My old Kenmore with the mechanical timer knob and two speeds, cook and defrost, is about 42 years old.
I've got a loooong story to tell. Grab your theater-sized popcorn, your mega-coke and sit back.....Or, move on.
My (much) older brother graduated from high school in 1969 and then became an electrician. So my story starts sometime after 1971 after he traduated form tech school. ANYWAY, his first job out of tech school was at an electrician shop that sold appliances on the side. Right at about that time, or shortly after, the microwave ovens started to hit the market. Since they were so new and revolutionary, appliance shops would invite all the local ladies and then put on cooking demonstrations with this new appliance. My mom was invited to the shop where my brother worked to see this new invention. My brother's shop sold the brand of Amana and the Amana Radarange was their version of the microwave oven. That same year, my brother gave my mom an Amana Radarange for a Christmas gift. And trust me, it was a tank. It was big, heavy and was the envy of any housewife. This particular oven had a dial for the timer, an "ON" button, a "DEFROST" button and an "OFF" button. That was it. The "DEFROST" button was nothing more than having the oven give full power for a few seconds and then give the food no power for a few seconds. You could hear the noisy thing kick off and on. My mom used it for at least 15 years, working like a champ, and then it was replaced by a newer model with more features.
Fast forward to about 2005 and I was working as a tech in a shop that had about 10 guys. We had a small, cheap, underpowered microwave oven that we heated our food with, and with only 20 minutes time to devour our meal, it meant waiting in line 15 minutes to access the microwave oven. So I brought this old tank of a microwave in, and instantly, it was a big hit. The old Radarange could heat your foot in one-third of the time and everybody was happy. Everyone but me, that is. I soon found myself waiting in line to use my own microwave oven.
Nobody wanted to use the cheapie microwave oven any more. Anyway, that thing was still working and working great thirty-some years after it was manufactured.
And yes, when it was working, I walked away from the thing because I had no idea if it leaked microwave radiation or not.
I took it with me when I quit that job. Not sure where it ended up, but it was still working at that time.
Edit: I assume this Amana Radarange was probably made in the same factory as the Kenmore.