The TV dinner owes its creation to Thanksgiving. In 1953, a Swanson employee mistakenly ordered 260 extra tons of turkey, leaving the company with a surplus that filled up 10 refrigerated train cars. To solve the problem, a salesman proposed serving the turkey alongside side dishes in divided aluminum trays. Swanson sold 5,000 of these “TV dinners” that year, and by the next year, demand skyrocketed to 10 million!
This fact has been brought to you by The Podcast: Fuzzy Things in the Corner of the Kitchen
