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Kind of a fun and interesting topic for the cooking forum. 
Easy-Bake Oven, 1977 Courtesy of the Strong National Museum of Play
The story of the Easy-Bake Oven begins with pretzels. In the early 1960s, Norman Shapiro was walking through New York City when he spotted vendors keeping pretzels warm with small ovens. Shapiro was the executive sales manager at the toy company Kenner Products.
Inspired by the vendors, he later took the idea to his colleagues at Kenner. There, James Kuhn, vice president of research and development, worked alongside Ronald Howes, director of research and new product development. The team designed the Easy-Bake Oven, a light bulb-powered functional toy oven that allowed children to emulate their parents and make their own cakes and cookies. Kenner debuted the product in 1963.
“That’s what makes inventors so smart,” says Ed Sobey, author of The Way Toys Work. “They can make that connection; they see something with the left side of their brain and transport it to the right.”
The Easy-Bake Oven was an instant best-seller. “Around 500,000 were sold in its first year,” says Debbie Schaefer-Jacobs, curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in the division of home and community life. This was despite the fact that it cost $15.95, a huge price for a toy at the time, and the equivalent of more than $160 today. Demand for the Easy-Bake Oven was so high that Kenner tripled its production in 1964.
Continued below.
www.smithsonianmag.com
How the Easy-Bake Oven, an Appliance That Allowed Kids to Heat Treats With a Light Bulb, Revolutionized the Toy Industry
The product, launched in 1963, became a staple in American households
The story of the Easy-Bake Oven begins with pretzels. In the early 1960s, Norman Shapiro was walking through New York City when he spotted vendors keeping pretzels warm with small ovens. Shapiro was the executive sales manager at the toy company Kenner Products.
Inspired by the vendors, he later took the idea to his colleagues at Kenner. There, James Kuhn, vice president of research and development, worked alongside Ronald Howes, director of research and new product development. The team designed the Easy-Bake Oven, a light bulb-powered functional toy oven that allowed children to emulate their parents and make their own cakes and cookies. Kenner debuted the product in 1963.
“That’s what makes inventors so smart,” says Ed Sobey, author of The Way Toys Work. “They can make that connection; they see something with the left side of their brain and transport it to the right.”
The Easy-Bake Oven was an instant best-seller. “Around 500,000 were sold in its first year,” says Debbie Schaefer-Jacobs, curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in the division of home and community life. This was despite the fact that it cost $15.95, a huge price for a toy at the time, and the equivalent of more than $160 today. Demand for the Easy-Bake Oven was so high that Kenner tripled its production in 1964.
Continued below.
How the Easy-Bake Oven, an Appliance That Allowed Kids to Heat Treats With a Light Bulb, Revolutionized the Toy Industry
The product, launched in 1963, became a staple in American households
