Television and Art Museums

By Stephen Loughman, Preparator

I have to admit that one of my favorite TV shows is American Pickers, featuring two men that travel around the country looking for great items to sell at their antiques store. They dig through barns looking for old advertising pieces, turn of the century bicycles, or even folk art, as they look for the next big score that they can then sell to keep their adventure going. Luckily for me, I don’t have to do too much digging to see similar items that are popular on the show – many are found in our own collections here at the Fenimore Art Museum. One piece that seems straight from TV is our Pontiac Service sign; this will be on display this year as part of our exhibition, Art Buzz: Reader's Favorites from the Fenimore Art Museum Blog. It is a great example of a porcelain sign that adorned a car dealership in the 40’s or 50’s.

Another piece from our American Indian Art Collection would also fit right in on the show - this great cardboard box featuring the Moto Meter Gauge and Equipment Corporation logo. This box would housed a replacement part, most likely a dashboard gauge for a 50’s era vehicle. Unlike the television show where they always seem to find the part and the box, our example is only the box!