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Stuff You Should Know Podcast Episode Summary
Episode Details
- Podcast Title: Stuff You Should Know
- Episode Title: SYSK's 12 Days of Christmas… Toys: How Easy Bake Ovens Work
- Episode Description: Easy Bake Ovens are an iconic toy in America, synonymous with childhood nostalgia. This episode explores the functionality, history, and impact of the Easy Bake Oven.
Key Themes and Discussions
Introduction to the Easy Bake Oven
- The Easy Bake Oven debuted in November 1963, coinciding with a pivotal moment in American history (the assassination of JFK).
- It quickly became a cultural icon and a symbol of childhood nostalgia.
- Josh and Chuck discuss their personal experiences with the toy, noting they both never owned one but can appreciate its significance.
Kenner Toys and Innovation
- Kenner, the company behind the Easy Bake Oven, was known for toys that allowed children to mimic adult activities.
- The idea for the Easy Bake Oven originated from a Kenner salesman observing street vendors using light bulbs to warm pretzels.
- Norman Shapiro and Ronald Howes played key roles in the development of the oven, emphasizing safety by using light bulbs instead of traditional heating elements.
Design and Functionality
- Early models used two incandescent light bulbs; later revisions improved efficiency by using a single bulb through convection heating.
- The design facilitated safe access for children while baking, but modifications in 2006 introduced safety issues that led to recalls due to burns.
Marketing and Cultural Impact
- The Easy Bake Oven was marketed not just to children but also to parents, highlighting the fun of baking together.
- Advertisements often featured mothers and daughters, reinforcing gender roles in cooking and household activities.
- As societal views on gender evolved, the Easy Bake Oven's marketing remained largely targeted towards girls until a petition by McKenna Pope in 2013 prompted a gender-neutral redesign.
Evolution and Challenges
- General Mills acquired Kenner in 1967, leading to the introduction of Betty Crocker-branded mixes for the ovens.
- The Easy Bake Oven faced challenges as design changes sometimes lagged behind consumer safety standards, leading to recalls and redesigns.
- The product has undergone several changes in aesthetics and functionality over the decades, often reflecting contemporary design trends and marketing strategies.
Modern Adaptations
- The Easy Bake Oven has maintained its popularity by adapting to modern kitchen aesthetics and consumer expectations, including the introduction of gender-neutral versions.
- The product's legacy continues to be a topic of interest, sparking nostalgia and conversation about childhood and cultural expectations.
Conclusion
- The Easy Bake Oven stands as a testament to innovation in children's toys, blending safety, creativity, and nostalgia. It reflects broader societal changes in attitudes toward gender roles in play and domesticity.
- The episode encapsulates how a simple toy can have a lasting impact on culture and personal memories, making it a significant topic of discussion within the series of holiday toy episodes.
Key Takeaways
- The Easy Bake Oven is an enduring symbol of childhood and gendered play.
- It has evolved through various safety and design challenges while remaining a beloved toy.
- Conversations around it reflect changing societal norms regarding gender and play.
Final Notes
- This episode is part of the "12 Days of Christmas Toys" series, celebrating iconic toys and their histories. The hosts reflect on the emotional resonance these toys have for many people, highlighting their significance beyond mere playthings.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.
0:31on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, we always say new year, new me, but real change starts on the inside. It starts with giving your mind and your spirit the same attention you give your goals. Hey everybody, it's Michelle Williams, host of Checking In on the Black Effect Podcast Network. And on my podcast, we talk mental health, healing, growth, and everything you need to step into your next season, whole and empowered. New Year, Real You. Listen to Checking In with Michelle Williams from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:11The show was ahead of its time to represent a Black family in ways the television hadn't shown before. Exactly. It's Telma Hopkins, also known as Aunt Rachel. And I'm Kelly Williams or Laura Winslow. On our podcast, Welcome to the Family with Telma and Kelly, we're re-watching every episode of Family Matters. We'll share behind-the-scenes stories about making the show. Yeah, we'll even bring in some special guests to spill some tea. Listen to Welcome to the Family with Thelma and Kelly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Well, friends, we've reached the end of our playlist, The Stuff You Should Know, 12 Days of Christmas Toys.
1:50This one is one of my all-time favorite episodes. Not just toy episodes, but favorite episodes. The Easy Bake Oven. which had this huge cultural impact and still does today. If you want to make somebody nostalgic, just say Easy Bake Oven and watch their eyes well up with tears. It's really fun. At any rate, we want to thank you for joining us on this journey through our Christmas toy episodes. We want to wish all of you Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from Stuff You Should Know.
2:23Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio.
2:32Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryant. There's Ramsey over there, the Uge, which means it's time for Stuff You Should Know, Nostalgia Edition, colon, T.S. Hodgman. Yeah, we've done a few toys. Play-Doh, Slinkies, right? What else? Does a boomerang count as a toy? It's a way of life, mate. We've done tons. We did Silly Putty. Silly Putty, sure. We did, you know, a bunch. The balls? Yeah, the balls. The balls episode. How balls work. They round and they bounce. We said balls like a million times in that episode. Yeah, this one's kind of cool, though.
