The end of World War II marked the beginning of a new era in the United States: an era of convenience. New technologies that had been either postponed by or developed during the war were finding their way into everyday life. Among them were frozen meals that promised to eliminate hours of cooking and replace it with more leisure time. This is the story of C.A. Swanson & Sons and the rise of TV Dinners.
Sources:
“What’s Cooking?” Sgt. Georg N. Meyers, Yank, Jul 6, 1945
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“Carl A. Swanson,” Canning Trade, Oct 24, 1949
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“Charlotte News Weekly Grocery News,” Betty Boyer, The Charlotte News, Apr 21, 1954
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“Frozen in Time,” Patricia Myers, The Arizona Republic, Jan 8, 1992
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As Seen on TV: The Visual Culture of Everyday Life in the 1950s, Karal Ann Marling, 1996
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Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950’s America, Laura Shapiro, 2004
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“Who "invented" the TV dinner?” Science Reference Section, Library of Congress, Nov 19, 2019
“A Brief History of the TV Dinner,” Kovie Biakoko, Smithsonian Magazine, Nov 2020