Today in packaging history: First TV dinner is introduced

By David Bellm -- Packaging Digest, 9/9/2008 2:00:00 AM

On September 10, 1953 Swanson introduced its original "TV dinner." It wasn't the first ready-made meal on a tray, but it's the one that captivated the country and forever reshaped our notion of convenience foods. By combining the idea of a premade meal with the irresistible allure of America's favorite new living-room pastime, Swanson launched what would become an indelible part of our culture.

That first Swanson TV Dinner included turkey, cornbread dressing, frozen peas and sweet potatoes packaged in a metal tin with dividers for each portion of the meal. Cooking it was as simple as pulling the tray from the box, popping it in the oven for 25 minutes at 425°F, then pulling it out and setting it neatly on a folding stand in the living room -- just in time for "The Jack Benny Program" or "I love Lucy."

Those first Swanson TV Dinners sold for 98 cents, and the company figured they'd sell about5000 in the first year.

By the following September, Swanson had instead sold 10 million TV dinners.

In doing so, the company had forever altered how Americans think of dinner -- a fact clearly proven by the massive, diverse market for ready-made meals offered in any grocery store today.

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