1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: back to the show Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always 3 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: so much for tuning in. If you are hearing this 4 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,839 Speaker 1: the day it comes out here in these United States, 5 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: then happy Thanksgiving to you, super producer Max, to you 6 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: knowl and I guess to me it's weird to say 7 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: happy Thanksgiving to yourself. Gobble gobble, Max, Gobble gobble gobble, 8 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: who likes uh you guys, you guys turkey? Boys like 9 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: turkeys turkey. I have a complicated relationship with turkeys. They're 10 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: one of the few birds that I don't get on with, 11 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:05,680 Speaker 1: one of the few animals so I don't get on with. 12 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:07,680 Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, we talked about it both 13 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: on Stuff they want, you know, and Ridiculous History. There 14 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: can be they're aggressive, it's true, but also like, I 15 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: don't know, has anyone ever really attempted to have a 16 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: domesticated pet turkey a little leash perhaps with a little 17 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: collar on it. You know it's been done, you know, 18 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: someone's statistically likely, but seemingly a bad form. But yet somehow, Okay, 19 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:35,320 Speaker 1: that's a slaughter. These these big beefy boys and populate 20 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 1: our Thanksgiving tables with them. Remember the whole of course, 21 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:39,959 Speaker 1: you remember it still goes on, the whole pardoning of 22 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 1: the turkey thing. That's an interesting tradition, don't you think. 23 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: Are you guys ricking Morty fans? Yes? Yeah, Have you 24 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: guys seen the episode of Rick and Morty where Rick 25 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: turns himself into our Turkey so they can get a 26 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: pardon from the prest have Yeah, I've seen every episode. Yeah, 27 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: it's it's worth it, especially if you're a Rick and 28 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: Morty fan. That's the episode to revisit today. In fact, 29 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: we're we're friends with Dan Harmon. We've been on his 30 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: show Harmon Town, and he's come over to our show. Stuff. 31 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:09,640 Speaker 1: They don't want you to know. That was a roller 32 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: coaster of a conversation and it went in unexpected places. 33 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:17,359 Speaker 1: In that spirit, this episode, which is a holiday episode, 34 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: is not going to talk about some of the things 35 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: you might expect from a Thanksgiving episode of a history show. 36 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: We're not going to talk about, you know, turkey partning 37 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: too much because we we all know that story. You've 38 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,919 Speaker 1: probably heard the history of Thanksgiving, either the real version 39 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: or the sanitized version countless times growing up in the States. 40 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: Instead we decided to look at this through the angle 41 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: of one of our favorite things in all of history. Food. Uh. 42 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: This is something that is close to you, regardless of 43 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: what you eat, where you live, or even if you 44 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:58,679 Speaker 1: if you've never eaten turkey for some reason, this still 45 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: affects you. No, we're talking about TV dinners probablarly known 46 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: as microwave meals. Right, Yeah, I love that TV dinner. 47 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 1: I guess any dinner contectively to be consumed in front 48 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: of the TV. The idea here being it is self contained, 49 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:19,359 Speaker 1: comes with its own you know, throwaway receptacle. Um. So 50 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: you know, you know, all you have to do is uh, 51 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 1: supply a fork, perhaps the knife if you if you 52 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:27,359 Speaker 1: need to, and then you know, rinse and repeat and 53 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: enjoy your stories. Yeah. You don't really need any extra stuff, 54 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: don't need any condiments. I mean, you know, I personally 55 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: like to up a TV dinner a little bit, uh 56 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: add a little bit of extra spice, perhaps a little 57 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: Worcester sauce. I don't know who knows, but whatever it 58 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: might be. Um. But some people, this is literally the 59 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: thing they fear the most is having to overthink cooking 60 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 1: or meal prep. You know, so leave it to the professionals, 61 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: and oh, we know all TV dinners aren't created equal, 62 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: but it really did come down to kind of an 63 00:03:56,200 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: interesting backstory. These frozen, pre cooked, pre proportioned you know, 64 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: m R. Ease of consumer culture essentially meals ready to eat. Uh. 65 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: You know, a military thing, Benn. And you've collected some 66 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: of these in the past, haven't you. Yeah, yeah, I 67 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: have again. Uh for for the size of my pantry, 68 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: I have way too much food because I'm still an 69 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: eagle scout and feel like I have to be cartoonishly 70 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,839 Speaker 1: prepared for things. So I have m R. Ease from France, 71 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:30,479 Speaker 1: Russia and the US. I also, you know, I don't 72 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: have as many microwave meals as usual because I really 73 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: like to cook. I know what you do too, knowld. 