TV dinner

The TV dinner is an American invention developed by Gerry Thomas in 1954. It is a prepackaged meal which can be easily purchased frozen in a supermarket and heated at home. Originally, it came on an aluminum tray and was heated in an oven. Keeping up with the times, the tray is now made of microwaveable material.

The history of the TV Dinner

Gerry Thomas, the inventor, worked for Swanson foods in Omaha, Nebraska. He wanted to develop a way to use frozen turkey meat, which was leftover after Thanksgiving sales. Making use of aluminum serving dishes, which were also used at that time to serve aircraft dinners, he packaged leftover turkey with cornbread dressing, frozen peas and sweet potatoes. Each item was placed in its own compartment. The trays were useful: the entire dinner could be removed from the outer packaging as a unit; the aluminum tray could be heated directly in the oven without any extra baking dishes; and one could eat the meal directly out of the same tray.

Related Topics:
Swanson - Omaha, Nebraska - Turkey - Leftover - Thanksgiving - Aircraft - Pea - Sweet potato - Packaging - Oven

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The original TV Dinner sold for 98 cents in 1954, and had a first production estimate of 5,000 dinners for the first year. Swanson far exceeded its expectations, and ended up selling more than 10 million of these dinners in the first year of production. The innovative products could be cooked in 25 minutes at 425° F, and fit nicely on a TV tray.

Related Topics:
F - TV tray

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The early TV Dinners featured the image of a television set on the package.

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In 1962 Swanson stopped using the moniker "TV Dinners," and several other companies entered the market. The name, however, remains in common usage.

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Much has changed since the first TV dinners were marketed. For instance, a wider variety of entreés? such as fried chicken, salisbury steak and Mexican combinations? have been introduced. Additionally competitors, such as Banquet, also began offering a line of TV dinners. Other changes include:

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• 1960 ? Swanson added desserts (such as apple cobbler and brownies) to a new four-compartment tray.
• 1969 ? The first TV breakfasts were marketed (pancakes and sausage was the favorite). Great Starts Breakfasts and breakfast sandwiches (such as egg and Canadian bacon) followed later.
• 1973 ? The first Swanson Hungry Man dinners were marketed; these were larger portions of its regular dinner products. "Mean" Joe Greene, football player, was its spokesman.
• 1986 ? The first microwave oven-safe trays were marketed.

TV Dinners were later celebrated in a song of the same name by ZZ Top on their album Eliminator.

Related Topics:
ZZ Top - Eliminator

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Modern day TV dinners tend to come in microwave-safe containers. Product lines also tend to offer a larger variety of dinner types. These dinners, also known as microwave meals, can be purchased at almost every supermarket, and several companies still sell them for about $1.

Related Topics:
Microwave meal - Supermarket

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