MIKE: Minden, Nebraska! So here's the downtown square.
This is really cool.
You know me, I can't drive through a small town
without checking out the small town.
That is gorgeous. Look at that.
Look at those bay windows in the top.
ROBBIE: There's no stop signs anywhere.
MIKE: I know, it's... it's like--
ROBBIE: Like a town square.
MIKE: This is like the first roundabout.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: The town square was
like the first roundabout.
(playful music)
This is where everybody cruised, man, back in the day.
I love this, man.
ROBBIE: What are we going to do?
Drive around in circles all day? It's cool--
MIKE: The thing is the first time, you're kind of just like,
"Wow". The second time, you start kind of, you know,
looking in the windows and everything.
ROBBIE: Yeah. MIKE: The third time,
you're really taking it in.
And then the fourth time, you're done.
This is the fourth time.
ROBBIE: And this must be the fourth time.
Are we going to the museum today or what?
MIKE: Yeah, we're going.
(phone ringing)
Dani D, what's up?
DANIELLE: Hey guys.
Where are you at?
MIKE: We are driving around
the square, the courthouse
square in Minden, Nebraska.
DANIELLE: Okay.
Well, I just got off the phone with Monica from the museum,
and she's wondering if you guys are still coming.
ROBBIE: Hey, tell me about this museum, 'cause it sounds like
you and Mike already know what's going on.
DANIELLE: Hey, I've been trying to reach you, you have not been answering your phone.
This is why you need to pick up the phone when I call.
(chuckling) ROBBIE: Okay, I've been quite busy.
DANIELLE: Uh-huh.
ROBBIE: So, what's the skinny?
DANIELLE: I'm sending you guys to Pioneer Village, okay?
Harold Warp started it back in 1953.
But now, it's onto the third generation.
And his grandkids, Chris and Becky, are waiting on you guys.
ROBBIE: We don't like to keep people waiting.
DANIELLE: Now, just as a reminder,
nothing in the museum is for sale.
But they do have some Quonset huts out back that are packed full.
That is what they're going to try to sell.
ROBBIE: The guy fills up Quonset huts and a museum?
(laughing)
DANIELLE: Ha! (laughing)
ROBBIE: The overflow.
MIKE: I love this guy!
ROBBIE: We didn't bring a big enough vehicle,
that's all I'm going to say.
(♪)
MIKE: So all of these are full? Wow.
AL: There's stuff in here that has not been seen since the '50s.
MIKE: Get outta here. ROBBIE: Oh really?
AL: Yeah, he started storing stuff in like, probably '48.
MIKE: How many Quonsets are there?
AL: 12 Quonsets and 10 of them are full
of stuff, excess to the museum.
LARRY: Hey! AL: This... this is Larry
Wilcox, he's a board member. MIKE: Hey Larry...
LARRY: Hey, how are you, Mike.
MIKE: Nice to meet you. How are you?
ROBBIE: How are you doing?
LARRY: Hi Rob. Nice to meet you guys.
AL: My name's Al and this is Larry, and we're both
on the Board of Directors of the Harold Warp Pioneer
Village Museum in Minden, Nebraska.
MIKE: Ah dang, I wish I had this much storage.
ROBBIE: That's what I said. (laughing)
LARRY: Rob said we'd just fill it up.
ROBBIE: Wow, LaFrance fire truck?
MIKE: God-dang... this is awesome!
MIKE: It's an honour to be able to walk through these things.
You know, because this is one man's life-long journey,
it's his work, it's his passion, you know.
And he had the means and the wherewithal to buy so much.
So this is... it's really an unbelievable space.
Oh look at that...
ROBBIE: Bicycles, that's cool. MIKE: Bicycles and repairing.
AL: Uh-oh. MIKE: This bicycles sign
is hand-painted, and the shape of it looks like
it might have been in the frame of a diamond frame bicycle.
Look at it, he made it out of another sign, look at that.
I'm a bicycle guy, man.
2... 200.
LARRY: I think that's pretty good, Al.
AL: Yeah.
AL: 200. LARRY: Yeah, you got a deal.
MIKE: Thank you, I love it, I absolutely truly love it.
(upbeat music)
MIKE: This thing...
Look at that!
It's like a friggin' octopus.
What do you think that's off of, Robbie?
ROBBIE: It's an exhaust off something.
MIKE: Heh, that is? No... no.
ROBBIE: That looks like a manifold off the bottom
of a carburetor or an intake.
MIKE: I don't know, man...
ROBBIE: I'm telling ya, that's exhaust.
MIKE: Whew!
ROBBIE: Ugh...
MIKE: Look at this.
Yeah, what do you think that is?
AL: A bison head.
MIKE: Part of a bison skull.
ROBBIE: Another one right here.
MIKE: Got a little more meat to it?
ROBBIE: Yeah, this one's actually got more meat on him.
MIKE: Let me see the front of it.
ROBBIE: Yeah. MIKE: The other side
would be the front.
ROBBIE: It would?
MIKE: Alright, yeah... how much you want for the pair?
AL: How's 60?
MIKE: I'll do it.
AL: Okay. LARRY: 60, okay.
MIKE: Alright. AL: Sounds good.
(cawing)
(rewinding)
ROBBIE: 23 acres.
I got my walking shoes on.
MIKE: Wow... ROBBIE: This place is huge!
MIKE: Yeah...
ROBBIE: What the heck.
MIKE: Alright.
ROBBIE: Do I got to bring a flyer?
MIKE: Yeah, bring a flyer.
ROBBIE: Man, this place looks massive.
MIKE: I know.
I wonder if they built this building or,
it almost kind of looks like an old car dealership.
The inspiration for a lot of these small-town museum starts
with individuals that have passion and pride.
It's people that want to move that narrative forward
and preserve their community's story.
Whoa...
(laughing)
Hey.
ROBBIE: Startled her.
MIKE: Hey, are you Monica?
MONICA: I am.
MIKE: Okay, sorry to startle ya, I'm Mike.
MONICA: Mike. MIKE: This is my brother, Robbie.
