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Easy-Bake Oven

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TheEasy-Bake Ovenis a working toyovenintroduced in 1963 and manufactured byKennerand later byHasbro.[1][2]The original toy used a pair of ordinaryincandescent light bulbsas a heat source; current versions use a trueheating element.Kenner sold 500,000 Easy-Bake Ovens in the first year of production.[3]By 1997, more than 16 million Easy-Bake Ovens had been sold.[4]

Easy-Bake Oven
The first three versions of the Easy-Bake oven.
The first three versions of the Easy-Bake Oven, starting with the Regular model (1963, left), the Premier (1969, middle), and the Mod (1971).
TypeToy oven
CompanyKenner
(1963–1991)
Hasbro
(1991-1997)
CountryUnited States

The oven comes with packets of cake mix and small round pans. Additional mixes can be purchased separately. After water is added to the mix in the pan, it is pushed into the oven through a slot.[5]After cooking, thecakeis pushed out through a slot in the other end.

History

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Background

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Miniature stoves and ovens had existed in the late 19th to early 20th century, with many being copies of full-size stoves.[6][7][8]To appeal to girls, toy train-makerLionel Corporationreleased a toy stove with two electric burners and a working oven in 1930.[9]During the 1950s, various toy ovens with fiberglass insulation were marketed to families with children.[6]

Kenner versions

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The Easy-Bake Oven was introduced in 1963 byKenner Products,aCincinnati,Ohio-based toy company. The idea for the Easy Bake Oven came from Norman Shapiro, Kenner's sales manager inNew York.[10]He was inspired by the ovens that New York street vendors used to bakepretzels,and suggested to Kenner executives that the company make a toy version of the appliance.[11]Spearheaded byresearch and developmentvice-president James Kuhn, with major contributions fromRonald Howes,the Kenner team iterated on the idea.[12]The original Kenner Easy-Bake Oven was heated by two 100-watt incandescent light bulbs, one above the food tray and one below. The idea was that the cake would bake more quickly and evenly if heated from both sides. Later models used only one bulb, leveraging convection from better interior heating dynamics to achieve the same results.[13]

The original oven came in a pale yellow or turquoise, and was designed to resemble a conventional oven.[14][15]The design changed many times over the years. An updated "Premier" model, available inavocado green(common shade for kitchen appliances at the time, now almost a cultural cliché[16]) or red, was released in 1969, followed by a "Mod" model in yellow or light green in 1971. A more recent model resembled amicrowave oven.

A one-of-a-kind model was presented to the winner of the 5,000,000th Easy-Bake Oven Sweepstakes in 1972.[17]

Kenner licensed the Easy-Bake Oven to international markets. Japan represented a significant opportunity for Kenner. The toy oven was licensed to Nakajima Corporation, which sold its version as Margaret's Cooking Oven.[18]

Hasbro versions

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After Kenner became a division of Hasbro, which then closed it down, Hasbro continued to produce the oven.[19]The Easy-Bake Oven and Snack Center was introduced in 1993.

A decade after the Easy-Bake Oven and Snack Center was introduced, the Real Meal Oven was released. This oven was different from the others in being able to cook larger portions, and two of them at once, using two pans at the same time. It won the 2003 Best ToyParentingmagazine Toy of the Year Award. The neutral colors were more accepted acrossgenderlines, and were favored by parents, particularly in the midst of queries and complaints over versions not being offered for male children. The Real Meal pans were larger than the Easy Bake ones, and it could bake both desserts and main courses. This model featured a heating element and did not require a light bulb.[citation needed]

In 2002, Hasbro released theQueasy Bake Cookerator,a variant on the Easy-Bake targeted at young boys.[20]

In 2006, a different version of the Easy-Bake was released, with a stove-top warmer and a heating element. Like Hasbro's first version, it had smaller pans, and it could only bake one pan at a time.[citation needed]But the new front-loading Hasbro design, a substantial departure from the traditional push-through arrangement, was ill-conceived, as all (approximately 985,000) such units were recalled over safety concerns and reported injuries.[21]

