Prototype "Servodyne" Klystron-powered Microwave Oven
date: label: Date made
content: 1961
name: label: user
content: Gunnarson, John A.
label: maker
content: Gunnarson, John A.
label: maker
content: French, Roger F.
label: maker
content: Lester, Donald R.
notes: label: Description
content: Roger F. French, Donald R. Lester, and John A. Gunnarson made this prototype microwave oven in 1961. Only two were produced. Instead of using a magnetron to generate the microwaves, this oven used a type of vacuum tube called a klystron. To see how the ovens would work in actual kitchens, Gunnarson used this one in his home and French used the other. Children of the inventors recall impressing their friends with the ease of cooking with microwaves, years before such ovens became commonplace.
label: Description
content: French had founded Servodyne Corporation in 1960 to produce and sell microwave ovens for the home. But they faced stiff competition. Other companies like Raytheon, which had produced a large "Radarange" for commercial use in 1954, were working on home ovens that used magnetrons. Servodyne failed to attract enough funding to bring the invention to market, and the company folded in 1968.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
label: See more items in
content: Food
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from John A. Gunnarson
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2003.0107.01
label: catalog number
content: 2003.0107.01
label: accession number
content: 2003.0107
objectType: label: Object Name
content: electrical appliance
label: Object Name
content: microwave oven
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: glass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 20 in x 24 7/16 in x 25 in; 50.8 cm x 61.99988 cm x 63.5 cm