The list of Things I’m Older Than continues to grow.
The first TV dinners were introduced by Swanson in 1953. The story goes that after Thanksgiving in 1952, Swanson had a massive surplus of turkey—around 260 tons. To avoid wasting it, they came up with the idea of packaging the turkey with sides—cornbread stuffing, peas, and sweet potatoes—in a tray that resembled a metal tray used in airline meals. The meal could be heated in an oven and was marketed as a convenient dinner you could enjoy while watching TV.

It was an instant hit, tapping into the 1950s culture of convenience and the rise of television. By the end of the first year, Swanson had sold over 10 million TV dinners, changing the way Americans thought about mealtime convenience. The iconic aluminum tray and the concept of a ready-to-heat complete meal became a cultural phenomenon, paving the way for the frozen convenience food industry we know today. (GPT 4o)