1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:12,080 Speaker 1: Lauren vogelbam here, what would we see if we peeked 3 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,520 Speaker 1: into your fridge carefully prepared meals for the week, plus 4 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: ingredients to riff on? Or are we looking at more 5 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:22,040 Speaker 1: like takeout containers or a mess of condiments and nothing 6 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: to put them on? Maybe something unrecognizably fuzzy or gozer 7 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: No shame here aside from Mesopotamian gods. Some combination of 8 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: the latter describes the fridge shelves belonging to many of us. 9 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: Maybe it's a busy schedule stress or just undeveloped cooking skills, 10 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: but it can be hard to make a home cooked 11 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: dinner or breakfast or lunch, So frozen meals to the rescue. 12 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: A freezing foods for eating later is nothing new. Humans 13 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: have been doing that for millennia, but prepared frozen meals 14 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: ready to be reheated and eaten didn't come around until 15 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: technological innovations in the nineteen hundreds led to affordable refrigerators 16 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 1: and quick freezing machines. No one person invented frozen convenience foods. 17 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:13,959 Speaker 1: It took a bunch of steps a few mishaps and 18 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: some smart marketing. But let's step back from frozen meals 19 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 1: to frozen foods period. The high quality frozen foods that 20 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,680 Speaker 1: retain their texture and flavor when reheated can be largely 21 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 1: credited to one Clarence Bird's eye. Yes, that Bird's eye. 22 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:35,759 Speaker 1: He developed a system of packing and flash freezing fresh 23 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: food back in the nineteen twenties. These two parts of 24 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 1: the process, the packing and the flash freezing, are critical 25 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: because you've got two main obstacles to food being appetizing 26 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: once it's reheated. One is freezer burn, which happens when 27 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: frozen foods are exposed to enough circulating air that ice 28 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: crystals on the surface layer of the food evaporate, leaving 29 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: a terrible little dry i pocket behind. The best way 30 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: to prevent this is to seal food in air tight 31 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: packaging with the surface tightly covered. The second obstacle to 32 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 1: overcome is mushiness. This occurs because most things that we eat, 33 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:18,959 Speaker 1: alike meats and vegetables, contain a lot of water. When 34 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: water freezes, it expands and forms ice crystals of increasing 35 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: size that can break up cell walls within food, which 36 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:30,920 Speaker 1: means that food will be mushy when it's reheated. But 37 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: if you freeze something very quickly, the size of the 38 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:37,239 Speaker 1: ice crystals that form will be small and hopefully won't 39 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,839 Speaker 1: rupture those cell walls, and thus the food will hold 40 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: up a lot better. Bird's Eye worked out both of 41 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: these issues and launched the Bird's Eye Frosted Food Company 42 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty with eighteen types of fish, other meats, 43 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: fruits like raspberries, and vegetables like spinach. It wasn't an 44 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:01,000 Speaker 1: immediate success, but partially because canned goods were already so popular, 45 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: and partially because lots of stores and homes didn't have 46 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: mechanical refrigerators. World War II helped the American War Production 47 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,799 Speaker 1: Board enacted restrictions on metals like ten for use in 48 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: the war effort. Cans were made of tin, and so 49 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: buying canned goods at grocery stores cost more ration points 50 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 1: than other foods. Besides that, lots of canned food production 51 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: lines had been turned to making rations for armed forces overseas, 52 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: so back at home, grocers started stocking frozen foods, sometimes 53 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: in leased refrigerators. After the war, sales of home refrigerators 54 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: picked up two Meanwhile, inventors had already started creating frozen meals. 55 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: In nineteen forty four, a company had started producing the 56 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: line of complete meals frozen on individual resin coated paper 57 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: trays that they called strato plates, originally for the Navy 58 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 1: and then later for the commercial airline AM. The first 59 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: frozen meals hit the consumer market in nineteen forty nine, 60 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: when a Pittsburgh area company began selling fridge dinners on 61 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: aluminum trays. However, it was Swanson's massive nineteen fifty four 62 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: advertising campaign that sealed the deal on frozen meals for consumers. 