74 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:40,600 Speaker 1: And this is where our research associate for today, Max Williams, 75 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 1: decided to start off with a hot take by saying 76 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: cooking is dumb, sir, I take exception, though I respect 77 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: your right to disagree. That is the perspective of the 78 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:59,040 Speaker 1: poor cook Smith. I would argue, no game, no game 79 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: in the kitchen. I mean sorry, I got a busy 80 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: life on like y'all, so I don't really have time 81 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: to cook. I'm out here being fancy, so you know 82 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: what I listen, you're I'm sorry, you're being fancy with 83 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:18,039 Speaker 1: your microwave meals this hungry man. Yeah, you know, you 84 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: know the uh my personal favorite is you know, the 85 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:24,159 Speaker 1: dinosaurs chicken nuggets. They're a bang for sure. They taste 86 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: better when they're shaped like things, and you can have 87 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: a little adventures with them. Put them in your mashed potatoes, 88 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: make a little volcano mountain. No. I like to do 89 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 1: a I like to do a recreation of the great 90 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: extinction of the dinosaurs, you know, by dipping some stuff, 91 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:38,840 Speaker 1: and then I like to sort of throw them in 92 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: the air and then catch them with my mouth. I'm 93 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: an adult, I can vote, you know what I mean? 94 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: Something should have done. No. Part of the beauty of 95 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: being an adult as you can do whatever the hell 96 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:52,600 Speaker 1: you want. You can play with your food on the regular. Uh. 97 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: And and we and we we take advantage of our 98 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,919 Speaker 1: adult status in these ridiculous ways pretty regularly. But the 99 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: backstory that I was and aware of is that like 100 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 1: a lot of interesting advancements in technology and let's not 101 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: live freezing and uh in refrigeration is technology even in 102 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: its earliest days. It is a form of technology even 103 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: without electrical components. Oftentimes innovations come from mistakes UH that 104 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: then leads to solutions. Then you realize the mistake, or 105 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: when you use the thing wrong or you know, in malfunction, 106 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:31,359 Speaker 1: it actually created a new and desired effect, such as 107 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: the case with the Swanson's UH Food Corporation. Yeah, this 108 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:38,600 Speaker 1: is good. This is a beautiful point, and I'm glad 109 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: we're making it early on. The microwave itself is the 110 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:48,479 Speaker 1: result of a mistake and accidental discovery. Percy Spencer was 111 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 1: a guy working for Raytheon back in the day, in 112 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 1: the nineteen forties, I think, and he realized a radar 113 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 1: set he was working on had melted a good bar, 114 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:03,040 Speaker 1: a Mr. Good Bar candy bar he had in his pocket. 115 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: That mistake, that love of Mr Goodbar is what led 116 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: to the microwave. And years back I used to write 117 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: a show for how Stuff Works called Stuff of Genius, 118 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: kids show about inventors, and that's how I learned that 119 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: Clarence Bird's Eye was the pioneer for the freezing methods 120 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: you're talking about, Noll. If you look at it, the 121 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: groundwork for TV dinners. Really starts back in n when 122 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: Bird's Eye figures out this method for freezing fish. And 123 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: he learned this from Native people from First Nations folks 124 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 1: in Canada who had been preserving food due to the 125 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:48,240 Speaker 1: hostile environment for thousands of years. And we know that 126 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: people have been eating frozen meat before in the United States, 127 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: but it wasn't really popular because it didn't taste that great. 128 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 1: You could definitely tell something had been frozen. They had 129 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: weird textures, they didn't taste as nice. Birds. I changed 130 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: that with flash freezing technology, yeah, you know, and none 131 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: of that freezer burn or weird kind of pockets of 132 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: inconsistent freezing. You know, it's all about the timing, right, 133 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: It's a bit flash freezing freezes everything the same temperature, 134 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: same time, all in one kind of like you know, 135 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: Caveman style ice block, right, and then therefore when it 136 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: when it defrosts or microwaves, everything theoretically reheats at the 137 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: same temperature. And as you know, sometimes there are microwave 138 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: meals that have instructions about stirring and then continuing to 139 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: microwave and all of that, and that's usually just to 140 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:44,959 Speaker 1: encourage that even heating but this was absolutely revolutionary because 141 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 1: now these things were palatable, and it prevented some of 142 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:53,200 Speaker 1: these issues that came along with slow freezing things like 143 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:56,960 Speaker 1: meat and poultry, which would actually cause them to lose 144 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: their flavor and the texture would be weird too. Right, Yeah, exactly. 