Family Heirloom or: The Atomic Orange by CoreyBlack
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Description
This is a close up of part of one of our "family heirlooms." It is, in fact, a section of the lid to the Webber barbecue grill my parents bought in the summer of 1972. I think it was in June. I remember this because the Watergate scandal was breaking news and I was recovering from one of my periodic maimings. I would have said "periodic CHILDHOOD maimings", except that the clumsy carnage has continued well into adulthood. It seems that another 9 year old friend and I were pretending to be driving cars; his was a Chevelle SS and mine a Mustang Mach-1; and we challenged each other to a drag race across the tennis court in Packard Park. I was in the lead until I splashed though a puddle of brackish water and drove the broken bottom of a Seven Up bottle so far up into my foot that it required professional removal and something like 50 stitches. I still have the scar.
So, anyway, I was gimping around on crutches (objects I would become intimately familiar with), when my parents brought the extremely swanky new grill home. And swanky it was, particularly by the standards of the day. Finished in an eye melting shade of bright "Burnt Orange", it could have been spotted by an orbiting satellite during the many back yard cook-outs that would figure in its future. The sporty paint job did not feature the contrasting color floral print design that was so popular in the early Seventies, but something even better: black edged outlines of the various animals you could cook inside it with their innards filled in by a grid plan of the names and locations of their tasty parts. How cool was that? I would go so far as to say that in the summer of 1972 we had the swankiest barbecue grill in the neighborhood. All this would change during the 1973 grilling season, however, when the policeman down the block bought a fire engine red number with a "Custom Grilling Station" and an integral side holder for the tongs. And then barbecue grill bedlam swept the area, but that's a story for another day.
Thirty nine summers later, my sister Kate and I made one of our periodic visits to see our now elderly parents at their home in Florida. I, of course, was on a cane recovering from heart surgery, and the grill sat in its familiar spot in the back yard looking like a giant metal orange. A giant RUSTY metal orange. Despite the rust, it remains vivid. Eye searing. I haven't tried, but I suspect if I log onto Google Earth and call up the coordinates to my parents' back yard, I'll see that grill. It'll be a searing orange (slightly rusty) blip, clearly visible from Earth orbit. Some things are like that: you can see them from anywhere.
Photographed in South Venice, Florida on June 15, 2011.
Comments (13)
Chipka
I think that shade is called Vermillion as it is officially classified as that really frikkin' bright shade of something that can't decide if it's red or orange, but is definitely damaging to the retinas! Naturally, a barbecue grill lid from the 1970s would pick that color! And I love the educational aspect of this image! I mean, how can you not learn your various cuts after seeing this grill lid? Marvelous and your writeup is hilarious. I'm gonna see if I can find your parents' back yard on Google Earth now. I'll just look for the bright, red/orange dot somewhere in Florida. Great shot. I love how you've actually controlled the color/light...it isn't bleeding as such brilliance tends to do on computer screens. Great work.
Richardphotos
from accidents my son had, I was surprised he made it to adulthood.I had a few myself
auntietk
I like the vaguely armadillo-shaped rust blob. No wait ... it's a hippo! Hmmmmm ... yes ... perhaps a hippo. I also like the shadow play going on at the bottom with what appears to be someone's hand. This image has all sorts of components to recommend it!
blinkings
Boston Butt!!! If I ever become a professional wrestler, that name is screaming at me to be used!
whaleman
I'm at a loss for words...is there a landfill nearby? LOL!
durleybeachbum
Corey, thankyou for the great giggle your wonderful narrative gave me!! The rusty blob is a bunny with it's ears down making a hasty escape.
kgb224
I agree looks like a Hippo to me as well. Great find and capture my friend. God Bless.
jared99
I enjoyed the writing even more than the photo! The lid looks to be in pretty good shape for having sat out in the open for 39 years. And wasn't that the color of the kitchen on "The Brady Bunch"? Really popular color in the '70's, along with a particularly nauseating green as I remember.
jeanebean
What a coincidence your pic is, Corey. It will be "in memorium". After one of it's legs rusted off, your Dad put it out last week for trash pick-up. It was like loosing an old friend. Many tasty meals and lots of family comraderie tookplace around that old fellow. It's now replaced by a new gas model that Dad still has to learn how to use.The smell of charcoal starter in the air has been replaced by the odor of propane. I suppose it's progress, but it's just not the same.
bmac62
Oh, boy, Corey...I am glad I got to read jeanebean's comment. I just read it to Tara and now we are both up to date on the fate of the Atomic Orange:) Enjoyed your entire ramble...I must have lived a charmed life...I did all the crazy things done by 2-14 year olds and only picked up a couple of knife scars...one as a Cub Scout whittling a slide for my neckerchief and another carrying an open pocket knife while running through a field in the dark and falling on it! Small wounds but both taught me life lessons.
sandra46
VERY VERY COOL!
flavia49
fantastic image!
mgtcs
This is a fantastic image but the narrative is really priceless, marvelous work my friend thank you for sharing!