Weber Kettle Club Forums
Grill Talk => Weber Grill Forum (Grills, Accessories) => Topic started by: mike.stavlund on July 20, 2013, 06:07:14 PM
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About a year ago, I headed back to my family's home in Iowa to help my folks prepare the house for sale. Since I flew out there, I couldn't bring home my dad's Smokey Joe. My brother took it to his place and mailed it to me this week. Just arrived today.
I remember this grill from my childhood, not because my dad cooked on it a lot (he had-- has!-- one of those light blue 22s that all the kids are trying to buy these days), but because of the way he cared for it. He put spar varnish on the cardboard box in order to keep rain showers and dew from damaging it on camping trips, and always kept it in the box. Looking at this box is kinda like looking at my Six Million Dollar Man lunchbox-- it just flies me back 35 years to when I was a kid.
I was a little worried that my brother would just tape up the box and drop it off at the post office, but he knows how much this means to me so he did it up right.
(http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r782/MikeStavlund/IMG_0266_zps29fa6d14.jpg) (http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/MikeStavlund/media/IMG_0266_zps29fa6d14.jpg.html)
Tyvek tape for the outside, and blueprints for packing material. If you want a house framed up in Rochester, MN, he's your man.
(http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r782/MikeStavlund/IMG_0267_zps328c0494.jpg) (http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/MikeStavlund/media/IMG_0267_zps328c0494.jpg.html)
Yup, yup.
(http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r782/MikeStavlund/IMG_0270_zps10b95aab.jpg) (http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/MikeStavlund/media/IMG_0270_zps10b95aab.jpg.html)
(http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r782/MikeStavlund/IMG_0271_zps191e5bdf.jpg) (http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/MikeStavlund/media/IMG_0271_zps191e5bdf.jpg.html)
(http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r782/MikeStavlund/IMG_0272_zps9e50a5eb.jpg) (http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/MikeStavlund/media/IMG_0272_zps9e50a5eb.jpg.html)
My first clue that I'm short two fiber washers.
(http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r782/MikeStavlund/IMG_0281_zpsdcf706ff.jpg) (http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/MikeStavlund/media/IMG_0281_zpsdcf706ff.jpg.html)
Whoever designed this logo should be sainted. Beautiful and completely badass.
(http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r782/MikeStavlund/IMG_0282_zpsf5aa302d.jpg) (http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/MikeStavlund/media/IMG_0282_zpsf5aa302d.jpg.html)
(http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r782/MikeStavlund/IMG_0273_zps502b2e9a.jpg) (http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/MikeStavlund/media/IMG_0273_zps502b2e9a.jpg.html)
(http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r782/MikeStavlund/IMG_0274_zps92e494ae.jpg) (http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/MikeStavlund/media/IMG_0274_zps92e494ae.jpg.html)
(http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r782/MikeStavlund/IMG_0275_zps3a7354bc.jpg) (http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/MikeStavlund/media/IMG_0275_zps3a7354bc.jpg.html)
(http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r782/MikeStavlund/IMG_0276_zpsd6fb44b0.jpg) (http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/MikeStavlund/media/IMG_0276_zpsd6fb44b0.jpg.html)
(http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r782/MikeStavlund/IMG_0295_zpsa2d92771.jpg) (http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/MikeStavlund/media/IMG_0295_zpsa2d92771.jpg.html)
It's much easier to see in person, but the handle is set just a bit off-center. Is this common, or did someone make a goof on this kettle?
(http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r782/MikeStavlund/IMG_0301_zps25bace10.jpg) (http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/MikeStavlund/media/IMG_0301_zps25bace10.jpg.html)
Another view of the slight offset, and let me apologize as well: I didn't realize I had her legs all twisted until I looked at this photo just now.
(http://i1367.photobucket.com/albums/r782/MikeStavlund/IMG_0299_zps24846fb7.jpg) (http://s1367.photobucket.com/user/MikeStavlund/media/IMG_0299_zps24846fb7.jpg.html)
So what year do y'all think she is? Pre date-stamp, clearly, but post 1977 which the copyright on the instruction manual shows.
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We can't call it a "score" and it's definitely not a "rescue" in the classic sense, but what you have there Mike is a bonafide treasure. I'm not sure I'd even clean it up. It has all the patina from some great family cookouts right there to see. Glad you shared it with us, and honestly - with that great back story to tell - I didn't even notice it was black. Well done.
