Im jamie colby. And today, im in tulsa, oklahoma. Im here to meet the son of a remarkably successful businessman and epic hoarder. File this under 80 years of grit and true metal and 40 acres of scrap metal. My name is john hemphill. In february 2016, my father passed away. He left me a Thriving Company thats a testament to his business acumen. He also left me a 3 millionpound headache that says a lot about my dad, too. I meet john in the lobby of Hemphill Corporation. And this was your dad. Yeah, this is dad. He started the business back in the 50s. And im running it now. Come on. Ill show you. As john drives me around the company, i come to understand the jekyll and hyde nature of his strange inheritance. These look like cell towers. Yeah, these are guide towers for wireless communication. And thats our Main Business now. But his dad built that business while indulging his industrialstrength urge for collecting. Big stuff iron, scrap metal, machinery. Things you cant squirrel away in a closet. Take, john says, these assemblyline carts, please. Did he really need this many . Oh, my goodness. No. And he didnt need the ones that are out in the yard. We have dozens and dozens. It all starts with this serious little guy, Elmer Hemphill, born in 1935 on a farm near tryon, oklahoma, to parents elsie and marvel. He learned his work ethic from my grandparents because they believed in work. The hemphills, like other oklahomans, are hit by drought and dust storms during the great depression. Many of their neighbors flee to california. But they stay put. When elmer is just a kid, a stranger shows up at the farm to buy some hay. And the boy jumps at the chance to make a sale. I see you got four bales of hay there. My grandma looked outside, and he was talking to a guy that had shown up. How much you want for all four . For all four . She went out and asked if, uh, she could help him. And he said, this young mans already taken care of it. Turns out he did make a fair deal, probably better than grandpa wouldve made. But, uh. How old was he . She said he was 5 at the time. So he was a pintsized deal maker. Yes. At age 13, elmer convinces the town banker to give him a business loan. What is a 13yearold borrowing money for . Well, he was gonna use the money to buy registered sheep and raise em and sell em. And he made some good money. He had a mind like a steel trap. Earl hart grew up with elmer, and they became friends for life. Elmerd lay awake nights trying to think of a way to make a dollar. He was just determined to succeed. In 1953, the teenage entrepreneur heads to the big city, tulsa, with 600 bucks and a simple philosophy. It was you never know how far a toadll jump until you punch it. What it really meant was you cant just sit back and hope things happen. You gotta go after it. And he was definitely one to punch the toad. Like when he starts his own drilling company, then goes on to manufacture Machine Parts for aerospace and military applications. Along the way, elmer gets married and starts a family. As soon as hes old enough, son john joins him in the business. Signs of his dads obsession are everywhere. John just doesnt yet see them. My first job was cutting weeds. And i remember a lot of the stuff thats still here back in the 70s. Having grown up with all this stuff, i really never thought of it as being as crazy as it was. No kidding. After all, business is booming. By the late 1970s, elmers company has 150 employees. And his familys growing, too. Four kids and then a brood of grandkids, including johns daughter, kristen, a chip off the ol block, who learns about business and life from her papaw. Sometimes he failed. And sometimes he really succeeded. But either way, he kept a good attitude. He also keeps that stubborn dust bowl waste not, want not mentality that increasingly baffles john. He would keep a piece of pipe that was, you know, 1 foot long. Bigger stuff, too, like this defunct drilling rig purchased for 25k for a Railroad Project in West Virginia back in 1967. Or this contraption that dates back to the 80s. He actually invented this drilling rig for a special project for the tulsa expo to lash on to a pier to help secure the foundation. The Tulsa Exposition Center endures as a city symbol. The big rig just gathers dust. But john doesnt complain. No questions asked of dad . No questions asked, no. When he looks at something, he doesnt see what a lot of us see. He sees potential. In the mid80s, when the price of crude oil plummets, elmer punches another one of those toads and ends up in the business of building transmission towers for those newfangled cellphones. We started building cell tower sites, and weve been building em ever since. Probably built about 5,000 of em. But with each new endeavor, elmers stockpile of retired equipment gets taller and wider and, john knows, increasingly irrelevant to the business at hand. What will hemphill ever do with these extralarge hydraulic rigs or thousands of feet of fencing . And is anyone saying at that point, oh, my god, we gotta unload some of this stuff . No. It was pretty much known that we just needed to put it where he wanted it put [laughs] and live with it. But living with it is about to become geometrically harder, for elmers no longer content with stockpiling scrap and equipment left over from hemphills own jobs. Now he starts actually gobbling up other companies junk just because. I dont care what it was. And if it was cheap enough, hed buy it. And he said, someday, itll be worth something. Thats next. But first, our strange inheritance quiz question. Radioshack, samsung or motorola . The answer after the break. [ applause ] thank you. Its an honor to tell you that Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. I love you only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Another summer day is come and gone away in paris and rome but i want to go home mmmmmmmm maybe surrounded by a Million People i still feel all alone i just want to go home oh i miss you, you know let me go home im just too far from where