H.E. Bremer Holiday Grill -- Firsthand History & Restoration. Weber Connect...

[brewtownbeatdown]

The Holiday Grill was manufactured by H.E. Bremer Manufacturing, in Milwaukee, WI.  The company was founded in 1937 and named after it's founder, Harold E. Bremer.  After doing some research, I was able to get in contact with Harold's son, David Bremer (I'll reference Harold as HB, and David as DB). DB spent a considerable amount of time working on these grills during his career at H.E. Bremer Mfg.  He says that his fingerprints are on most Holiday Grills. DB and his brother sold the company in 2000. DB stayed at Bremer Mfg. until early 2015, when he finally decided to retire, at the age of 75.  He was more than happy to share some insight into the history of the Holiday Grill with me. 

The Holiday Grill was part of the Bremer "Gift Line".  These items were distributed through Abercrombie & Fitch , Bauchgard & Butler (Chicago), and via direct sales from advertisements.

The first time I saw a Holiday Grill, I noticed there was a "Weberness" (George's Original) about it.  According to DB, there's a good reason for this. It was designed in '54-'55, in the offices of Abercrombie & Fitch (New York), alongside the second iteration of the Weber-Stephens kettle. HB and George Stephens were actually friends. DB doesn't recall there being any business between the two companies though.

Total Holiday Grill production was between 300-400 units.  It was a very expensive, labor intensive product to make. So it was meant to attract buyers to the less expensive, more profitable offerings in the Gift Line. The original version was produced from '55-'63. The second version, which was the same except for the addition of a grease pot to the kettle bowl, was produced from '64-'67.  Gift Line production stopped when the company's Milwaukee plant was closed and operations were fully moved to Elkhart Lake, WI.

The kettle bowl was sand cast out of aluminum. This was a costly, labor intensive way to produce the grill.  HB wouldn't consider any other method though, since that was what his company was known for. HB personally designed and produced the casting molds. DB remembers casting the kettle parts before he could even get a driver license.  After the bowls were cast, all the holes (for handles, damper, mounting points) were manually machined. They were then cleaned and sprayed with a heat resistant, aluminum coating, to maintain a uniform aluminum finish for years. The first few grills had the wheeled legs made of steel, before being switched over to cast aluminum.   The front leg was made of 1" steel tube and the wheels were 10"X1" steel, with rubber treads, throughout the production run. The kettle bowl handles were made out of 3/4" steel tube.  They came with a contoured Formica table trimmed in aluminum, and attached to the bowl handles with cast aluminum brackets.

The lid was made from a piece of aluminum sheet stock by Metalspinners in Milwaukee, WI. Sheet stock was spun into shape on a lathe. It was then spun on a table to a shimmery, satin finish using a special abrasive paper. Asked why they didn't use thicker sheet stock, or cast the lid. DB said that this was to save weight, figuring that most people would hold the lid while flipping food. Also, said that the lid thickness didn't affect cooking temps much, so this allowed them to save a little on material costs. The lid handle & dampers were made from cast aluminum. They were then attached using brass hardware. An interesting fact about the lettering on the lid handle: the 9 stood for Milwaukee's 9th district, since the zip code system hadn't yet been instituted when the molds were made.

DB owned and used a Holiday Grill (grease pot version) until 2000, when he switched to a gas grill. He said that he enjoyed cooking on it. Also said that it maintains temperature well in the cold, and rain, because the cast aluminum kettle bowl insulates well. If production had continued, they would've added one to two more vents in the bowl. Was considered earlier in production, but the machining cost would've added too much cost. He also would have switched from sand casting to the permanent mold process. This would have saved weight (material) and allowed them to cast in more features.

bowl diameter: 22_1/4"
lid diameter: 21_3/4"
cooking grate diameter: 20_3/16"
charcoal grate diameter: 16_7/8"
cooking height: 27_3/4"
table height: 30_1/2"

DB also had mentioned recalling a discussion about the Charmglow (Modern Home Products) gas grill, being the reason that Weber decided to produce gas grills.  In 1960, MHP made the 22.5" Perfect Host aluminum, gas kettle grill. MHP had locations in Antioch, IL and Bristol, WI, which were centrally located between Weber and Bremer.  This meant that Weber and Bremer had someone in their backyard doing a combination of what they were doing, but with gas. 


Found this 4 minutes after it posted on Craigslist in early November.
Thought it must have been fate, since I was finishing work early, so I called immediately.  Unfortunately, that night didn't work for the seller, and I was leaving for Indy early next morning. Thankfully he agreed to hold it for me until I returned Sunday.  @einrej contacted the seller shortly after I did, and was told that he was next in line if the "other guy" didn't pick it up. So he emailed me the link, asking if I had seen it yet, and that it was his if the "other guy" didn't buy it.  Emailed him back to let him know that there was no chance the "other guy" wouldn't buy it.  @einrej called me to get the scoop. After explaining why I couldn't grab it right away, he offered to pick it up for me, so the seller didn't have time to accept a higher offer.

