About a year ago, I headed back to my family's home in Iowa to help my folks prepare the house for sale. Since I flew out there, I couldn't bring home my dad's Smokey Joe. My brother took it to his place and mailed it to me this week. Just arrived today.
I remember this grill from my childhood, not because my dad cooked on it a lot (he had-- has!-- one of those light blue 22s that all the kids are trying to buy these days), but because of the way he cared for it. He put spar varnish on the cardboard box in order to keep rain showers and dew from damaging it on camping trips, and always kept it in the box. Looking at this box is kinda like looking at my Six Million Dollar Man lunchbox-- it just flies me back 35 years to when I was a kid.
I was a little worried that my brother would just tape up the box and drop it off at the post office, but he knows how much this means to me so he did it up right.
Tyvek tape for the outside, and blueprints for packing material. If you want a house framed up in Rochester, MN, he's your man.
Yup, yup.
My first clue that I'm short two fiber washers.
Whoever designed this logo should be sainted. Beautiful and completely badass.
It's much easier to see in person, but the handle is set just a bit off-center. Is this common, or did someone make a goof on this kettle?
Another view of the slight offset, and let me apologize as well: I didn't realize I had her legs all twisted until I looked at this photo just now.
So what year do y'all think she is? Pre date-stamp, clearly, but post 1977 which the copyright on the instruction manual shows.