Did and Didn't

[ChiTownScion]

Lender's Frozen Bagels were common in the Northeast by the early '70s. We didn't know what they were all about around here, and called them "them hard donuts."

Now manufactured in beautiful Mattoon, Illinois.

 

[tonyb]

It was originally called "creme rinse," and it was around by 1952 or so, but it wasn't widely used until the sixties. ...

It was called "creme rinse" at least as recently as when I last had practical use for such a product. (Come to think of it, that has been quite some time ago now.)

 

[Stearmen]

The first residential Microwave Oven went on sale in 1946, so boarder line. It was sold by Raytheon and called the Radarange. They cost $5,000 needless to say, they sold in very limited numbers! Raytheon engineer Percy Spencer's first ever microwave dish was, Popcorn. Also commercial Television existed before 1946, again in small numbers.

 

[LizzieMaine]

As noted on the original list of Dids, television was very much in existance before 1946. NBC's prewar experimental station W2XBS had been on the air in various incarnations since 1931, and became WNBT with a full commercial license in July of 1941. The war put everything on hold for the duration -- WNBT, CBS's WCBW, and DuMont's WABD remained on the air in New York on a limited basis, as did a few other stations in Philadelphia, Schenectady, Chicago, and Los Angeles, but no receivers were manufactured after 1941.

Even after the war, it took several years for television to truly become a national proposition. There were two big obstacles -- the need to create an infrastructure for live coast-to-coast network telecasting, which wasn't completed until 1951, and the question of color -- which led the FCC in 1948 to impose a moratorium on the issuance of new television licences until 1952. It wasn't until all these issues were resolved that TV could reach full national penetration. It wasn't until 1954 that there were more television viewers in the evening than radio listeners.

Of course, the British were two steps ahead of us. They had regularly-scheduled all-electronic television on the air in London in 1936 -- the coronation of George VI was telecast live in 1937 -- but it wasn't until the coronation of Queen Elizabeth that it really took off there.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The first residential Microwave Oven went on sale in 1946, so boarder line. It was sold by Raytheon and called the Radarange. They cost $5,000 needless to say, they sold in very limited numbers! Raytheon engineer Percy Spencer's first ever microwave dish was, Popcorn.

That first Radarange was intended for commercial use in restaurant and hotel kitchens, not home use. There were efforts to develop the technology for home use in the mid-fifties, but they couldn't come up with a cabinet that was small enough and convenient enough to fit on a typical countertop until solid-state technology had come along a bit further. The first true countertop home microwave didn't hit the market until 1967.

 

[Stearmen]

As noted on the original list of Dids, television was very much in existance before 1946. NBC's prewar experimental station W2XBS had been on the air in various incarnations since 1931, and became WNBT with a full commercial license in July of 1941. The war put everything on hold for the duration -- WNBT, CBS's WCBW, and DuMont's WABD remained on the air in New York on a limited basis, as did a few other stations in Philadelphia, Schenectady, Chicago, and Los Angeles, but no receivers were manufactured after 1941.

Even after the war, it took several years for television to truly become a national proposition. There were two big obstacles -- the need to create an infrastructure for live coast-to-coast network telecasting, which wasn't completed until 1951, and the question of color -- which led the FCC in 1948 to impose a moratorium on the issuance of new television licences until 1952. It wasn't until all these issues were resolved that TV could reach full national penetration. It wasn't until 1954 that there were more television viewers in the evening than radio listeners.

Of course, the British were two steps ahead of us. They had regularly-scheduled all-electronic television on the air in London in 1936 -- the coronation of George VI was telecast live in 1937 -- but it wasn't until the coronation of Queen Elizabeth that it really took off there.

I don't know how I missed that on your list, sorry!

 

[Stearmen]

That first Radarange was intended for commercial use in restaurant and hotel kitchens, not home use. There were efforts to develop the technology for home use in the mid-fifties, but they couldn't come up with a cabinet that was small enough and convenient enough to fit on a typical countertop until solid-state technology had come along a bit further. The first true countertop home microwave didn't hit the market until 1967.

Like I said, boarder line. I believe it was one of the engineers wives that had one, no sure if they bought it, but it was in their home, until, not that long ago. I wish I could find the article, she loved it! Like I said, it's stretch at the very least!

