American Pickers debuted on the History Channel in 2010 when it took the world of junk reselling by storm.
Since then, it has run for over 20 seasons and counting.
That's pretty impressive, especially when you consider that show creator Mike Wolfe
spent five years unsuccessfully trying to sell his lifestyle-based reality show to any
network that would buy it.
Luckily for all of us, History eventually picked it up, which turned out to be a great
decision: the first season of the show brought in 5.4 million viewers each week, becoming
the highest rated History show in years.
That success is largely due to the show's outsized onscreen personalities, including
Frank Fritz, Danielle Colby, and most importantly, Mike Wolfe himself.
And perhaps Wolfe's quirkiest quirk is his obsession with old bicycles, which is front
and center in many American Pickers episodes.
That interest is a lifelong love which predates the show.
Wolfe told Bicycling.com that he discovered at a very early age that he could ride circles
around other kids, even those much older than him.
And his first pick was actually an old bicycle he found in an overgrown weed patch at the age of six.
"I was amazed that someone would throw out a bike.
And I thought to myself, if someone would throw out a bike, what else would they throw out?"
Later, he'd see old bikes sitting in a dumpster, and he knew he had to have them.
Pick it, flip it.
In 1987, Wolfe scored a job building 13 bikes a day at Bike n Hike in Davenport, Iowa.
Before long, Wolfe owned two bike shops of his own.
He also got heavily involved in the bicycle racing scene, a career that lasted through
most of the 1990's.
Besides participating several times in the cross-Iowa race called the Ragbrai, Wolfe
also took home an impressive win at the Iowa State Time Trial Championships in 1998, just
about the time he retired from professional racing.
Beyond bicycles, Wolfe also has another serious interest: his family.
According to Amo Mama, Wolfe met Jodi Faeth in 1994.
She was intrigued by his work as a picker, and the two soon began dating.
After nearly two decades together, the couple celebrated two major milestones in 2012: their
wedding, and the birth of their daughter, Charlie Faeth Wolfe.
Troubles would follow, though.
Charlie was born with a cleft lip and palate, which required several surgeries.
And in 2013, Jodi was diagnosed with cancer.
The demands of his family life nearly caused Wolfe to quit American Pickers; in 2016, he
told WQAD, quote, "one more season and I'm done."
Wolfe ended up staying on the show, but the challenges faced by his daughter inspired
the family to get involved with the charity organization Operation Smile, whose purpose
is to ensure that all children born with clefts are able to undergo the necessary corrective surgeries.
Wolfe linked up with Isabel Bloom, an Iowa-based sculpting company, and had statues of Charlie produced.
The statues, called "Charlie's Smile," were sold as a fundraiser for Operation Smile.
Additionally, Wolfe has participated in fundraising activities for a number of other charities,
including St. Jude's Children's Hospital and his local animal shelters.
And in 2020, he turned his efforts towards helping people in Tennessee who were struggling
due to the financial strain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"That's community."
Given the rigorous demands of running a TV show while maintaining a family and doing
so much charity work, it's amazing Mike has time to do anything else.
But he's somehow found the time to write two books as well.
His first major publication was 2011's American Pickers Guide to Picking, which he co-wrote
with Libby Callaway, Frank Fritz, and Danielle Colby.
The book gives the ins and outs of making a profit off "rusty gold."
His second book, Kid Pickers, covers the same sort of thing, only this time, it's targeted
toward getting children interested in the picking life.
And he even has a Spotify channel, Music to Pick By, featuring a variety of artists whose
music is compatible with risking tetanus by rummaging through junk in a dilapidated barn.
With so many different interests, there's no telling what Mike Wolfe will be up to next
- and we can't wait to see what direction he picks.
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