63 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: Plus the rise of a technically unrelated device, the television, 64 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:30,240 Speaker 1: After World War II, television experienced wild growth. It went 65 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:32,800 Speaker 1: from being something a few thousand people had in their 66 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: homes in the nineteen forties to something over half the 67 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: population had by nineteen fifty five. Swanson called their new 68 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: frozen meal a TV dinner to ride the exploding wave 69 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:49,040 Speaker 1: of popularity. The story goes that Swanson executive Jerry Thomas 70 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: got the idea to enter the frozen dinner foray after 71 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 1: having been served one on a flight in nineteen fifty two. 72 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: The company was simultaneously trying to solve a problem they 73 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: had with Thanksgiving turkey leftovers. Not just a few tupperware 74 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,920 Speaker 1: containers worth either, but we're talking about two hundred and 75 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:11,599 Speaker 1: sixty tons of turkey. Thomas suggested that the Swanson brothers 76 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 1: freeze the surplus, and two years later they had frozen 77 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 1: dinners on their local market around Omaha, Nebraska. They got 78 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:22,040 Speaker 1: the idea to tie the concept in with watching television 79 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,600 Speaker 1: and even shaped the tray a bit like a TV set. 80 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: They sold ten million meals their first year after taking 81 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 1: their ad campaign national, including a Thanksgiving tray featuring turkey, 82 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: corn bread, stuffing, peas, and sweet potatoes. Over the years, 83 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: America's frozen foods have continued to develop two meet our wants. 84 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: More menu options were added, including favorites like fish sticks 85 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty three, pizza rolls in nineteen sixty eight, 86 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:52,280 Speaker 1: and frozen breakfasts like pancakes and sausages in nineteen sixty nine. 87 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:56,840 Speaker 1: A glance into the freezers at your local supermarket is 88 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: all you need to know that today's frozen foods are 89 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: distant comes to the TV dinners of the nineteen fifties. 90 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: There are all kinds of single microwavable plates, bags, with 91 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,480 Speaker 1: complete meals for a skillet or baking dish, and party 92 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:14,279 Speaker 1: sized platters. You can find everything from breakfast sandwiches to 93 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: butternut squash ravioli, lemon grass coconut chicken, to lemon merang 94 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: pie and samosa's to spiral fries, plus classics like meat 95 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: loaf and mashed potatoes and beef stroganof meals, and you know, 96 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: an entire wall of frozen pizzas. The first frozen pizza 97 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:35,680 Speaker 1: debuted early on in nineteen forty nine. The industry's expansion 98 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:39,479 Speaker 1: into different foods catering to different tastes and health concerns 99 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: like low sodium, gluten free, and vegan options really paid 100 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 1: off during the first couple years of the COVID nineteen pandemic. 101 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:50,920 Speaker 1: American consumers stuck at home purchased record high numbers of 102 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 1: frozen foods in twenty twenty and twenty twenty one. We've 103 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: backed off a bit since then, but the money that 104 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 1: we've spent on frozen foods has continued to rise due 105 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:04,919 Speaker 1: to inflation and corporate earnings policies. It's estimated that the 106 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:08,039 Speaker 1: frozen food industry in the US will top eighty billion 107 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 1: dollars in sales this year twenty twenty four, which means 108 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: it's just about quadrupled in the last twenty years, not 109 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 1: shabby for an industry that's been around for a little 110 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: under a century. By the way, the quick freezing process 111 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: allows foods to retain not just their texture, but also 112 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: a lot of the vitamins, minerals, and other good stuff 113 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 1: that they tend to lose during the canning process, so 114 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: frozen fruit, vegetables, and proteins are as healthy as fresh 115 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: and a better nutritional choice than canned. However, a lot 116 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: of prepared frozen meals do have a bunch of salt, sugar, 117 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: and or fat added, so watch out for that if 118 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:51,960 Speaker 1: that's something you want or need to watch out for. 119 00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article history of TV Dinners. 120 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: Stuff works dot Com written by Maria Tremarky. Brain Stuff 121 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: is production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how 122 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: stuff works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang. 123 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: For more podcasts my Heart Radio, visit the Aheartradio app, 124 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.