Countertop Hamburger Cookers

A couple of nights ago we were talking about our salad days, how we were stretching/juggling our jobs,school, and starting families. That was a rough time trying to make all ends meet. For us it was pounds of hamburger, cheap hot dogs, and spaghetti. I can remember living on a gallon jar of relish and saltines b4 they were packed in tubes and in the squares of 4 that you had to break apart. They also made great filler for soups and everything else. The art of finding out when the meat manager would mark down the short dated packages of ground meat, back when you could buy day-old bread and other markdowns and mystery mashed cans that are now thrown directly in the trash. Hambuger stood out as the most coveted staple that you could do so much with for so little. Hard to believe at today's prices. Those were the days that unless you were of means or in a restaurant, the only place that you would have contact with a microwave, err. "Radar Range" as they were called, would be at a lunch room or some vending areas. There were many little applicances that came out back then that targeted that single/dorm/apartment dweller market that came out during the early to mid 70's. We've talked about the hot dog cookers that electrocuted the franks. One very versatile one that for some reason quickly slid into obscurity was the hamburger cookers. Lots of people called them Hamburger "Cloppers". I don't know why unless it was a brand name of one. For those of you that have never seen one at a yard sale or e-bay, they were a mini contact grill the size of one or two burgers with two long handles. Some were very simple, others had a die that formed the burger and may have had cooking surfaces that could be removed and washed. For the most part, the surfaces were flat and non-stick. My first was about $10 from a catalog showroom store (remember them?). It did one burger that was burned on the outside and raw inside and a pain to wash as you couldn't immerse it. My next was one from Sears. Double wide that had removable plates and enough depth to actually prepare small meals and saute vegetables or meat. It was also capable of doing a great Cuban sandwhich with a little effort using a 48 oz. can of juice as a weight on top. This one had a heat control and was very versatile. It made many eggs on weekends too. This cooker was indispensible along with a then 20+ year old Merit Wonderfry deep fryer/multi cooker that was fantastic for making soups and slow cooking foods long b4 the crockpots became popular.  The George Foreman grills and Panini presses are direct descendents of these on a larger scale. 
 
Microwaves, the Fried Burgers cause cancer story of the early 80's, and the health consciousness of the latter 80's to 90's when everything was bad for you except poultry white meat no doubt contributed to their demise. During thier day, any appliance section must have had a dozen different models of these little gems and about the same amount of those hot dog cookers.
 
Anyone remember these?

Yup, we had a hamburger cooker, the brand is on the tip of my tounge... I keep thinking Ecko but I don't think that's it. Throw in a little burger, sprinkle on some garlic salt, close it up and in a few minutes you'd have a decent burger.

I don't recall the burger cookers, but we had one of those "Hot Doggers" (at least that's what I think they were called.  And, you're right, they electrocuted the franks and didn't work all that well.  Recently, now that you mention it, I've been trying to find something new to cook hot dogs (I buy jumbo Kosher franks), but no luck.
 
And, by the way, I haven't heard the term Radar Range in 30 years!

I knoy my mom had one but she rarely used it as she thought it was a pain to clean.
 
As for showroom stores, we had a Service Merchandise in Blooomington, IN where you would look at items on shelves or in a book and if you wanted something you paid for it and then had to go wait by the conveyor belt for it to come out.  Is that what you mean?  I forgot about that store until just now.

Yup, we had a Service Merchandise too. What was the deal with that? Were they cheaper?
 
We had a popcorn machine that looked like a circus wagon, made terrible popcorn and melted the plastic top. We make it the old fashioned way in a pot on the stove now.

Haven't they morphed in to the George Forman Grills?
 
They may have been made by Salton way back then.
 
They now make the same thing for sliders, cooking 4 at a time.

I too remember the heydey of the small electric appliance, which I believe to be the mid 60's to the mid 70's. They were just about all made in the USA. There were such machines as cordless electric knives, ice crushers, coffee bean grinders, egg cookers, electric percolators, waffle makers, electric juice reamers, popcorn poppers, and a dozen more.
 
I think what happened is that there was an initial burst of sales, but after everybody had one of these gadgets, sales went flat and stores dropped them. I know our family stopped buying these gadgets since we had run out of room in our kitchen to store them. Besides, an electric frypan could cook burgers and franks and pop popcorn. People started wondering how many different gadgets they needed to buy.
 
While not listed on their website, a Presto burger maker, model 05511, is still sold by many online merchants. Salton's George Foreman line serves the purpose of the old burger cookers.