3:25The Easy Bake Oven, which I never had one. Did you ever have one in your home? I don't think so, no. I don't think my sister had one either. Although I was a pretty tubby kid, so it's possible that my mom was like, make sure your brother doesn't know you have one of those. Do not feed your brother anything from there. But it's interesting that this is one where sort of a very simple idea, and you never can tell what's going to hit toy-wise. Nothing super complex about this, other than you could literally bake food and sort of pretend to be an adult in the kitchen. That was the basis of it, being an adult.
4:03That was kind of Kenner's thing. And Kenner, the people who made Star Wars toys were the ones behind this. And they were very much into toys that let kids pretend they were grown-ups. Yeah. That was their bag. Yeah. I have a new neighbor, actually. Shout out to Rick. Kathy. Hey, guys. Well, they really got under your skin, huh? What? Rick and Kathy got a shout-out on the podcast and their new neighbors? Jeez. Yeah, because he worked for—I was talking to him, and I was like, he seems like a good guy. I was like, what do you do, Rick? He's retired now. What did you do? And he's like, I was a toy and action figure designer for Kenner.
4:43And I was like, whoa. What years? He came on after—the first thing he worked on was the Tim Burton Batman movies. Nice. And he stayed on for a long time, like his whole career, like after they were sold and everything. Wow. Pretty neat. That is very cool. Yeah. Good for him. Yeah. He still does wonderful sculpture. Oh, I'll bet. Just go after Rick Watkins' art online and check it out. I'm going to check it out. But, I mean, Kenner is such a big deal to people our age and of many ages. But I didn't realize their origin as a company. Remember in the, we talked, we did a whole Action Figures episode, remember?
5:26Oh, yeah. And we talked a lot about Kenner. Was that a two-part episode, or was it just like an hour and a half long? I feel like it was just long. It was very long. But Kenner almost didn't do the Star Wars ones, if I remember. But for us, at least, that put Kenner on the map. What I didn't realize is that Kenner was already on the map as far as toys go. Yeah. And one of the ways that they got there was from the Easy Bake Oven, which debuted in November of 1963, right around the time that John Kennedy was shot. Yeah, but Kenner had been around since the 1940s. Albert Phillip and Joseph Steiner formed the company after, as legend goes, one of them saw a bubble, you know, maker bubble wand or whatever you call him.
6:12Yeah. And was like, hey, if I could do a gun that shoots bubbles, we might be on to something. and that was their very first product, is the bubblematic gun. And then whatever, less than 20 years later, the Easy Bake Oven, even though, as we learned today and yesterday, there had been toy ovens since like the Victorian days. Yes, like really, really dangerous ones. I know, like real little ovens. Yeah, like wood-burning pellet solid fuel stoves made of cast iron that were sized down for little kids to use. Yeah, basically like here's the oven that can kill your parents. We'll just make a smaller one that can kill you.
6:50Right, yeah. Yeah, so the children's play oven, functioning play oven history very kind of closely tracks the real oven history, right? Yeah. Like when there were cast iron wood-burning ovens, there were kids' versions of them. As real ovens moved into electric ovens, there were kids' versions of them. Apparently Lionel, the model train makers, they made some in the 30s. Also, we want to give a shout out to Lisa Hicks and the people at Collectors Weekly for a great article we also used for this episode too. But in the 30s, there were electric ovens. by the 40s or 50s, I think, there were fiberglass insulated ovens, electric ovens.
7:41It was just like a small oven for kids. But they were ovens. They were extremely dangerous. And Kenner had this really great idea. And the reason that this idea came about at Kenner to begin with is apparently Kenner was really big on having, like, ideas could come from anywhere. Anybody in the company, float an idea. And people would listen. They had like regular meetings where, you know, there were bowl sessions. Maybe they ordered some like chow mein or something like that. Everyone rolled up their sleeves and relaxed and spat out ideas. And one of the salesmen from Kenner came back in from the field and said, you know what?
8:21I saw something. I saw some pretzel vendors keeping their pretzels warm on the street using a light bulb. What if we used a light bulb to heat up an oven for the little kitties? and somebody, I think Charles Howes, Ralph Howes. Well, Norman Shapiro was that gentleman. Okay. And then Ronald Howes. Ronald Howes. Was the big time inventor for Kenner who had a couple of like really big products under his belt. And he was like, that's an ace's idea. That's exactly how he talked. Yeah, probably so. Everyone hated him for it. But he was really good at inventing toys, so they had to put up with it. Yeah, but Kenner's deal, like you were saying, was find things that mimic adult things.
9:07And that's like kind of, I bet like kids are going to dig that stuff. And they did from like, and kids still do, little toy lawnmowers and toy bulldozers. And I mean, Ruby's got a little cleaning set with like a duster and a dustpan and a mop. Is she OCD? No, but I mean, all the time she will say, you know, come on, daddy, let's clean. And she'll hand me a mop. That's a little OCD. Well, no, that's good then. Yeah. I like where she's headed. Did you have one of those plastic safety razors so you could shave next to your dad? No. I did. But I think a lot of boys are pretty obsessed with shaving before they have whiskers.