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That story is the essence of this craft. Your joe is awesome and ready for some more memory making! Thanks for sharing!
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thanks Dad ;D
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Cool.
Very cool.
My dad has been a Weber guy for a long time, but he never had an old Joe and he never cared for any of his grills like your dad did. Hell, I give him grills now.
That is a totally awesome thing to have.
Not the grill as much as the great memories.
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That's some serious nostalgia Mike! That's a really nice old 3 wheel joe and the lid handle is definitely off, but even more special IMO. I love the box design and extra points go to dad for preserving it. I hope to build memories with mine is why I take so many grill shots especially when we are away. I plan to pass a few on to my son and hopefully they go to his one day. I still have the original poker/meat hook from our backyard brick santa maria style bbq my dad built and feel the same about it. Great post! :)
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That is awesome Mike! Thanks for sharing.
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What an awesome backstory and sweet old SJ! I like the off center handle, it gives it a uniqueness. My 22 brown handle is ever so slightly off center too. That SJ of yours is a keeper! ;) I love those old Weber boxes from the 70s and I agree on their logo at the time. IMO this was the best leg style for this size grill.
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Mike Stavlund, you are one of my heros. thanks for sharing.
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Funny, I got an exact duplicate from Wisconsin about a month ago. The guy was selling it for his parents. He thought they bought theirs new around 1978.
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Great story Mike! Hope you continue to enjoy it.
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Cool story Mike
Love the offset handle, one of a kind ;)
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Now THAT is how you should come by an old weber. Keep it in the family.
Ken
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Thanks for the new avatar 8)
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VERY cool Mike!
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Thanks for celebrating with me, y'all!
Yeah, Marty, I was looking forward to cleaning this up (especially since it doesn't need much cleaning), but after seeing it, I'm thinking I might leave it just like it is. It does have a wonderful patina, and some good memories in that little bit of grease. I can't wait for my kids to cook on it.
It was funny, too, because I called Weber CS today to order a bunch of stuff and asked about the fiber washers. The lady worked really hard at it, but couldn't find the category in her computer system for any pre-1980 Smokey Joes-- it was like it was ancient history or something; totally inaccessible. But I ran out to the shed, got the box down, pulled out the original parts list, and gave her the digits for the fiber washers, and she said, "Oh, here they are, fiber washers!". It was like I had just given her the codes for a time machine or something.
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We can't call it a "score" and it's definitely not a "rescue" in the classic sense, but what you have there Mike is a bonafide treasure. I'm not sure I'd even clean it up. It has all the patina from some great family cookouts right there to see. Glad you shared it with us, and honestly - with that great back story to tell - I didn't even notice it was black. Well done.
I echo this exactly, couldn't have said it better....
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That story is the essence of this craft. Your joe is awesome and ready for some more memory making! Thanks for sharing!
100% agreed.....
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What is this name Stavlund? Danish? Swedish? You from Sverige? For sure Nordic.....
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It's Swedish, as Swedish as the pancakes my kids will beg me to make them in the morning.
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Nice grill, Thanks for sharing the story.
I am sure most of us remember our first time watching or helping our dad grill, hopefully and majority of us watched it happen with a Weber. (in my father case his first charcoal grill was a Sear/Kenmore branded Happy Cooker- He and I both were convinced this grill was a re-branded Weber,still stands today in my garage.)
I remember my father smoking our Thanksgiving Turkey every year on that 22.5 inch kettle.
Growing up in the Midwest November was cccoold. He would bundle up in layers and a stocking cap, light the coals and swiftly shuffle back to the shelter of our garage seated on a folding lawn chair and watch as the grill reliably and ever so steadily sat in the drive way smoking our Turkey. It would take 6-8 hours, with Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade or NFL game playing in the background as I spent this time by his side talking about the simple things in life. The crisp cold air, a smoking grill my day and I in our lawn chairs he with a Budweiser my brothers & I with a "DAD's Root Beer" ( Which later in life we would get to share sips of our dads real beer.) Every time I light the grill for my family on Thanksgiving the smells take me back to my fondest memory of my father. The charcoal grill was a bonding, learning and time of journey to becoming a family man like he is.