1958 Weber Smokey Joe photo in Popular Science


 
Chris Allingham

Chris Allingham

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This is a neat two-page spread from Popular Science, June 1958 showing "this year's big news in back-yard cooking". Some of these grills will look familiar to the old-timers out there, but I'm sure some have been long forgotten until now.

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You can set them up on a patio table, tote them to the beach or pack them along on auto trips. You can even use them indoors in a fireplace or under a kitchen exhaust fan.
Click to expand...

Hope you enjoy it!
Chris
 
Very neat seeing all those different takes on a simple design concept. Thanks for sharing!

Under a kitchen exhaust fan seems a stretch, but I don't see anything particularly wrong with using one in a wood-burning fireplace, with the flue open. That actually sounds like it could be fun to try in the winter, especially with a hibachi style grill like the Lodge sportsman.
 
I was surprised by how many portable grills were so readily available at the time. I guess there are quite a few today, but as many as shown here in 1958? So cool that the Weber Smokey Joe is the one of all of these that's still going strong! :smokeyjoe:

I think my parents had the Sears grill shown at the top left of the first page. And the Hamilton-Skotch ones are cool because everyone had those Scotch plaid Thermos picnic sets in the late 50s and early 60s.

And how about this: The cheapest grill at $1.98 would be equivalent to $16 today when adjusted for inflation. The most expensive at $24.50 would be equivalent to $200 today!
 
Still puzzled by the Lakewood model. It almost looks like an early toaster design. Definitely the one that stands out the most against the others.

The cheapo one, the Standard Can, looks a lot like those awful disposable charcoal "grills" you can still buy today.
 
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They used the word midget then without issues. And one of the places that sold them is Abercrombie and Fitch. Wow! I'd love to read that whole article.

Thank you for posting, this is cool.
 
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