9:45Yeah. And I think I heard that they would actually stimulate hair growth on your face. I was about to say, I remember being worried about that. Yeah, because I didn't have, I had a pretty, I mean, looking at me now, you would never know. But I didn't have a lot of facial hair going on until well into college. Was it like lacking or did it come in patchy? Just a little bit, sort of like my brother is now. He just stayed in that phase where. Your brother's got a perfect chiseled face. Well, I know. That's because he doesn't have a beard. Oh, okay. But Scott can grow a pretty decent goatee now, but I don't think he could grow the full beard.
10:20But his was, we were both spotty, like a little bit above the lip, a little bit on the chin. The one part just kind of traced a line up to your eye from around, from under your nose. Yeah, but I mean, it was sort of a family thing. We're not hairy dudes. We don't have very hairy legs or stuff like that. It is odd that you have such a full beard. Like I don't have hairy arms or anything like that. You're a beast. I don't know if beast is the right word, but yes, I'm a little hairy. You're a hairy guy. My chest hair definitely plucks out from under my shirt. You ever done any like laser or anything like that?
10:53No. No? Good for you. No, I'm just, I'm hairy. No, I mean, you're normal. It's not like you're Robin Williams. No. He was hairy. Yes, he was. God rest his soul. Yes, indeed. So back to the ovens. So the idea has been put out there now by Norman Shapiro? Yes. Yeah, okay. So it was taken up by Ronald House. And this was huge and groundbreaking because, again, there were unsafe ovens for kids that have been around since the 19th century. what these guys had just happened upon was the way to make another unsafe oven seem safe to parents. Yeah. That was it. That was the genius of this idea. That is what made Easy Bake Ovens take off.
11:38What they had figured out was that if they used a light bulb as the heating element and believe me, a light bulb can heat up an oven. Sure. 350. Yeah. Up to 350, which is a common baking temp. Yes. from a light bulb. And actually, at first, we'll see a pair of light bulbs. But the fact is, they're light bulbs, and parents are familiar with light bulbs. They don't seem weird or scary. Yeah, it's not a wood pellet. And the fact that it's not like a heating element like in an actual oven, it's just a light bulb, that is what they use to convince parents that this was a safe product that they could buy for their kids.
12:14It was a genius idea. It really was. And like you teased a second ago, the very first model in 1963, and if you look at that very first one, it doesn't really even look like an oven. Well, certainly the new one doesn't either. No. I did go online. I was like, maybe I should get one of those, but they're ugly now. I'm sorry to the person who designed them. Yes, I'm glad you said it. They are ugly little ovens. Yeah, they should kind of go back to looking more classic, I think. Yeah. That'd be my advice. But they used two 100-watt incandescent bulbs at first, One over the top and another under the bottom.
12:53Obviously, they were trying to get an even heat because you're baking things. Right. And they very wisely designed this thing so that the actual oven part was basically inaccessible to the kit. Right. On either side. So just imagine a box. Okay. Oh, man. Here's where. I love it. Okay. It's my favorite thing when you try to describe something visual. Let me see if I close my eyes. It works. Imagine a box Okay And then coming out from either side of the box Are a couple of little arms Okay But the arms are half arms And they're rectangular and hollow Okay And they're actually openings One opening you slide in the uncooked thing That you want to bake Into the heating area, the oven Let it bake And you push it through the other side The cooling chamber and then it comes out the other arm.
13:50Everyone, Josh just had his eyes closed that entire time. And it worked. I really painted a great picture. In your mind's eye. Yes. Yeah, so that's what's going on. You had the two bulbs. And in fact, let's go ahead and take a break there. Oh, okay. It's a nice little cliffhanger. When we come back, I'll re-describe the Easy Bake Oven again. Sounds good.
14:19Hi, Kyle. Could you draw up a quick document with the basic business plan? Just one page as a Google Doc and send me the link. Thanks. Hey, just finished drawing up that quick one page business plan for you. Here's the link. But there was no link. There was no business plan. It's not his fault. I hadn't programmed Kyle to be able to do that yet. My name is Evan Ratliff. I decided to create Kyle, my AI co-founder, after hearing a lot of stuff like this from OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman. There's this betting pool for the first year that there's a one-person billion-dollar company, which would have been unimaginable without AI, and now will happen.
14:53I got to thinking, could I be that one person? I'd made AI agents before for my award-winning podcast, Shell Game. This season on Shell Game, I'm trying to build a real company with a real product run by fake people. Oh, hey, Evan. Good to have you join us. I found some really interesting data on adoption rates for AI agents in small to medium businesses. Listen to Show Game on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Like if we're on the air here and I literally have my contract here and I'm looking at, you know, as soon as I sign this, I'm going to get a seven figure check. I've told them I won't be working here in two weeks.