The oven was inducted into theNational Toy Hall of Famein 2006.[22]

In 2011, the last version to use a 100-watt incandescent light bulb was replaced by a new version with a dedicated heating element, named the Easy-Bake Ultimate Oven. The replacement was due to the availability of alternatives to the incandescent light bulbs that heated previous versions of the Easy-Bake Oven.[23]It was feared that newer lamp requirements would render all models that used light bulbs as their heating elements obsolete because lamps would no longer be available. (The company never provided initial or replacement bulbs.)[24][25]

In 2012, Hasbro announced the premiere of a version of the Easy-Bake Oven in black and silver after executives met with McKenna Pope, a girl fromGarfield, New Jersey,who had started aChange.orgpetition asking the toy maker to offer the product in gender-neutral packaging.[26][27]The prototype Easy-Bake Oven was also made available in blue.[28]The redesigned product was slated to be unveiled in February 2013, at the New York Toy Fair.

Marketing

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In 1962, Kenner created the Gooney Bird as part of its marketing efforts. The new corporate mascot was primarily used as part of the company logo, appearing on most product packaging along with the company slogan, "It's Kenner, It's Fun!". The bird was also used in trade publications and advertisements with the tagline, "This bird means business!".

In 1968, Kenner approachedMuppetcreatorJim Hensonto create a Muppet version of the Gooney Bird. The bird appeared in Easy-Bake Oven commercials with child actress Barbara Price. The Gooney Bird became so popular that Henson refurbished the character as Little Bird,Big Bird's smaller counterpart, in early seasons ofSesame Street.[29]

Recall

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After a release of a new model in May 2006,Hasbroreceived reports of 29 children getting their hands or fingers caught in the front-loading door, including 5 reports of burns.[30]In February 2007,Hasbroand theConsumer Product Safety Commissionissued a voluntary recall of the oven and advised parents to stop using the oven with children under the age of 8 and contact the company for a free retrofit kit.[31]The kit was approved by the CPSC and consisted of a plastic grate that fit over the existing oven door. The grate allowed the oven to function as designed, but it now provided an additional barrier to keep small fingers out.

Despite the retrofit program, the problems persisted. According to data from the CPSC, an additional 249 reported incidents included 77 burns, 16 of which were second- or third-degree in nature. On July 19, 2007, Hasbro re-issued its voluntary recall of the Easy-Bake after learning that part of a five-year-old girl's finger had to be amputated because of a severe burn.[32]The recall affected 985,000 ovens that had been sold between May 2006 and July 2007.[21]Ovens sold prior to May 2006 were not part of the recall, leaving more than 25 million side-entry/light bulb models in circulation unaffected.[33]

