‘American Pickers’ coming to Florida

The History Channel’s most avid antique aficionados are heading to Florida — and they’re looking to pick up some more pieces of the past.

Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz of “American Pickers” are heading to the Sunshine State this month, and they’re on the hunt for large, rare collections, as well as items they’ve never seen before from local collectors. 

“We’re just looking for people that have a good-size accumulation of sorts — whether it be someone’s garage, their home, maybe a private building or just something throughout their yard where it’s kind of cluttered up and messy where our guys can root around and do some digging where it’s got a little dust and maybe some dirt on it,” said Anthony Rodriguez, one of the producers for “American Pickers” who works with the research team for the show. “In terms of items that the guys look for, it’s anything from A to Z — anything transportation related, early Americana, signage, some toys … and vintage stuff. The guys are pretty much open-ended when it comes to the stuff that they’re after. It’s always a case-by-case basis and whatever catches their eye.”

Rodriguez added that Wolfe and Fritz are no strangers to Florida — the show has been heading there every year for the last six or seven years. They’ve been all over the state — from the Panhandle to South Florida and many other places in between.

“We resort to the south when it starts getting colder in the Northeast and Midwest,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve been everywhere from the Panhandle to Jacksonville, down to Central Florida and even down to Fort Lauderdale. We’ve covered our tracks throughout the state. We don’t leave a stone unturned when we make our show.”

Although “American Pickers” has been all over Central Florida and the Orlando area, the team has yet to discover any antique items related to Disney or Mickey Mouse in the state.

“Surprisingly, down in Florida, we haven’t found any Mickey stuff,” Rodriguez said. “We’re always trying to find local collections that represent where the guys pick, but surprisingly from Florida (they’ve found) nothing really Disney-related.”

Those who are familiar with the show are aware that many of the items purchased are resold, but what Wolfe and Fritz do on the show is more than just turning a profit on the items they pick, Rodriguez said.

“The general game of antiques is that people that are collectors kind of consider themselves caretakers, and that’s what Mike and Frank are — they’re caretakers of these items,” Rodriguez said. “They may be pickers at heart, but when they find true pieces that they deeply desire or want, they will hold onto (them) as long as they can.”