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July 28, 2025 • 11 mins
Rob is ALL IN on the Rust Belt Americana Antique Swap and Auction that's happening August 7th-10th. He reveals all the DEETS and more!
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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I are you.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Hey, I'm rob. So nice to hear from you. Thank
you for taking time out to talk about this huge
event that is coming to ismo Lean. But before we
before we get to the big event, before we get
to the big event, I want to just backpedal a
little bit and just kind of touch on you know
what I'm going to ask about American pickers of course. Yeah, yeah,

(00:27):
Well when I think of when I think of American Pickers,
I think of four big names. I think of yourself.
I think of Mike, I think of Frank, I think
of Danielle. And really, I mean, for me, this really
took off, and I don't know, is there any square
inch of this whole entire country. You guys have not

(00:48):
been to Alaska? Wow?

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Okay, yeah, But to make some think it makes more
things difficult to get them back from there. That's the problem.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
God, gotcha.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
I mean always there's always good stuff there.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Oh yeah, I mean just I just I go back
and watch tons of the older episodes too, because there's
so many unique and fun items and just the way
you get involved with Mike and it's it's just so
much fun to watch.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
Well, we've been you know, between my brother and I think,
you know, I tell people all the time, I'm not
necessarily just a car guy or a fine guy. I've
actually been an antique dealer for close to forty years.
So I mean, if you walk in my shop in
Davenport plus, people are blown away because they think they're
going to see just a bunch of cars and you know, motorcycles.
It's actually got a lot of history here. So I'm

(01:39):
all about I'm an historian of the Quad City. I
look at it that way and love every bit of that.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
And well, really, Rob, that's what we love about you,
because somebody's got to chronicle these things, and it's fun
to do it with pieces that means something.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yeah, yeah, and every pieced you know, the history of
this town is so you know, we've got the river here,
We've had gangsters here, We've had some of the biggest
cigar manufacturers in the country here, some of the liquor
companies that came out of this area. Next to my property,
downtown Davenport was one of the very first breweries for
the whole state of Iowa. I think that was around

(02:14):
eighteen fifty six.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Wow, Okay, I'm learning new things all the time from you.
I love that.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, it's great, it's great.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Yeah, And so that really does bring us into what
you're doing over at the rust Belt the Bend Expo,
which is russ Belt Americana, and that is your antique
and swap, antique swap and auction show that's coming up.
And is this the first time you've done this or
am I just like, am I just not aware of
what's happening?

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Well, you know, there's so many things always going on
in the Quad Cities, that's the problem. And even that
weekend there's a lot of stuff going on. But this
is our fourth year doing this. We did a year
out at say, our third year doing it, we did
a year where we were at the Fairgrounds, which was
a pretty remarkable year. We had about eight hundred and

(03:05):
sixty cars show up for the car show portion of it.
We had an option there and about two hundred and
fifty vendors. Last year was in Ventendorf and it was
really a big hit there. And now we've moved over
to the Roust Belt because we wanted an indoor facility
that could house the amount of the amount of antique
dealers that we're bringing in. So we're bringing in four

(03:26):
hundred and fifty antique dealers from around the United States
for two states.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
So the best of the best. When I talk about
the best antiques in the country, they will be here guaranteed.
And the only reason I the only reason I say
that is because I travel to a lot of shows.
I do shows all over the country, and that's where
I've met these people and they've became friends, and they
have kind of rallied behind this event because it is
a nonprofit and we're giving the money away to education.

(03:55):
And that's you know, I always say people, Hey, you
can wake up every day, you can challenge yourself. This
industry has given me so much over the last forty
years in my family that it's time to give back
to the industry. So that's how we're giving back.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah, And so it's good to point out again this
is going to run August seventh through the tenth at
the Bend Expo, and so I want to point out
that the first night, Thursday night, is teacher Appreciation Night.
Can you talk a little bit about what will happen
that night.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
Well, that night we're gonna we'll kick it off. We'll
have a ten piece auction from a user from vendors
just donating product that we're going to auction off, just
to kind of kick off the auction side of it.
And then that night Jim Witchman, who is a friend
of mine who taught my kids at Riverdale Elementary School.
He was an educator and has been around a long time,

(04:52):
but he kind of got away from the education thing
and started doing speaking. So he's going to come in
and speak and get these teachers energized. You've never seen
him speak. He's absolutely remarkable. It's about teaching kids and
teaching them a little bit different. And I can't let
the cat out of the bag because it'll be mad.
But he's the one that's going to let that fly.

(05:13):
And you know, it's an opportunity also to see these
vendors before anybody else gets to see. You're gonna be
able to see all the all the goods. You're gonna
hang out. We've got big aud dirve tables, We've got drinks,
We've got the auction which is Richmond Auctions is coming
in town, which is the biggest auction company in the country.

(05:33):
They've set two or three world records in the last
three years on auctions. Yeah, so I'm very excited about that.
They're bringing in the Bob Swayback Collection out of Phoenix, Arizona,
and it should be fun for the you know, Friday
and Saturday, but it's just a great time and it's
going to be a three day event where we also

(05:54):
have the car show on Saturday, there's a World Championship
car show going on. That money's all going to the
better where the money for the veterans is going to
be going to animals help these veterans along. So now
you know, again this is an event that's giving back
to the community. That's what it's all about. See that
taking this money and running away with it.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah, see, Rob, That's what I love about this. This
is this really makes my heart happy because when you
come in, I mean, this is going to make a
lot of money, and you know, you could sit on
it all yourself, but look at you. I mean you
and the people that participate. You give back and that
is so important because again, the veterans, the teachers, you know, education,

(06:36):
all that stuff is so important. I'm so glad you're
looking at that. It makes my heart happy.

