make use of the turkeys, Mr. Thomas, a company sales rep from 1948-1970, was visiting the Pan American Airlines food kitchens where they were experimenting with a single-compartment aluminum foil tray as a way of serving hot meals inflight.By 1954, television had moved from the black and white, limited programming for the wealthy to live, color broadcasts found in the average home. Although Gerry Thomas didn't own a television himself, he knew that more and more families were eating their dinners in front of televisions. Mr. Thomas, like Tess McGill in Working Girl, made an outside-the-box connection between the turkeys and television and changed our society forever.
"He convinced the Swanson brothers to make up, as an experiment, 5,000 frozen turkey dinners, complemented by corn bread dressing, bright green peas and sweet potatoes. This was a big gamble for Swanson at the time. Swanson employed a few dozen women armed with ice cream scoops to fill the trays. The women worked through the night. Thomas also designed a clever package that resembled a TV screen complete with volume and channel knobs printed on its front. The dinner cost 98 cents. It was bold thinking for a person who did not even own a TV set at the time.Jeff Einstein adds this commentary:
"He reasoned that the dinners would sell as convenience items to housewives who were entranced by post-War, time-saving appliances. They could sell the frozen dinners to families accustomed to gathering around the new television sets to watch popular programs like I Love Lucy. The dinners could be cooked in 25 minutes at 425 degrees. Being fast and convenient, they fit nicely on a TV tray in the living room so diners didn’t have to drag themselves away from their favorite television shows.
"Just as the Swanson’s had greatly overestimated the number of turkeys for Thanksgiving of 1954, they now had greatly underestimated the demand for the new type of frozen dinner.
"In 1955, Swanson sold ten million of the frozen dinners. Of note, most people didn’t even own freezers so the dinners were bought and prepared the same day. Later in 1955, Swanson added fried chicken, Salisbury Steak and meatloaf to its line. Throughout the 1950s Swanson dinners were touted by public figures ranging from President Eisenhower to Howdy Doody." John Fraim www.symbolism.org
"Some social scientists might interpret the introduction of the TV Dinner as an unintentional precursor to the later emancipation of American women, at least from the kitchen. Perhaps. But I see something more: I interpret it as the beginning of our addiction to television, what happened the moment we began to ritualize our obsession with it.
The dinner table – an essential ritual of family life – all but disappeared for millions of American families over the next few generations. The original evening news – what was going on within our families and our neighborhoods – was suddenly replaced with a commercial network TV version that didn't care a lick about us, our families, or our neighborhoods. The fragmentation of the American family accelerated as the number of TVs per household increased; soon everyone was eating in front of their own televisions in their own rooms.
As our addiction to TV escalated, so did our appetites. What started as an innocent snack in front of the TV evolved into an all-you-can-eat buffet, and dinnertime soon extended straight through primetime to bedtime, nonstop for decades. We grew fat not only because we couldn't stop eating in front of the TV, but because we couldn't turn off the TV in the first place.
The demise of the dinner table, the subsequent fragmentation of family and community, and the ascent of obesity as a primary American health risk are just a few of the many unintended consequences that ensued once we ritualized our obsession with television. But addiction is all about unintended consequences, if for no other reason than the simple fact that no one ever aspires to become an addict."
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