Raytheon trademarked the name “Radarange” in 1948. They were originally called induction ovens, and were mostly used in large industrial kitchens. Raytheon purchased Amana in 1967 to introduce microwave ovens to homes. The original home microwaves were still heavy and large and cost about $700 in 1969. People critized Raytheon when competitors overtook them in sales, but as Tom Phillips said at the time, Raytheon took all the money there was to be made in microwave ovens. Nowadays, they are low margin commidity items.
The “story” is that when Raytheon engineer Percy Spencer (who grew up in the back woods of Maine and had an eighth grade education) noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket melted near a microwave test set up, the idea of the microwave oven occured to him. The first test followed the same day when he tried successfully to pop corn with a microwave.
While Spencer is remembered for the microwave oven, he made another, perhaps even more significant innovation. When the Tizard Scientific commission arrived from England with Britians inventions, seeking American help to manufacture them, the first place they landed was in Boston, where they were greeted by President Roosevelt’s science advisor, and Raytheon founding director, Vannevar Bush (no relation to other Bushs). An English engineer had a magnetron in a brief case chained to his arm. Spencer was allowed to take it home and examine it. He returned the next day, and proposed that instead of machining it out of a single piece of metal, they stamp copper sheets, stack them and machine the remaining cavity smooth. The idea worked beautifully, and Raytheon wound up producing over half of all magnetrons produced during World War II. The multicavity magnetron was a decisive weapon in World War II, allowing the Allies to make higher frequency, wider bandwidth and smaller sets than the Germans or Japanese. (The Germans and Japanese eventually reverse engineered captured sets, but never in enough quantity to have any bearing on the War.) The U.S. spent more money on radar and radar development than on the Manhattan Project, although the Germans spent more money on V-Waffen than the Americans spent on the Manhattan Project.
The original R6σ project!
Thanks for the story - Raytheon has been around for awhile!
I recall another story on how the Brits would use various ways of not letting the Germans know they had radar so early on in the war - and helped them win the Battle of Britian. I forget what they were though, but perhaps things like having a single “scout” plane that would just happen to cross paths with the incoming Germans, perhaps letting some through, etc.