You're right, that's a 1968+ bumper. '67 would have had the old-style bumpers and backup lights mounted to the bumper. The hubcaps look like the ones that I had on my '64.
Maybe they're cooking. No wait you can cook on the engine, which ain't there. Seems to me there was a whole series of "How to Cook" on an exhaust manifold while traveling. Not necessarily on a VW's exhaust manifold but that might work too.