On the outside, the long, steel storage containers lining Albert Svab’s 20-acre property don’t look like anything special.
So when the South Surrey antique collector begins to unlock one after offering to give a tour of his “barbershop,” there is a moment of hesitation – and confusion – from his guests.
“You’ll see,” he says, with a wry smile before swinging open the doors.
The astonishing transformation begins with striped barbers poles hanging in the entrance, and continues into the narrow hallway lined with nine barbershop chairs, some dating back to the mid- to late-1800s. Above, the walls are covered with all manner of olden-day barber’s tools, including an assortment of straight razors and leather strops.
There are similar surprises behind all the other closed doors on Svab’s property.
His “coffee shop” – also a cargo container – houses an old cheese slicer, Italian coffee maker and collection of antique coffee grinders, one of which is worth $25,000. Another trailer is filled entirely of stoves.
Svab, owner of an excavation company, estimates there are 6,000 antiques stored in various containers, buildings and trailers throughout his estate.
The accumulation – the result of a passion he and wife Norma have for old and unique items – would be considered a gold mine to most collectors. TV reality show hosts Sheldon Smithens and Scott Cozens certainly thought so.
The pair visited the home last winter during a stop in B.C. for the filming of Canadian Pickers, which premiered on History Television April 12.
The show follows Smithens and Cozens as they travel coast-to-coast, rummaging through people’s barns, attics and basements in search of the perfect “pick.” The hosts offer to buy pieces from owners with the intention of turning a profit.
Producers heard of Svab’s collection through word-of-mouth, and – after seeing proof of its immensity from 132 pictures he sent – asked if it could be featured in an episode to air sometime between now and July.
Svab, who was already a fan of TV show American Pickers, said Smithens and Cozens visited on a rainy November day, exhibiting a unique style that sets them apart from their counterparts in the original U.S. series.
Often donning cowboy hats, blue jeans and tasseled jackets, the Calgary natives came across as nice, knowledgeable guys who “focused on the valuable stuff,” Svab said.
“We had a total ball.”
They spent close to $2,000, picking signs, four coffee grinders (three unfinished and one refurbished), a dog sled and a 250-year-old wrought-iron gate from Egypt.
Although the majority of their antiques are for sale, there are a few items the Svabs can’t let go. Such was the case when the pickers zeroed in on Norma’s fruit-shaped ice cream-parlour syrup bottles.
“They were bent on getting her over and selling those containers,” Svab recalled. 
The pickers also showed interest in one of Svab’s 15 accordions, an instrument he picked up at seven years old, when growing up in Saskatchewan.
Svab said the crew filmed a shot of him playing Beer Barrel Polka while Smithens and Cozens danced around his kitchen.
“They started swinging each other and dancing,” he said. “The film crew went crazy.”
The experience was fun, which is the sole reason the Svabs started antiquing in the first place.
While Svab started collecting tractors in 1988, it was five years later that he and Norma began attending auctions – including one on Marine Drive in White Rock – for other items.
They are mostly drawn to country antiques such as wagons, furniture, machinery and other implements that could be found on a farm in the ’20s to ’40s.
“It was something we could do together,” he said, noting they would often buy and sell. “It kind of gets in your blood and you’re always looking for something great.
“Anything we like to buy is a picture of beauty.”
Now, the two take advantage of American auctions during trips to their second home in Palm Springs.
“The stuff we get there, we can’t find here,” he said.
“You just don’t find things that are really out there.”
One of his more unusual items is a 1920s travelling dentist’s case with dozens of small drawers that hold dental instruments, teeth and even a vile of novocaine.
“I don’t want to clean anything,” he said, noting some antiques are better left unrestored. “The feeling is when you see those teeth, you smell the novocaine... you can’t restore that.”
Svab’s plan for the collection – which has also been perused by movie crews, mostly recently for Sucker Punch – is for it to now be photographed, catalogued and, if the price is right, sold.
But that doesn’t mean he’ll stop attending auctions. Svab, just like Smithens and Cozens, loves the thrill of finding that rare treasure.
“We’re all pickers in our own right,” he said. “It’s the fun and the chase – that’s all it is.”