Gerry Thomas of Swanson's TV Dinner Dies

By JULIETTE ROSSANT How does one quantify or qualify the impact of Swanson's TV Dinner on the American way of life? Just over 50 years ago, in 1953, Nebraska salesman named Gerry Thomas came up with the concept and term "TV dinner": an aluminum-foil tray divided into compartments of prepared food. Gerry got the idea from during a sales call, when he spotted a metal tray under experimental development for airline hot meals. The first Swanson TV Dinner (turkey with cornbread dressing and gravy, sweet potatoes and buttered peas) sold for approximately $1.00, cooked in 25 minutes at 425 F degrees, and sold 10 million units in their first year. Today, Swanson's is owned by the Pinnacle Food Corporation. In 1999, Gerry laid his hands in immortalizing cement outside Mann's Chinese Theater as a tribute to his impact on Hollywood (see CNN article.) Years earlier, Gerry was awarded the Bronze Star for Japanese code breaking during the Battle of Okinawa. Less than a week ago, Omaha's The Reader had just published an article about him. Within hours of his death, the American Frozen Food Institute had announced his death and lauded his long-time industry service, including chairman of the AFFI board. Super chefs have dipped their hands into Gerry's honeypot as well. With a century's perspective, Gerry's TV Dinner was the next step from Horn & Hardart's Automat, which was a major influence (consciously or not) on super chef Tom Coliccho (see Super Chef, pp. 195-196). However, there can be no doubt that Gerry's concept had a deep influence on Fine Dining: one of his major copycats is none other than Wolfgang Puck and his frozen pizza (see Super Chef, pp. 25-37). The search for a fine-dining version of the frozen dinner (and its profits) continues to this very day, with Mario Batali kicking off a pizza war in direct challenge to Wolf: the frozen pizzas are a big, big pie that many are hungry to take a slice of. Meanwhile, Wolf has moved into the very airline food business that originally inspired Gerry. Coincidence? Hardly. Think about that connection: Gerry Thomas... Wolfgang Puck... The TV Dinner has definitely penetrated all the way into Fine Dining in America (Click here to read excepts from Gerry Thomas' last interview with AP in 1999.) (Click here to download PDF file from the 50th anniversary of the Swanson TV dinner.) (Click here to read the Library of Congress quick history of the TV dinner.) (Click here to see old print ads, as well as the evolution of Swanson's packaging over the years.) (Missing those old 1950s propaganda films? Click here to watch a video TV documentary about the establishment of KFOR TV in 1953, produced by the University of Nebraska -- a real treat -- and perhaps the immediate inspiration of Gerry's concept of the "TV Dinner.") News articles: The Arizona Republic MSNBC Forbes (AP) Sydney Morning Herald (AP) The Guardian (AP) China Radio International (CRI) (Reuters) Science Daily (UPI) Salon Previous articles: Iron Chef Pizza Wars: Batali vs. Puck Gale Gand on Mr. "Easy-Bake Oven" The Passing of Mr. "Easy-Bake Oven" Fly With Wolfgang Puck Express Technorati Tags: chefs food restaurants cooking branding cuisine television --> back to superchefblog