolfe made a cameo as himself on Season 15, Episode 17 of NCIS on 13th March 2018 titled “One Man’s Trash.”
Reception
On January 18, 2010, the series debuted on the History Channel. The first episode of American Pickers received 3.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated History channel debut since the release of Ice Road Truckers in 2007. The episode “Laurel & Hardy” garnered Nielsen ratings as high as 5.3 million viewers in the 25–54 age group on 8th September 2010, As of this episode, the show got the title of #1 new non-fiction series of 2010 among all viewers and adults 25–54.
American Pickers has also been successful in Australia, where it was telecasted on Channel 7mate. An Australian version of the show called Aussie Pickers premiered on 7mate in 2013. The series ran till 2014 and had released two seasons. Road to Riches was launched on A&E Australia in 2019.
Awards & Achievements
American Pickers was a very popular show, and it has made some records for its performance which are:
It was the highest viewed on debut on the History channel with 3.1 million viewers.
It was the highest rating episode in the age group 24-54 and received 5.3 million viewers in an episode.
Net Worth of American Pickers in 2024
The American Pickers was a very popular TV show, so the money that the show earned should also be high, it should also be known that American Pickers also got very famous in Australia. The main characters, Mike Wolfe, got a salary of 500 thousand dollars from a single season, and his net worth is approximately $5 million dollars. Frank Fritz’s got a salary of 300 thousand dollars, and his net worth is approximately $4 million dollars.
American Pickers was a very popular and famous show on the History Channel, and the show earned their position from their interesting storyline. The show also got very popular in Australia. The show is still running successfully and has made a total of 21 seasons in 2024. It is expected to go-on in the coming years with the same popularity.