ROBBIE: How're you doing, nice to meet you.
MONICA: I'm pleased to meet you.
MIKE: Yeah.
MONICA: How can I help? Do you need to speak
to Becky or Chris? Is that...
MIKE: Yeah, I guess, yeah.
MONICA: They're some place in this building.
MIKE: Okay. Can we look around?
MONICA: Um... sure, if you don't mind.
MIKE: Show us around, yeah. MONICA: Yeah.
MIKE: Wow, this is so huge!
MONICA: You've not been here before?
MIKE: No, no, no. ROBBIE: No, no.
MONICA: Okay. ROBBIE: It's like walking
back in time.
This museum, it sits on 23 acres.
You can imagine the upkeep and what they have to do
just to keep the doors open.
MIKE: Wow... MONICA: You're in for a treat.
ROBBIE: Incredible. MIKE: So did you guys build this building?
MONICA: Yes, it was purpose-built for this.
ROBBIE: For this museum?
MONICA: Even though it looks like a 1950s automobile dealership.
(laughing) ROBBIE: That's what, yeah, that's exactly what he said.
MIKE: That's what I just said
on the way in here, I said,
"It looks like an old car dealership."
ROBBIE: Yeah. MONICA: Yeah.
MIKE: Oh my gosh... ROBBIE: Absolutely... wow...
MIKE: Oh my God, Robbie, look at this!
ROBBIE: Holy cow! MIKE: This is unbelievable.
MONICA: Chris? Becky?
MIKE: Hey, hey! ROBBIE: There you go.
MONICA: There's some gentlemen to see you.
MIKE: We have been very fortunate to pick a lot
of small-town museums over the years.
This is a small town,
but this is not a small museum by any means.
I mean, it's like if the Smithsonian
and the Museum of Science and Industry had a baby.
And we're walking through this place and then you walk
into the Aviation Wing of the facility.
It's incredible, it's very impressive.
This place is unbelievable!
Oh my gosh. Hey I'm Mike.
CHRIS: Chris. MIKE: Nice to meet you, hey.
BECKY: Hi, Becky. MIKE: Nice to meet you, Becky,
this is my brother, Robbie. ROBBIE: Nice to meet you.
BECKY: Hi Robbie. MIKE: Here, give him a flyer.
ROBBIE: Nice to see you, yeah. MIKE: Hey, thank you.
MONICA: You're very welcome. ROBBIE: Thank you.
MONICA: If there's anything can do to help, just let me know.
MIKE: Okay great. She's awesome, man.
BECKY: So Monica has been with the Pioneer Village
for 40 plus years.
CHRIS: Monica knows everything that's in the village,
and she's been instrumental in helping with the transition
from our father to us and the local community.
MIKE: You can see on there... airplanes.
BECKY: Yeah... MIKE: Yeah.
(laughing)
(overlapping chatter)
Yeah, exactly. CHRIS: We got one of those, Mike.
CHRIS: My grandpa was very ambitious in all his collection.
My grandfather started the Pioneer Village
and it opened in 1953.
And he ran and operated the village for several years
until about 1984, at which point in time he stepped back
and his son, Harold Warp Jr., our father, took over in 1984.
And he ran the village until he passed on Christmas Day of 2020.
So at that point in time, my sister and I got
involved in the village.
MIKE: Why this town? Why did he open in Minden?
CHRIS: He was born in Minden.
MIKE: Okay.
CHRIS: And so he came back in 1948, they were auctioning off
some of the buildings around Minden, like the school house
and the church and such, and he said, we can't let those
buildings go, these are significant historical
buildings for this area-- MIKE: Yeah, absolutely.
CHRIS: And so he bought them and...
and then started building the collection and what you see today.
MIKE: So he started collecting buildings?
BECKY: Yes. CHRIS: That was the first, yeah.
ROBBIE: Wow. MIKE: So he was a romantic.
BECKY & ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: I mean, seriously. CHRIS: A visionary.
BECKY: Very. Yes. MIKE: A visionary and a romantic.
MIKE: Passion, passionate guy. CHRIS: But he actually did it.
BECKY: He loved collecting. MIKE: You know, he wanted
people to come to his town and see all these amazing things
that really were the roots of so many things
that touched their lives.
You know, like the phone display and the radio display
and the airplanes and the cars and everything else that he had,
it was like, this is the history of all of us.
You know, you can see that in Minden, Nebraska.
ROBBIE: Wow...
CHRIS: So this... this is the transportation section,
and this is the wagons.
And it was important to my grandfather to show
the progression of the vehicle
throughout the development of the era.
MIKE: So even back in the '50s, when they opened this place,
something like this would be hard to find.
BECKY: Yeah, my grandfather's sister, Clara, would travel
the country for a few years.
MIKE: That was her job? BECKY: Yep.
And she would report back to him writing letters back
and forth, this is how much I paid, this is where it came
from, these are the people that sold it.
MIKE: Robbie, look at this, man.
ROBBIE: 1906 racer?
MIKE: Yeah, looks like it.
24-hour endurance contest.
ROBBIE: So this thing did 1,135 miles in 24 hours.
MIKE: Oh my gosh, yeah look here, "This K269 supposably
won the 24-hour Detroit Endurance Race."
ROBBIE: "Supposably." MIKE: I love that.
"Supposably," I love that part, yeah.
(laughing)
CHRIS: Well that's the point of this.
BECKY: Who knows. CHRIS: So much of this,
you know, these artifacts were documented by word-of-mouth,
you know, so we don't have... we didn't have Google.
MIKE: No I love it, it's grass roots, you know.
ROBBIE: Yeah. BECKY: Yeah.
MIKE: And that everything is hand-typed up and stuff.
BECKY: Yep. MIKE: And the fact that they
even have an image of a chassis and stuff.
BECKY: And advertisement, yeah. MIKE: Look at this one, Robbie,
look at this little boat tail.
BECKY: So this would have been him.
ROBBIE: What year is that? BECKY: That was his car there.
MIKE: Oh that was your grandfather's?
BECKY: Yeah, and my dad there.
