By Andrew Liszewski
The Easy-Bake Oven will probably go down in history not for its role in enforcing gender roles in children (why was it always pink? boys like baked goods too!) but as a testament to how horribly inefficient incandescent light bulbs were. All it took was the intense heat from a single 100 watt bulb to bake up miniature cakes and cookies, but starting in 2012, in the U.S. at least, aspiring pastry chefs won’t be able to get a replacement should theirs burn out.
It’s the result of a 2007 law that requires lighting to be more energy-efficient, something incandescent bulbs were never designed to be. But the ban hasn’t put the last nail in the Easy-Bake Oven’s coffin just yet. Definitely not. In the fall of this year Hasbro will be releasing the Easy Bake Ultimate Oven which comes with a dedicated heating element instead of a light bulb. Besides being more eco-friendly, the new version of the Easy-Bake will function more like its real-life and full-size oven counterparts, expanding a tiny chef’s repertoire to include dishes like pretzels and pizzas. A fine example of turning lemons into lemonade!
[ CalorieLab – Hasbro Announces Easy-Bake Ultimate Oven After Politicians Axe 100-Watt Incandescent Bulbs ] VIA [ Treehugger ]
why was it always pink? boys like baked goods too!
There were a few out there that were teal, but the Queasy Bake oven (currently not made) seems to have been the “boy's version”, appealing to a gross-out sensibility with gummi worms mix (and reinforcing gender roles in the rather goony way toys tend to).
They can take away my incandescent light bulbs when they give me LED bulbs 4 for a dollar. I guess it is time to start stockpiling.