Weber Kettle Club Forums
Grill Talk => Weber Grill Forum (Grills, Accessories) => Topic started by: Jeff on May 16, 2014, 03:44:31 PM
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So early this week, one of my jobs took myself and a co-worker to a small town in Iowa not too far from Mason City. We were scheduled to leave during the day on Wednesday to head back home. After topping off the gas tank for our 5 hour drive home ahead of us, we were driving though the small town working our way towards the highway. Passing by a small run down house, I caught a glimpse of a blackish/greyish grill sitting in the front yard next to the steps to the front door. I immediately saw the metal handle on top. As we passed by, I thought, should I stop and go back? I knew my co-worker was anxious to hit the road. I said, "hey, I just saw a really old grill back there." He said, "do you want to turn around and go see it?" We were about 5 blocks away, and I said, "yeah, I better go see or I won't stop thinking about it."
So we turned around, and drove next to the house. What the hell, so I pulled into the driveway. I had to ask if the owner would sell it. As I walked up to it, I saw one wheel cocked to the site, barely on the axle, and resting in the dirt, hub cap missing. As soon as I walked up to it, I saw the lid. It had "DEMO" stamped into it. I had read about these grills briefly, but never saw one in person. The grill had led a rough life, and had it fair share of bumps and bruises, but it looked solid still.
I knocked on the door, and a guy in his mid 40s came to the door. He looked like he led as rough a life as the grill...but that's a whole nother story. I said hello to him, and told him he was about to get the weirdest request he probably had in a long time. I asked if he would consider selling his grill. I told him I liked it cause it was really old and cool looking. He hesitated at first and said, "well...I really like this grill. I picked it up at a garage sale a few weeks back. I've already cooked on it 5 times, its great!" He also said, they don't make those new grills like this one anymore! Then I mentioned to him that the newer ones are much easier to use with the One Touch System. So I explained that versus daisy wheel vents and having to dump the bowl upside to clean it and keep the vents opened. He looked at me sort of perplexed. I glanced in the bowl of the grill and saw it half full with ashes. Now I understood the confused look on his face. Once I explained he understood and looked like he was wondering how much money he was about to be offered.
So to make a long story a little shorter, I made an offer to him. He thought about it for a little while and agreed. I told him he would be able to find a newer style one easily and it would be easier to use.
The only downside to this grill is that the original ash pan is missing. I'm guessing it probably had clips on the ashpan. I immediately though how cool it would look with one of those reproduction triangular trays that Craig has made.
What I know and have read about these "Demo" grills is that these grills dated to around the late 1950's or very early 60's. The vent on this grill does say "Wooddale". They were stamped on the lid with "Demo" because Weber used to employ salesmen to go to various businesses, hardware stores in order to cook on, and promote how to use the kettle to potentials customers, or for potential businesses to sell their grills in. I haven't read anywhere how many of these grills were made, but I think its probably not a very high number of them.
Here is a link that Buckie found for me that briefly talks about these grills.
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/demo-kettle/msg21513/#msg21513
So anyways, here are some pics. The grill is already apart and in the midst of a mild rehab and major cleanup.
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9953_zpsc7c3be5c.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9954_zps4b0ddfcc.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9952_zps5314e198.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9950_zps45c3dd29.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9946_zps468842ac.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9945_zps2ca835a7.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9944_zps9c26d07c.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9943_zps1fca0128.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9942_zps8cd443c9.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9941_zpsaf876046.jpg)
One decent wheel
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9940_zps31f705ec.jpg)
One needed some work!
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9939_zps0c749a5b.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9938_zpsc5162e70.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9937_zps74060ba5.jpg)
One stubborn stain. Might need some advice on how to get this one out if none of my tricks work
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF9936_zpsdfd4a782.jpg)
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Great pick up Jeff.
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I figured this MIGHT be why you were asking.....glad to help out...... ;D
Even tho it's Black (your favorite color, right?) that one's an historical keeper, my man !!!!!
Just think of how the "DEMO"s affected the spread of the use of kettles.......without THAT grill, we possibly might not be here talking about this............. 8)
PS: What were the grates like?
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Awesome piece of Weber history there, Jeff. Have you tried baking soda on the stain?
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Great story... and, a great score!
Love the stencilled "Demo". :D :D
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Cooooooool! Sweet find
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That Demo kettle is a super cool find. Thanks for sharing.
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Very cool. What are the odds of finding that grill just by driving by? Glad you could rescue it.