 

[Stanley Doble]

The first microwave most people saw, was probably in Ma and Pa Kettle, a 1949 movie in which a family of hillbillies win an ultra modern home in a contest. This suggests they were available for home use, if you were a rich "early adopter".

 

[jamespowers]

The first microwave most people saw, was probably in Ma and Pa Kettle, a 1949 movie in which a family of hillbillies win an ultra modern home in a contest. This suggests they were available for home use, if you were a rich "early adopter".

At 5 grand a pop in 1949, you definitely had to be rich.

 

[sheeplady]

I take one half exception to your list, Lizzie. Skimmed milk, as a by-product from obtaining cream did most certainly exist. It just wasn't seen as fit for human consumption by most people or sold in stores, but it was consumed on some farms. My father grew up drinking (for sweet milk) what would be the equivalent of half and half and some skimmed, as they kept their own dairy cow and made their own butter and sour milk. Occasionally they drank the actual skimmed milk, as they no longer kept hogs and couldn't afford to waste. (When I say drank, I mean used, generally.)

 

[Hercule]

Do I remember correctly the term radarange (radar-range?) still being used in the 70s? Or was that merely a brand name by then?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Amana licensed the "Radarange" trademark from Raytheon in the mid-sixties, which began the modern era of the home microwave. They were still using that name well into the eighties.

The name isn't just snappy marketing -- both radar systems and microwave ovens are based on the use of a magnetron tube for generating RF energy in the microwave spectrum.

 

[GreatWhiteHunter]

Everyone knows that real pizza was invented in Chicago . . . . . .

 

[LizzieMaine]

At 5 grand a pop in 1949, you definitely had to be rich.

They were also the size of a refrigerator, but heavier. I suspect the makers of the Kettle pictures were using artistic license, the same way you see television systems in the offices of rich executives in mid-thirties movies.

Another interesting microwave fact: the prices of home microwaves really didn't start to drop until the eighties. It wasn't until then that they became a truly mainstream item.

A popular alternative to such pricey technology was the infra-red toasting oven, which used infra-red heat lamps instead of RF radiation. The sandwich-warmers you saw in gas stations, bowling alleys, and bars in the fifties, sixties, seventies and early eighties used this type of technology, and small units were available for home use. A lot of people who "remember" seeing microwaves in common use in the fifties are in fact remembering these devices.

 

[Hercule]

Everyone knows that real pizza was invented in Chicago . . . . . .

My dad always said that when he went to Italy while in the service in the early '50s (stationed in Germany) they had never even heard of pizza. He never really elaborated so I'm not sure what his exact experience was regarding that.

 

[Bushman]

Everyone knows that real pizza was invented in Chicago . . . . . .

:arated:

 

[Harp]

Everyone knows that real pizza was invented in Chicago . . . . . .

My dad always said that when he went to Italy while in the service in the early '50s (stationed in Germany) they had never even heard of pizza. He never really elaborated so I'm not sure what his exact experience was regarding that.

I'm not from Chicago but...
In my neck of the woods down south, I used to enjoy pizza from a local place. They were from Chicago. They're no longer here.
And as many franchise or individual pizza places that we still have . None can compare with the pizza from Chicago .

A. That is correct.
B. I've eaten pizza in Vincenza, Rome, and Naples-not nearly as good as Chicago pizza, but close.
C. Exactamundo on that.

 

[Harp]

To Harp, Bushman, or GreatWhiteHunter...
how about Fedexing me some of the delicious Chicago pizza ? :essen:

No problemo. Shoot me your postal ad in pm.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Everyone knows that real pizza was invented in Chicago . . . . . .

And they say that religion and politics are two things that you never should discuss among non-intimates unless you want a fight. I don't dis-like New York style pizza (I've has some that is outstanding), but I do have an obvious bias here.

Deep dish is a subject of its own: I prefer Chicago thin crust. And (just as you never put ketchup on a hot dog in Chicago, at least if you're over the age of five) never call it a "pie."

 

[HudsonHawk]

And they say that religion and politics are two things that you never should discuss among non-intimates unless you want a fight. I don't dis-like New York style pizza (I've has some that is outstanding), but I do have an obvious bias here.

Deep dish is a subject of its own: I prefer Chicago thin crust. And (just as you never put ketchup on a hot dog in Chicago, at least if you're over the age of five) never call it a "pie."

If you can't walk down the street and eat it with one hand, it's an abomination, and shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as real pizza.