Thanksgiving is a celebration usually composed of food (turkey, sides, and pie, of course), family (and friends for Friendsgiving), and football (humorous commercials!). Gathering around the TV, Thanksgiving revelers let the stomach digest before the slicing of pie(s). Did you know that Thanksgiving and TV dinners, the single-serving frozen meals, share a unique history? In this post, we give you a fun history about Thanksgiving and TV dinners, and how they are related. Keep this in mind when the dinner conversation lulls, and you’ll be the most popular guest of the night.
The relationship between Thanksgiving and TV football watching recalls one of the first TV dinners, at least for its food contents of Thanksgiving-inspired components and eating context in front of the TV.
A TV dinner is a frozen dinner, prepackaged, and cooked in the microwave. It usually is ready to go and is a single-serving meal.
Did you know that the first TV dinner was a Thanksgiving Meal?
In 1954, the first pre-packaged meal by Swanson consisted of a Thanksgiving meal with compartments for the turkey with cornbread dressing and gravy and for the sides of peas and sweet potatoes (both topped with a pat of butter). The company found itself overwhelmed with a huge surplus of frozen turkeys (260 tons!) because of poor Thanksgiving sales. Swanson employee Gerry Thomas, inspired by compartmentalized aluminum food trays being served by Pan American Airlines, introduced the idea to the Swanson brothers.
Nicknamed “Operation Smash,” the advertising campaign was a ‘smashing’ success for both its advertising on the nation’s latest excitement, the TV, and for its name, “TV Dinner,” which sealed (or congealed?) the two together. That first year alone, TV dinners, at 98 cents per package, were a hit with over 25 million Swanson TV dinners sold to hungry Americans.
TV dinners go gourmet and appeal to consumer values
More menus were developed. Desserts (such as apple cobbler and brownies) were added in 1960, and breakfast options (like pancakes and sausage) in 1969. Children’s portions, foreign cuisine, organic entrees, and vegetarian dishes add to the frozen meals section in supermarkets today. With options such as Plum Ginger Grain-Crusted Fish, Mini Ravioli with Vodka Cream Sauce, and Wood Fire Style BBQ Chicken Pizza, today’s frozen ready-made meals offer ‘gourmet’ options and a reassuring backup meal just in case this year’s turkey doesn’t cook in time for the big meal.
Descriptions appeal to consumer’s values, such as Kashi’s Chimichurri Quinoa Bake, that uses consciously sourced quinoa from Bolivian Altiplano Mountain farms. The plant-based vegan meal “is a South American entrée, after all.” Social, environment, and nutrition awareness are emphasized with packaging descriptions including non-GMO project verified, the number of grams of protein and fiber per serving, and veggies and whole grains per serving.
There are several theories about the name of the TV dinner. One is that the name originates from the shape of the tray it was served on. The compartments were similar to the front panels of a 1950s television set: the large screen on the left and the speakers and control on the right. Another reason is that many families would eat the meals in front of a TV set. Also, some of the earliest packaging featured an image of a TV set itself.
The connection between TV and Thanksgiving continues, as more than 100 million Americans will gather on Thanksgiving with family and friends, not around the dinner table, but to watch as many as 15 hours straight of TV. As Americans’ new tradition, Thanksgiving has become a TV-centric day where we will watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade followed by NFL football games along with many advertisements for the pending Black Friday deals.
So long as there is ‘thanks-giving’, what you eat on Thursday or where, be it the formal dining room table or on the living room couch, it should not matter as much as the spirit in which the meal is shared.
We are thankful for you! Thank you for coming to our table. You are always welcome!
Food for thought:
Want a quick dinner for one? Try this fresh Lemon Honey Pasta dish. Eat in style with these modern TV trays.
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