NIB Smokey Joe

[idahome]

I was able to score the NIB SJ that was posted on eBay a week or so ago. The seller did an excellent job at packing the grill and let me tell you it is quite awesome. There are no letters on the top or bottom vents which put it pre-1979. It's been sitting so long that the dust on it almost has a greasy feel to it. Even the box itself is in great shape. The original tag on the box says it's from Ace Hardware with a price of $21.77. As seen in the 5th picture, there are tabs on the bowl to hold the cooking grate. I just wonder what year this SJ is?

[SixZeroFour]

Sorry no advice regarding the date but that SJ is amazing!

[1buckie]

  Nice item !!!

So.....they've only gone up $8.22 in 35 years or so?

[idahome]

  Nice item !!!

So.....they've only gone up $8.22 in 35 years or so?

It looks like it! But if you account for inflation, people actually paid way more back then for this SJ then we would pay for an SJ today 

[Jeff]

I was watching that one!  If nobody bid, I was gonna make an offer to them since I was driving through there the next day for work.  You bid on it with 7 seconds to go.  Glad you got though.  I'm sure you'll appreciate it more than I would have!  Its a sweet vintage grill for sure!

[Duke]

Just think, Ace also had red's browns, spleckled's, olives, and yellows back then.

[1911Ron]

Nice!

[idahome]

It's hard to see it, but you can kind of tell in the first picture that the top lid handle isn't welded on perfectly in the center of the lid. Kind of cool IMO.

[blackdog043]

That's really nice, congrats!!!! I was giving that one a real hard look but decided against it.

[Craig]

Congratulations thats a sweet old SJ!!

Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

[mike.stavlund]

She's a real beauty, Idahawk, congratulations! 

We have twins, I guess-- though mine had some paperwork inside copyrighted 1977, so I'm guessing mine is 77 or 78.  But mine also features the off-center top handle, which makes me wonder if it was a bad batch or someone at the factory was having a lousy Monday or something.  Mine was my dad's; must have been purchased in or around Rockford, IL.  Where did yours come from? 

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/(re)opening-a-family-heirloom-(pic-heavy)/msg50885/#msg50885

I agree about the prices, too.  It's amazing to see the really old catalogs and to realize that folks were paying a premium for these kettles back in the day.  They've only recently become much more affordable. 

[Jeff]

Hey Mike
His grill came from Davis Junction, Il.  Its about a half hour from Rockford.  Interesting...

[idahome]

Wrong Ida But yeah I do find that quite interesting. As Jeff has stated, the grill is from Davis Junction, Ill. I got it off of eBay and the guy said he picked it up at a local estate sale and that the guy who had owned it passed away sometime in the late 70s and it was forgotten in the attic until just recently.

[mike.stavlund]

idaHOME, I am so sorry.  All of you Idaho people look the same from here.  ;-)  My apologies. 

And yeah, that's really interesting that these grills both have a similar provenance.  I wonder if we'll see other off-center SJs popping up, or if this was some kind of bad batch or something.  Though I have to say I'm kinda fond of the little offset to the handle. 

I'll have to ask my dad if he remembers where he bought this SJ.  At least now we know what he paid!

[idahome]

idaHOME, I am so sorry.  All of you Idaho people look the same from here.  ;-)  My apologies. 

And yeah, that's really interesting that these grills both have a similar provenance.  I wonder if we'll see other off-center SJs popping up, or if this was some kind of bad batch or something.  Though I have to say I'm kinda fond of the little offset to the handle. 

I'll have to ask my dad if he remembers where he bought this SJ.  At least now we know what he paid!

No worries whatsoever! I just had to give you a little bit of a hard time.

I really do enjoy the slight off centered-ness as well. I think the handle was probably off centered on purpose so it's not so close to the top vent? Mine is off centered as well as positioned a little to the left. Or according to the photos it looks off centered to the right because I turned the lid around so the vent was facing the back.

I'm not sure if there are other SJs that have a little offset on the handle! I know there is one SJ from 1981 in the grill gallery and a member just posted their SJ collection and they have similar SJs that look like ours.

That would definitely be cool to find out where he bought it!