The era of the toaster oven pretty much began in the fifties, with General Electric leading the pack.
Below, you can see how the little kitchen appliances evolved over the years, right up through the 1980s.
From the ’50s: Introducing the new toaster that’s an oven, too! (1957)
The new General Electric Toast-R-Oven makes perfect toast “upstairs” or “down.” Heats bread and rolls, toasts buttered bread right at the table!
Here’s something really new in toasters. The General Electric Toast-R-Oven does just about all your toasting, warming, browning jobs right at your table. Makes toast “upstairs” to any delicious shade you want it.
Keeps it warm “downstairs” in the oven. Just set the oven dial for warming rolls, buns or muffins. And it’s all so simple! You’ll love the easy convenience of the General Electric Toast-R-Oven. Love its compact beauty, too.
Why not see it at your General Electric dealer’s soon. General Electric Company, Portable Appliance Department, Bridgeport 2. Connecticut.
Toasts 2 slices, warms 6
Vintage Kenmore toaster ovens (1959)
Try an Oven Toaster… give your family a new breakfast treat.
Make delicious old-fashioned oven-buttered toast, taste-tingling cinnamon toast, toast with any spread. Bake brown-and-serve rolls, frozen waffles, etc.
Ideal for frozen meat or fruit pies, TV dinners. Broil delicious canapes, hors d’oeuvres. Use as bun warmer. Perfect for garlic bread. Chrome-plated; black plastic trim.
ALSO SEE: See 10 vintage portable electric hand mixers & beaters from the ’50s
Planning square meals for two using one versatile appliance! (1961)
From Forecast for Home Economics, Vol 6 Iss 6 (February 1961)
An exercise in ingenuity centered around the baking, toasting and entertaining possibilities of General Electric’s new Toast-R-Oven.
Demonstration for Toasting. Explain that the horizontal construction of the Toast-R-Oven toasts any kind and thickness of bread or rolls, both sides at once.
Demonstrate by placing two slices of bread on toasting rack; set control to one of the nine shades. See how door swings away, rack slides out to serve when toast is done.
Toast buttered English muffins, using the “Brown Top Side” setting. Ask them to list several different kinds of foods that can be toasted in the Toast-R-Oven.
Demonstration for Baking. Show how this compact “new-idea” appliance becomes an economical small oven.
Move the control to “Bake.” Show the temperature range, from 200 F to 500 F. Place removable bake tray in oven, preheating, then baking small cookies cut from a refrigerator roll.
Let the students see for themselves that this remarkable appliance bakes potatoes, chicken, even meat loaf and reheats frozen prepared foods for serving.
It’s General Electric’s Toast-R-Oven: The toaster with the picture window (1964)
It toasts: Big slices, little slices, thick slices, thin slices, garlic bread, cheese sandwiches, frozen waffles, even top-browns muffins!
It bakes: Cookies, rolls, buns, macaroni, frozen pastries, frozen meat pies, potatoes, chicken, meat loaf, even reheats cooked foods!
Toaster or Oven? Both. (1972)
As you can see, General Electric has made more of one good thing. Now there are two Toast-R-Oven Toasters.
On the left is our regular-size Toast-R-Oven for doing all the good things like making toast. Top browning cheese sandwiches. Warming buns for breakfast. Baking a meatloaf for you and him.
Notice that it has a very large oven window. An appliance that bakes like an oven should. It is also quite roomy so it can hold two beef pot pies.
DON’T MISS: 22 great vintage kitchen design ideas you don’t see much anymore
On the right is our new king-size Toast-R-Oven. King-size means it can toast four slices of most breads or six English muffin halves. It can bake a casserole for five, two frozen entrees or a full-course frozen dinner.
It can also top brown baked Alaska tarts or thirty-five cherry tomato hors d’oeuvres. Our king-size Toast-R-Oven has other goodies. Like it’s easy to clean. And just in case you haven’t noticed, it’s terrific looking.
Who knows more about a Toast-R-Oven than General Electric. After all, we invented them.
Proctor-Silex Super Speed Toaster-Oven (1974)
It’s great for melted cheese sandwiches and a whole variety of delicious convenience foods and snacks. This handy oven will bake them, brown them, toast them…fast! So you won’t have to heat up the big stove.
This is the only counter-top oven with a pop-up toaster built in. And look what else you get…
- Super speed. Toasts faster than any other toaster-oven.
