50's and 60's Microwave's- Are they out there?
 

I feel this topic sort of applies to radios in a way. Are there microwave ovens from the 50's and 60's out there in the world? You see a lot of microwave's from the 70's on ebay, but none from the 60's. Were 60's microwaves even available in any quantity? I know about the RadarRange from the 50's but have heard nothing of what immediately followed.
Are they dangerous, and if so, can they be made safe for occasional use? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Maybe there are a few out there. The first home microwave ovens were introduced in 1953. They cost $1,250 each and were as big as a refrigerator. There were no countertop models until 1967.

There was a restaurant in the neighborhood, where I grew up, that had a real early microwave, in the later 50's. It was a Tappan and it was the size of an electric, build-in type oven. It ran on 230 volts and had the old type knob type timer. It had other controls on it as well. It might've had electric elements also.
The owner said that it cost around $1,000 when new. :yes:

In the mid 1960's my Aunt Mae in Flushing Meadows had a huge counter top Amana. So they were available for the normal middle class home. I'm not saying that Aunt Mae was normal...

I remember a 60's Amana was on the bay 2-3 years ago that was either never used or barely used. IIRC you would have to have owned Ft. Knox to pay their asking price.

I had an aunt and uncle that had a late 60's Sears one built in over the stove. That was the first one I ever saw.

Back in the late 1970's or very early 1980's one could buy a Microwave leakage meter you held near and around a given microwave oven to check for leakage of microwaves. I would think one could determine safety by using one of these. May still be available.

The first attempt at cooking food using radio waves (not microwaves) goes back to the 1930s. The unit was called the "Radio Sandwich Machine" (RSM); there is a thread here on VK describing this unit, which was an early forerunner of today's smaller and much more efficient microwave ovens. The RSM used four radio transmitting tubes, a separate power supply, and was used mostly at exhibitions, the most notable of which was the New York World's Fair in 1939. Most of these machines were eventually seized by the government and destroyed, probably because of the high level of RF radiation (there were few or no standards for RF leakage at the time). One of the few (and I do mean few) such machines still in existence was on eBay some time ago; whether it sold or not, and if so to whom, I don't know.

BTW, I shudder to think of the arcs a machine like the RSM could generate if someone were to operate it without food in the long chamber atop the cabinet, or with anything metal in there as well. Today's microwaves will smoke and catch fire if abused in this manner; I imagine the RSM would set an entire kitchen afire in two seconds (!) under the same conditions, since the four tubes in the unit probably generated 500+ watts of RF energy. I would think that under such a severe overload, the house fuses would blow in an instant, but with 500-plus watts of RF sparking inside the oven, the thing would probably catch fire long before the fuses let go.

There is a late sixties Litton tabletop microwave oven in my garage. It came from an estate sale's trashpile. It is in fantastic cosmetic condition, and works well (I tested it to boil a glass of water and it did; even the lightbulb still worked). I would never use it in any kitchen, but it is too good to just discard...It has more metal and weight to it than any TV of its day IMO.
Made in USA.
Other than that, i still have my grandparents 1970s Sanyo microwave. Sentimental item, complete with 'Microwave Cooking' handbook.. kind of morose how it lists Whole Turkey as a microwavable item(!!)
I don't have a microwave oven in my own kitchen.

Here is a craigslist ad for appliances from the late 50's. It has the cook top stove, wall oven, vent hoods, and a microwave (looks close to the other wall oven). On the main picture it is the one on the left.
A buddy of mine in the area called and was arranging to pick up the appliances when the person called back and said that the contractors accidently threw away the appliances. However the ad is still listed on craigslist. Here is the ad.
http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/app/4308335825.html

And here is a close-up pic of the microwave.
http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/...pscac538e0.jpg

I also have a friend in the D.C. area that has a couple microwaves from the late 50's to the early 60's. When he gets back from his vacation, I will ask him for some pics.

That's pretty neat. Thanks for the info.

And I bet they were just as dangerous then as they are now!!!!! (Very unhealthy... RUINS FOOD)

I try to avoid them @ all costs.... I thought they were invented in the 70s and 80s but 53??

Wow......

This is an interesting thread. I have LONG wondered if anyone here had seen any pre-1970's Microwave ovens MYSELF. I KNOW they cost a LOT--in say 1967 or so...around 1K or so....so not that many people had them...

ANd for a few years...they were often called an "electronic oven"..in that they cooked with a radio tube instead of a heating device--be it a resistance element or gas flame.

About 1984 or so....I was given a 1974 or so magic chef microwave oven. It did NOT look much different inside....than one from the late 1970's or so...with a mechanical timer. Just a large normal looking HV tranny...HV cap, avalanche diode (albeit a BIG one), fan and mechanical timer,and a clock-looking motor...to power the stirrer. The magnetron was NO different really...than those used TODAY..welded construction with ceramic magnets and such. I have NEVER seen a microwave oven with a FIELD COIL...for the magnetron...though i HAVE read they DID exist. ,

BTW....there is an old price is right episode from 1960 or so...that a microwave oven was given away on. It is a BW episode and the format is MUCH different than today's TPIR. i think they said it was $1100 or so... it was a HUGE thing..obviously built-in . They did a LONG demonstration of it.