Legacy

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National Easy-Bake Oven Day[34]is observed annually on November 4, the day in which the toy oven was originally released in 1963.[35]The National Day was established in 2017[35]by author and toy historian Todd Coopee.[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Kenner History".Kenner Collector.Retrieved10 January2015.
  2. ^"Hasbro's Easy-Bake Oven website".Hasbro's Easy-Bake Oven website.Retrieved12 July2022.
  3. ^Coopee 2013,p. 8.
  4. ^Coopee 2013,p. 109, Million Dollar Baby.
  5. ^"The Easy-Bake Oven, Gourmet Style".NPR.2003-12-08.Retrieved2024-04-04.
  6. ^abHix, Lisa (2014-02-13)."The Untold History of the Easy-Bake Oven".Gizmodo.Retrieved2024-04-07.
  7. ^Burnham, Ted (2012-06-07)."Tiny Ovens For Tots: A Kitchen Evolution".NPR.Retrieved2024-04-07.
  8. ^Ewbank, Anne (2019-04-10)."Before the Easy-Bake Oven, Toy Stoves Were Beautiful and Deadly".Atlas Obscura.Retrieved2024-04-07.
  9. ^Hogan, Patricia (2014-08-22)."Lionel for Ladies?".The Strong National Museum of Play.Retrieved2024-04-07.
  10. ^Hoffman 2003,p. 16.
  11. ^Coopee 2013,p. 6.
  12. ^Coopee 2013,pp. 6–7.
  13. ^"How Easy-Bake Ovens Work".HowStuffWorks.2014-12-12.Retrieved2023-05-18.
  14. ^US patent 3368063,Kuhn, James O., "Toy oven", published 1968-02-06, issued 1968-02-06, assigned to Kenner Products Company
  15. ^"Easy Bake Oven inducted 2006".Archived fromthe originalon 9 August 2011.Retrieved20 June2011.
  16. ^Mock, Nancy (September 8, 2022)."9 Vintage Kitchen Colors Straight Out of Grandma's House".The Family Handyman.Archivedfrom the original on May 18, 2023.RetrievedMay 18,2023.
  17. ^Coopee 2013,pp. 117–118.
  18. ^Coopee, Todd (18 July 2016)."Margaret's Cooking Oven from Nakajima Corporation (1976)".ToyTales.ca.
  19. ^"Easy-Bake loses its bulb, gets a makeover".USA Today.Associated Press.2011-09-14. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-03-20.Retrieved2024-04-04.
  20. ^"Oven:Queasy Bake Cookerator - Hasbro, Inc".Google Arts & Culture.Retrieved2022-07-26.
  21. ^ab"Nearly 1 million toy ovens recalled".CNN.2007-02-06.Retrieved2024-04-04.
  22. ^"Easy-Bake Oven enters Toy Hall of Fame".Today.Associated Press.2006-11-10.Archivedfrom the original on 2010-07-11.Retrieved2024-04-04.
  23. ^ABC News,"Easy-Bake Oven Loses Light Bulb, Gets $20 Makeover",Susanna Kim, 14 September 2011
  24. ^"The Easy way out".The Post-Star.2011-09-04.Archivedfrom the original on 2012-10-18.Retrieved2024-04-04.
  25. ^Funk, John (2011-09-10)."Halogen light bulbs fill spot as old-fashioned incandescent bulbs disappear".The Plain Dealer.Archivedfrom the original on 2011-09-25.Retrieved2024-04-04.
  26. ^Grinberg, Emanuella (2012-12-18)."Hasbro to unveil black and silver Easy-Bake Oven after teen's petition".CNN.Retrieved2024-04-04.
  27. ^Grinberg, Emanuella (2012-12-06)."Teen says pink toy ovens discourage boys from kitchen play".CNN.Retrieved2024-04-04.
  28. ^Graff, Amy (2012-12-18)."Teen's online campaign convinces Hasbro to make gender-neutral Easy-Bake Oven".SFGate.Archived fromthe originalon 2016-03-05.Retrieved2024-04-04.
  29. ^Coopee 2013,pp. 114–115.
  30. ^"Hasbro recalls 1 million Easy-Bake Ovens".NBC News.2007-02-06.Retrieved2024-11-21.
  31. ^"Easy-Bake Ovens Recalled for Repair Due to Entrapment and Burn Hazards"Archived2008-05-16 at theWayback Machine,Consumer Products Safety Commission. 6 February 2007. retrieved 14 May 2008.
  32. ^“New Easy-Bake Oven Recall Following Partial Finger Amputation; Consumers Urged to Return Toy Ovens”,Hasbro, Inc. Undated. retrieved on 22 April 2009.
  33. ^Coopee 2013,pp. 18–19.
  34. ^"National Easy-Bake Oven Day".National Easy-Bake Oven Day.Retrieved2024-04-04.
  35. ^abMirzaliyeva, Maysara (2022-06-30)."National Easy-Bake Oven Day".National Today.Retrieved2024-11-21.

Cited literature

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