National TV Dinner Day
National TV Dinner Day
Pull back that cellophane and key up the microwave on September 10th for National TV Dinner Day. Originally called TV Brand Frozen Dinner, the TV dinner became a common household experience by the 1950s.
While humans have been freezing foods outside in cold climates for centuries, the modern means of freezing goods for transport and storage came on the scene in 1861 when Thomas Sutcliffe Mort established the world’s first freezing works which would eventually become the New South Wales Fresh Food and Ice Company.
Freezing technology and frozen food lept forward in the 1920s thanks to Clarence Birdseye who invented flash freezing. While frozen meals were originally used as a means of getting fresh food to soldiers on the front, in 1949, Albert and Meyer Bernstein saw the potential for a domestic product and began marketing their Frozen Dinners in Pittsburgh, PA.
The idea didn’t really take off until C.A. Swanson and Sons came out with their TV dinners in 1953. Remember, at this point, there still aren’t any microwaves so the TV dinners of the day were cooked in the oven. Still, the premade meals saved on prep time, planning, and clean-up, and what overworked housewife could say no to that?
Microwavable TV dinners were invented in 1986, though it was more about the tray than the food, and the rest is history. So be sure to grab a couple of boxes of your favorite frozen meals for National TV Dinner Day on September 10th.
