Just how many Easy-Bake Ovens have been sold over the years?
Why did it take so long to get a gender-neutral model?
How many kids got their fingers stuck in the doors?!
Keep watching as we dig into the history of this popular baking toy.
The first Easy-Bake Oven hit store shelves in November of 1963, just before the holiday
shopping season.
According to Good Housekeeping, the original Easy-Bake Oven used an incandescent light
bulb to heat food up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
It sold 500,000 units in that first year at a price of $15.95, which is over $100 adjusted
for inflation, according to Daily Delish.
The initial design featured an extremely small oven and was available in a teal or pale yellow
color.
"Easy-Bake, by Kenner!"
Over the years, Easy-Bake Ovens have changed in appearance to reflect style changes of
the time.
For instance, in the 1970s, you could buy an Easy-Bake Oven with fake wood paneling
and an avocado green color.
In the 1980s, a yellow mini microwave design was introduced.
After that came the purple and pink accent colors that remained the signature palette
for many of the Easy-Bake Oven models released over the past few decades.
Shortly after General Mills purchased the toymaker Kenner in 1967, we started to see
Betty Croker branded mixes for use in the Easy-Bake Oven.
At the time, new Easy-Bake Ovens came with five miniature boxes of baking mixes, and
more mixes available to purchase as refills later.
According to Good Housekeeping, Betty Crocker provided German Chocolate Cake and Rainbow
Chip Cookie mixes for the Easy-Bake Oven in 1973.
Having a company like Betty Crocker produce the mixes meant that the final products were
closer to a recognizable dessert.
At one time, coupons for Betty Crocker products were included with every Easy-Bake Oven sold.
Models in 1969 came with a Betty Crocker cookbook, too.
There was even a red Betty Crocker-branded edition of the Easy-Bake Oven that came out.
Ultimately, the Betty Crocker and Easy-Bake Oven co-branding ended after nearly 20 years
when Tonka acquired Kenner.
In 2007, the heat source used in the Easy-Bake Oven had to change to meet new standards in
federal law.
Specifically, the passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 forced the design
to be altered.
According to Reuters, this law made it impossible to get 100 watt incandescent light bulbs starting
in 2012.
Since this was the light bulb used in the Easy-Bake Oven, Hasbro needed to create a
new version with a different heating source.
Hasbro subsequently launched a light bulb-free version of the Easy-Bake Oven and also offered
some microwave oven-based baking sets for kids.
According to Tastemade, this redesign changed how you loaded the pans so that children had
to use tongs to put the pan into a front-loading oven.
This presented its own safety concerns, as children could stick their fingers into the
oven and burn themselves.
The 2007 redesign turned out to be a disaster for the Easy-Bake Oven.
According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, Hasbro recalled about 985,000
Easy-Bake Ovens in February 2007 because young children got their hands or fingers caught
in the oven's opening.
Specifically, the recall listed entrapment and burn hazards as the reason behind the
recall.
The company offered a free retrofit kit in an attempt to remedy the problem, but the
quick-fix resulted in more issues.
Between February and July of 2007, there were 249 reports of children who had their hands
or fingers stuck in the opening of the Easy-Bake Oven, and 16 of the 77 reported burns were
serious second or third degree burns.
In one case, a five-year-old girl had to have her finger partially amputated.
As a result, the company stopped offering the retrofit kit and simply recalled the faulty
Easy-Bake Ovens.
In 2012, 13-year-old McKenna Pope advocated for a gender-neutral Easy-Bake Oven.
She wanted to buy her little brother an Easy-Bake Oven and was surprised that it only came in
pink or purple.
According to Time, Pope made an online video and a petition on Change.org to get Hasbro
to create a gender-neutral version that would be more appealing to young boys like her brother.
Many celebrity chefs, including Food Network star Bobby Flay, supported Pope's cause, and
her petition eventually ended up with more than 40,000 signatures.
As a response, Hasbro announced the launch of a black and silver edition of the Easy-Bake
Oven that was revealed in February 2013 at the New York Toy Fair.
As part of the design process, Pope and her family were even invited to meet with Hasbro's
design team.
Plenty of toys have made an impact on kids' lives throughout the years, which is why it's
so impressive that in 2011, Time named the Easy-Bake Oven as one of the 100 greatest
toys of all time.
It joined a list of other recognizable names such as the Radio Flyer Wagon, finger paint,
army men, the hula hoop, and Barbie.
Other toys launched in the 1960s that also made the list include G.I.
Joe, Barrel of Monkeys, Etch A Sketch, Lite-Brite, Hot Wheels, Slip 'n Slide, Barbie's Dream
House, and Playmobil.
It's easy to underestimate the commercial success of the Easy-Bake Oven.
However, the product continues to be a big seller.
According to current Easy-Bake Oven owner Hasbro, more than 30 million Easy-Bake Ovens
have been sold since the toy's launch in 1963.
Hasbro also estimated that sales of Easy-Bake Oven mixes have exceeded 150 million.
As the products are still available, this number will only continue to grow as more
parents purchase Easy-Bake Ovens for their families.
According to Daily Dot, based on its sales performance, the Easy-Bake Oven ranks among
the most popular toys of all time.
Easy-Bake Ovens also have quite the pop culture following with appearances on many TV shows,
including prime time shows aimed at adults.
This includes mentions on "Fringe," "Seinfeld," and "How I Met Your Mother."
"Easy-Bake Oven, that's what I'm gonna call my van."
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey, even former first lady Michelle Obama mentioned
that she had an Easy-Bake Oven growing up.
"Oh, I did have an Easy Bake Oven.
But you know, once you run out of the mix, it's like, you're done with it."
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