Then & Now

Electric Stove

Until the 20th century, housewives cooked in open fireplaces and on cast iron wood or coal-burning stoves. Gas eventually became the primary cooking fuel, as most homes still weren’t wired to use the electric stoves that originated at the turn of the century.

Electric stoves were introduced in 1893 at the Chicago World’s Fair. But the elements on early electric stoves couldn’t withstand the intense heat, a problem rectified in 1905 when Albert Marsh developed a new nickel-chrome alloy that could. Within a few years, an oven thermostat was added to offer competition to gas stoves that had this feature.

When the 1920s came, 60% of American households had electricity, whose cost was steadily dropping. Electric stoves were streamlined into a more squared shape and coated with porcelain enamel to make cleaning easier.

The self-cleaning oven, which was introduced in 1963, used extremely high temperatures to reduce food residues to ashes that could be swept out. The 1970s witnessed the advent of smooth glass and ceramic cooktops that were heated by electrical coils or infrared halogen lamps located beneath them.