Turkey and the Television

Today in 1953 Swanson began selling it's first TV dinner. What has grown into a huge portion of the American way of life all started out as a quick solution to a pressing problem. Gerald Thomas, a Swanson executive was faced with 10 railroad cars full of unsold turkeys. So....Thomas thought, why not package the turkey with the usual side dishes, put them in segmented trays and sell them as a complete meal for the busy family. What a stroke of genius. The best part however was to tie it into the current rage in households across America...television. The perfect meal to have and not miss a show. The meal was hot, complete and could be easily eaten in it's segmented container right in the livingroom in front of the "tube". Swanson came out with 5,000 TV Dinners featuring turkey, cornbread dressing, gravy, peas ans sweet potatoes. The selling price was 98 cents and the box was cleverly designed to resemble a television. The original 5,000 dinners was no where near enough. Swanson sold 10,000,000 TV Dinners that first year....who knew! Check out the 1953 commercial for Swanson, the dinners are "all that" and more. Nowadays my tastes run a bit more on the expensive "foodie" side . Although, I have been know to eat a frozen dinner and even fondly remember the "treat" it was to get one as a kid complete with the little chocolate cake in the upper right hand corner..yum, yum. I also tend to spend less time in front of the TV and more time in front of the computer. I'm thinking though that the hot meal in the segmented tray may come in handy in front of the computer too. I may need these great napkins from marywibis etsy shop

As well as these felt coasters/trivets from moufelt on etsy

And what meal would not be complete, yes even a frozen dinner, without a nice glass of wine. Bon Appetit !