American Pickers Bought A Pair Of Conoco Oil Company Signs For $1,000
Picture this: You're preparing for a fancy dinner party when all of a sudden you realize that you're all out of Conoco Oil Company signs. You blanch, you curse, you wish. If only you'd thought ahead the last time you were at the Conoco Oil Company sign store. If only you'd bought extras.
It's a nightmare scenario that everyone has been though — everyone, that is, save the good people at "American Pickers," the beloved History series that bravely asks the question, "What's in your basement, and would you take $75 for it?"
In the Season 20 opener, titled "Frank's Got A Nose for Good Crap," "American Pickers" stars Robbie Wolfe and Frank Fritz found themselves rooting through the storage bunker of a pair of gentlemen named Rob and Dan. That's when Robbie came across a pair of long metal signs advertising Conoco Oil, the kind that would stretch across the roof of a gas station. And if you know thing one about "American Pickers," you sure shootin' know that this discovery generated some serious picking.
Conoco signs were a real treat for the American Pickers
"Very, very sought-after sign to the Conoco collectors," Robbie Wolfe said of the 17-foot Conoco Oil Company signage that was about to be his quarry. Especially impressive to his eyes: They retained the original mounting fixtures. It was the stuff that "American Pickers" dreams are made of, as seen in this YouTube clip.
Wolfe wanted those signs something fierce, friend, and he came out swinging to prove it. "Would you do $800 on the pair?" he asked the owner, prompting a counter-offer. "I think it's a pretty cool piece," the signs' owner asserted, before saying what we've all been thinking: "Robbie, I'd like to have a thousand bucks."
A moment of tension, a pregnant pause, and then Wolfe put out his hand. "I'll do a thousand," he said, seeming to convince himself of the figure as much as the owner of the sign. "Seriously," he continued, "I'll do a thousand on it."
With that, two facts were proven true: First, the old chestnut that our parents used to tell us is accurate, and you really can get a Conoco sign for $1,000. Secondly, somehow, after 20-plus seasons of "American Pickers," there are still basements with stuff in them.