Flathead picker creates unique vintage village

There are about a half-dozen treasures Mike Craner says he would really like to hang onto as he surveys the multitude of collectibles showcased at his Peddler’z Village.

“I’d probably let them go for the right price, though,” he admits with a grin. “Money talks.”

Craner, 51, started his pursuit of vintage valuables on a lark in 2010 and quickly became addicted to what antique dealers refer to these days as picking. Thanks to popular TV shows such as “American Pickers,” picking has become a household word.

“It’s a hobby that went out of control,” he confessed. “It took seven years to make it look like this.”

He opened Peddler’z Village to the public five years ago at his home near Columbia Falls. The village has a wide range of collectibles but is heavy on old gas pumps, signs and all things related to the old glory days of the automobile industry.

One of the antiques Craner says would be difficult to part with is a Texaco lubester cabinet used in the 1930s by Hendrickson Motors in Kalispell, where Kalispell Brewing Co. now operates.

“But, for the right price…” he added, ever the wheeler-dealer.

Craner repurposes many of his antiques into tables, bars and other functional items. He’s currently transforming an old Volkswagen van into a bar. It’d be perfect for someone’s man cave, he suggested.

Just like the dudes who star in “American Pickers,” Craner prefers to jump in his truck and take to the open road in search of the next batch of valuables.

“I fill up the truck fast,” he said. “It is just like ‘American Pickers,’ except they’re famous; I’m not.”

Those famous pickers have driven up the price of antiques, he added. A gas pump he may have paid $150 for a few years ago might cost him $700 now.

But like many pastimes, it’s the hunt that is so appealing.

“Plus I get to travel around and meet a lot of good people,” he said, adding that Eastern Montana is still a hotbed for collectors. He scours the entire Western United States.

Plain old “rusty junk” has been his biggest seller over the last two years, spurred by the vintage craze.

Signs are hot right now, he noted. In addition to an iconic Texaco sign that towers in the village, his Mitchell Wagon Co. sign is one of his most valuable. Mitchell is a company that once made covered wagons.

Although Peddler’z Village may look like a museum, everything is for sale. He bought a few aluminum semi-truck boxes a while back — the price was too good to pass up — and fashioned them into storefronts and makeshift shops for his collections. There’s a railroad station, barber shop and a motel, among several other displays.

“It’s a poor man’s Disneyland,” he offered. “I don’t think about the amount of money I’ve invested in this.”

Craner’s wife, Lori, helps out with the bookkeeping and has questioned some of the things he’s dragged home through the years. One of those treasures is the wheelhouse off a tugboat he found near Lakeside. It has a prominent spot in the yard.

“Getting this really pissed off my wife,” he said sheepishly. “Now she loves it and says ‘Oh, you can’t sell that.’”

The Craners’ home is another unusual find he brought home. It was an abandoned 1911 Montgomery Ward catalog house that he has painstakingly restored. He bought it for a song.

“I’ve been wheelin’ and dealin’ since I was a little kid,” Craner said.

During his childhood in Olalla, Washington, he made custom choppers out of bikes, then advanced to putting his own take on cars and turning them into hot rods.

Craner managed the detail shop for Clean Kars for a number of years, first in Columbia Falls and later in Kalispell, before he jumped into picking full time.

Peddler’z Village is off the beaten track, but those in pursuit of collectibles seem to find it. He’s had a lot of Canadian collectors stop by, and a classic car club stopped by once during a tour of the Flathead.

The place is open 9 a.m. to dark seven days a week. Craner said he’s almost always home, except for Sunday dinner at his mother-in-law’s house. He also takes on small welding jobs and is always willing to “buy, sell and trade.”

Peddler’z Village is located at 65 Lucky Lane. Take Kelley Road off Montana 206 for about a half-mile; then turn right on Lucky Lane. Call 406-890-1502 or find Peddler’z Village on Facebook.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.