National TV Dinner Day
About National TV Dinner Day
When is National TV Dinner Day? This holiday is always observed on September 10
It’s been a long, stressful day. You’re hungry and want something to eat that’s quick and easy. So, don’t cook tonight. Rather, celebrate National TV Dinner Day. On this September 10 holiday, pop a pre-made frozen entree into the microwave. Nuke it for just a few minutes, and you have a ready-made meal to enjoy in front of the television. There is no shortage of varieties of dinners. You can even select vegetarian, low-calorie, or low-carb frozen meals, too.
TV dinners save time and don’t cost a lot of money. It’s a luxury everyone can afford. Americans lead busy lifestyles. So, these quick-to-make dinners are perfect when time is short or you’re simply too tired to cook. And, clean-up is a breeze. There are no pots and pans to scour. When dinner is over, you rinse the tray and place it in the recycle bin.
National TV Dinner Day - The History and Evolution of Frozen TV Dinners
Before anyone could think about frozen TV dinners, refrigeration and home refrigerators needed to be invented. And, that happened over a century earlier. In 1805, American inventor Oliver Evans created the first refrigerator design. However, it took decades to create the first practical, functioning refrigeration unit. Jacob Perkins created it in 1834. Then in 1913, American Fred Wolf invented the home refrigerator.
A decade later in 1924, Clarence Birdseye developed a method to fast-freeze foods for longer-term storage. Birdseye was a pioneer in creating quick frozen foods. He went on to found Birdseye Food Company. Initially, he froze fish. Next, he successfully froze many vegetables and other foods.
In 1953, Swanson employee Gerry Thomas had a brainstorm. He proposed to his company a new frozen entree. It was a complete meal in an aluminum tray ready to cook in the oven and eat. In 1954, C.A. Swanson & Sons marketed TV Dinners. The timing was right, and they were an instant success. However, they weren’t the first. In 1949, Albert and Meyer Bernstein founded Frozen Dinners, Inc. They marketed frozen entrees in the Pittsburgh market.
After overproducing turkey for Thanksgiving, Swanson used the extra turkey to make its first frozen TV dinners. The meal consisted of turkey, cornbread dressing, sweet potatoes, and peas. Swanson sold them for 98 cents.
Swan’s original sales estimate for 1954 was 5,000 units. Amazingly, actual sales far exceeded their forecast. They sold 10 million TV dinners in the first year!
Those first TV dinners used an aluminum tray. The original dinners took 25 minutes in the oven to cook. Nowadays, it’s even faster in the microwave. Today’s trays are made of microwaveable plastic. Depending upon the dinner, it is ready in about ten minutes. Shorter microwave cooking time is perfect for our fast-paced lifestyle.
National TV Dinner Day Trivia and Fun Facts
Here are some trivia and fun facts. Use them to amaze your friends with your knowledge of frozen entrees.
- Its original name was “TV Brand Frozen Dinner”.
- “Boil-in-bags” were a form of frozen dinners. The frozen bags were dropped into a pot of boiling water to cook. Meats and vegetables were commonly cooked in this manner.
- In 1960, Swanson made a four-compartment tray. Then, they added a dessert to the meal.
- In 1962, Swanson stopped using the name “TV Dinner”.
- Frozen TV Breakfasts hit the market in 1969.
- The Smithsonian Institute inducted the original aluminum Swanson TV Dinner tray into the Museum of American History in 1986.
- The name “TV Dinner” is credited to the huge success of this product.
- Initially, Swanson trademarked the name “TV Dinner”.
- Over 128 million of these frozen dinners are sold annually.
How to Celebrate National TV Dinner Day
There are several easy and flavorful ways to enjoy National TV Dinner Day. Here are some of them:
- Buy a TV Dinner. Make it a “Hungry Man” meal. While you’re right there in the frozen prepared foods section of your local grocery store, buy several.
- Now, comes the best part. Eat them!
- Use leftovers to make homemade frozen entrees for you and your family.
- Gather some friends and binge-watch your favorite shows while you all enjoy a TV Dinner.
- Of course, have a TV Dinner for lunch, too.
- Heat one up and bring it to someone who lives alone. It will cheer them up.
- When you have leftovers from dinner, make up homemade TV dinners and freeze them for later.
- Take pictures and post them on social media.
Today's Quote
“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” – – Archimedes
History and Origin of National TV Dinner Day
Despite our extensive research, we have not yet identified the creator of this holiday. Nor have we discovered why it was created. The obvious assumption is that someone who loves TV Dinners invented the holiday.
The earliest reference we found to this holiday was in 2015.
Also, our research did not find any documentation confirming this to be a true “National” day. We found no congressional records or presidential proclamation.
Definition of “National” Days – and why it is so important to distinguish and identify true national days.
This Day in History
In addition to National TV Dinner Day, here are some things that happened on this day:
- Gunsmoke premieres on television. It became TV’s longest-running Western program. (1955)
- The TV series “X-Files” premiered. (1993)
- Ludacris, an American rapper, actor, born Christopher Brian Bridges was born on this day in 1977.
Related Holidays
More September 10 Holidays
In addition to National TV Dinner Day, here are more September 10 holidays you can celebrate:
More About Today
Recipe of the Day: Hungarian Baked Pumpkin
Also See: Fall Recipes and Holiday Recipes and Halloween Recipes
Flower of the Day: Black-Eyed Susan
Ecards Send a free Ecard daily for just about any September calendar holiday, occasion, observance, or event. Or, just for the fun of it!
Holiday Insights, where every day in September is a holiday, a bizarre or wacky day, an observance, or a special event. So, please join us in the daily calendar fun each and every day of the year.
Did You Know? Furthermore, in addition to National TV Dinner Day, there are literally thousands of daily holidays, special events, and observances, more than one for every day of the year. Many of these holidays are new. People and organizations are creating new holidays on a regular basis. September holidays are no exception. At Holiday Insights, we take great efforts to thoroughly research and document the details of each one, as completely and accurately as possible.