TV dinners
TV dinners, precooked frozen meals typically packaged in three-compartment aluminum trays, were first introduced to consumers in the fall of 1953 by C. A. Swanson and Sons. These convenient meals featured items such as turkey, cornbread stuffing, and buttered peas, and were marketed to capitalize on the rapidly growing popularity of television. Priced at ninety-eight cents, the dinners were packaged in cardboard cartons designed to resemble television sets. Initially, Swanson planned to produce five thousand dinners, but demand quickly soared, resulting in sales of one million within the first year.
The concept of prepackaged meals dates back to World War II, when inventor William L. Maxson created a reheating system for military meals. After the war, he attempted to market similar meals to commercial airlines as "Sky Plates." Although he passed away before expanding to the general public, the idea persisted and evolved. The introduction of TV dinners significantly changed American dining habits, making convenient food preparation widely acceptable, especially for women entering the workforce and engaging in other activities outside the home.
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TV dinners
Convenience food
Date First marketed in September, 1953
One of the first convenience foods to gain widespread acceptance by the public, TV dinners eliminated hours of food preparation work for homemakers.
Consumers were able to buy the first “TV dinners” in the fall of 1953. Precooked and frozen in three-compartment aluminum trays, the frozen meals marketed by C. A. Swanson and Sons included such items as turkey, corn bread stuffing and gravy, buttered peas, and sweet potatoes. Although many people assume that frozen “TV dinners” acquired their name from the popular practice of eating the packaged meals while watching television, the Swanson company actually used the term in its early marketing as an attempt to capitalize on the growing popularity of the new television technology. The dinners, which initially sold for ninety-eight cents each, came boxed in cardboard cartons designed to resemble the faces of televisions. C. A. Swanson and Sons planned an initial production run of five thousand dinners. Within a year, however, one million dinners were sold.
Although Swanson enjoyed the first widespread success with frozen dinners, the notion of a precooked, packaged meal dates back to World War II. Inventor William L. Maxson devised a system for reheating prepared frozen meals for military personnel being flown to overseas assignments that included both the trays for the dinners and ovens in which to warm them. When the war ended, Maxson marketed the dinners to commercial airlines as “Sky Plates.” He planned to expand sales to the general public but died in 1947. The early airliner dinners were served on round, cardboard plates, but by the 1950’s, airlines had switched to three-compartment metal trays, which became the same metal trays that the Swanson company used in 1953. Effective marketing quickly turned TV dinners into meals almost every household enjoyed.
Impact
Swanson frozen TV dinners changed the way Americans viewed mealtimes. Convenient food preparation became acceptable for women who were beginning to find work and activities outside the home.
Bibliography
Shapiro, Laura. The Housewife’s Dream: Liberation and the Kitchen in 1950’s America. New York: Viking Press, 2004. Highly readable discussion of changes in technology and society during the 1950’s.
Williams, Edwin. Frozen Foods: Biography of an Industry. Boston: Cahners, 1970. A general history of the frozen foods industry from its inception through the 1960’s.