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Easy-Bake Oven
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The Easy-Bake Oven is a working toy oven manufactured by Hasbro that originally used an ordinary incandescent light bulb as a heat source, but later began using a true heating element. By 1997, more than 16 million Easy-Bake Ovens (in 11 models) had been sold.
The oven comes with packets of pastry 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.
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Encyclopedia
The Easy-Bake Oven is a working toy oven manufactured by Hasbro that originally used an ordinary incandescent light bulb as a heat source, but later began using a true heating element. By 1997, more than 16 million Easy-Bake Ovens (in 11 models) had been sold.
The oven comes with packets of pastry 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. After cooking, the cake is pushed out through a slot in the other end.
Originated by Kenner
This iconic toy was introduced in 1963 by Kenner Products, a Cincinnati, Ohio based toy company. The original Easy-Bake Oven was designed to resemble a conventional oven, an appearance later abandoned. Today's Easy-Bake Ovens resemble microwave ovens.
The Easy-Bake Oven was invented by Ronald Howes, a prolific toy inventor known for working with Kenner Products. In addition to his creation of the Easy-Bake Oven, Howes also sold to Kenner a number of other inventions, including Play-Doh, Spirograph, Give-a-Show Projector, and Close-and-Play Record Player.
Hasbro versions
The Easy-Bake Oven and Snack Center was introduced in 1993; as of 2008 due to product recalls, it is the sole model offered on the manufacturer's website. It is powered by a 100 watt light bulb that was sold separately from the oven. Another, more sleek design, was introduced later.
A decade later, the Real Meal Oven was released. It won the 2003 Best Toy Parenting magazine Toy of the Year Award. Unlike previous versions, this oven could bake two pans at once. The neutral colors were appropriate for both genders. The pans were bigger, and it could bake both desserts and meals. Also, this model featured a heating element and did not require a light bulb.
In 2006, a different version of the Easy-Bake was released. It featured a stove-top warmer, and like the first version by Hasbro, it had smaller pans and only could bake one pan at a time. It also had a heating element.
The new front-loading Hasbro design, a substantial departure from the traditional push-through arrangement, was apparently ill-conceived as all (approx. 985,000) such units were recalled over safety concerns and reported injuries.
The oven was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2006.
Recalls
In February 2007, Hasbro and the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled 985,000 Easy-Bake toy ovens after finding that children's hands and fingers can get caught in the oven's opening, thereby posing serious risk of burns. Since the recall, there were at least 249 reports of children getting their hands or fingers caught in the ovens, including 16 reports of second- and third-degree burns, and partial finger amputation. As a result, Hasbro recalled all front-loading Easy Bake ovens sold since May 2006, even those that were repaired with the free kit distributed after the February 2007 recall.
See: 2007 Chinese export recalls.
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