MIKE: Oh wow...
ROBBIE: Look at that Cadillac in the background.
MIKE: I know, I'm looking at that.
That looks like Florida or something.
BECKY: That is, that's Forth Lauderdale.
MIKE: No kidding.
So he wasn't just like buying this stuff for the museum,
I mean, he's driving the car.
BECKY: Right, right.
MIKE: So he was, he was an enthusiast.
CHRIS: He had a personal collection.
MIKE: The guy was still buying, he was still out there
on the hunt, searching for the coolest, most unique things
like any other collector would be, but the fascinating thing
about him was, he loved it all.
BECKY: Yeah. MIKE: Look at that, Robbie,
that's a pneumatic bicycle tire.
So oh my gosh, Robbie, look it...
this has got a Heathkit engine in it.
ROBBIE: It's got a Hen... Henderson.
MIKE: So this has a motorcycle engine in it, that's basically
been turned into an engine to be in a plane.
This is a bicycle fork, right there.
You could buy a full plane with the engine, a full plane
without the engine, or just a kit.
The engine that they recommended was the Henderson
Deluxe 4-cylinder.
And basically what they did was they cut the transmission off
of it, and they adapted the Heathkit to it.
This is one of the first I've seen that's actually in an airplane.
You know, this is early shade-tree mechanic,
home-built aviation.
Think about that, you know?
You got 10 acres of corn out back, you buy a Heathkit,
you put together a plane, you mow some of that down,
you've got your own runway.
I mean, that's how easy it was back then.
I mean, there was no FAA, there was no safety, there was
no pilot licences, it was just run-and-gun, man.
Yeah, this... this was sky pioneering.
Can you imagine taking off in that, man?
BECKY: No. You'd be insane. ROBBIE: Yeah.
CHRIS: You'd have to have some real guts to take off in these things.
Yeah. But it's cool that people can actually come in here and see that.
I'm getting excited walking around here
because, you know, your grandfather, he had a hell of an eye, man.
BECKY: Yeah. ROBBIE: Yeah.
(upbeat music)
MIKE: Oh wow, this is like a huge courtyard out here.
BECKY: Yeah.
You can look around and you'll
see all the different buildings
he's collected over the years.
So here is the one-room schoolhouse I was mentioning
before that my grandpa and all his siblings went to.
His name's carved in the desk, and-
MIKE: Okay. ROBBIE: So this is, this is--
MIKE: This is what started it. CHRIS: Back in 1948, they
auctioned off several of these buildings
and my grandpa bought them. BECKY: Yep.
ROBBIE: Wow.
BECKY: And then here is the replica of the sod house
that his parents built when they homesteaded here in the 1800s.
You know, it was very common for this area to have a sod house.
So the replica on site here was built the same way it would
have been back 140 years ago.
Sod roof, mud walls.
Here is the second building that he bought from Minden area.
It was... it used to be the Lutheran Church.
MIKE: These are Harold's personal memories that directly
connect to the town's history.
You know, he's curated all of this space inside
and out, so all of these people are coming into this town,
and he's letting them see a picture of not just
the history of industrialization,
he's letting them feel what it feels like to be in a small town.
Just the way he's gathered the houses and the buildings,
you know, put them in a circle, it's like it just, the whole
place just kind of... gives you a big hug,
you know, when you're looking at it.
It looks beautiful.
CHRIS: Alright guys, I got to go.
MIKE: It was nice to meet you. CHRIS: Thank you. Alright.
Pleasure. See you around. MIKE: Alright. I appreciate you.
Okay wow.
BECKY: So then, here's a perfect example
of preserving the displays that have deteriorated over time.
MIKE: Okay. BECKY: Here is an 1879
steam-run carousel, we've taken all the--
MIKE: Really! ROBBIE: Wow...
BECKY: ...I want to say horses, but they're all sorts of animals.
They're all wood. MIKE: This is that early?
BECKY: Yeah. ROBBIE: 1879?
BECKY: And it was functioning from the beginning
of the village until we were children,
we would ride this for 5 cents.
And it was just a real big highlight.
And we'd love to bring that back.
MIKE: Oh...
BECKY: The horses have been
put in a dry, safe location
and they're being worked on now.
The hope is to bring it back to functioning order.
MIKE: That's amazing, oh my gosh.
BECKY: Yeah. So--
MIKE: So you guys are going
to like, put a new roof on this and--
BECKY: Yeah. MIKE: You're redoing the horses.
BECKY: Yeah, that's part of the reason we have you guys here.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: Okay. This museum,
like so many other museums
in America, these small towns, are struggling, because they're
trying to get people in the door, they're trying
to get people to visit their town.
BECKY: With a project this big, you don't need just people
and hours, but money. MIKE & ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: Running a museum is no different than running any other business.
There's challenges with all of this stuff, you know,
changing out the displays, you know, what is relevant,
what is not, things that work back in 1953, are they working in 2022, you know.
So that's what these guys are looking at.
You know, they're like "Hey, my grandfather did this,
my father did this,
how are we going to put our signature on this?
How are we going to bring the next generation into this
museum because, we're the next generation.
So tell me about the Quonset huts that you guys called
us about, like what kind of stuff is in there?
BECKY: So duplicates, things that either my grandfather
bought or were donated that were never put on display.
I think the idea was to change exhibits over time, but...
So the whole reason we reached out to Mike
and Danielle is to get them involved in helping us with
the excess, the duplicates, and seeing what value has been
sitting there untouched for all these decades.
So I'm going to introduce you to Al.
He's been around the village his whole life.
He was friends with my dad, and he's on the board,
and... he's a volunteer.
MIKE: He helped you guys out with everything.
BECKY: Yeah he mows the lawn, he does all sorts of things here.
MIKE: Alright, he's in the workshop?
BECKY: Yeah. Hey Al.
AL: Hey Becky. BECKY: Hey.
MIKE: Hey-, hey.
BECKY: This is Mike and Rob.
MIKE: Hey, I'm Mike, and this is Robbie.
AL: Hey. ROBBIE: How're you doing?
AL: Hi, nice to meet you guys.
