Weber tour of the Midwest

[mike.stavlund]

Readying for sides.


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[1buckie]

triangulation......a powerful force in the universe !!!!


grate Pic !!!!!!

[mcgolden]

I miss the performer but I'm glad to see it's got a good home with lots of buddies.

[mike.stavlund]

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[Craig]

Can anyone help date this Arlington Heights antique? My dad bought at a garage sale in 72 or 73. It is the grill of my youth.


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If its got the Arlington Heights vent stamp, J-twist style ash pan and being Imperial Blue, I would place this one from 1964-1966 era. This color was gone by 1967-68 when the Cado's were on the scene.

[Craig]

Oh and if you ever want to send it to Omaha for me to do a long long study of it, I'm game! 

[mike.stavlund]

Thanks, Craig.  I will be sure to pass that on to my dad.

Yeah, it's a funny thing about my dad's dementia that facts often come to light in unexpected ways, which upend our assumptions.  I had always understood that my dad bought this grill new in the late 60s or early 70s, but a couple of years ago he said, "Oh, no, that's not it-- I bought it at a garage sale after your sister  was born".  Which was really fun for me to think about him scoring what was already an old grill at that point in time (almost 10 years old then), and also a partial explanation for my interest in used grills.  ;-)

The bigger mystery at this point just came up a couple of days ago.  My mom gave me her diary from 1970, mostly musings about me as a baby (apparently I ate solid foods very early on, which also explains a lot).  But what intrigued me were several references to my dad cooking ham, potatoes, etc., "On the Weber".  I asked him what grill he owned before the Imperial, and he doesn't think he had a Weber before 1974.  So either he's forgotten about an even older grill, or my mom is using the term 'Weber' for another grill (like ubiquitous brand-names such as 'Kleenex' or 'Xerox' or 'Band Aid'). 

Bottom line, though:  I just cooked on an almost 50-year-old grill, and I'm pretty happy about it.

[addicted-to-smoke]

Either way that's pretty cool, Mike. There aren't many "normal" consumer purchases that are worthy of being handed down from one generation to the next. If more people did this we wouldn't be rescuing nearly as many.

My dad bought an 18.5" around 1975 and so I still have an inherent comfort level with that size. I'm helping him pack this weekend for a move back to the Midwest but will be taking that grill home with me. His Performer will go on the truck with him.

[zavod44]

Thanks Mike for posting this....It's fucking great....every last bit of it. 

[mike.stavlund]

Thanks, Brian.  It'd be even better if I was smoking some Lake MIchigan salmon on Great-Grandpa's early-80's 'Weber:  The One and Only' perfectly preserved black 22.5  3-wheeler tomorrow.  But it has found it's way to a grandson's home, which is a great thing. 

Sometimes, I guess, the best-laid plans don't come to be.