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Jeff,
Wow it pays off to have eagle eyes and it near hurts to ask if something is for sale. I found my 4th one in the back of a lot in my town in the very back of it.
Dan
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Awesome find! That is the first time I saw one. Thank you for sharing.
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That's what it's all about ! Great story ...thank you co worker ! That grill has a story like few others ....
Esto Perpetua
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That is really cool Jeff, thanks for the write up and I can't wait to see it all rehabbed
Just goes to show that sometimes it pays to cold call.
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epic score jeff 8) 8)
who would of thought jeff would have a blaik in his stable :o :P
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That thing looks like a war vet from WW2. A soldier on the front line of back yard BBQ legend. Think about how far that kettle has traveled and how many people have sampled a new style of cooking from its grate. Astounding!
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Wow, that's a great story, Jeff! Congrats.
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Good job on following your gut! You've obviously developed a keen sense of Web-dar.
All these years and it's finally going to get treated right. That's one historical rescue right there.
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Helluva find.
Congrats on the most excellent score Jeff!
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Awesome story and pickup! I finally found the picture you were asking me about.. It looks like this one..... (not my grill I'm sorry to say.... :( )
Handle pointed towards the vent, like yours... some sort of clip stuck to the right rear leg... could be remains of an ash catcher clip?? These could be 1962-63ish....
(http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii560/redkettle71/50sdemo.jpg)
These would look sweet with an ashtrangle..
EDIT: I win the (http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii560/redkettle71/redforman.jpg) Award I didn't read down far enough to the link you posted of my thread about this one.... :-[
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Very Cool! Congrats!
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That's a great find!!
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Beauty Jeff. It would be fun to find an old hardware store, set up a display in the front window and hold an event on the sidewalk out front. Cook a chicken or two period costumes of course!
We've gained a lot of new members since we talked about the demo guys of the ealy 60s, here's a link to that interview we published a while back. Thought it would be good to re-post it in this thread.
http://weberkettleclub.com/blog/2013/08/21/interview-with-jim-rosenthal-an-original-weber-demo-guy/
Hope to see this one at the Chicago meetup in July.
Marty
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Just think of how the "DEMO"s affected the spread of the use of kettles.......without THAT grill, we possibly might not be here talking about this............. 8)
PS: What were the grates like?
That's a great point regarding how "DEMO"s may have affected the history of Weber.
Regarding the grates...I think the charcoal grate is original, and its in decent shape. The cooking grate is not original
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Awesome piece of Weber history there, Jeff. Have you tried baking soda on the stain?
I have not tried that yet Lawrence, but I certainly will! Thanks
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Jeff, about this part,
"I mentioned to him that the newer ones are much easier to use with the One Touch System. So I explained that versus daisy wheel vents and having to dump the bowl upside to clean it and keep the vents opened. He looked at me sort of perplexed. I glanced in the bowl of the grill and saw it half full with ashes. Now I understood the confused look on his face."
The education thing is, for me, something we can all help anyone with as ambassadors. I've also wondered if some of you guys who buy rare grills from non-collectors ever later help them find a deal on a newer model cheaply. We know a black OTS is a regular item in CL ads, but when you're right there in the moment, without one to substitute for the owner, it could get dicey, right?
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Jeff, about this part,
"I mentioned to him that the newer ones are much easier to use with the One Touch System. So I explained that versus daisy wheel vents and having to dump the bowl upside to clean it and keep the vents opened. He looked at me sort of perplexed. I glanced in the bowl of the grill and saw it half full with ashes. Now I understood the confused look on his face."
The education thing is, for me, something we can all help anyone with as ambassadors. I've also wondered if some of you guys who buy rare grills from non-collectors ever later help them find a deal on a newer model cheaply. We know a black OTS is a regular item in CL ads, but when you're right there in the moment, without one to substitute for the owner, it could get dicey, right?
The place where I found this grill was 5.5 hours from my house. Now had it been local to me, you bet I would have got this guy a nice replacement one for the one he sold me. In a heartbeat. Now there was an Ace Hardware down the street from where he lived, but this guy didn't look like he was ready to drop 100 on a new OTS either. I often look at local CL ads for around that area when I'm there too, but I can't recall having seen one ever list there. I go back to this area about 4 times a year. I may even pick up an old one from CL here in Chicago and bring it back there and give it to him. I kind of like that idea!
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Historical find, Jeff. What a great grill.
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Great story and super cool grill.
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Nice find and a great story. Very cool grill.