15:30From the underground clubs that shaped global music to the pastors and creators who built the cultural empire. The Atlanta Is podcast uncovers the stories behind one of the most influential cities in the world. The thing I love about Atlanta is that it's a city of hustlers, man. Each episode explores a different chapter of Atlanta's rise, featuring conversations with Ludacris, Will Packer, Pastor Jamal Bryant, DJ Drama, and more. The full series is available to listen to now. I really just had never experienced anything like what was going on in the city as far as like, you know, seeing so many young, black, affluent creatives in all walks of life.
16:07The church had dwindled almost to nothing. And God said, this is your assignment. And that's like how you know, like, okay, are you from Atlanta for real? I ain't got to say too much. I'm a Grady baby. Shut up. Listen to Atlanta is on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The moments that shape us often begin with a simple question. What do I want my life to look like now? I'm Dr. Joy Harden Bradford. And on Therapy for Black Girls, we create space for honest conversations about identity, relationships, mental health, and the choices that help us grow. As cybersecurity expert Camille Stewart-Gloster reminds us, We are in a divisive time where our comments are weaponized against us.
16:51And so what we find is a lot of Black women are standing up and speaking out because they feel the brunt of the pain. Each week we explore the tools and insights that help you move with purpose, whether you're navigating something new or returning to yourself. If you're ready for thoughtful guidance and grounded support, this is the place for you. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
17:27All right, we were at one bulb, right? Yes. I'm sorry, no, we were at two bulbs. Right. It was so long ago, I couldn't remember. I know. It was a full ad ago. But then what they did was they figured if they just engineered this thing to distribute heat and hold heat a little better, almost like a convection oven. Yeah. Exactly like a convection oven, that they could go down to one bulb. Yeah, there was a dude named Charles... Hold on. I really want... Yeah, Charles Cummings. Charles one bulb Cummings? Yeah, that's what he was known as. Charles Cummings was a designer at Kenner. And I think in the late 70s, he designed the interior of the oven so that the bulb, one bulb, created convection current.
18:14So it cooked just as well as two bulbs, but you just needed one. And he owns the patent to that. Oh, really? Well, that's smart. Which is the way it should be. Yeah. He was the designer. He came up with it. That's pretty rare, too, I think. Kenner, of course, I'm sure had an exclusive license to it, but I'm sure he got a decent amount of money from that license agreement. That is the way it should be. He also created the patent, or he held the patent for the add-on popcorn maker that you could put onto the Easy Bake Oven, too. Good for him. Good for you, Charles Cummings. Charles One Bulb Cummings.
18:48He probably lives on top of a mountain somewhere. He does. On a mountain of money. So, all right, you're down to One Bulb, thanks to Charlie Cummings. Yeah. They initially wanted to call this in 1963 when it was two bulbs. When it debuted. Yeah, right out of the gate. They wanted to call it in November of 63, the safety bake oven, because they really wanted to drive this home, was that it was super safe. Right. And the regulatory bodies were like, you can't, you haven't even sold one yet. Like, we don't, we're not sure if this is going to kill kids. Right, it burned a dozen monkeys during the product testing trials.
19:23Oh, that's so awful. But you can't call it that yet because we don't know yet whether it's truly safe. Go ahead and sell them. Sure. But just don't call it safe. The safety bake oven. So they're like, well, what about easy? And they're like, are we still talking about this? We're done with you. Go away. And so they were like, okay, fine, we'll call it the Easy Bake Oven then. And they sold it as the Easy Bake Oven, and it sold out immediately. They sold it, so November 1963 is right before the Christmas season. Actually, it's in the Christmas season, I think, even back then. And they made a little more than half a million units and sold them all before Christmas.
19:59Yeah, for$15.95, which is expensive, that would be about$130 today. No. Yeah, that's an expensive toy. Wow. And if you look at the thing, I saw a picture of one that's for sale on eBay for really cheap. I think it was like 30 bucks or something. Really? It was unused in the box. What? It still needed to be assembled. But if you look at it, you're like, that thing looks like a death trap. Huh. It looks like the Ford Pinto of children's toys from the 60s. You know, like the sharp metal edges? Yeah, sure. And like, that's what it looks like. Like the baby strollers we were pushed around in. Yeah.
20:32Remember that Dan Aykroyd SNL skit from years ago with the Dangerous Christmas toys? And there was one called the bag of glass. So great. And that's all it was. It was just a bag of shards of glass. So, yeah, they sold a half a million. And then they're like, we got to make a lot more of these for next year. Yeah, because this is back at a time when toys didn't do that very often. You know, it seems like every Christmas now people are like, well, what's the toy we should go fight other parents for in the aisles? Tell us. Yeah, because I'm training in the ring. This is when it happened organically.
21:06When you put out a toy and if it became like the fight-worthy toy, that was a few and far between thing. The Easy Bake Oven was the fight-worthy toy right out of the gate. Yeah. So in year two, I think they made about$1.5 million, sold all those. And here's the little bit of genius from Kenner is anytime you can sell a supplementary product to the big thing, then you're really cooking with gas. That's like the Gillette Razor model. I think it was King Gillette who came up with that. Yeah. So what they did was they sold mixes, you know, these little instant mixes that you would pour and it would make a little cruddy cake.