BECKY: Al, he's a vital, important part of how
the village is running today.
Al's going to take you through the Quonset huts.
I got to get back to the buildings.
BECKY: Hey, thank you.
MIKE: Hey, thank you for showing us around.
I appreciate it.
Their grandfather was a collector that had a museum.
He had a platform, okay, that's great.
But he still was a collector.
You know, so I'm really excited to see what's in these Quonset huts.
MIKE: What year is this thing?
AL: Uh, do you remember what this is?
ROBBIE: It's open cab, so it's got to be like '40s, isn't it?
LARRY: I'm not sure.
ROBBIE: Looks like a '40s.
LARRY: I think one thing that
you go out to the Quonset, I think you can say it is organized chaos.
ROBBIE: What's this, Mike?
MIKE: Let me see.
ROBBIE: They're brass.
MIKE: Are they? Or are they painted that colour?
LARRY: We were surprised to see what was in the Quonsets as well as Rob and Mike were.
LARRY: This used to be off-limits.
AL: Yeah.
LARRY: We were not allowed to come out here.
MIKE: Really?
ROBBIE: So basically, no one
was allowed to come out here?
LARRY: No. AL: No. The whole community's
wanted in here for years to see what was in here.
ROBBIE: So, I mean, how did all this get in here,
'cause he didn't do it by himself.
LARRY: Well, we're talking about Skip Warp, not Harold Warp.
ROBBIE: Yeah? LARRY: Harold Warp's the one
that kept putting the inventory in here.
ROBBIE: Harold put the stuff in here?
LARRY: Yeah. And Skip...
ROBBIE: And then Skip made it off-limits.
LARRY: Yes. MIKE: Okay.
LARRY: He made it off-limits and--
ROBBIE: Wow. AL: Skip was Harold's son,
and he took over the museum after Harold was gone.
MIKE: What about this bell? It's like an old boxing bell.
(Ding!)
LARRY: Round 1.
MIKE: 30 bucks.
LARRY: Yes, that sounds alright.
ROBBIE: Yeah. MIKE: Harold's interest was obviously very wide.
He bought anything and everything,
and it looks like he bought out places, like an automotive shop
or an old bicycle shop.
This is a bicycle light.
You know, the lens is good,
there's a... see if there are reflectors in there...
there's a reflector in there.
The top is smashed right here, so.
LARRY: Good for parts. MIKE: Yeah, there's good
for parts, that's what I'm saying, is there any other
bicycle lights in there, Robbie?
ROBBIE: No.
MIKE: You know, when you're digging through so much stuff
like this, you're looking for things that connect with
you, you know, things that you can understand they have value
and then things that you've never seen before.
It's just interesting to dig through layers of dust
and layers of items that have been sitting for so long.
These places are tombs, they're catacombs of all these
things that have been collected for so long.
And then the fact that no one's been allowed to come in here.
ROBBIE: Ugh!
MIKE: See, somebody made this.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: The top, that's off of a fence.
ROBBIE: There's the back bone...
MIKE: Okay, there's a back bone to it.
ROBBIE: Yeah. MIKE: So it was maybe made
as a sign or something.
It's not a high-wheel bike.
ROBBIE: No. MIKE: It's basically,
it's a piece of art.
Gah, it's like you got to look
in every single basket.
ROBBIE: That's what I mean, every single one of these...
MIKE: You know, and every underneath...
LARRY: Every place you can get.
MIKE: Hey, look at this!
LARRY: That looks like a leg off one of the carousel horses we're restoring.
I think we need to... put that in with the collection.
MIKE: You guys are restoring them for sure.
LARRY: Yes we are.
MIKE: Okay, you're going to catch this leg? You got it, Al?
AL: Yep.
MIKE: Alright.
LARRY: Hey, thanks.
MIKE: Let's see if there's any more pieces and parts
to the carousel horse here.
ROBBIE: Man, I'm telling you right now, we're going to be
here 'till midnight.
(upbeat music) (mooing)
ROBBIE: Every museum has a back
room of where they stock the excess stuff that's going on.
Things that are broken, they put it all back in the back room.
Harold Warp... he thought,
"Huh, I'll just fill up these Quonset huts."
Here's a good seat, Mike. MIKE: Let me see.
ROBBIE: Not bad.
The leather looks good on it.
MIKE: Yeah, the leather's decent on it.
It's got the mounting hardware on it too.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: 50 bucks.
AL: Go for it.
MIKE: Shake the man's hand, Robbie. Thank you.
LARRY: Hey. ROBBIE: Thanks guys.
MIKE: Here's part of a bicycle.
It's a Hiawatha.
(groaning)
LARRY: Hiawatha?
MIKE: Would you consider selling this?
LARRY: Yes.
MIKE: This is a 1950s Hiawatha Chippewa bicycle.
The chrome's in decent shape,
everything's pretty much here, except for the wheels.
MIKE: 125 bucks.
If this was together, rolling down the road in the condition
it's in, it'd probably be about 350.
LARRY: Okay, let's... let's do it.
MIKE: Alright, Robbie, shake his hand, Robbie.
Keep shaking, baby.
LARRY: Thank you. ROBBIE: I'm shaking, I'm
shaking all the hands here.
AL: It was amazing what those guys could dig up,
they have a sense for it, that's for sure.
MIKE: Look at this box, man.
They used the licence plates for the side of it.
1925 and 1931.
AL: One's from Phelps County and one's from Kearney County.
MIKE: Back in the day, if you could make it, you made it.
You didn't go out and buy it.
You guys are Nebraska guys, what are you thinking?
LARRY: $30.
MIKE: I think that's about what it's worth too.
I love it. I just love the ingenuity, man.
Now you look at something like this, like it's a piece of art,
like something that you would buy on Etsy for 100 bucks.
ROBBIE: This was in this barrel right here.
It's missing some pieces on it,
but it says "Allen's Red Tame Cherry".
That's early.
LARRY: 5 cents.
ROBBIE: So it's missing the top piece, which is the...
that's the money shot.