Speaker 1 (06:42):
Well, the big thing one of the things I appreciate
you saying that Daniel because one of the things that
we've done on our nonprofit, we change it a little bit.
We are giving scholarships away, but we're also giving I've
had so many teachers from around the United States applied,
so we're you know, I've done some classes where I
teach classes on Zoom we talk about engineering how things

(07:04):
have evolved to elementary school teachers, and we teach this
with their students, and it has been a big hit
because the teachers are more infrolved with how the students
react to the stuff that they're seeing in the Zoom
video for things that they're seeing in my shop, all
this stuff. So we started thinking about the foundation and

(07:24):
we're like, you know what, what's the biggest thing that
elementary school teachers are missing. And they're missing they're missing money,
meaning they are spending anywhere from three to six hundred
dollars a piece per teacher and teach our kids.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
Yeah. Crazy, So yeah, so we.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
Open this up. The foundation opened it up so that
teachers that are you know, elementary school teachers can apply
and I mean, you can't even believe the applications I
get for the goofiest things that help these teachers teach
our kids. I mean, I had a teacher from Maine
and apply because she wanted a reading carpet so she

(08:05):
could sit down with her kids and read. And it
was only like three hundred and twenty dollars. There was nothing,
no big deal. But I called her up and I
asked her, Hey, why is this so important and why
can't why can't you get this on the school board. Yeah,
She's like, you know me, how much paperwork I'd have
to fill out and we're not guaranteed the money.

Speaker 2 (08:23):
Wow, Wow, that's insane.

Speaker 1 (08:25):
I have no problem writing that check to you guys.
I want that. I want to see this.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
Oh so cool, really literally so cool.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
Now, if hopefully we can get one hundred to two
hundred elementary school teachers, you know some of the the
bigger you know, the school boards there they can kind
of see what's going on when you've been and hopefully
it can take off from there, I.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
Would Yeah, I would love that. So if people do
want to go like this, just say they want to
come and they want to go to the appreciation night
for the teachers. Now do they have to register? Can
they just show up?

Speaker 1 (08:58):
Is there a few register on? Yep, we have a registration.
That's on russ Beltamericana dot com. You can just show up.
I'm sure we'll have plenty of that going on for
that night. It's going to be from five thirty to
seven thirty, so it'll be it'll be a fun night
for the Quad Cities and hopefully we get a lot
of educators there.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
Yeah, and then for the rest of the show. Now,
if you want to be involved in the car show,
I'm assuming there is registration for that also at your site.

Speaker 1 (09:25):
Yes, we have a link on our site that goes
to there, because we I don't. My problem is I
have so much stuff going on. I can't handle all
that stuff. So that's why I gave it to the
veterans and let them run it. Gotcha, There's a link
on our site that you can register for the car show.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
I'm just saying technology is superb when it works, and
so far, so good, right, knock on wood.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
Well, you know, you got to remember one thing that
we deal with a lot of antique dealers, so a
lot of antique dealers are older. Trust me, these guys
are not like linked in to the I'll get the
goofiest phone calls from across the country and I'm just like,
let me walk you through this.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
Hey, that could be from me at some point.

Speaker 1 (10:04):
We're all like that.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
Exactly who Okay? So Rob Wolf, Rustbelt, Americana Antique Swap
and Auction. I'm telling you, this is gonna be an
event you don't want to miss if you're looking for
that special piece, right or just something to act. Maybe
you're just looking for stuff. I mean, there's gonna be

(10:26):
a lot of stuff.

Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, yeah, there's four you know again, four and fifty
dealers from around the United States will bring the best
of the best goods. We had dealers last year that
sold out completely. Wow. So that's that's a good thing
for the dealers. There's that's the kind of goods that
to bring though. That's the cool thing about this is
to bring these guys together into one location is pretty

(10:50):
unheard of. So this is probably gonna be I think
going to turn into the best show in the Midwest
every single year and we playing on. You know, Hey,
I'm not going to live forever. Hopefully my kids can
take this thing over and they can run with it.
But yeah, you know, we talk about legacies. Everybody talks
about their legacy. Yes, my legacy is definitely not American pickers.

(11:12):
It's my legacy, is this show?

Speaker 2 (11:14):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 (11:15):
Yeah? About giving back to Yeah, about giving back to community.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
Oh and we really appreciate it, Rob, And thank you
for letting us know more detail about this and where
people can go rust Beltamericana dot com. When you go
to that website you can find out all the details.
But just once again, from your mouth to our ears, Rob,
when and.

Speaker 1 (11:38):
Where August seventh through the tenth, And it starts at
eight am every day and it's going to go till
eight pm. Sunday, we'll go till noon.

Speaker 2 (11:47):
Sounds good. The Bend Expo and Eastmolin will be hopping
that day. Can't wait to see you and all the stuff.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
I appreciate you guys. Looking forward to seeing everyone.
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