21:46And they had 25 of these at first. And we're selling those like crazy because. Like hot cake. If you're a kid, you want all those. You're like, well, I haven't tried the strawberry cake yet. Plus also. Maybe it'll taste better, mommy. It's not like you're putting this in like a book, like some baseball cards. And you're like, well, I've got this one. and I don't need it anymore. You eat that thing, and you need another thing to replace it. And you poop it out. Yeah. And you're not going to eat the poop again. No. You're going to go buy another one. And that was the genius of the other genius idea of this whole thing.
22:19There was a third genius idea, too. Kenner did this so right. The licensing? I'm in awe. Not just, no, the advertising. Oh, sure. So remember, this is kids emulating grownups. That was their thing.
22:34they advertise not just to kids through like Archie's comics, but they advertise directly to their parents too. There were ads for the Easy Bake Oven on I Love Lucy and on Hogan's Heroes, according to this Collector's Weekly article. And in these ads, if you look at a lot of old ads and even some of the newer ads too for Easy Bake Oven, it's a mom and a daughter. Right. And the parent is like, oh, this is something we can do together. I love baking. It's basically my whole life. I live in 1963, and I'm a woman. So I would love to share that with my daughter. Maybe she's old enough to have an Easy Bake Oven herself.
23:12And that definitely helped propel sales for sure because it's not just kids going, I want an Easy Bake Oven. It's the parents going, that'd be a great thing to do with my kid. Yeah, and of course, as people evolved and people became more woke over time, even though that word wasn't used, enlightened maybe it became a bit of a problem with gender roles and like this is for moms and daughters they're pink and that's what you're supposed to do is be in the kitchen baking for the men yeah I mean very famously the Easy Bake Ovens always ended with the disclaimer like this toy is not for boys yeah it didn't really but essentially like that was what was coming through and the weird thing is as far as like legendary and iconic a toy as the Easy Bake Oven was, as gender roles evolved.
24:06I mean, we're talking like the early 70s when this really started to become like a thing. Yeah. The Easy Bake Oven did not evolve with it. Right. As we will see, it wasn't until the early 2000s that they started to respond to that kind of thing. And I saw an ad for 2014, not a boy in sight. Yeah. All girls and just dancing around like the girliest easy bake oven you could possibly imagine. They actually got more girly as time went on. More girl focused as gender roles went on, which is really weird to me. To be that, not just non-responsive, but almost like, no, we're going the opposite way. Yeah, and in early 2000s Hasbro, who, you know, they bought out Kenner eventually.
24:54Makers of the classic Snoopy snow cone machine. I never had one of those. Did you have one of those? No, a neighbor did. Okay. But you got to eat some of that sweet, sweet sugar ice? There was nothing like the taste of, I think the cherry one. I can't remember, but it was just the greatest snow cone you could possibly have. And that's until you had a shaved ice later, and you're like, oh, wait, this is a lot better. Still number one reigning champ. Really? Number two is blue raspberry slush puppy. Yeah, see, what I would always do is slurp that sweet liquid, and then I'd be left with just some faintly colored kind of just ice.
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25:29Oh, yeah. No, I know. That was the problem with it for sure. Yeah. But if you did it right and you just kind of let it settle, you got through the nasty stuff first. When you got to the bottom, then you got to the true, like, hyper-dense snow cone experience. Yeah, I could never do that. I still have problems regulating my, like, hot fudge to ice cream ratio when eating a sundae. Oh, yeah? I just won't even do it anymore. So you do all the hot fudge first and then you're left to some cruddy ice cream? Yep. I mean, that's standard. Cruddy, delicious ice cream. Right. This ice cream that some people around the world would kill for is cruddy.
26:06It doesn't have any more fudge. Dude, I've been on a 15-year campaign to convince Emily that vanilla ice cream is like a legit flavor. I think she still thinks that vanilla ice cream is just like— Unflavored ice milk? Yeah, it's like it's the one without the flavor added, right? I'm like, no, vanilla. Yeah. This is really delicious. It is. It is. It's subtle. Vanilla bean ice cream, like a true. The Flex. So good. I'm with you. So in early 2000, they finally, like you said, tried in a very ham-fisted way to get boys involved with the QU Easy Bake. Queasy Bake. Is that what it is? Took me a second, too, because QU is a separate word.
26:47Okay, now it all makes sense. It's not even hyphenated. So the queasy bake oven and the mixerator for you boys, you can make mud and crud cakes and larvalicious cocoon cookies. And, you know, not like, hey, just bake something good because anyone can bake. Yeah, anyone can bake. And they didn't, like, the girls don't use that one. Yeah, it was only boys that showed up in these ads. They're like, we really need to get boys involved. How can we do that? Oh, we'll make one specifically for boys that's like they're making cruddy cakes. I mean, I know they're just trying to sell stuff, but in these meetings, in these marketing meetings, you just can't help but think they're a bunch of 85-year-old men.
27:28It's our Senate that's in there. Right, they're like screaming and pounding and yelling at each other about the idea of selling this to boys. Oh, man. Well, after that, I feel like we should probably take a break. Yeah, we'll go to our Senate chambers and regroup right after this.
