ENTREPRENEURS: Backyard Bonanza

George Stephen, a boisterous man with a hearty appetite for just about anything cooked over a charcoal fire, could not find a smokeless barbecue grill that delivered the slow, even heat he wanted. So one day in 1951 he selected a steel spinning from the Chicago sheet-metal factory, Weber Bros. Metal, of which he was part owner. He had a foreman shape it into a bowl, fashioned a spherical cover, and installed the contraption in the backyard of his home in Mount Prospect, Ill.

Stephen had no intention of founding a new business,...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!