I Wish I Kept My Easy Bake Oven

Some childhood things are just hard to let go of

Photo by Aleksei Zaitcev on Unsplash

Prompt: What was your favourite childhood toy? Did you share it with friends and other siblings, or was it ‘off limits’ to them? Did you or your parents save it as a keepsake?

I think every generation has been told that once you reach a certain age, you have to stop playing with toys and dolls. It’s confusing and painful because toys are meant to be fun, help us use our imagination, and encourage growth and creativity.

I never had the chance to play with many high-end toys and dolls growing up because they were expensive in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Photo by Szymonek Pograniczny on Unsplash

I remember turning eleven years old and my mother telling me that I was getting to an age where I needed to stop playing with toys and dolls. You can imagine how devastated I was. I didn’t want to give up that part of my childhood. I was constantly reminded that I was getting too old for toys, and I felt embarrassed whenever other kids asked why I was still playing with them. Despite that pressure, I didn’t fully stop playing with my toys and dolls until I was thirteen.

Before entering high school, I did a major cleanup and got rid of many of them.

I had to throw away a lot of toys that I loved. One of my favorites was a plastic kitchen set I had when I was six years old. But the toy I cherished most was my Easy-Bake Oven. I would say the PlayStation One because my sister and I got it when I was ten years old, but the Easy Bake Oven was the one I was always excited for. I always enjoyed baking with my mom, but I was too young to use a real oven. Instead, I would help by rolling cookie dough or mixing cake batter. I loved pretending to run my own bakery, using tiny plastic bowls filled with water and Play-Doh.

Photo by Steff Hanson on Unsplash

I was nine years old, and I had my first Christmas. My mom woke my little sister and me early that morning, and a Christmas tree stood in the living room, surrounded by presents. I saved the biggest gifts for last, so when I finally reached for the largest box, I was bursting with excitement. As I unwrapped it, I saw a large square box with the words “Easy-Bake Oven” on it. I was the happiest kid in the world. My sister and I used it that very morning.

A few months later, however, the Easy-Bake Oven stopped working properly. The inside became dangerously hot, and I burned my fingers and hand while trying to remove the tiny pan and spatula after they became stuck. For some reason, everything inside seemed to burn. Eventually, I had to throw it away. I was heartbroken, but I never asked my mom for another one because I knew how expensive they were.

That was the first and last Easy-Bake Oven I ever owned.

Recently, I learned that the model I had was recalled in the mid-2000s because of burn hazards and fire-related accidents. Knowing that explained a lot and helped me understand why I had such difficulty finding that specific version when searching online. Most of the Easy-Bake Ovens available today are newer models.

Now, I enjoy looking at real vintage kitchen toys and dolls and learning how they worked. It’s become a hobby of mine, and in a way, it allows me to reconnect with a part of childhood that I wasn’t quite ready to let go of.

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