27:55Hi, Kyle. Could you draw up a quick document with the basic business plan? Just one page as a Google Doc and send me the link. Thanks. Hey, just finished drawing up that quick one page business plan for you. Here's the link. But there was no link. There was no business plan. It's not his fault. Well, I hadn't programmed Kyle to be able to do that yet. My name is Evan Ratliff. I decided to create Kyle, my AI co-founder, after hearing a lot of stuff like this from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. There's this betting pool for the first year that there's a one-person billion-dollar company, which would have been unimaginable without AI, and now it will happen.
28:30I got to thinking, could I be that one person? I'd made AI agents before for my award-winning podcast, Shell Game. This season on Shell Game, I'm trying to build a real company with a real product. run by fake people. Oh, hey, Evan. Good to have you join us. I found some really interesting data on adoption rates for AI agents and small to medium businesses. Listen to Show Game on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Like if we're on the air here and I literally have my contract here and I'm looking at, you know, as soon as I sign this, I'm going to get a seven figure check. I've told them I won't be working here in two weeks.
29:06From the underground clubs that shaped global music to the pastors and creators who built a cultural empire. The Atlanta Is podcast uncovers the stories behind one of the most influential cities in the world. The thing I love about Atlanta is that it's a city of hustlers, man. Each episode explores a different chapter of Atlanta's rise, featuring conversations with Ludacris, Will Packer, Pastor Jamal Bryant, DJ Drama, and more. The full series is available to listen to now. I really just had never experienced anything like what was going on in the city as far as like, you know, I've seen so many young, black, affluent creatives in all walks of life.
29:43The church had dwindled almost to nothing. And God said, this is your assignment. And that's like how you know, like, okay, are you from Atlanta for real? I ain't got to say too much. I'm a Grady baby. Shut up. Listen to Atlanta is on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The moments that shape us often begin with a simple question. What do I want my life to look like now? I'm Dr. Joy Harden-Bradford, and on Therapy for Black Girls, we create space for honest conversations about identity, relationships, mental health, and the choices that help us grow. As cybersecurity expert Camille Stewart-Gloster reminds us, We are in a divisive time where our comments are weaponized against us.
30:27And so what we find is a lot of Black women are standing up and speaking out because they feel the brunt of the pain. Each week we explore the tools and insights that help you move with purpose, whether you're navigating something new or returning to yourself. If you're ready for thoughtful guidance and grounded support, this is the place for you. Listen to Therapy for Black Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
31:03All right. So in 1967, the Easy Bake Oven is selling like hotcakes, literally. General Mills buys Kenner, and they did a couple of genius things. They partnered because they were General Mills. They had no problem because they owned Betty Crocker as well, I assume, launching Betty Crocker branded mixes. Right. And then later on they got into licensing deals with McDonald's and Pizza Hut because here's the thing, you can bake anything in an Easy Bake Oven because it's just a little oven. Yeah, I saw that. You can make pizza. You don't have to buy these mixes. You can just bake cookies that you made from scratch.
31:42Yeah. And there's like a lot of recipes online, Easy Bake Oven recipes. Yeah, that actually don't taste like garbage. Right. So, yeah, they did have a huge line of mixes, though, and they sold more than 100 million of them over the years. Man, that's how they get you. But, I mean, there were recipes for or mixes for candy bars, pecan brittle, popcorn, bubble gum. You could bake your own bubble gum. Interesting. It is interesting. I would have tried that for sure. I want to see bubble gum come out in, like, a brownie pan. Yeah. I'd be like, I want some of that bubble gum. That looks amazing. We had a cotton candy machine, now that I remember.
32:21What? It would just spin sugar and you would... Oh, I know what they do. Yeah. I wanted one. Yep. That thing was probably dangerous. It was probably like a nuclear centrifuge. What was interesting about those, or fascinating to me, was the cotton candy... Oh, it's not called... It's not the web. Spun sugar or something like that? Yeah, I want to say web, but that's not it either. It's not really visible in the machine. Silk, yeah. But when you stick in the little cone, it just builds up on it like it's just coming out of another dimension into this one. Like coming out of a spider's butt. It's awesome to see.
32:58Yeah. A pink and blue spider's butt. Man, I had to go out yesterday to, I still have my pickup truck because I just kept it because it was paid for. And I still move and haul stuff occasionally. Yeah. I had to move something. You have to justify it to me. I had to move something yesterday, and I went out, and there was the most beautiful, huge spider web from a tree down attached to the rear tailgate of my truck. And you were like, Chuck, smash! With this big spider right in the middle, and I was like, oh, man, I just felt so bad. I didn't know what to do. So you just put it in reverse and pretended nothing, you didn't see anything?
33:34No, I actually plucked it off little by little because I wanted to ensure his safety. Oh, that's nice of you. The web just goes crumbling down into a long, skinny string, and he climbs right up to the tree. And I was just like, I'm really sorry. He's like, oh, I'm sure you are. I see you. I know. He tried to spit venom into my eyeball. He's like, what do you need your truck for? And you're like, I've got to go get peanut butter. He's like, oh, good. Thank you for ruining 30 hours of my work. A giant vat of peanut butter that would only fit in my truck. All right. So let's flash forward here to the modern times.
