When you devolve through the frozen food department in the supermarket , have you ever compared it to other section ? In many cases , pre - packaged meals which requirerefrigerationor freeze get an entire aisle in grocery stores , while important baking supply such as flour or clams only get a few infantry of shelf space . Now , a frozen dinner party might not be everyone ’s mind of a nice meal , but the concept ’s popularity tells us a lot about American culture . With Americans spend more time in the work place , quick-frozen dinner are an cheap and commodious way to prepare food . But how and when did the idea amount about ?
The history of modern frozen food get down in the twenties , when a man named Clarence Birdseye develop the cognitive operation of " agile freezing " , a technique in which items are freeze so fast only tiny shabu crystals form . Birdseye was capable to better preserve foods and maximize smack , but the idea did n’t become a commercial-grade success until Swanson Foods come up with the construct of the " video dinner " in 1953 .
Two important cistron made the television dinner party instantly democratic . First , televisionwas at the elevation of its golden age during the 1950s , and Swanson timed the growth of the product absolutely . family were gathering in front of their sets to observe show such as " I make love Lucy " and " What ’s My wrinkle ? " on a regular footing . Swanson create a large - scale marketing cause to associate their product as much as potential with the television receiver . Commercials draw class enjoying TV dinners in front of a set , and advertisers even design the promotional material to bet like a television receiver – right down to the channel and volume knobs . The 2nd factor was the alone feature of the segment atomic number 13 plateful . The turkey never refer the pea , the peas never tinct the white potato vine , and so on . This simple convenience attracted consumers – adults as much as children do n’t wish their food to mix – and the television set dinner party apace became a soda pop culture phenomenon .
In an effort to expand the option available to customers , Swanson enclose wintry breakfast and lunch meals , and by the 1960s they had deteriorate the name " TV dinner " from the publicity . The name no longer appears on the front , but most people are cognisant of idiot box dinners through vintage television commercials and other aspects of 1950s American culture . The influence of the TV dinner is still observable today ( for better or worse ) – just check out your local supermarket ’s frozen food section .
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