- Full-range oven control. Gives you convenient and exact oven temperature.
- Keep-warm dial. Keeps food warm — without burning — till you’re ready to eat. Only Proctor-Silex has this feature!
- Big “see-thru” window. Now you can see the food brown to the exact shade you want.
- Easiest cleaning. The only toaster-oven in which oven tray, grill and crumb tray come out for easy total cleaning!
Its the only toaster oven that does all that. (1976)
This Toast-R-Oven toaster from GE bakes, broils and toasts 4 slices automatically. It’s the only toaster oven that does all that.
If you want a toaster oven that does all the things a GE Toast ’n Broil Toast-R-Oven toaster does, you’ve got to get a GE.
It’s a great second oven.
The Toast-R-Oven handles the dozens of small cooking jobs you’d hate to heat up your big oven for.
Like top-browning sandwiches, baking casseroles, warming leftovers. And it works in tandem with your big oven when you want to cook foods that require different temperatures.
It’s a 2-steak broiler.
Separate broil setting lets you broil steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, poultry, seafood — easily and conveniently.
And because it broils, this Toast-R-Oven makes more than two hundred dishes you can’t make in most other toaster ovens! The high-wall broiler pan helps protect the interior from splatters — and it pops into the dishwasher for easy cleaning.
It’s an automatic toaster.
The Toast-R-Oven takes the place of a 4-slice toaster. Toasts odd-size breads and rolls, both sides at once, and shuts off automatically. A bell rings when toast is ready.
It’s a great energy saver.
The Toast-R-Oven uses less than half the electricity you might use to bake the same foods in your big oven. It pre-heats faster. So while it’s saving energy, it’s saving money, too.
Features! Features!
The thermostatically controlled oven has settings from 200 F to 500 F. Automatic Top Brown setting is great for melting, crisping and browning. And a signal bell rings when food is ready. Removable rack, oven tray, broiler pan and swing-open crumb tray make cleaning easy.
Once you own a Toast-R-Oven toaster from GE, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.
Retro Sears toaster oven (1977)
Combination Oven/Toaster bakes and toasts — Also broils with broil pan sold separately.
Toasts 4 slices of bread flat. Cook 2 TV dinners at once or 8-inch pie.
Construction: Chromed steel body; plastic end panels. Open oven door lies flat. See-thru tempered glass window shows whole oven interior. Cooking guide. Two-slice pop-up toaster. Two 3-position grill racks, crumb tray are removable. Operating instructions.
Heat Control: Adjustable thermostat controls oven temperature from warm to 500 F. Separate thermostat monitors bread moisture content. Two brownness controls.
DON’T MISS: Genuine original Crock-Pot Slow Cookers from the ’70s
GE Spacemaker “Toast-R-Oven” Broiler (1985)
Now there are under-the-cabinet appliances so beautiful they belong on display. Black & Decker’s Spacemaker Appliances.
The only line of space-saving appliances that are fully-coordinated. So they not only help eliminate counter clutter. They work well in any decor.
The GE Spacemaker “Toast-R-Oven” Broiler.
Bake a 9-inch pie. Broil a steak. Toast up to 6 slices of most breads. In a space no bigger than a bread box.
A big little idea. (1987)
Compact Toast-R-Oven broiler. Has the versatility to bake, broil, toast and top-brown. And with its sleek, contemporary design, it’s perfect for smaller kitchens and tight spaces. From Black & Decker.
A versatile idea. (1987)
Continuous Cleaning Toast-R-Oven broiler. Bakes, broils, browns and defrosts to prepare snacks and full meals. And since all GE Toast-R-Ovens are now Black & Decker, it comes with our full 2-year warranty.
A beautiful idea. (1987)
Attractive Toast-R-Oven toaster. It’s ideal for heating those fast meals or late-night snacks. An optional mounting hood is available, so you can mount it under your cabinets to free counter space. By Black & Decker.
An uplifting idea. (1987)
Spacemaker Toast-R-Oven broiler. A versatile oven that saves counter space by mounting under your cabinets. Bakes, broils, browns and toasts. Holds a 9-inch pie tin. Only from Black & Decker.
West Bend’s expanding toaster oven (1988)
This vintage under-cabinet mounted small appliance could expand a few inches as needed
One Response
I just bought a black & decker toaster oven, A versatile idea 1987, with the fake wood top today