In the early 1900s, before soda pop was actually even bottled,
this is how they dispensed drinks.
They would take soda water, a little cherry smash,
put it in there, mix it up, you had a cherry drink.
So it was kind of the beginning stages of soda pop.
75 bucks.
LARRY: I was thinking closer to 100, but...
ROBBIE: 100 bucks.
LARRY: Okay. ROBBIE: I'm doing it.
AL: Thank you. ROBBIE: Thanks.
MIKE: Look at these horses, man!
ROBBIE: Wow, there's a bunch of them, Mike.
MIKE: That's what I'm saying.
There's different ones though,
like there's... there's two in here, there's one in here.
Well here, there's a head for one, pull that out.
Okay, so this is a... this is a carousel horse.
LARRY: And that's probably what we're restoring and we could
use... sure use that.
ROBBIE: Here's a tag I found,
it says "Whitney Reed Company, Massachusetts.
Toys, hobby horses, and porch chairs."
MIKE: Yeah. ROBBIE: These rocking horses
are absolutely amazing.
You got it? Just flip it right over.
MIKE: So these are basically like new old stock.
These are rocking horses without their rockers.
They're in the original crate.
Don't break the crate, don't break the crate.
Ugh... there.
I would display this in the crate.
LARRY: Just as it.
ROBBIE: They have glass eyes, Mike.
MIKE: This whole corner's full of them.
Glass eyes, horse hair mane
and tail, the original paint, wrapped in paper.
I mean, these are new old stock, dead stock.
He must have bought out like a mercantile or a general store or something.
ROBBIE: Mike, are those, the singles the same size as the doubles?
MIKE: No, the single is a bigger horse.
LARRY: Yes, yes. ROBBIE: That's what I thought,
I was looking at the size on that.
MIKE: It's amazing to me that these have survived
and done so well.
With the temperature fluctuation over all of these years,
it's really, really amazing to find something like this,
that's... that's basically untouched.
ROBBIE: Ugh. MIKE: There, got it?
ROBBIE: I got it.
MIKE: Yeah. These are late '40s,
early '50s. LARRY: Yeah.
MIKE: This one... the hair's gone on it, the mane's gone,
the eyes are... this one's been... exposed.
ROBBIE: This one's got the tails on it right here,
this one's got double.
MIKE: The novelty to me
is that they're still crated.
ROBBIE: And you leave them alone.
MIKE: You want to just leave
them in there and probably take the paper off.
ROBBIE: The fact that they're in the original crates
makes them worth that much more.
Any time that you can find an early antique or any type
of antique that's in its original packaging,
you have to buy these, because... you're never going
to see them again.
MIKE: I think retail number on those is like...
God, maybe 700 apiece.
The larger ones, like this one sitting up there,
I think that's a $750 piece,
just because of its age and the condition of it.
ROBBIE: This I like, display-wise better, because it's--
MIKE: It's smaller, yeah.
ROBBIE: Oh yeah, a lot smaller.
MIKE: A rocking horse from this time period
isn't really that rare.
But to find one in its original
crate... I mean, that's it, man.
I mean, mic drop.
These are cool.
Would you sell, since you have so many of them,
would you sell one double and one single?
AL: We'd certainly entertain an offer on them.
MIKE: I'd do the one in your hand there, and these two for...
17. ROBBIE: 2 double...
LARRY: Sounds alright. MIKE: Okay.
AL: Yep.
LARRY: That would work. MIKE: Alright, man, thanks.
LARRY: Thanks, thanks Mike. MIKE: I appreciate it.
(upbeat music)
MIKE: Wow, look at that engine!
ROBBIE: What is this?
AL: This is a Lincoln Page, it
was made in Havelock, Nebraska.
That's an OX-5 engine.
MIKE: So like what year is this?
AL: Early '20s.
It probably puts out 90 horsepower and weighs about
300 pounds, so... Mr. Warp bought that airplane
and another one for $150.
MIKE: Have you guys thought about what you're going to do with this?
AL: It's surplus, it's probably something that we'll get rid of
for funding for the repairs we need in the museum.
MIKE: What's this off of?
AL: This came off of a building that was built in the 1800s
on the north side of the square in Minden.
ROBBIE: Oh the skis, look at how those were made.
I've never seen them like that before.
MIKE: Aren't those awesome? This is for a wagon, obviously.
This is Nebraska.
It's in the Midwest.
This is America's heartland.
This is the part of the country
that feeds so much of the rest of the world.
So you got all your horse-drawn stuff here.
So that's why we're seeing so many farm implements,
carriages, ox yokes, horse tack.
That's why so much of this stuff is in this Quonset hut.
Look at that!
(grunting)
So these would be like gas station island lights.
LARRY: Yes. AL: Really?
MIKE: This is porcelain.
Would you guys consider selling these?
LARRY: Yes we would, I think...
MIKE: 400 for the pair.
LARRY: Yes, I think so. AL: You betcha.
MIKE: Okay. LARRY: Yeah.
See I think they tore down the--
ROBBIE: Whoa!
LARRY: ...they tore down a Standard station too.
I don't know if that would have come from a Standard station
on the corner.
MIKE: What's it say...
A lot of the things that we're
finding, probably didn't have
value when they were placed in this building.
ROBBIE: I don't want to fall, that's the problem.
MIKE: It's plastic too.
ROBBIE: Yeah exactly...
MIKE: The only value they had
back then is that Harold knew
that they were from his town.
ROBBIE: Boom.
MIKE: Look at that!
AL: I'll be darned.
MIKE: Look at that colour on that. That was on the downside.
ROBBIE: Emergency Roadside Service.
MIKE: Is there any cracks on the corners?
AL: What vintage would that be?
ROBBIE: Well it's...
it's made of Lexan, so you're probably... it's '60s.
MIKE: What are you thinking on this?
LARRY: We know signs are pretty popular.
Looks like it's in pretty good shape.
MIKE: Yeah.
500.
It's a plastic sign but it's cool.
I mean, obviously this, whoa!
(bleep)
(laughing)
Okay, so... ROBBIE: Ox yokes.
