Toy stove:Torrid Toy Range

The first miniature toy stoves appeared in the 1840s. The earliest models mimicked cast-iron cook stoves of the time, burning wood or coal. As technology in real American kitchens changed, toy stoves also evolved, replicating full-sized stoves. By the 1900s, gas-burning stoves replaced wood- and coal-fueled models. As early as the 1920s, when electricity powered more and more American homes, electric stoves appeared in both kitchens and toy catalogs. Toy electric stoves, like this Torrid Toy Range, featured heated burners and small ovens that allowed young girls to cook and bake alongside their mothers.