I noticed older stoves sometimes had a light on the back. Usually fluorescent with a push button starter. Why do stoves made now never seem to have these lights? I did see some with LED strips, but it's rare.

I don't know, my grand mother had an old 50-6o's gas stove with a flourescent lite in the top by the controls and it was a great nightlight back in the mid 90's my mom has a washing machine with the same light in the top except it was a rapid start t-5 instead of a preheat t-12

In my eyes the reason is, all newer instalations use an fume extraction hood above the stove and the hood is a better place for the lights - it really shines down onto the pots (and not into your eyes).
With that the light on the st9ve itself has no practical use anymore.
And because there are not so many customers not using the hood, removing the light onthe stove was considered as easy cost saver, as most customers dont care.

The light at the back of the American stoves is completely useless and unnecessary and a big waste of energy. All stoves marketed here in Israel, don't have any lighting, and people being satisfied with the light in the kitchen or what Medved said, with the lights of the extraction hood (Which aren't so popular here, but we have one in my hostel).
I think stoves in America, are way less safety than the ones in Israel or other parts of the western world, because of the way they are controlled and the location of the controlling.

In the house I grew up in, we replaced our kitchen stove with a new one that had a fluorescent light in the back.  It was (automatic) preheat and took one of those oddball 18 watt appliance tubes.  I thought it was neat, but in reality it was hardly ever used.  The light in the stove was more energy efficient (18w vs. 60w) but the light in the vent hood was more useful.

Well, my friend had a gas stove from 1990s, and it had a light on the back panel. The name was "Caloric Prestige Series."

Plus at my aunt's beach house, she has a Frigidaire electric stove with a microwave above the stove, but it's all one unit. And between the two there's a glass panel with a fluorescent light.

...Plus at my aunt's beach house, she has a Frigidaire electric stove with a microwave above the stove, but it's all one unit. And between the two there's a glass panel with a fluorescent light.

When I was growing up, one of my friends had the same Frigidaire stove with attached microwave.  I don't know if something was broken, or this is how it was supposed to work but when it wasn't in use, the microwave door was always never latched shut.  Turns out the on/off for the microwave was the door latch.  The microwave timer was just a beeping timer.  The microwave started when the door was latched and stopped when the door was open. 

Maaaannn, when I was a kid, in Sears, I would always love to find the switch leading to those fluorescent
back lights on the stove top. Each of them were preheat, but I don't know their wattage. That being said, I also agree that
they were useless. Even as a kid, I was a little confused (still confused about it up to this day) in terms
of why they put the light so far back. Great for a night light, but horrible for cooking.

...why they put the light so far back. Great for a night light, but horrible for cooking.

Before the hoods became common place, they wanted to add some light.
The rear part was there as a fire wall between the cooking plates (where a fire could easily start) and the (wooden) wall behind the cooker. Plus all the control installation was on that rear side too.
So it was seen as a good candidate to place the light. It was not optimal, but still something.
Later on the height of the fire wall became lower (the improved safety of the modern electrical cook tops compare to the gas fired ones from the 30's reduced the risk of the fire, plus a ceramic tiles behind the cooker became a common place, serving as a good fire protection to a big extend too), yet the light remained because "it always was there".
And when the hoods became a common place, these were way better place for the light, so the light became completely redundant...
It only took another few decades till makers recognized that and removed the light from the stoves completely...

When I was growing up, one of my friends had the same Frigidaire stove with attached microwave.  I don't know if something was broken, or this is how it was supposed to work but when it wasn't in use, the microwave door was always never latched shut.  Turns out the on/off for the microwave was the door latch.  The microwave timer was just a beeping timer.  The microwave started when the door was latched and stopped when the door was open. 

I'm having trouble remembering that, but it seems like there was an on/off button for the microwave that was separate from the timer keypad. And if you pushed the on button the fan in the microwave would run but the magnetron part only started if the timer was set. So to make the fan stop, you had to push the off button. It was a weird setup and it scared us, because we thought the waves were coming out when the door was open but actually it was just a fan.

Maybe that's different to how yours was though.

I myself would buy a new stove today that had a fluorescent light on the back of it. @dor123 that is your opinion. As far as safety goes if your too stupid to realize a range is a dangerous appliance you probably don't need to be around it. I hate it when ass holes think we should be more like other countries. If you don't like it here don't come. Why bring your culture here? If your ways work so well stay put and don't worry about us.

I'm having trouble remembering that, but it seems like there was an on/off button for the microwave that was separate from the timer keypad. And if you pushed the on button the fan in the microwave would run but the magnetron part only started if the timer was set. So to make the fan stop, you had to push the off button. It was a weird setup and it scared us, because we thought the waves were coming out when the door was open but actually it was just a fan.

Maybe that's different to how yours was though.

Maybe that was it, but I know you could hear something running when the door was closed, so they just left the door partly open unless they were using it.  Was the only one like it I'd ever seen.

Manufacturers stopped installing the lights as they were rarely used and it was much cheaper to build the stoves without the lights.
The original gas stove in the house that I grew up in had a preheat T12 daylight tube.
The stove was made by Tappan in 1978.
The only thing it ever got used for was me turning it on as I was fascinated to watch the ends glow as the tube would start up.
All the years growing up in that house I just could never figure out why the stove had that light.
Maybe it wasn't very useful but I always thought that it looked cool.