MIKE: Obviously the subject matter's great, you know.
LARRY: Yeah, the pa-- MIKE: But it doesn't have
a tremendous amount of age.
LARRY: Yeah. What's the other side?
ROBBIE: The other side you can't read 'cause it's got
nine inches of dust on it.
MIKE: Yeah, let's wipe it down.
ROBBIE: No... you... I don't know if I want
to wipe that down. MIKE: Here, you ready?
AL: We were selling items, the surplus to a museum,
that have been in storage since literally the late '40s, early '50s.
And there were 50, 60 years of dust on most of it.
LARRY: How about... how about...
ROBBIE: Yeah there's no...
the plus to it is there's no cracks in it.
LARRY: Yeah. How about 600, both sides are pretty good.
MIKE: 550.
LARRY: Okay, we'll take that.
MIKE: Okay.
ROBBIE: Do you want to-- MIKE: Alright, so this is like,
this is like the gas station section here.
You got the island lights, you've got the sign.
For us to get into one barn that has so much stuff in it,
that's been untouched for years, is a big deal.
You guys got some parts and pieces.
And so imagine 12 of those lined up in a row,
and these are not small spaces.
ROBBIE: Look at that cab-over right there, the Warp's Window Materials.
Flex-O-Glass.
LARRY: Yep.
ROBBIE: This thing was on Cicero Ave.
MIKE: Oh this is their company.
CHRIS: Grandpa started a business, Flex-O-Glass, in 1924
with Flex-O-Glass, a window material that helped
grow chickens much larger.
And it was very revolutionary and it was very successful.
They've been in business for 98 years and they still
make garbage bags, plastic for construction,
household goods, window coverings.
MIKE: And that's what funded and created the Pioneer Village.
AL: Yeah.
LARRY: And he was 21 years old
when he went to Chicago to start that.
MIKE: He's a dreamer, he's an entrepreneur
and he's a creator.
He basically created his own world with his product.
I mean, it wasn't like he dove into a market that was already
there, he created the market,
he created a product, a product that made him
a very wealthy man.
And in turn, he gave back to his community.
ROBBIE: Wow. LARRY: Yeah, keepsakes.
ROBBIE: I can't believe this truck still exists,
with all the original advertising on it.
MIKE: Yeah. I mean, this is a major piece of your...
LARRY: Yeah. ROBBIE: Yeah.
MIKE: ...the family's and the company's history.
AL: If it wasn't for the Warp's Flex-O-Glass, we wouldn't have
Pioneer Village.
MIKE: Great name.
Pioneer, pioneering.
That's what he was, he was a pioneer.
ROBBIE: There it goes. There.
MIKE: Here we go, how tall is that? About 8 feet?
AL: Yeah.
ROBBIE: Yeah, and then you put the shade on there.
MIKE: I'm looking for a pole for an island.
ROBBIE: That's probably for an island.
MIKE: A gas pump island, and this is fluted, it's iron.
It needs a new base, that's busted off.
This might be the pole from the lights that we found earlier.
This is a gas station island pole.
It's fluted, it's cast iron.
You know, it's... it's really cool.
Since the base is busted off, you know, which is no big
deal, we're dealing with steel here, so...
we can weld something on the bottom of it.
I'm not just going to leave it here, it's gas and oil-related.
150 bucks.
We're doing it? Okay. LARRY: Yes, let's do it.
MIKE: Alright, man, we're doing it.
(upbeat music) (train horn blaring)
MIKE: Okay...
LARRY: This storage is...
ROBBIE: Wow! MIKE: Oh Robbie, look at this one! Holy crap.
AL: It's a bird's nest.
ROBBIE: Where do you go in here? MIKE: Whew!
What the heck is that?
ROBBIE: I don't know, it's got like a mailbox inside it.
MIKE: Here, get this...
ROBBIE: We can get to it, at least.
MIKE: It says...
"J.B. Swanson's patent, May 1877."
ROBBIE: This caravan's sitting here on a couple of 4x4s.
It probably was mounted on a wheel chassis.
And this thing was driving around the country.
To get it out of here, I think it's just going to be a huge chore.
MIKE: Oh my gosh, you should see the stuff
piled up back here.
ROBBIE: Oh look at that.
What are you standing on, a hearse?
MIKE: It's crazy! Ugh...
ROBBIE: I'm telling ya.
MIKE: Clean off these turds.
The "undertakah".
ROBBIE: Undertaker?
MIKE: Look at this, Robbie.
(imitating whipping)
ROBBIE: Oh dude.
MIKE: Running to the bone...
ROBBIE: Is that a freakin' hearse?
MIKE: Running to the bone yard.
Look at this thing, yeah.
ROBBIE: Wow!
MIKE: Every raccoon has pooped on top of this thing
for the last... 65 years.
(laughing)
ROBBIE: I think it's cool.
MIKE: I think it's incredible.
I mean, it's not something I'm interested in.
LARRY: What's in this crate?
ROBBIE: That's just a... it's just a counter.
AL: You really have to work your way through that,
to find the good items.
And there's no rhyme or reason,
it's just whichever one had some room, they put stuff in.
ROBBIE: What's the deal with that gas wagon?
MIKE: Oh, if there's anything we can wipe...
AL: Look at the way the tank was cut out,
riveted for the seat.
MIKE: Oh yeah.
ROBBIE: Well, usually they advertise things on the back,
but there isn't anything on the back here.
MIKE: Just the idea of using horses to pull gas,
imagine that time in America.
That's when everything was happening.
It's just so cool.
This is a really early,
awesome piece.
ROBBIE: Oh...
MIKE: You can barely read Polarine on it.
ROBBIE: Yeah.
AL: Is Polarine a gasoline, early gasoline?
MIKE: Yeah. LARRY: Gasoline.
ROBBIE: Oh yeah, would have been Standard, Standard Gasoline.
MIKE: Alright.
ROBBIE: What does it say here? For auto?
MIKE: It says for automobiles.
