Easy-Baked Success

If only baking in a real oven
was as delightful as baking in
an Easy-Bake Oven. Enjoy the simplicity of baking in this child’s toy on November 4, Easy-Bake Oven Day. In 1963, the first Easy-Bake Oven was introduced in November just in time for the Christmas shopping season. Inventor Ronald Howes’ idea was simple: create an oven that can be used by kids that looks just like Mom’s oven. He was inspired by a visit to New York City, where he witnessed chestnut vendors cooking their nuts on what seemed like every street corner. His new toy used just two incandescent lightbulbs to generate enough heat (about 350°) to bake small brownies and cakes.
In those first couple of months, the Kenner
toy company sold 500,000 Easy-Bake Ovens, despite the price tag of $15.95, which would
be almost $100 by today’s standards. In 1963,
it must have been a small price to pay for real home-baked goodies.