Skurow’s interest in Monday’s episode of the show will be a bit keener than usual — he’s in it.
American Pickers, which airs on the History Channel, stars Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, owners of an Iowa business they call Antique Archeology. The two men roam the countryside in search of items they can buy for resale. They drop in on collectors, hoarders and especially people who have inherited piles of what might seem to be junk.
Part of the show’s appeal is what the “pickers” discover; the rest is the interesting people they meet and the on-camera dickering that takes place when Wolfe and Fritz find something they want.
The show debuted in January of 2010 and became the top-rated non-fiction television show of 2010.
Skurow, a retired casino executive who lives in Mesquite, is a fan of the show. He’s been interested in antiques and collectibles since he was a teenager.
“I’ve been collecting since I was about 16 and began buying around the Las Vegas area,” he said. “It’s such fun stuff to have — there’s so much story in each item.”
He stored much of his collection in the buildings in his acreage along the Virgin River. It’s a pioneer farmstead he bought years ago, and it came with its own collection of antiques and artifacts.
When the Virgin River began flooding in 2005, Skurow scrambled to move his collection to a safer place. Despite his efforts, the water swept away some of his treasures.
“I probably lost $100,000 worth of antiques, including an old tractor,” he said. “They just went down the river.”
Among the items lost was a pool table that was too heavy to move.
“All of a sudden, it was gone,” he said.
As the water started rise in December of 2010, Skurow worried again about his collection, but the flooding didn’t touch any of his items.
“I didn’t want to be worrying about flooding all the time, so I decided to sell some of the things,” he said.
He posted some items on Craigslist, which attracted the attention of the producers of American Pickers. About four months ago, Wolfe and Fritz — accompanied by two cameramen, two producers, a director and three assistants — arrived at Skurow’s acreage. They spent a whole day sorting through Skurow’s collection while the cameras rolled.
“They came in the morning and they were still here when the sun went down,” Skurow said.
The main item the pickers liked was an antique horse-racing gambling machine, and they finally agreed on a price of $2,000.
“I sold it at a fair price, but I doubt I’ll be able to replace it,” Skurow said. “I’m kind of broken-hearted that I sold it, but I got caught up in the excitement.
“Antiques collectors say you’ll never regret anything you buy; you’ll only regret the things you sell.”
Wolfe and Fritz bought several other items, a gumball machine, and chips and playing cards from old casinos.
“The best part of the whole deal was just hanging out with these guys,” said Skurow. “They’re every bit as nice in person as they are on TV.
“They’re knowledgeable — they know what they’re doing.”
Skurow’s appearance will be part of the episode that airs at 9 p.m. Monday on the History Channel.
The "pickers" are on the hunt of antiques and collectibles.