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1^st February 2014

Top Picture:  Sainsbury’s steak and Macaroni Cheese!

Bottom Picture: Original Swanson TV Dinner Advertisement.

The TV Dinner

The TV dinner when it arrived in Britain was really an invention of the 1950’s and 60’s in this country. The concept of a ready meal, frozen dinner, frozen meal in a prepackaged frozen or chilled form with all the different constituent parts in separate little containers all pressed out of a single foil container was something entirely new to us in the British Isles. The idea that it required very little preparation and contained all the elements for a single-serving meal was a system that had to be learnt; for better or worse! A 1960’s TV dinner usually consisted of meat, usually beef or chicken in gravy, with a vegetable, such as peas or sweet corn with a portion of potato all in one portioned dish.

The term TV dinner was used for a brand of packaged meal developed in 1953 by C.A. Swanson & Sons (the name in full was TV Brand Frozen Dinner) in the United States. Swanson’s stopped using the name "TV Dinner" in 1962; but even today in the US the term remains synonymous with any prepackaged dinner purchased frozen in a supermarket and heated at home. The original TV Dinner came in an aluminum tray and was heated in an oven. Most frozen food trays we see around today are now made of microwaveable material, usually plastic.

Several smaller companies had conceived of frozen dinners earlier, but the first to achieve success was Swanson. The first Swanson-brand TV Dinner was produced in the United States and consisted of a Thanksgiving meal of turkey, with cornbread dressing, frozen peas and sweet potatoes packaged in a tray like those used at the time for airline food service. Each item was placed in its own compartment. The aluminum tray could be heated directly in the oven without any extra dishes; and one could eat the meal directly from the same tray. The original TV Dinner sold for 98 cents. The name TV dinner came from the shape of the tray it was served on, the same shape as a TV screen.

In the United Kingdom, pre-prepared frozen meals first became widely available in the late 1950s. Since then they have steadily grown in popularity with the increased ownership of home freezers and microwave ovens. Smaller households have influenced the sale of this and other types of convenience food. In 2003, the United Kingdom spent £5 million a day on ready meals, and was the largest consumer in Europe.

The identity of the TV Dinner's inventor has been disputed. In one account retired Swanson executive Gerry Thomas said he conceived the idea after the company found itself with a huge surplus of frozen turkeys because of poor Thanksgiving sales. His version of events has been challenged by the Los Angeles Times, members of the Swanson family^, and former Swanson employees; they all credit the Swanson brothers with the invention.

Either way, Swanson's concept was not original. In 1944, William L. Maxson's frozen dinners were being served on airplanes. Other prepackaged meals were also marketed before Swanson's TV Dinner. In 1952, Quaker States Foods introduced the first frozen dinners on oven-ready aluminum trays under the One-Eye Eskimo label.

The freezing process tends to degrade the taste of food and the meals are thus, even today, heavily processed with extra salt and fat to compensate. The dinners are almost always significantly less nutritious than fresh food and are formulated to remain edible after long periods of storage, thus often requiring preservatives.


It is claimed that a benefit of these frozen dinners was that they are usually fully cooked during preparation, and only need to be reheated by the consumer. This eliminates the possibility of undercooking.

Now as I spent most of my working life as a caterer I have to say that I have yet to come across a frozen TV meal which has taste, flavour and looks appetising when it has been heated, despite the picture on the front of the box. I am reminded of an exhibition I attended in Brighton 20+ years ago, where a young salesman was trying to sell me frozen omelettes, claiming that they were faster to prepare than the traditional method of making an omelette. At one time in my career, when I was in the luxury trade I was making upwards of 45 omelettes per evening, so I challenged the salesman to an omelette duel! I would use the tried and tested method and him the frozen product. Shall we just say that I had mine completed and on the plate ready for eating whilst the salesman was still getting his out of the packet. QED as Bert Ray would put it!   You cannot beat fresh food!

Stay in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

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I was sad to read of the death of Pete Seager at the age of 94. He always seemed to be there in the background through most of my teenage years. His lasting legacy must surely be his protest song 'We shall overcome' which over the decades must have been sung millions and millions of times.

On this Day 1^st February 1960-1965

On 01/02/1960 the number one single was Why - Anthony Newley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was not listed and the box office smash was Some Like It Hot. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the week was Margaret Thatcher gives her first Commons Speech.

On 01/02/1961 the number one single was Are you Lonesome Tonight? - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 01/02/1962 the number one single was The Young Ones - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the week was US bans imports from Cuba.

On 01/02/1963 the number one single was Diamonds - Jet Harris & Tony Meehan and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Liz Taylor films Cleopatra

On 01/02/1964 the number one single was Needles & Pins - Searchers and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Steptoe & Son (BBC) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 01/02/1965 the number one single was You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' - Righteous Brothers and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.