In 1953, the Swanson company had 260 tons of leftover turkey after Thanksgiving. They decided to slice up the turkey and put it on aluminum trays (like airlines had been using) along with cornbread stuffing, frozen peas, and sweet potatoes. They decided to call them TV Dinners which could be placed directly in the oven and then on a TV tray. It was an instant success. The original TV Dinner sold for 98 cents and had a production estimate of 5,000 dinners for the first year. They sold millions!
Bon appetit!
— Doug O’Brien