This is early transportation, and it says "automobiles"
on it, I was like, just so hoping I was gonna clean it off,
it was going to say "Motorcycles,"
because if it said motorcycles,
I would have tried a little bit
harder to try to get this piece.
MIKE: So every single one of these Quonsets is used
for storage for the museum?
LARRY: Yes it is.
AL: All but a couple of them
that have ag equipment for the farmers.
ROBBIE: Another fire truck!
LARRY: Yeah. ROBBIE: Dang!
MIKE: Wow, Robbie, check out the cab-over.
ROBBIE: Holy Toledo.
(whistling)
Wow. '46 Chevy. Straight 6. Yep.
MIKE: So it was originally yellow.
ROBBIE: Basically a cab-over is an early version of a semi.
You know, you're sitting over the top of the engine,
these trucks were mainly used in businesses such as Coca-Cola,
anybody that did moving and storage, things like this.
But that was the truck of the day.
So they didn't make tons of them.
MIKE: Look at that.
ROBBIE: Hey guess what,
this was a Coca-Cola bottling.
MIKE: Really?
ROBBIE: Yeah, it says right in the back.
MIKE: Oh that's why it was yellow on the fire wall?
ROBBIE: '42 to '43. I think people romanticize about driving those.
And then after they drive it, they're like,
"I'm done with that, that thing grabs like an old donkey."
'Cause that's basically what it was.
You got a 6-cylinder in it,
it wasn't meant to go over 45-miles-an-hour.
MIKE: Pretty solid.
Here, here we go.
AL: Our plan for the rest of the items in the Quonset
is to have a huge online auction in the not too distant future.
MIKE: They're iconic, man.
AL: Yeah, yeah.
MIKE: You know, you see one of
these coming down the road,
or you see one at a truck show.
Everybody gravitates towards them.
You know, and that's why people are spending so much
money on making them their own and making them be able
to drive anywhere they want to,
you know, with the brakes and the engines
and, you know, everything that they want to do to it.
But I understand what you're saying as far as like,
you know, you get that hometown honey piece, and especially a farm truck.
AL: Yeah. Well... MIKE: That, that's probably
the route you should go is talking to some local people.
AL: Yeah.
The other thing is, and Larry can probably confirm this,
I think this truck was used
in the Homecoming parades
to haul the football team around the town square in the old days.
ROBBIE: Yeah? LARRY: Yep.
LARRY: That's why the church pews are on there.
AL: I'm pretty sure. ROBBIE: Okay.
MIKE: Okay, I got a question for ya,
what about this bench right here?
Would you sell this? Seems pretty solid.
It's... I don't know what, 10 feet long, 8 feet long?
AL: Is that a... is that a church pew?
ROBBIE: No, I don't think it was a church pew.
MIKE: Nah... ROBBIE: There's another one right there, Mike.
MIKE: What just like this?
ROBBIE: Just like that, it's right here.
MIKE: The great thing about these benches is the size.
That's what makes them unique.
Okay, 1, 2, 12...
ROBBIE: Yeah... MIKE: Alright.
Here we go.
ROBBIE: You guys got it?
AL: Yep. MIKE: Let's flip it like this.
There's no repairs that have to be done, I mean, they're just
good solid pieces of Americana.
Alright, you got two of them.
500 for the pair.
LARRY: I would think 600 for the pair.
MIKE: How about 550?
LARRY: 580?
MIKE: 580, alright, shake his hand, Robbie.
(laughing) LARRY: 580.
ROBBIE: 580.
MIKE: 580.
MIKE: Alright, let's carry it out.
ROBBIE: Okay. AL: Okay.
MIKE: There's so many pieces and parts in a lot of these
Quonset huts that are kind of general store mercantile.
Primitive antiques, country antiques, I mean,
something that you would see in a small town.
You know, the fact that they're solid, they're wood, there's
a little bit of detail to them.
They're sitting here on a flatbed, and they've been
here for a number of years.
It's like, let's get these outside, man, get some air
on them, get the sun back on them.
Let somebody use these again.
ROBBIE: I like these.
MIKE: It's my favourite thing.
ROBBIE: They'd go great with a farm table.
Yeah. You got a beer?
(laughing)
(upbeat music) (birds chirping)
(grunting)
ROBBIE: Alright.
MIKE: Alright... dang...
ROBBIE: I don't even know which direction to go in here anymore.
LARRY: That's the thing, hard to keep track of which
building we've been in.
ROBBIE: It's like, every single building
is like a tomb of treasure.
MIKE: Oh wow, what kind of trailer is this?
AL: I've heard that's a Vagabond or some kind of an early camper.
ROBBIE: Here Mike, pull that out.
AL: I think it's like pre-50. Go ahead and take the tarp off.
ROBBIE: Just pull that over...
MIKE: Oh wow...
First impressions, this is late '20s to early '30s.
This is pre-Airstream, it's pre-Bowlus.
ROBBIE: Wow...
MIKE: No way.
Now the exterior of it is what they call "leatherette".
It was a fake leather, a very thin material.
And that is what makes it waterproof.
The leatherette might be covering masonite.
Now they did make trailers like this with masonite exterior,
and that was painted to make it waterproof.
AL: So Mike, we have another one of these
in our car collection upstairs in one of the buildings
you haven't been through.
MIKE: What year is that one? AL: That's a 1937 and it's
made out of aluminum.
MIKE: They started skinning these in aluminum in '36.
AL: Okay.
MIKE: Okay, this company started in '31.
They're out of Michigan.
AL: Okay.
MIKE: You know, I mean, obviously the aluminum ones
are a lot more durable.
Vagabond started out making
buggies, and then in 1931,
they started making travel trailers.
So I'm looking at this thing
and I'm guessing that it's one of their first.
Look at the tongue on this thing, Robbie.
Look at the hitch.
These early trailers were pulled like a fifth wheel,
where the trunk lid would have came off and there was
a mounting system inside the trunk to pull that trailer
close to the car, and it was more stable,
it was air-flow, and aesthetically, it was beautiful.
I think this one has probably been converted
from a fifth wheel set up to something with a tongue.
You know, there's obviously a tongue on the front of it,
and that just really shows what a long life this piece has had.
