Was it a Tappan microwave?
A recent article in the in the Mansfield News Journal, Mansfield, Microwaves Linked in History tells the story of the Tappan Stove Company, the first company to manufacture microwaves for household use. The newspaper contacted OHS to ask if we had any archival material or photographs of the company and their early microwaves. They were also curious to know if we might have one these Ohio made microwaves in our collections.
We do have some material in the Archives/Library, like this catalog from 1935. The museum collection has a traditional gas range made by Tappan, but we do not have one of their early microwaves. Microwave ovens for home cooking were a revolutionary product that changed domestic life forever. OHS would really like to have one of these early, Ohio made models. If you have or know of a source for acquiring a Tappan microwave oven, please feel free to contact the history collections staff.
This is a great story. Thanks!
In 1985-7, I lived in a rented house in Culver City, California with my parents. The main built-in oven (which was the lower part of a range with 4 electric burners on top) doubled as both a conventional oven and what its manual called an “Electronic oven.” It may or may not have been a Tappan. The manual appeared to have been printed in the 1950s, and claimed that the oven used UHF to cook the food. (The term “microwave” might not have caught on in popular parlance yet.)
I do remember that the “Electronic” cooking mode of this oven was not powerful enough to pop popcorn with any consistency, and that later there may have been a leak that developed in the seal around the oven (one of the neon indicator lights looked like it was “cooking” the last time I used it).
I have no idea if this house still has that old oven. The owners may have remodelled the kitchen since then. (I blame those home makeover TV shows.)
I have (and am still using!) a Tappan microwave manufactured in March 1978. I’ve taken much good-natured ribbing from friends and family because of this wood grain, brown and harvest gold appriance. It is model 01069, Serial # 38100118 and is still going strong, lo these 33 years later! I’m not sure this qualifies as an “antique”, but it has to be close!!