34:11In 2007, the Energy Independence and Security Act, when the government said by 2012, light bulbs have to increase their efficiency by 25 percent. So bye-bye 100-watt incandescent bulb. Yeah. So let me just say something. Let me set that up too. Over the years, the Easy Bake Oven had just remained a steady seller for Kenner and then Hasbro. And the design had been basically the same. It went from two bulbs to one bulb, but it was this closed box where the heating element was, where there was a slot on the side. Remember, I went through the whole thing, pushed it in, and it came out of the cooling chamber on the other side.
34:49But really, the design was the same. The outward look changed. Like, it went from the weird, its own thing to the late 70s and early 80s. It started to resemble a microwave. Sure. And then, in response to this change in light bulb requirements, Easy Bake did a redesign in 2006. And for the first time ever, the Easy Bake oven actually looked like an oven, like a stove. It had little, like, fake burners on the top. It looked like a stove. And it was actually a front loader to where there was like a slot in the front of the Easy Bake Oven. And that's where you put the thing in. And that's where you actually pulled it out from too.
35:28And it went right into the heating element. And they replaced the light bulb because, again, so long 100-watt light bulb because of the energy act with an actual heating element, a ceramic heating element like an oven. Yeah, it was an oven. So they made an oven, but then when they made the oven, they redesigned this thing so that you could put your fingers right into the oven while it was baking at its hottest temperature. And, of course, kids immediately started doing that. How did that one slip past? No idea. I mean, that just doesn't make any sense at all. So in the end, I think, what, close to 250 kids ended up with, like, second and third degree burns.
36:10Yeah. One partial amputation of a finger. Yeah, because kids would get their fingers stuck in it, right? And it's just searing. And then some kids got their fingers stuck in it while it was hot. Yeah. And yes, they were getting huge burns. So Hasbro was like, well, we'll do a recall. And they recalled like 985 ,000. I think ultimately a million of these things they recalled. First, they tried to say, here's a little fix. Yeah, here's a retrofitted piece. It's really easy to snap it on and it'll solve everything. And apparently it did solve everything. They're like, why didn't you make it that way to begin with?
36:44Right. But most parents were not, like, they didn't have their ears out that there was a recall of their Easy Bake Oven. And so the kids kept getting burned. And finally Hasbro was like, just bring them back. So there was a recall of a million Easy Bake Ovens from that 2006 redesign. That's a huge toy for them. Like, if that would have ruined the Easy Bake Oven, that would have been a big, big deal. So what they did was they temporarily went back to an old design featuring a light bulb too while they redesigned it to the new version. So then they came out in 2011 with that really ugly designed what's called the Easy Bake Ultimate Oven.
37:26Oh, I'm looking at it now. Yeah, it does. It looks terrible. It's horrible. It's super – it looks like it's on the go or something like that. I don't like it. It looks like a weird toaster oven. Yeah, but it's sort of, it looks like it's trying to look futuristic and modern, which never ends up looking like that. No, it doesn't. But they also made it pink and purple. Yep. Super girly. The ads were super girl targeted. Yep, there's flowers on it. And again, they were like, nope, this is for girls. Boys, don't play with this. So in 2000, I think 2013, there was a girl named McKenna Pope. Yes. who is just a hero of heroes.
38:11She's amazing. I saw an interview with her on CNN. She's pretty great. She's just so self-possessed and intelligent and well-spoken, but also like a kid and aware she's a kid. She's just amazing. One of those clearly reincarnated. Yeah. And she started a petition to get Hasbro to make a gender-neutral version of its Easy Bake Oven because her little brother liked to bake but realized that the Easy Bake Oven was for girls. She wanted him to be able to bake, so she said, Hasbro, why don't you make one that's gender neutral? And got something like 50 ,000 signatures for her petition, and Hasbro came out with a new version of the Easy Bake Ultimate Oven, which was just a black version of it, black and I think silver.
38:56I'm surprised it wasn't like our brush stainless model to emulate kitchens. Right. Yeah, she's probably almost 20 years old now. Yeah. I wonder what she's doing. McKenna Pope, are you out there? She's some sort of consumer protection lawyer, I'll bet. Probably so. I hope so. Me too. 2006, they go into the National Toy Hall of Fame. The same year that disastrous redesign. Yeah. It got in just under the wire. They did, yeah. Can't take it back. I'm trying to look here from their very own website, some of the landmark years. And it is kind of funny that it emulated the styles at the time, unless they were just doing pink.
39:36Like in 69, they premiered the Avocado Green. Yeah. The very next year was Harvest Gold. Yeah. It's very good. Metallic P. We say that a lot in our house. Oh, they had a potato chip maker. Did we mention that? No. 1973, the Easy Bake Potato Chip Maker. That's awesome. and then in 78 they finally started putting a fake digital clock on it that always read 1230. Okay. Not 420. You see that a lot as a joke. Sure. And like the – Pothead joke. Yeah, but like you'll see an alarm clock ad in like SkyMall or something and it'll say 420. Right, because the publisher's not paying attention. They get it.
