National Easy-Bake Oven Day Date in the current year: November 4, 2024

The Easy-Bake Oven is a miniature toy oven that can be used to bake real cookies, allowing kids to experience the joy of baking in a safe way. It usually comes with a small baking pan and pan tools. Easy-Bake bundles may also include a mini whisk, apron, chef’s hat, and packages of baking mixes.

Working toy stoves and ovens have been around since the late 19th century, but early toy stoves were not very common; they were also quite dangerous. The person who came up with the idea for the Easy-Bake Oven we all know and love was Norman Shapiro, a sales manager for the toy company Kenner Products, who was inspired by the pretzel ovens (or, according to another version, chestnut roasters) used by street vendors in New York City. Shapiro suggested to his superiors that the company make a toy version of these ovens.

Kenner’s Vice President of Research and Development, James Kuhn, assembled a team to develop a working toy oven based on Shapiro’s idea. One of the most valuable members of the team was toy inventor Ronald Howers, who is often credited as the creator of the Easy-Bake Oven, although the process was more of a team effort.

Kenner released the original Easy-Bake Oven in 1963. It resembled a conventional oven, came in two colors, turquoise and pale yellow, and used a pair of incandescent light bulbs as its heat source. The toy became an instant hit; by 1966, more than one million Easy-Bake Ovens had been sold. Over the next few decades, Kenner developed new Easy-Bake Oven models, including several under the Betty Crocker brand, and licensed the toy to international markets.

In 1987, Kenner was purchased by the toy truck manufacturer Tonka, which in turn was acquired by Hasbro four years later. Even after Kenner became a division of Hasbro and was then closed down, Hasbro continued to produce the Easy-Bake Oven and release new models. During the 2000s, Hasbro gradually replaced the light bulbs in its Easy-Bake Ovens with heating elements; the last model to use a light bulb was replaced in 2011.

National Easy-Bake Oven Day was established in 2017 by Todd Coppee, a toy historian, author of Light Bulb Baking: A History of the Easy-Bake Oven, and entrepreneur. He decided to celebrate the holiday on November 4 to commemorate the release of the first Easy-Bake Oven. The main goal of the holiday is to recognize the enduring legacy of this iconic toy and its continued popularity with children and adults alike.

If you own an Easy-Bake Oven, the best way to celebrate the toy’s birthday is to take it out and bake some cookies. To make your celebration even more fun, you can experiment with different cookie mixes, host a mini bake-off using Easy-Bake Ovens, or throw a 1960-s themed baking party in honor of the original Easy-Bake Oven. And don’t forget to post about the holiday on social media with the hashtag #NationalEasyBakeOvenDay to spread the word.