Thanks very much to the agent (who'll remain anonymous for now) who helped me secure the Westerner.
Here is the back story behind the grill, as passed on to me from the seller:
"As promised, here is the information we have on the Weber Westerner you bought from us on eBay.
We are antique dealers here in North Central Wisconsin. My husband is third generation from his family doing this. He has been an antique 'picker' for over thirty years. We are the original 'pickers'; we literally stop and knock on doors to ask whether the residents have anything antique, collectible, old, or odd to sell. We have been working around the Upper Peninsula of Michigan buying items for the past several years.
About a month ago, we met a gentleman at a remote campground and got chatting. It turns out he is executor of the widowed campground owner's estate, and offered to have us come see what we might be interested in buying.
We were taken to Red Pine Lodge area just outside of Ishpeming, Michigan, where the old couple had their Lake vacation home. The fellow passed away in November 2016 at the age of 92. He was a navy pilot, served in several wars, was airline pilot for several Airlines, and owned multiple businesses.
Their home was like walking into a time capsule from 1970... The old couple had only spent a handful of days there. From this Lake home, we arranged to buy a Wurlitzer jukebox, 19" brass warship porthole, vintage Korean war era clothing, and many other great items. In the garage, there were several pristine 1967-1975 Cadillac sedans. There was also a large, unique looking grill in the far corner. It was clean and appeared rarely used, so we bought it. (As a side note, he had a receipt from a Chicago area jeweler dated 1966 for his Rolex watch. I imagine it was during one of his Navy Pier stays in Chicago that he must have purchased the grill...however, this is simply a guess as he is deceased and his elderly widow does not remember).
Part of my job with our business is to research odd items and determine their range of value. It didn't take me too long to use Internet searching and discover a Weber Kettle Club for grill collectors. I was shocked and delighted to find our grill on the club site. I used the information to help list the grill for sale, and the rest (as they say) is history!
I hope you will find this information helpful in preserving the grill's story."
Topic: My Westerner (Read 3727 times)