I have the episode saved on real player....BUT that is on my main computer...which is STILL down right now...for a couple of weeks now. Thank GOD...for this little laptop of mine...or I would be "out in the cold "computer--wise !!:thmbsp:

there was a built in version in the late 50s -early 60s, i think Branded Raytheon, with 240V dual magnetrons. Thy pop up once in a while, saw one on Craigslist once. Amana was purchased by Raytheon in the 60's and came out with the first amana radarage in 1967- first counter-top model, most Amama microwaves up until the early 80s were evolution of this first design. the 70s models are not hard to find. If you plan to actually use it, id recommend nothing earlier than the RR-4d model, it was the first with a defrost setting, early models are full power only. the RR4d looks very close to the earlier models. the first model RR-1 and possible the RR-2 just had a screen on the door window, no glass or plastic. allowed you to smell the food cooking, but must have been hard to clean...

Wow wouldnt mind seeing the episode! (I have real player (8+) I can view it with)

Not sure of the exact episode...( pretty sure it was a 1960 episode)..and the microwave oven was not given away in the first round...but somewhat later the half-hour episode. The episode WAS still on-line a few months ago... It WAS on youtube though and people were commenting on it...

FOUND it !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrO7SjFwa9o



Kinda interesting in the way they give a DETAILED demonstration of the prizes..unlike TODAY...when even the BRAND of a prize is often omitted !!

THINK about it for a minutes...about the equivalent of 10 THOUSAND DOLLARS..for a MICROWAVE OVEN today !! That much money will buy one a VERY decent used CAR now !!

Of course...microwave ovens are NOT NEARLY...as "magical" as this video and a lot of other stories of old portrayed..they DEFINITELY have their limitations.

Nonetheless. two ENTIRE GENERATIONS of children...have likely had most of their meals at least partially prepared and most ALL of then ..re..heated in them !!

The Raytheon board of directors agreed to develop the "high frequency dielectric heating apparatus," and it was patented in 1953. The "inventor" was Percy L. Spencer, a Raytheon employee who had worked on radar during the war. Unfortunately, Spencer was not born in Idaho.

Indeed! Our 1974 RR-4d was indeed a workhorse and lasted almost until 2000. Good solid machine, tho near the end the door mechanism was wearing out. IIRC, the transformer failed, ending it's life. :(
Even as late as 1974, this microwave (perhaps one of the first under $500) was still a "pretty big deal", as the store sent a person to our home that spent an hour or so showing us how to maintain the door seals, and gave other safety & cooking tips.

jr

Here's a pretty cool site -

http://www.radar58.com/radarange/radar.html

Amana Radarange
 

I was given this Radarange in April. Somebody on Lighting Gallery said I could have it for free, but I had to go go Atlanta to pick it up.

More chrome than a 50's Chevy!

Does it have the torx tamper-proof screws? I fixed one for an ex-GF in the early 90s, and had to go to an industrial supply house to buy a driver bit to remove the cover. The HV rectifier stack was fried and I got one from Sears to fix it.

microwaves might be even more hazardous to work on than CRT TVS. lot of them have interlocks and tamper proof screws. I used a Amana RR-4D all though college, and until I moved in 2003.. I was kinda glad at the time that my landlady said I could leave it. Its about 80 lbs! at my new place, my landlady gave me a late 80s Amana Touchmatic model, similar except the controls. used it until last year, I think one of the door switches went out. I may try fixing it. I replaced it with a 1984 vintage Kmart brand microwave made in Korea I got in a Thrift store for $5. its all metal, even the door, mechanical timer and mechanical bell that rings when done. it has a metal turntable to rotate the food. I miss the Amana though, it was more powerful.

a Co-worker of mine swears by microwaved whole turkey- takes a BIG microwave. He had relatives coming over for thanksgiving, when he found out his oven was on the blink. he brought the Turkey to work, which had a commercial microwave with a ten minute timer. He hired a neighbor kid to wind it up every 10 minutes. Turned out so good he bought a large microwave to do it that way every year.

With any luck my Kenmore will never die. It's huge and doubles as a convection oven.

I have a copy of a magazine from 1947 titled Radio Appliance Journal (or something like that) that had a snippet about Raytheon (I believe) announcing a microwave oven. One day when I finish renovating the new house and get moved in I'll scan the article and post it here.

To get enough power, some of the early wall mount units had dual magnetrons. Many early magnetrons also had field coils for the magnets. some were even water cooled. The first Amana radaranges also had electromagnets if I recall right.