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That's a very rare wild Demo Blaik for sure!
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Magnificent find Jeff. Congrats. :) Quick question - how was "Demo" applied to the lid? Is it similar in process to the logos we see today.
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If you look at it very closely, it looks like sprayed on using some type of stenciling card. But it certainly won't come off. Its like today's logos. It had to have been applied prior to the porcelain coating process.
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So time to finish this story on this grill. After some time, the rehab/restore is complete on this one. It's still sporting some battle scars, but this grill should live on with hopefully another 50 years in it. Thanks to fellow member TimLeo for a little bit of help along the way too!
A surprise twist happened with this grill towards the end of its rehab. I was contacted by member Dazzo "Rick". If you recall...he liked this post I had when I found this grill originally, and then went on to make his Wooddale grill into a DEMO replica. He also added a cool vintage replica ash triangle pan. Here is his link to his work he did on his own grill.
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/my-three-step-weberitis-recovery-program/
Rick contacted me and asked what the future of this grill would be. I told him I wanted to give it a nice restore, and pass it onto a member. He was happy to hear it would stay within the WKC so he told me he has a surprise he'd like to send me. So to my surprise, the very next day, from San Jose, I received a well packed box with...a BRAND NEW replica triangle ash pan just like he used. I was ecstatic! He knew that my original ash pan was missing on this grill and that I mentioned a vintage triangle pan would look awesome. A big thanks to Rick for such a generous gift and surprise!
So onto the finished photos!
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF0082_zps5604a517.jpg)
I just couldn't find anything to remove that stubborn stain under the lid handle.
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF0084_zps7d1680fc.jpg)
Yup...its a Wooddale!
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF0083_zps8df63f66.jpg)
Nice fresh look to the original metal hubbed wheels, and period exact axle retainer hub caps.
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF0086_zpsedd060a3.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF0087_zps786f6fc7.jpg)
Awesome retro ash pan triangle from Dazzo!
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF0089_zps7d1daa6e.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF0092_zps2cd8aec4.jpg)
Even the underneath vents cleaned up nicely with new thumbscrews to boot!
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF0090_zps1ff72f6f.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF0093_zps8d2dcfcc.jpg)
Even cleaner than before on the inside!
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF0095_zpsb80af0c7.jpg)
(http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq142/A_Tame76/Demo%20Grill/DSCF0094_zps8fa348b1.jpg)
So this brings a busy last few months to a close for me. Between finishing the Seville, doing a quick cleanup on the Sequoia, and now the DEMO grill...it took up lots of my spare time. I'll be off on vacation in a few days to relax and take a small break from Webers!
The DEMO grill is already off to its new owner along with quite the big trades that went down.
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Fantastic work on that old grill! And a very cool move by Dazzo. 8)
I can't wait to read about "the rest of the story" ;D
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Awesome piece of history! Yes we may not be here without that kettle!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Thanks for sharing that Jeff, and props to Dazzo! Whoever he is, the new owner is one lucky fella.
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Looks like it's ready to demo some more!
8)
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Very nice Jeff! Great work on that triangle Dazzo!
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What an awesome story.
Sent from another Galaxy using Mental Telepathy
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Great restore Jeff. With so many amazing rescues this year already, I can't wait to see what you bring to the meetup! ;)
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Great story and restore. I'm always amazed at what you guys can do to rough looking kettle and then a few weeks later post up the finished project and they are 100% better. Amazing work.
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From start to finish it's been a great story and now someone has a great grill and the story will continue for many years to come
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I don't know Jeff.
Maybe we need to rethink the ashpan design...
(http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b505/dazzo16/posts/random/kiltpan_zpsb7c14e04.jpg)
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We don't need no stinking ash pans !
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I don't know Jeff.
Maybe we need to rethink the ashpan design...
(http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b505/dazzo16/posts/random/kiltpan_zpsb7c14e04.jpg)
Emperor's new clothes effect? Thanks for sharing the demo kettle saga, Jeff.
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I've always loved that pic! Just slap some Reynolds wrap on the patio and voila! The guy on the right cooking what looks like a heart is still creepy looking..
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I'll be off on vacation in a few days to relax and take a small break from Webers!
A vacation from Webers? I dream of a vacation so I can work on the Webers work on the Webers..
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Maybe a partial vacation from Webers. I'll be off fishing to the great NW of Wisconsin. I'll still be on the lookout for Webers up there! Maybe I'll find a 3rd Wooddale up there!