Everyone Called It Crazy — Now It's The Appliance In Every Home

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Some of the most iconic kitchen products and appliances of all time sure do make things a lot easier for modern folks! But there's an appliance that's now in nearly every home, but when it first arrived on the scene, people thought it was crazy! Can you guess what was once thought of as just a gimmick or totally unsafe? It's the microwave! Way back in 1976, The New York Times published an article about the sudden rise in popularity of this newfangled appliance. "We are doubling our capacity now and will be able to produce 3,000 units a day by midyear," George C. Foerstner, president of Amana Refrigeration Inc., a Raytheon unit, told the outlet. "But the way the market is exploding, we don't know if that will be enough." And the boom kept on! 

But it wasn't always like this. Before the 1970s, people seemed extremely unsure about having a microwave in their kitchen. There appeared to be two main reasons for this. The first was apprehension about whether or not the appliance was actually good for all foods. "I would certainly never use a microwave oven for good French cooking. It's not for delicate kinds of foods," Abigail Kirsch, a gourmet cook, complained in the same article. The second was that it was simply unsafe! There was plenty of uncertainty about radiation leaks and the potential for getting sick by using a microwave. Even during the boom, the Consumers Union warned about the dangers of the appliances. Then, federal regulations were set in place as far as testing and the amount of radiation that could be leaked. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Scientist Percy Spencer invented the first microwave oven in 1945. While conducting a radar experiment, he saw that the magnetron machine seemed to be putting off heat. The story goes that he was eating a chocolate bar and set it down on the machine, just to make sure. And what do you know, the bar melted! The first microwave ovens were very big and would have been impractical for homes. They were more like refrigerators, as they were six feet tall and weighed 750 pounds. It wasn't until the kitchen revolution of the 1960's that smaller microwaves started popping up more often. That said, they were still very expensive! While there are many types of microwaves, in the 1970s, the base models were about $150, with many folks choosing $400 to $500 appliances. In 2026 dollars, that's between $2,364 and $2,955! Kind of crazy, considering you can grab a BLACK+DECKER Digital Microwave for like $80 nowadays.

These days, over 90% of Americans own microwaves, and they love them because of their convenience. They are in every home because heating up leftovers the old-fashioned way in (gasp!) a traditional oven doesn't fit with the pace of life anymore. Instead of preheating periods and long cooking times, modern kitchens are marked by quick turnaround times so we can get on with it! The microwave can do a lot more than just reheat food, like sanitizing sponges and baby bottles, which is another reason people like having them around.