40:21They don't know. Or they don't care. Sure. I remember years ago when we used to have a lot of illustrations on HowStuffWorks and had two in-house illustrators that I won't name. And I remember one of them drew like a park scene for me and the tree clearly had a marijuana leaf like embedded in it. Right. And I was like, hey, man, you can't do that. And he was like, oh, that was completely an accident. Right. I was like, man, I wasn't born yesterday. Yeah. I've seen a pot leaf before. I mean, I thought it was funny, but like, you know. Yeah. Couldn't do that. You got anything else? I don't think so.
40:58Easy Bake Oven. Mac and cheese you can bake. Oh, in 2003, they introduced the real meal oven. And that's when you could do like french fries and pizza and mac and cheese and stuff. I think that was the predecessor to the ceramic heating element that they eventually redid the Easy Bake in in 2006. Good stuff. Good stuff. If you want a nice blast from the past, just type in like Easy Bake Oven commercials. There's one from 1980 that was just perfect. Yeah. Was it rad? No, it was pretty rad. Oh, okay. It was like Carpenters era. Gotcha. Which is not rad, but still lovely. Yes. Love the Carpenters.
41:38Me too. Well, if you want to know more about Easy Bake Ovens or the Carpenters or the Snoopy Snowcomb machine, just go onto the internet. It's a vast repository of stuff like that. And since I said that, it's time for Listener Mail. Hey guys, I'm a freelance writer who works remotely. So I've been writing and traveling the world for the past year and a half. It's been wild. Since I've been traveling alone, it can get lonely. But from Mexico City to Bali to Tokyo, you guys have been with me, keeping me company, making me laugh, teaching me all kinds of cool facts. As a content writer, I also feel a connection to y 'all.
42:12We both have to research seemingly mundane topics sometimes and discover the cool, interesting things about them, present them in a palatable way. People sometimes laugh when I'm telling that I'm writing something like The History of the Egg McMuffin or The Best Month to Buy a Mattress. But I'd just point to your podcast as a sterling example of how gems and surprises lie within even the most unassuming topics. Thank you. Yeah, I agree. Have you guys ever considered doing a show on digital nomading? Never. I know it's becoming increasingly popular as more companies embrace remote working. I'm in a cafe in Medellin, Colombia, right now, and there are five digital nomads tapping away on their laptops as we speak.
42:55They would beat me up if they knew I just referred to them as digital nomads. The future is location independent, I say. Thanks again for being so awesome. It's a short-term dream of mine to digital nomad over to a country where you're doing a live show. Buy you guys a drink. Awesome. If you do read this on the air, please give a shout-out to Mark Alexander, who insisted that I keep listening to you guys even after I was initially slightly turned off by all of your asides and off-tracking. Happens to a lot of people. And that's funny because we had a lot of those today. You know, that reminds me of a totally unrelated story.
43:29She says, now I very much learned to appreciate those. He would burst into tears and I would too. So thank you, Mark Alexander, for turning on your friend, Maria Christina Ladonde. Thanks a lot. Beautiful name. Yeah. I'm sorry, Lalonde. Lalonde. Maria Cristina Lalonde. Beautiful. And I hope that your buddy did just burst out into tears. That'd be amazing. It's pretty neat. Thanks for that email. If you want to get in touch with us, you can find us on the web at stuffyoushouldknow.com. Check out our social links there. And if you like, send an email to stuffpodcasts at howstuffworks.com.
44:10Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts are wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
44:26Hi, Kyle. Could you draw up a quick document with the basic business plan? Just one page as a Google Doc and send me the link. Thanks. Hey, just finished drawing up that quick one-page business plan for you. Here's the link. But there was no link. There was no business plan. I hadn't programmed Kyle to be able to do that yet. I'm Evan Ratliff here with a story of entrepreneurship in the AI age. Listen as I attempt to build a real startup run by fake people. Check out the second season of my podcast, Shell Game, on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. You know, we always say new year, new me, but real change starts on the inside.
45:01It starts with giving your mind and your spirit the same attention you give your goals. Hey, everybody, it's Michelle Williams, host of Checking In on the Black Effect Podcast Network. And on my podcast, we talk mental health, healing, growth and everything you need to step into your next season, whole and empowered. New year, real you. Listen to Checking In with Michelle Williams from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The show was ahead of its time to represent a Black family in ways the television hadn't shown before. Exactly.
45:39It's Telma Hopkins, also known as Aunt Rachel. And I'm Kelly Williams, or Laura Winslow. On our podcast, Welcome to the Family with Telma and Kelly, we're re-watching every episode of Family Matters. We'll share behind-the-scenes stories about making the show. Yeah, we'll even bring in some special guests to spill some tea. Listen to Welcome to the Family with Thelma and Kelly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.
From the publisher
Easy Bake Ovens are as iconic as a toy can get, as American as apple pie or baseball. Learn all about these light bulb cooking, working ovens that endanger children to this day, in this classic episode.
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