"Honey! The inventor of the TV dinner's done!"

Eve · July 20, 2005, 4:15pm

From the AP (not the A&P):

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) - Gerry Thomas, credited with inventing the TV dinner more than a half-century ago and giving it its singular name, has died at the age of 83. Thomas was a salesman for Omaha, Neb.-based C.A. Swanson and Sons in late 1954 when he had the idea of packaging frozen meals in a segmented tray. He recalled that the inspiration came when he was visiting a distributor, spotted a metal tray and was told it was developed for an experiment in preparation of hot meals on airliners. “It was just a single compartment tray with foil,” he recalled. “I asked if I could borrow it and stuck it in the pocket of my overcoat.” He said he came up with a three-compartment tray because “I spent five years in the service so I knew what a mess kit was. You could never tell what you were eating because it was all mixed together.” Since interest in television was booming, he added: “I figured if you could borrow from that, maybe you could get some attention. I think the name made all the difference in the world.” The first Swanson TV Dinner - turkey with corn bread dressing and gravy, sweet potatoes and buttered peas - sold for about $1 apiece and could be cooked in 25 minutes at 425 degrees.

Rodd_Hill · July 20, 2005, 4:23pm

Best. Obit thread title. Ever.

Bless you, Eve.
(I just have this vision of the morticians rolling up the foil on the man’s coffin…)

Skywatcher · July 20, 2005, 5:15pm

I’m surprised that the AP left out the other half of the story: the TV Dinner was the solution for the question of what to do with 260 tons of frozen Thanksgiving turkey.

Doctor_Jackson · July 20, 2005, 5:45pm

In his honor, the funeral will be today, at 4:25, for 25 minutes.

Kalhoun · July 20, 2005, 5:55pm

Now THAT’S funny!!

swanky_glue · July 20, 2005, 5:58pm

In lieu of flowers, attendees of the funeral have been asked to bring forks so they can poke holes in the casket. This will allow for proper ventilation.

Slithy_Tove · July 20, 2005, 5:58pm

For the last ten minutes, they’ll peel back the corner of his casket.

Draelin · July 20, 2005, 6:32pm

And his center will still be frozen.

swanky_glue · July 20, 2005, 6:35pm

Most likely, his edges will be burned.

Zog_10 · July 20, 2005, 6:37pm

So I guess in the future people will say he was buried in a trench once, in 2005, after 25 minutes?

lieu · July 20, 2005, 7:26pm

Why, that’s the most beautiful segmented casket I’ve ever seen. Look, the meat’s all seperated from the stuffing.

chaoticbear · July 21, 2005, 2:28am

So will he need to rest for one to two minutes to cool after the funeral? I’d think that after being dead for a couple of days, he wouldn’t need to.

betenoir · July 21, 2005, 3:34am

The really neat thing is I can mourn his passing without missing any of my favorite programs. How convient!

Licentious_Ectomorph · July 21, 2005, 12:40pm

I just want to say that Eve’s thread titles alone are worth the price of admission.