There were a few issues with it when I picked it up. The lid was dimpled, dented, and out of round.  The bowl handles were bent up & over a little. The table needed repair (adhesive failed, layers were cut unevenly on one corner causing trim to pull away, Formica had set-in stains).  Minor rust on steel parts.  Front leg mount was loose. 
However, it was ORIGINAL & COMPLETE, and had the matching scoop (matches bowl contour).

Reshaped the lid.  Was able to get some of denting and dimpling out (will redo this summer, WI winter not conducive to handling cold aluminum). Gently polished the lid, handle, and both dampers. 

Removed bowl handles & straightened.  Used wheel cleaner and 000 steel wool to clean the exterior of the bowl.  Cleaned & polished bowl lip (heat gun, wire wheel, steel wool, tons of time). Tightened bracket that holds front leg. Snapped one screw, so I drilled & tapped it out. Replaced screw with closest match possible.  Cleaned both grates.

Pulled the trim ring off table & polished. Repaired separated layers & sanded down mismatched edges on the one corner. Spent an hour cleaning the Formica top (heat gun, scotch brite, cleaner), then did a light, wet sanding. Reattached trim ring. Polished aluminum brackets.

Cleaned the rust off the wheels, handles, and front leg. Then primed and painted them gloss black (factory paint was a semi-gloss black).

Reassembled everything.

Smoked some cheese on it. Really does insulate well (was -10 degrees out that day - ran hotter than expected).

Cleaned & polished the scoop.

Found a clean Bremer "Square-Et Skillet" to use with the grill.


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[SmokenJoe]

That's a truly magnificent find and cleanUP, congratulations, well done !!!                            SJ

[Hogsy]

Thread of the week. Brilliant job on restore and research on the grill
Thanks for sharing

[stubblebum]

Nice write up and restoration! Was the ash pot optional?
This one was listed a couple months before you got this one and it had an ash pot-
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/trading-post/interesting-grill-looks-solid/

It looks like they made some interesting products besides the grill. I want a Bar Shark. I am sure that I have seen the "English Spoke Here" sign and it might have actually been in a old boat I had. There are a few farms in the country nearby where I have hunted that have horse head hitching posts, although I am not sure they are aluminum so they may be made by someone else.

[WNC]

Wow, great write up and research!
The only problem...now I'm wanting to start collecting another kind of grill😁

[tb80]

Very cool write up and restore. Congrats.


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[brewtownbeatdown]

Nice write up and restoration! Was the ash pot optional?

It looks like they made some interesting products besides the grill. I want a Bar Shark.

Mr. Bremer referred to it as a grease pot. It was added to all Holiday Grills in the final years of production.

I found a couple Bar Sharks on eBay, but the prices have been pretty high. Haven't seen any lately.


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[brewtownbeatdown]

This one was listed a couple months before you got this one and it had an ash pot-
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/trading-post/interesting-grill-looks-solid/

I remember that one. I'm regretting not grabbing that one as well. Was only 60 miles away & was up for a little while.


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[brewtownbeatdown]

Wow, great write up and research!
The only problem...now I'm wanting to start collecting another kind of grill

Thanks.  I'm hoping there are still plenty out there. Would be great if us grill fanatics can get to 'em before the scrap guys recycle 'em for a couple dollars.


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[LightningBoldtz]

@harris92 if you haven''t seen this I thought you might be interested.  This is very cool and great write up

@Troy
@Craig
@SixZeroFour

Pretty cool

[Idahawk]

Wow, great write up and research!
The only problem...now I'm wanting to start collecting another kind of grill

Thanks.  I'm hoping there are still plenty out there. Would be great if us grill fanatics can get to 'em before the scrap guys recycle 'em for a couple dollars.


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Great Job Brew !

I believe that we all should try and save these old pieces of Barbecue history and I hope more people take the time to research interesting finds like you did .These stories will only disappear with time if we don't document them for histories sake . Part of collecting is the history behind the items and those stories,  not how many pieces you have or how valuable they are.

Troy has mentioned a Happy Cooker page , I'm sure that would include all other non Webers and give guys a forum to talk about these other cookers .

Thanks for sharing this story

Idahawk


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[harris92]

GRATE write up.  Thank you for taking the time and sharing your information with us.  I believe Ed Reilly purchased the other Holiday Grill mentioned in the thread.

@reillyranch

[firedude5015]

Awesome Job Brother!
That is SWEET!
now I know I'm going to restore the grill we spoke about...it's next on the project list. Love the research you did to go along with the restore.

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[Neil_VT00]

Great job on the restoration.  What an interesting piece of BBQ history.

[weldboy]

That's is crazy cool! What a wonderful piece of history


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