Mike Wolfe may be the star of American Pickers, but he says it’s the regular Americans he meets that helped inspire the show.
American Pickers has been gracing our television screens since it first debuted back on January 18, 2011, on the History Channel. The popular show follows antique and collectible picker Mike Wolfe as he goes around the country finding awesome antiques and treasures in old barns and sheds.
It goes without saying that while on his travels, Mike Wolfe has run into some pretty awesome people. One of them is folk singer, Backwoods Hobo Jack. Wolfe and Hobo Jack spoke to an audience about picking together back in 2011.
“It’s almost like he can smell motorcycle parts,” Hobo Jack said of Wolfe. “I didn’t know I even had ’em. I had ’em for so long I had forgotten they were even there.”
But they were there, and Hobo Jack kept them preserved for all that time. That’s just one of the examples of what makes American Pickers so cool. People like Hobo Jack and others around the country collect all of this stuff before it is worth anything.
“It was really worth nothing back then but it was worth a lot to him,” Wolfe said. “He saw a vision as far as like the history of it and wanting to preserve it and how important it was.”
Mike Wolfe Pitched ‘American Pickers’ for Over Four Years
That’s why Mike Wolfe had been pitching his show for four and a half years. He was meeting all kinds of interesting people like Hobo Jack. Well, no one was quite as interesting as him, but nonetheless, Wolfe came across a lot of cool people.
“A lot of people on the backroads of America were telling all of these amazing stories and all of these things were unfolding in front of me. I wanted to be able to document that.”
So, what did the American Pickers star do? Well, he started filming himself going picking and he was able to catch some of his awesome encounters on tape. Four and half years later, he finally had his show.
“When I run into guys like you, it reminds me of why I do what I do,” Wolfe said. “Sometimes you can kind of lose sight on what’s important to you and why you started down a certain path and journey. And then you realize how important people are in your life. And you’re one of those people. I wanted to let you know how blessed I am that I met you and how important it is that we tell your story again and again and again. Because you are the true American treasure. This guy right here.”
Hobo Jack was all smiles after hearing that compliment.