Easy Bake Era

I picked up a lot of odd factoids during the Easy Bake Era. Such as...

The danger continues. As of July 2007: New Easy-Bake Oven Recall Following Partial Finger Amputation; Consumers Urged to Return Toy Ovens.

Easy Bakes cost about the same today as they did in the 1960s. Between $15 and $20. But because of inflation, they're way more affordable now than they were back then.

There have been 11 different Easy Bake ovens.

EBOs used to look like the fashionable ovens of their day. Now they're all hot Barbie pink. What does that say about feminism?

The best part of the Easy Bake Era is that a lot of people shared their EBO impressions with me...

One guy said it was the perfect toy because it made you feel like you could survive on your own without your parents.

My therapist, who is from the Dominican Republic, asked me what an Easy Bake oven was. Before that moment, I had no idea she was foreign. As soon as she asked that question, I figured it out. "You didn't grow up in the U.S., did you?"

Later, my theory was tested when a friend of mine could not identify an EBO. "Were you raised by communists?" I asked. Turns out she was. (I'm not making any of this up, btw.)

Boys love Easy Bake ovens! Almost every guy I talked to sneaked in to the kitchen and used his sister's. This generation's boys are finally starting to get their own. When I tried to get my nephew to give me his old EBO, he complained, saying he might want to use it sometime. His best friend heard us arguing and said, "What are you talking about? Easy Bakes? Gosh, I never play with mine any more. I should drag it out."