The Real Reason American Pickers Skipped These States

With 21 seasons over the course of 10 years, you would expect the guys behind American Pickers, namely Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, to have pretty much visited everywhere in the United States at this point. After all, the show has a fairly simple premise. The two hosts travel around the country to find old antiques and other valuables to refurbish and later sell in their own store, Antique Archaeology. The guys have a strong passion for anything related to good, old-fashioned Americana, and the introduction to the show starting in season 4 even has the line, "We make a living telling the history of America... one piece at a time."

Every episode tells you a little bit about American culture from vintage stage costumes to old motorcycles, but for a show so committed to preserving the culture and history of the United States, it's surprising to hear that Wolfe and Fritz haven't even been to every state. It's not just that they're missing one or two either. There are eight states that haven't been visited by the American Pickers crew. That could change on future seasons, if the series gets picked up for season 22, but as of right now, these are the states the guys have missed. 

Redditor klaushmuller did some extensive research and found there were a few states the American Pickers crew hasn't been to yet. It's always possible a mistake was made, but as of right now, no one has come forward to correct the list, and it seems pretty accurate by all accounts. While there are a few surprises among the unlucky states, there are others that make sense, such as the two states that aren't part of the continuous United States, namely, Hawaii and Alaska. 

It makes sense Wolfe and Fritz haven't been to these places, of course, because they're simply too far away. It would take a while to drive all the way from Washington to Alaska, and you obviously can't drive to Hawaii. The guys could always fly to Hawaii, but the traveling costs would likely offset any potential profit they might stand to make. 

The following states don't make quite as much sense for zero visits as Alaska and Hawaii. There's likely a good chance there are some hidden treasures out in Wyoming, Nebraska, and Montana, but Redditor klaushmuller has a good theory on why the American Pickers guys have never stopped by. 

Basically, all these states are fairly large in terms of land mass. However, they have low populations. It's either not practical or feasible for Wolfe and Fritz to drive around aimlessly hoping to come across a treasure trove, because everyone is separated by so much space. You could roam around for hours and only come across a handful of properties. So, perhaps, the crew has decided it's just not worth the investment. 

It's a bit of a surprise the guys haven't at least ventured into these states, though, considering they've traveled to most of the states around them. There's a chance they're waiting until they know there's a big score waiting for them out in the unknown. 

You could come up with some fairly reasonable explanations for why American Pickers has never set foot in some states. However, there are others that may come as more of a shock, particularly Nevada. You would think Wolfe and Fritz would be drooling at the opportunity to journey into Nevada to try to find some vintage gambling paraphernalia related to the history of Las Vegas. Of course, Nevada has a drier climate than most other states, which doesn't preserve items as well as states with a fair amount of humidity. Still, you would think there would be something out there to attract the pickers' attention. 

The same holds true for Nevada's neighbor, Utah, as well as Delaware. The latter is about as far east as you can get, so it's possible the guys just haven't driven that far yet. But when it comes to Utah, surely they must have driven through there to reach some of their other destinations. Was there really nothing there for them to find? 

All in all, there's no stated reason why American Pickers has never filmed in these states. There's a very good possibility it's completely unintentional, and it just hasn't happened yet. Also, if the show gets picked up for season 22, then there is always a chance Wolfe and Fritz will soon be haggling over prices in Montana, after all.