The first domestic microwave oven is introduced. It’s an appliance born of the radar systems used in World War II—and the labs of U.S. defense companies.
Raytheon engineer Percy LeBaron Spencer was fiddling with a 1940s radar set when it accidentally melted a candy bar in his pocket. Figuring microwaves could heat other food, he popped corn and cooked an egg. Let’s get this show on the road.
Raytheon built Radarange, the first microwave oven in the world, in 1947. It was as large as a refrigerator, but heavier. Its magnetron tubes had to be water-cooled. Result: this test unit required a plumbing hookup, weighed seven hundred and fifty pounds, and was nearly six feet tall.
The commercial microwave oven didn’t arrive until 1954. Raytheon’s 1161 Radarange was expensive: $2,000 to $3,000 ($17,000 to $25,500 in today’s cash). Tappan used Raytheon technology to introduce a large 220-volt wall-unit home microwave in 1955. It sold for $1,295. It had two cooking speeds (500 and 800 watts), stainless steel exterior, glass shelf, top-browning element, and a recipe-card drawer. Consumers stayed away from the strange device. Sales were slow.
Litton Industries developed the short, wide microwave shape we now know. It also created an oven that could survive even when there was no object inside to heat up. Prices fell. Amana—a Raytheon subsidiary—introduced the first popular home model in 1967. The countertop Radarange cost $495 ($3,200 today).
Finally, consumer interest grew. About forty thousand units sold in the United States in 1970. Five years later, that number hit a million. The addition of electronic controls made microwaves easier to use, and they became a fixture in most kitchens. Roughly 25 percent of U.S. households owned a microwave oven by 1986, and almost 90 percent do today.—PG