Crock Watcher...
Yeah, Rival's trademark "Crock Pot" was so successful it's become the generic term for what such items are, "slow cookers." Like ya said, maytagbear, a lot of distinctive names have become generic, as "Kleenex," "Walkman," "Cellophane" (yeah, that was a trade name, too), even "Corn Flakes."
I remember seein' the brick Crock Watcher in the '70s, about the time everyone started brickin' every frickin' thing in sight (that was the era of Z-Brick, remember)...
I never could figure out why they needed an "automatic shift" since when I use a Crock Pot (see what I mean?), I start out on "high," let it go for 30 to 45 minutes, then flip it to "low" before I go to work...I thought the big idea was you could "cook all day while the cook's away..."
Charlie
bongobro