you are i want to come home guitar let me go home ive had my fun baby im done i gotta go home it will all be alright ill be home tonight im comin back home this time of year, what do you give . When its your extra concert, game or special event tickets to vet tix, youre giving our Nations Service members and veterans an amazing experience theyll cherish forever. This holiday season, dont just give. Vet tix. Give something to those who gave. For more information on how you can make a difference right now, go to vettix. Org. So, what company made the worlds first mobile phone call in 1973 . Its c, motorola. From a manhattan street corner, exec Martin Cooper called the headquarters of rival at t to claim bragging rights. Oklahoma business mogul Elmer Hemphill spends decades amassing a ginormous stash of industrial machinery, spare parts, and scrap metal that nobody, least of all his Thriving Company, really needs. Having worked with his dad for years, elmers son, john, is tiring of watching it all pile up. Did he tell you what he was planning to do with it . He would always talk about how we could use it to build overhead bridge cranes and build fencing. But elmers just a magnet that never lets anything go. Eventually, hes drawn to other companies scrap, like this platerolling system that elmer buys for 75,000, then puts out to pasture. If it was a piece of metal, hed take it. I dont care what it was. And if it was cheap enough, hed buy it. And he said, someday, itll be worth something. If only it were just metals, says his son, john. He used to say that if a, uh, trainload of pencils was cheap enough, hed buy it. That pencil train never arrives. Instead, elmer catches the ones full of tractor seats, file cabinets, and office chairs. I assume ive seen it all . Oh, no. No, theres theres a whole bunch more. Bolts, bricks, drill bits, chains, springs, trucks, trailers, you name it. It all seems so random. It definitely is. It looks like junk. But, to him, was it treasure . Oh, it was definitely treasure. If theres a day when john realizes his shrewd businessman dad is also, lets just say it, a hoarder on the industrial scale, it may be when this shipment arrives. What do we have here . These are, uh, machining tables from mcdonnell douglas. And they helped win the cold war. In what way . They were used to build the instruments and the parts for, uh, military aircraft. The cold war ends in 1991. But elmers biggest hoarding years are still ahead of him. He grows his scrap collection to fill multiple warehouses and litter 40 acres of land surrounding his company headquarters. So, jamie, heres an interesting piece. And its been sitting here for over 10 years. Worth anything . Its really just scrap today. By this time, elmers granddaughter, kristen, is trying to coax him to let go. Something like this, you mustve said to grandpa, this can go, cant it . Yes. And we told him that a million times. But that old tulsa drilling rig stays, like everything else, including elmer, into his 80s. Hes always been an iron man. But now theres rust on his fenders and creaks in his hinges. And, uh, one day, i said, elmer, why dont you retire . Oh, i dont wanna retire. He said, when i die, i wanna be walking across this shop floor. In february 2016, elmer l. Hemphill passes away surrounded by friends and family at the age of 80. It was the night of the super bowl. My stepmom, audrey, was right beside him. But we knew that it was time for him to go. Son john inherits the business and all that heavy metal his dad hoarded while running it. All this steel how much do you have . Oh, id estimate probably about 3 Million Pounds. Millions . Thats amazing. It just grew and and grew and grew and, you know, we just need to get rid of it. And hes going to leave that job to his heir, daughter kristen. My grandfather could be rolling in his grave right now. Up next, getting on top of this heap. Ive appraised everything in america thats ethical, moral, or legal. And when i saw hemphills collection, i was overwhelmed. Heres another quiz question for you. The st. Louis gateway arch, the George Washington bridge, or the beijing National Stadium . The answer when we return. [female narrator] some missions dont take a holiday. Some work must go on. Standing guard. Keeping the peace. Lending a hand. This is our chance to lend one back. There are more than one million active duty Service Members stationed around the world. And this holiday season, hundreds of thousands of them will remain on duty. On the water. On patrol. Away from home. Now more than ever, they need your help to bridge the distance to family, home, and country. So this year, as you celebrate your favorite traditions, take a moment to send a piece of home to our nations heroes. Because even the smallest gesture can lighten the load. Be a force behind the forces. Visit uso dot org slash holidays to send a gift of home to our Service Members. So which architectural marvel is the largest steel structure in the world . Its the beijing National Stadium. Dubbed the birds nest, it was built for the 2008 olympics with 110,000 tons of steel. When Elmer Hemphill dies, he leaves his son john his oklahoma business empire. But the strange part of this inheritance is a stockpile of castoff equipment, Machine Parts, steel, and scrap. Its a 3 millionpound headache. So john figures hell leave that to his daughter, kristen, and soninlaw, jim. I told jim and kristen that if its a project they wanted to tackle, that id love for them to see if they had ideas. Im always interested in taking on new projects. So dad asked us. And we were crazy enough to do it. I really felt like i needed to step up and help my dad out and help the family. But you cant just call goodwill to pick it all up. So, where to begin . Did grandpa keep notes on all this stuff . He did, actually. In the back room, there is a library full of notes that papaw took about each project. So do they give values . Were there bills of sale . No, there wasnt values. Thank goodness for ebay. With a couple of mouse clicks, kristen