TV Dinner Inventor Dies, Is Slotted in the Aluminum Beyond

Source: TV Dinner Inventor Dies, Is Slotted in the Aluminum Beyond

Ah, those tiny squares of carrot interspersed with green peas, the hunk of tough turkey with gravy, the dollop of mashed potatoes, each bit in its own silvery aluminum slot--the first tv dinners were the brainchild of  a Swanson executive whose company was overloaded with a half million pounds of  surplus frozen turkey.  In 1952 Gerry Thomas who died July 18 at age 83 dubbed the  food-filled tray a "tv dinner " and made history.

Those first tv dinners took an unthinkable 25 minutes to thaw out in an oven. Foodie recalls having one once with a baby sitter--it may well have been 1952!-- while  being allowed to stay up way too late to watch Fredric March in the film "Les Miserables."