In the series, the hosts travel across America in search of rare Americana artifacts and national treasures that they can buy from the collectors to add to their personal collections or sell in their antique shops.

Danielle Colby runs the office of Wolfe's business, Antique Archaeology,[1] from their home base in LeClaire, Iowa, and more recently at a second location in Nashville.

We make a living telling the history of America... one piece at a time.Wolfe and Fritz explore people's homes, barns, sheds, outbuildings, and other places where they have stored antiques and collectibles.

[5] They have purchased old advertisements and commercial signage, film posters, a rare 15-gallon visible gasoline pump, and a Piaggio Ape (pronounced "ah-pay") which a friend told them is probably the only one of its kind in North America.

[6][7] In December 2011, American Pickers revealed that Antique Archaeology had leased part of a former 1914 car factory in Nashville which originally made the Marathon automobile for a second business location to decrease the distance required to haul their finds from the southern states.

The premiere episode of American Pickers had 3.1 million viewers, making it the highest rated History channel debut since Ice Road Truckers in 2007.

[15] The September 8, 2010, episode "Laurel & Hardy" garnered Nielsen ratings as high as 5.3 million viewers in the 25–54 age group.