Orange and Black Speckled Weber Bros 18 (pic heavy)

[Schaefd2]

I can give you a little info on that kettle
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Dont hold out on us!


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That was an attempt at humor.  Obviously, I'm not very adept at it.

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aww dang!! Well a lot is lost through text. Oh well


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[blksabbath]

Wow!!!!  That's stunning!

So I missed the part telling how the OP acquired this unicorn of unicorns.


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[PotsieWeber]

Step right up and don't be shy
Because you will not believe your eyes
She's right here behind the glass
And you're gonna like her
'Cause she's got class
You can look inside another world
You get to talk to a pretty grill
She's everything you dream about
But don't fall in love

She's a beauty
She's one in a million grills
She's a beauty
Why would I lie?
Why would I lie?

You can say anything you like
But you can't touch the merchandise
She'll give you every penny's worth
But it will cost you a dollar first
You can step outside your little world
You can talk to a pretty grill
She's everything you dream about
But don't fall in love

She's a beauty
She's one in a million grills
One in a million grills
Why would I lie?
Why would I lie?

[Firemunkee]

Wow!!! Now that is a kettle I wouldn't ever fire up!

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[1ROW]

Incredible, across the board! Such an amazing find, 5 star restoration as well, congrats Art!

[JDD]

Congratulations on finding the rarest of the rare! It is beautiful.

[AnyThingGrilled]

That truly is a piece of art. I see a month in next years calendar dedicated to her.


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[1spacemanspiff]

Crazy cool!

[#ChrisO]

WoW dude so nice.
Great score!
Im super jealous


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[jimbo7070]

That is simply AMAZING! totally speechless! Incredible find and a beautiful job in restoring it! Well done!


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[jcnaz]

That kettle is incredible, and so is your work.
Very well done, sir!

[saxart]

Thanks for all of the thoughts guys.  I'm honored to have this kettle, and blown away that there are still kettle colors out there which we haven't yet seen.

As far as the back story, unfortunately there isn't much to say.  This kettle came from central Minnesota.  The guy who had it was "just getting rid of someone else's junk" to quote him.  He had no attachment to it and didn't know any history on it.  He didn't have any legs or wheels for it.  I'd love to hear about any research someone has on these old 18's.  (Craig, thanks for the confirmation on the '56-57 timeline, that's what I had come to as well!)

Before commencing with the build, I did do some research on wheel and triangle color.  A few of the 50's era brochures that were found showed it could have originally came with white wheels and/or an aluminum ash-pan/triangle.  Here are some snaps from a Weber Bros era brochure:





Some minor mock-ups with those finishes we done, but ultimately the gold pan and red wheels looked best with the lady-bug orange color of the kettle.   A good friend and fellow forum member helped sourcing the wheels and choosing the rose-gold paint used on the pan.   Is it a correct build?   We probably will never know.

There is talk of this kettle possibly being a "Traveler".  Research before the build couldn't find anything definitive.  The leg sockets do line up such that the bowl handles are oriented correctly, so it was built as a standard kettle with wheels and triangle.

Here are my questions:
1) How does a kettle from the mid-1950's survive in such a clean/unused state?
2) Who owned this kettle and how did it get to the rural countryside of MN?
3) How did a kettle get produced with a color and texturized finish we've never seen before?
4) Why is there no talk of this color in any brochures even though there are custom colors shown?

[Bertman]

Must have been a experimental one off by Weber r and d. Just wow. That's a kettle worthy of its own calendar!  That would be one hot sexy calendar. 


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[SixZeroFour]

What an amazing find, and in such great shape! Congrats

[Mr.Smoke]

What an amazing find. Congratulations and thank you so much for sharing. I would we surprised if Weber came knocking at your door with top dollar offers.