Microwave oven
In 1947, Raytheon built the "Radarange", the first commercially available microwave oven. It was almost tall, weighed and cost about US$5,000 ($ in dollars) each. It consumed 3 kilowatts, about three times as much as today's microwave ovens, and was water-cooled. The name was the winning entry in an employee contest. An early Radarange was installed (and remains) in the galley of the nuclear-powered passenger/cargo ship NS "Savannah". An early commercial model introduced in 1954 consumed 1.6 kilowatts and sold for US$2,000 to US$3,000 ($ to $ in dollars). Raytheon licensed its technology to the Tappan Stove company of Mansfield, Ohio in 1952. They tried to market a large 220 volt wall unit as a home microwave oven in 1955 for a price of US$1,295 ($ in dollars), but it did not sell well.
Philip Kives
In 1961, Kives traveled to New York City where he worked at Macy’s Department Store doing floor demonstrations of a new "revolutionary" product: the non-stick Teflon frying pan. He returned to Canada and made the first of many deals with Eaton’s Department Store in Canada: he offered to pay for television advertising of the frying pan, if Eaton’s agreed to stock it. Many pans were sold, but the product itself was a failure because after a time the Teflon coating came off during cooking. Kives' marketing formula consisted of live two-and-a-half minute TV commercials, in which he recreated the fast talking "hard sell" he had developed in the United State. He is often credited with creating what would come to be known as the "infomercial". The success of this formula led Kives to set up his own company, K-Tel.