Magnet
Frigilux, I no sooner wrote that than found a new thread in the other forum where you said a Westy had "sexy controls".
Pete, you got it bad and your significant other is either a saint or is planning the perfect murder.
Jetcone, I don't know what the original name for my tea kettle was. Though I can't date the tea kettle I have, it is definitely old. I can tell by the plastic that is used, the patina of the metals and the amount of rust inside the kettle. I had to clean the thing up quite a bit. It's been around the block and back again.
There is a company making a modern reproduction of this tea kettle and the box it comes in calls it a Rocket Kettle. Follow the link below to take a look. Though very close, the design is actually different in a number of respects. I took my monster magnet that I use to hang a lamp from my metal kitchen ceiling and put it close to the tea kettle and it doesn't attract much. So, are you a metalurgist? What does that tell us?
This was some kind of knob on the top that was missing when I got it. Fortunately for me, I have snagged a number of awesome pot lids at flea markets, hoping to find whatever the lids went on some day. So I was able to find a good knob to attached to the top, one that looked like the jetcone of a rocket. I sent the following email to the seller:
Hi. I received the teapot yesterday. I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed. The lid had it's knob or whatever you want to call it broken off at some point in it's life, leaving a hole in the lid. Because the steam can escape through the hole, this negates the whole steam propelling the rockets mechanism. You notated some of the flaws with the tea kettle, but I would say that the missing knob/handle would be the first and foremost flaw in the tea kettle. I double-checked the pictures that you listed to be sure that it wasn't damaged in shipping, but I can see that this flaw was there when the item was listed.
I'm not asking for a refund or anything, but just wanted to point out that these are the kinds of things I like to know before I bid on something. The amount of rust inside the tea kettle was also a surprise. Even if the knob was present, I probably still wouldn't want to use it as a working teapot with the coat of rust that's on it.
The seller refunded my complete purchase price plus shipping and asked me not to mention the refund in the feedback since they insist they never give refunds, but thought it was warranted in this case. So, I got the kettle for free. Everyonce in a while, you do run across a fair eBay seller.