finds out these antique carts, built to roll on railroad tracks, can fetch 1,500 bucks apiece. Elmer has hundreds of em. And parts of the steel yard that look like scrap could be worth tens of thousands to individual buyers. Kristens thinking, maybe grandpa elmer was right. And if she finds the right buyer, shell turn his scrap iron into gold. But her husband, jim, weighs in with a reality check. Theres 3 Million Pounds of this stuff i dont wanna spend two or three years doing this. So he and kristen approach kristens dad with a proposal. How about a massive auction, onsite at hemphill and across the world on the internet . They said, well, what would you think about auctioning it . And i thought, boy, i dont know if dad would want that. And then i went home that night and im thinking, well, i dont know why i didnt think of that earlier. So kristen and jim call in various auction houses. The Immediate Response youre nuts. Most of the auctioneers that jim and kristen talked to basically said, we cant handle this. This is way too much for us. When i saw hemphills collection, i was overwhelmed. This has got to be the largest collection that ive ever seen in my life. Louis dakil of dakil auctions in oklahoma city, however, is up for the challenge. Ive appraised everything in america thats ethical, moral, or legal. And i said, if you can organize it, we can inventory it, and we can sell it. Theres one saying we have in our industry you cant outlive iron. I have told em if we make some big money on it, great. And if we dont, its okay. I think success is it being outta here. Sounds like its time to let the bidding begin. Some things that i thought were, you know, potentially going in the trash are treasures to some people. Thats next. Whats your strange inheritance story . Wed love to tell it. Send me an email or go to our website, strangeinheritance. Com. I want some more whats he doin . But, he cant look at him its just not done please sir. I want some more more . More . More . More . Please sir he has asked for. Thank you what . Well he did say please sir yes he did and, thank you yeah. And thank you hes a wonderful boy laugh a delightful boy all boys thank you, thank you, thank you. Drownings are a leading cause of death for young children. Make sure kids learn how to swim. Always watch them in and around water and properly fence all pools. Simple steps saves lives. To learn some new ones visit poolsafely. Gov now back to strange inheritance. In 2016, members of the hemphill family john, his daughter, kristen, and her husband, jim join forces to auction off 40 acres of castoff machinery and equipment. Its a strange inheritance left to john by his dad, an oklahoma businessman with a love for all things iron and steel. Louis dakil of dakil auctions says most of the bidding will take place online. And the plan is everything sells, no matter the price. This auction is an absolute auction. No minimums. Everything that goes on the block will be sold. It takes kristen and jim three months to itemize and catalog grandpas gargantuan inventory of heavy metal. Finally, in august 2016, the big moment is here. How many lots are we talking . 1,186 lots. One of the first items up for bid, this antique trailer, fetches 300 bucks. These 100foot monopole towers left over from elmers early days in the cell Tower Business go for 230 each. Things are selling fast, but cheap. Ive been watching all morning, since 9 00. Some things that i thought were gonna go for more are actually selling for less. [ auctioneer calling ] like these antique railroad carts, similar to one she saw on ebay for 1,000. Hundreds sell, but for only 17 bucks apiece. [ auctioneer calling ] then theres that old railroad drilling rig, purchased in 1967 for 25k. It sells, but for only 4,000. And the gigantic platerolling system elmer bought in an old shipyard in South Carolina for 75 grand sells for just 1,000. My grandfather could potentially be rolling in his grave right now. But kristens delighted when this hydraulic plate shearer, designed to cut metal and alloy, goes for 2,025. And that rig elmer designed for the tulsa expo building, it goes for 4k. I had no idea how much that was gonna sell for, so that was a surprise. Over the next 48 hours, the hammer falls on thousands of items. We sold some things for 4,000. We sold some things for 50 cents. So the price range was pretty large. So are you guys exhilarated or exhausted . Both. I would say both. [ laughs ] the grand total 175,000 bucks. Not exactly petty cash. But considering the time, effort, and money elmer invested, they have to admit, this was one toad that didnt jump so far. They love their grandfather. They love their father. But basically, his perfect storm was buying and storing, but never getting rid of anything. Thats why, for john hemphill, the bottom line is all good. His strange inheritance is out the door. Its kind of, uh, oh, bittersweet because i know dad would wanna hang on to it. But i know it needs to be released. And ultimately, its its a good thing. Back in 2013 when the Hemphill Corporation was renovating the office, elmers kids surprised him with a gift befitting a successful entrepreneur a fancy desk, a big comfy chair and a flatscreen tv. Elmer never touched it. Instead, he took his ratty old desk, bought this secondhand trailer, put the desk inside, and drove around in it to every job site so he could be close to the action. And thats where youd find him till the end of his days. Im jamie colby. Thanks so much for watching strange inheritance. And remember you cant take it with you. Loose change in a desk drawer. For 30plus years, this baggage has sat around . Yes. Inside, a fabled coin. It was a unicorn, talked about but never seen. A rare coin that could bring in millions of dollars at auction this spring. Sounds like kaching one coin, potentially worth 2 million . One penny. But then, the government flips. Theyre coming after you. They are. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ] im jamie colby. And today i am cruising ocean side in beautif