Update to the quest below:
Finally managed to do a quick soap and water clean up. Thank you for everyone for offering information on this kettle.
Have a superb BBQ season!
***
Help Weber Fanatics, please.
I was gifted a so called "Samson Dominion Kettle Grill" or whichever direction the thing reads. Please see photos.
At first, looking at it from a distance, I was so excited thinking it was a vintage Weber then realized it was not. However, upon closer inspection, I noticed the the design and the parts were all very similar to Weber parts of the time. I'm pretty sure back then 60s and 70s the whole copyright thing was a lot more serious and fewer "clones" exited. Am I just being naive? In any case, I'm wondering if anyone know if Weber ever produced kettles for other companies and added a different name and slightly different design. Kind of like Kenmore, Maytag, etc.
Your help is much appreciated.
Gal