Antique Archaeology (American Pickers)

I have heard people say many negative things about the American Pickers guys, calling them thieves, dishonest, etc.  Several people in our tractor club think they take advantage of people, since they always tell on the show how much they paid, and how much they intend to sell the items for (often twice what they paid).  I haven't figured out why this makes them dishonest, since nobody is forced to sell anything to them.  Besides, from what I've seen of "reality shows", I'm pretty sure the episodes are staged, and I imagine it's all been decided before taping the show how much will be offered and whether the offer will be refused.  But even if it isn't, nobody would be forced to sell.  

I love it when some other tourist offers to take a picture of the two of us together.

First of all, I must tell you that the place in LeClaire is much smaller than it appears on TV, both the shop and the parking lot.  There are, however, two buildings that are part of the shop, not just the one you see on the show.

  

We watched them dig this up out of a guy's yard.  

All the above shots were taken in the building we see on the TV show.

This is in the other building, which, as you can see, has a second floor of sorts.  No customers allowed up there, though.

These two were discussing a lady who had just purchased something but had complained nonstop about how high the price was.  The one on the right said, "I wanted to say to her,'Sell it back to me; I'll pay you what you gave for it.'"

I wanted a coffee mug but found none, so I settled on a T-shirt instead.  As she was getting ready to ring me up I mentioned I really wanted a coffee mug.  She looked around in vain, then said, "We should have some; I'll be right back. I will check in the other building.  Inventory shows that we have three around here somewhere." 

She came back with my mug.  "Better order some more," I told her.  

"We have them on back-order all the time," she said.  

The cup was $15, which is the most I've ever spent on a coffee mug.  I hope it isn't one of those with writing that disappears when it's been through a dishwasher a few times.  Since I had what I really wanted, I didn't buy the $20 T-shirt.  

As we were getting in our car, an old fellow got out of the car beside us and asked, "Is Danielle in there?"  

I doubt you would ever find her there during business hours.  If you notice on the show, when any of the stars are in the parking lot or inside the shops, there are no other people there.  If any of them showed up during the hours the place is open, they'd be there all day posing for pictures with old folks and signing autographs.  

That's the Mississippi River behind me.  

Back at the Buffalo Bill museum, we had found some pamphlets telling about various places of interest and stumbled across one about the John Deere Pavilion.  That was to be our next destination. 

Back to Iowa, and the Buffalo Bill Museum

Our tour of the Kinzenbaw tractor collection wasn't until Tuesday, so we had Monday to fill up with whatever fun we could find.  I had only one place I simply HAD to visit, and I knew that wouldn't take long:  Antique Archaeology, in LeClaire, Iowa, ninety miles due east of our motel in Williamsburg.  I checked the Internet for something else to do in LeClaire saw that the Buffalo Bill museum opened at 9 A.M. and was near Antique Archaeology, which opened at 10 A.M.

Honestly, the Buffalo Bill collection was sparce, since he left LeClaire at a young age.  However, the Lone Star Steamer (in service for 99 years) held our attention quite well.

The kitchen

The following little video is something I found on Youtube, some guy giving a little tour of the place.

Next entry will be about Antique Archaeology.  If nothing else comes from these entries, at least I am learning to properly spell the word "archaeology".