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“Murphey’s Custom Built Furniture,” the sign said. “Upholstery. Furniture. Gifts,” it continued. “Lamps, Pictures, Draperies,” it went on. “Carpets. Slip covers,” it concluded. It wasn’t a sign with a lack of stuff to say, but what good sign is?
“It’s a cool sign, man,” Mike Wolfe told the prospective seller during the “American Pickers” episode “Pool Hall Picking,” “but the subject matter’s not that great.” It’s a classic furniture sign buyer’s tactic — try to convince the owner that what you actually want is a sign that’s for something besides furniture, letting the proverbial line loose before you reel ’em back in.
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And reel ’em back in, he did. Wolfe went on to extoll the many virtues of the furniture sign, calling it “reverse-painted,” “heavy,” and “seafoam blue.” Asked by the owner if he’d make an offer, Wolfe threw out $300, prompting a handshake and the transfer of ownership of one furniture sign.
Would Mike Wolfe have paid more for a sign advertising oil or gas? He certainly claimed that he would have, but he may have been pulling the owner’s chain. “Always leave them thinking that they got a generous offer on their furniture sign,” that’s the “American Pickers” motto. Maybe.