I'm excited about opening this door, man.
Oh wow, it's got the original screen door, even.
ROBBIE: Look at that, folds in.
AL: Bi-fold screen door.
LARRY: Bi-fold screen door.
ROBBIE: These were not meant for tall people.
Yeah, wow.
MIKE: This might look primitive by today's standards,
but back then, this was state-of-the-art.
Yeah, it's got like a kitchen... except for this tray right here.
ROBBIE: There's yeah...
MIKE: I'm imagining this being
pulled by a Lincoln, a Cadillac,
a Packard, because back in the day, to buy a trailer like this,
you had to have some cash.
Here's a little stove.
God, this is nuts.
It's like a little cabin on wheels.
AL: Yeah.
MIKE: It's like literally
like a little cabin on wheels.
Once you get inside of it,
it's really beautiful.
It's like you're in this wood cocoon, man, it's so warm
and it's like you just want to nest inside this thing.
ROBBIE: This slides over too, yeah.
Yeah, there it is.
MIKE: Yeah. Look at the floor.
It's got the original tile on the floor.
Here's your sink.
ROBBIE: It just didn't have a bathroom in it.
MIKE: Oh look at the little pencil sharpener.
There's all these things in here that kind of tell
a story of who had it, where they went.
You know, from the maps and even
the old matchbooks that are inside of it,
the businesses that they visited... that's a clue, man,
from the time period and where they travelled to.
The guy had a typewriter in here, there's an old
trench coat in a closet.
You know, it's like they just kind of walked away from it.
Oh my God, well you know what's cool about it
is that none of the wood inside's ever been painted
or anything, it's still got the original stain on it.
And then the floor is super solid.
I mean, think about it, this thing is almost 100 years old.
Robbie, the thing is hung on something on top.
Oh it's like the stove pipe.
LARRY: Yeah, the stove pipe's up here.
Okay, got it...
ROBBIE: Hold on here... I can't... reach that,
that's about it.
MIKE: It's hooked on that.. yeah there you go.
ROBBIE: There.
The trailer plate says '58.
It's a time capsule.
MIKE: At one point in time, this had to be in a
climate-controlled situation.
It's just so beautiful.
I mean, it's unbelievable.
I'm crawling underneath of it, the floor's wood, obviously,
and there's... the awning pulls are underneath, you know, where
they would have set that up.
I mean, it was a party, man, it was a celebration.
Every time you got somewhere without a problem and you
actually made it there,
that was a reason to celebrate.
ROBBIE: Wow... look at that.
Sliding Flex-O-Glass.
LARRY: Sliding, yeah.
MIKE: The edges of it are peeling, you can re-glue
that, reseal it.
Over the years, I've been lucky enough to see carcasses
of things like this in the woods.
You know, you walk up to it, and you just see the framing.
You can just see like parts and pieces, you know,
it's just like an artifact.
This is the first one I've ever seen that's this early,
that's intact, that's in unbelievable condition.
You really have to be careful with even taking it outside,
because... if it rained at all... you know, showing it
or hauling it somewhere, you'd... yeah,
it's just all so...
LARRY: Seal, seal it back up.
MIKE: ...it's all so, it's all so sensitive.
So is this something that you guys would consider selling?
AL: What do you think it's worth? Yeah, that would
I mean that would probably dictate whether we...
MIKE: So, I know you guys can't see this, but up top
here, at the seams, there's a lot of this going on, okay?
So it's not the end of the world or anything,
I mean, obviously, it can be repaired.
But the point I'm trying to make is that if this is sold
to someone, it has to be sold to someone obviously
that understands the sensitivity of it.
With that said, since it is so sensitive
and it's in such great condition for its age, that's amazing.
You know, I love it.
This is the granddaddy, the grand-pappy, the daddy-pop
of all travel trailers, man.
This is Conestoga wagon time period when it comes
to travel trailers.
This is early, man.
I mean, think about what roads were like then,
and roadside attractions and all of these things.
I mean, the nation was just really starting
to explore itself.
You know, with travel trailers and cars that could drive
further, at faster speeds and highway systems being put in...
And then all of a sudden, the travel trailer comes along.
Something this elaborate and this, really,
I'm going to throw the word out there, back then, luxurious.
I think the trailer in the condition
that it's in with the work that it needs, with the top
and such, is a $20,000 trailer.
You know, I'd be interested in it for 15.
I got to pay some shipping on it.
AL: Sure.
MIKE: So I want to be into it, in a comfortable way,
knowing that I've got to do work to it.
To take this to the next level, I don't think it's about...
restoration, I think it's more about preservation.
So what are you guys thinking?
LARRY: Uh... I... I can feel it's a $20,000 item.
AL: Yeah. LARRY: And with your shipping
and so on, I think we should go ahead and accept
that it's going to be great for the revitalization of the museum.
And I think it's a big item that...
MIKE: Oh my gosh...
AL: I think 15's more than fair, thank you.
MIKE: Oh hey, hey man. LARRY: Thank you, Mike.
MIKE: Oh my gosh! I'm excited.
LARRY: Thank you. MIKE: I'm really excited.
AL: We're excited for ya.
You know, for us, it wasn't that hard to let stuff
go because we had no personal connection.
And I look at that trailer that they bought, and I see
a new roof on one of our outbuildings.
ROBBIE: Dang, dude!
Looks like the brain inside the thing's like melting.
Ugh... watch the nails.
MIKE: Alright...
Thank God Harold was such a pack rat, that they have
all of this excess inventory that they can sell to move
the needle forward.
You could visit this place three, four, even five times
and not see it all.
This place is that big.
Harold's dream was that big.
But you know, over time, man,
you got to maintain that dream,
and that's where they're at right now.
They got a really long road ahead of them.
Appreciate your commitment to this place.
AL: Oh absolutely. MIKE: Thank you so much.
But it takes more than just money.
You got to come at it with new ideas, new energy,
and that passion, the same passion that Harold had.
Danielle will call you about the shipping.
(honking)
See you guys!
LARRY: See ya.