by Sherry Goodyear
SPRINGER — Carrie Hobbs was surprised when someone from the History Channel television program, American Pickers, contacted her in November, 2019. She said the person called to say the show would be picking in New Mexico and asked why she hadn’t submitted an application to be on the program. During the ensuing 40 minute interview, Hobbs said she was told the show had contacted Santa Fe and Albuquerque movie companies looking for people with items that would be suitable for the Pickers’ program, and her name was at the top of the list. You see, Carrie and Mike Hobbs own the historic Livery Stable in Springer, NM, and it was this building and its contents the Pickers were interested in “picking.”
For those who don’t know, American Pickers is a reality T.V. show starring Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, who travel the country looking for rare and historically significant items to sell in their Antique Archeology antique stores, so of course, Carrie and her husband were thrilled at the prospect of being on the show. She recounts that just before she was hanging up the phone she was told, “You are in the running.” However, it was the end of January before the producers called back to tell her the Livery had been selected and that crews would be coming out in February to tape the episode; however, they also sent word that since picker, Frank Fritz had injured his back, they would be sending cast member, Danielle Colby in his place; something Carrie was thrilled about as she just, “loves her.”
The day of shooting arrived, and to everyone’s dismay, the temperature was in the single digits. Hobbs said they walked into the historic stone building which does not have any heat to find the temperature hovering at 9 degrees. To keep their fingers from freezing, Hobbes said she and the pickers all had those hand warmers, “the kind you crack to activate,” in their pockets, so they kept sticking their hands in their pockets to warm them up. The camera crew didn’t have the luxury of being able to stick their hands in their pockets, so they literally rubber-banded the heat packs to their fingers to keep their hands from getting frostbite during filming. Also helping to warm up the crew was a meal catered by Zayra’s Café and eaten at city hall.
Despite the weather hardships, it is clear that the Hobbs’ had a blast interacting with the pickers during the thirteen hours of shooting. In addition, the pickers got a history lesson regarding the R.W. Cowan Livery Stable which opened its doors in 1880 and supplied a place for the folks in Springer and from along the Santa Fe Trail to stable their horses and park their buggies and wagons. As time passed, the stable became Bower’s Garage, and then later was purchased by local Springer resident, Jerry Smith who used the building to house a multitude of treasures procured at local auctions and sales.
Smith and his wife, Patsy, amassed an extensive collection of historical artifacts from the area, and after his death, his children sold the building to Hobbs. According to Hobbs, the architectural company that built the livery stable built them “all over” and the livery stable in Springer is one of three remaining – the other two are in Pennsylvania. According to Wikipedia, the building is over 13,000 sq. feet in size with eighteen inch sandstone walls and has been on the National Historical Registry since 1979. Considered to be a one-story building, inside is a huge hayloft where feed for the horses was stored and which now houses oodles of historic treasures.
Since the Hobbs purchased the Livery Stable in 2016, Carrie began renting out some of the hard-to-find authentic/historic memorabilia to motion pictures studios in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Two of the most notable are Ted Turner’s “Monsters of God” and “Longmire”- Season 6. Hobbs also does tours for those interested in seeing inside the incredible building which was featured in the New Mexico New Legends Magazine in January of 2018.
For those wishing to learn more about the Livery Stable, they can visit Hobb’s Facebook page at The Livery Stable-A Time Capsule of Treasure. To set up a tour, people can email her at theliverystable@yahoo.com.
