The History and Science of the American TV Dinner

The TV dinner has been a staple of many American households since the 1950s. Swanson, a food company, turned this idea into a commercial success by applying food science to improve meal design. Through innovations in freezing and reheating methods, they created convenient meals that were accessible and appealing to all kinds of Americans.

Origin

In late 1953, Swanson had 260 tons of frozen turkey left over from Thanksgiving in refrigerated railroad cars. Gerry Thomas, a salesman at the food company, had the idea to serve the turkey along with other frozen holiday foods such as cornbread stuffing and sweet potatoes in compartmentalized aluminum trays. These trays would be heated in the oven and enjoyed as a convenient meal (Biakolo & Sexton, 2020).

Figure 1. The Swanson turkey TV dinner from the 1960s (Wade, 2015).

According to some accounts, Thomas was inspired by a meal, served in a similar tray, that he consumed on a Pan American Airways flight. The first of these trays had been developed and used by United Airlines beginning in 1937. In the 1940s, other food companies began selling similar products in grocery stores, but they hadn’t achieved the same popularity that Swanson’s meals would soon have (Kiger, 2013).

Cultural Significance

The TV dinner arrived at the perfect time. By the mid-1950s, technology was revolutionizing the domestic sphere, making it easier for women to enter the workforce. Appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, sewing machines, vacuum cleaners, and electric irons saved women hours of household labor (Berger, 2019). Additionally, many women had taken up jobs traditionally held by men during World War II. Though most of these women lost their jobs after the war ended, they had broken a cultural norm that made it easier for them to enter the workforce in the 1950s ("Women in the Work Force", 2016).

With many women no longer at home to cook elaborate meals, the Swanson TV dinner was an easy solution. Families could simply heat their meals and enjoy them together in front of the television, a relatively new and increasingly popular fixture in the home (Allen & Thompson, 2009). Due to demand, companies even began to sell folding TV tables, which consumers could place the hot aluminum trays on (Kiger, 2013).

Figure 2. The Reagans eating dinner from TV trays (Komar, 2019).

The Science of Frozen Food

Swanson’s TV dinners would not have been possible without scientific innovations in freezing and reheating food. Freezing is a process during which the water inside cells crystallizes and immobilizes other molecules, stopping all biological processes and preserving food. However, while freezing meats and vegetables, the growing ice crystals puncture the cell membranes. Due to the damage, the food would be soggy when reheated later. In 1922, naturalist Clarence Birdseye discovered that freezing food would rapidly result in the growth of small ice crystals, which wouldn’t damage the cell membranes. Companies like Swanson later utilized this method of flash freezing to preserve the original textures of foods (Gust, 2011).

Figure 3. Clarence Birdseye, the discoverer of the flash freezing method, preparing food for dehydration experiments (Byrne, 2022).

Additionally, different foods have different heat capacities and thermal conductivities, meaning they absorb and transfer heat at different rates. Ineffective reheating could leave some bacteria alive and potentially harm consumers. Swanson’s bacteriologist, Betty Cronin, designed their TV dinners so that each component of the meal could be heated to its optimal taste in the same amount of time. She modified portion sizes, optimized tray layouts, and conducted many tests to develop the best formulas for frozen foods (Randle, 2021).

Key Takeaways

The success of the TV dinner was a product of culture and technology. As traditional gender roles in the home evolved, Swanson responded to the growing demand for convenient meals. For many Americans, TV dinners remain a nostalgic reminder of family evenings spent gathered in front of the television.

References

1. Allen, S., & Thompson, R. J. (2009). Television in the United States—Late Golden Age, Broadcasting, Programming. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/television-in-the-United-States/The-late-Golden-Age

2. Berger, M. W. (2019, January 30). How the appliance boom moved more women into the workforce | Penn Today. Penn Today. https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/how-appliance-boom-moved-more-women-workforce

3. Biakolo, K., & Sexton, C. (2020, November). A Brief History of the TV Dinner. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/brief-history-tv-dinner-180976039/

4. Byrne, K. J. (2022, September 30). Meet Clarence Birdseye: American who cooked up frozen foods. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2022/09/30/meet-clarence-birdseye-american-who-cooked-up-frozen-foods/

5. Debczak, M. (2023, February 27). How the TV Dinner Revolutionized American Life. Mental Floss. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/651796/tv-dinners-food-history

6. Gust, L. (2011). Defrosting dinner: The evolution of frozen meals in America. MIT – Intersect, 4(1).

7. Kiger, P. J. (2013, February 28). 10 Breakthroughs in TV Dinners. HowStuffWorks. https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/10-breakthroughs-in-tv-dinners.htm

8. Komar, M. (2019, November 17). A Brief History of the TV Tray Table. Apartment Therapy. https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/tv-tray-history-background-36664929

9. Randle, A. (2021, February 24). Who Invented the TV Dinner? HISTORY. https://www.history.com/articles/tv-dinner-history-inventor

10. Wade, L. (2015, November 23). Thanksgiving, the first TV dinner—Sociological Images. The Society Pages. https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2015/11/23/thanksgiving-dinner-by-swanson/

11. Women in the Work Force during World War II. (2016, August 15). National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/wwii-women.html

Thumbnail image: (Wade, 2015)