145 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: And there's a lot to Bird's Eye story. I think 146 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: we we we should spend some time on a bird's 147 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: eyel that might be a recognizable brand to a lot 148 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:12,320 Speaker 1: of our fellow ridiculous historians today still around those pretty 149 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 1: the boiling bag corn and you know, whatever it might be. 150 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: Lots of frozen vegetables still come from the Bird's Eye Company. Yep, yep. 151 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: And Bird's Eye turns out as a Brooklyn cat. And 152 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: he's born in Brooklyn, uh And he was always interested 153 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:30,200 Speaker 1: in the natural sciences. He went to Amherst College in 154 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: nineteen o six, where for two years he studied biology 155 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: until he ran out of money unfortunately, so he went 156 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:40,560 Speaker 1: to the labor market. He works for the U. S 157 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: Department of Agriculture, and he travels around. He's in New Mexico, 158 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:48,200 Speaker 1: he's in Arizona. In nineteen twelve, he makes it up 159 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:51,400 Speaker 1: to Canada. He takes on a new profession. He becomes 160 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: a fur trader, and he does this, you know, on 161 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 1: and off for about let's say five years. And while 162 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 1: he's going around Labrador in Canada, he says, oh, look, 163 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:07,040 Speaker 1: people freeze food in the winter because they can't get 164 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: fresh food during that season, So how do they fix it? 165 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:13,680 Speaker 1: And when he sees what they've been doing, when he 166 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:17,400 Speaker 1: sees what they've learned again over thousands of years, he says, huh, 167 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: maybe I can take these ancient techniques and apply them 168 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: to the modern day. So he gets back to the 169 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: States and he starts experimenting. This leads to him founding 170 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: General Seafoods Company in nineteen four and uh, I think 171 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 1: it's not too long after. It's when he starts selling 172 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: this stuff. And this is what makes the Bird's Eye 173 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 1: family fortune. His most successful thing is like big innovation 174 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:52,079 Speaker 1: was that rapid freezing knoll where they take packaged food, 175 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: they have to refrigerated metal plates and they flash freeze it. 176 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:58,960 Speaker 1: He didn't make the first frozen food sold in stores, 177 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:04,120 Speaker 1: but his is so efficient and kept things so flavorful 178 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:07,560 Speaker 1: that it clearly dominated the market, like right after it 179 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:11,000 Speaker 1: came out. So is that proprietary technology ben like, at 180 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 1: this point, is this the only game in town, do 181 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:15,560 Speaker 1: you think? Or is this something that is that can 182 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: then be kind of repurposed by other companies. That's a 183 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:22,720 Speaker 1: good question. So he does get patents for this stuff. 184 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: But eventually in also in he sells his patents for 185 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:33,640 Speaker 1: twenty two million dollars to Goldman Sacks in the and 186 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 1: the post them serial company. They are not a name 187 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:40,280 Speaker 1: you would hear these days. It's not a story the 188 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:43,680 Speaker 1: Jedi will tell you. But this eventually led to the 189 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 1: formation of General Foods. Do you say, post them serial company? 190 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 1: Pos t U M post them so? But didn't did 191 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 1: they shorten that to post? Eventually they did. It became 192 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: post consumer brands. That's what it is now, things like 193 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:03,080 Speaker 1: gold and Crisp or Raisin Brand. They really, they really, 194 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: they really lean into the post logo on the boxes 195 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: of some of these Raisin Brand in particular, and the 196 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:16,440 Speaker 1: just absolutely absurdly titled Grape Nuts which contains neither grape 197 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: nor nor nuts. Also, uh, I might make some enemies here, folks, 198 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: but since we're in a safe space and we're all friends, 199 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: I'll just say it. I don't like Raisin brand. You know, 200 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:29,560 Speaker 1: when they're like two scoops. It's just like an extra 201 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:33,600 Speaker 1: scoop of poop for me was too much already. Raisins 202 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 1: are failed grapes. Their grapes they dropped out, you know 203 00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:40,200 Speaker 1: what I mean. I agree they gave up on life. Man. Yeah, 204 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: my girlfriend really loves Raisin brand, But I am with 205 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: you that as a trash cereal, as is grape nuts 206 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 1: and shredded wheat. These are all legacy cereals, and I'm 207 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:50,440 Speaker 1: sure there's a place for them and many people's pants. 208 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:55,200 Speaker 1: Multimeal senior home centers, you know, that's the main market. 209 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: But do you remember O G shredded wheat? You guys, 210 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: it was just like it was huge giant blocks of 211 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 1: shreds of wheat, and then you know, many wheats became 212 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 1: more of the thing. But I think you could still 213 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 1: buy the ones that have four giant freaking bricks of 214 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,640 Speaker 1: wheat shreds. Yeah, Max, what's on your mind? So? Um, 215 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 1: we're talking about all this like old school grows cereal 216 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: and like that's like all my daddy's he's obsessed with 217 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 1: this kind of stuff. And like I remember when the 218 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: pandemic was first taken off, there was I guess a 219 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:28,880 Speaker 1: shortage of grape nuts, which I wouldn't have known. I 220 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:30,680 Speaker 1: don't think y'all would have known. But we like a 221 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,040 Speaker 1: group thread and my dad's like, yeah, it's really hard, 222 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:34,720 Speaker 1: Like they're trying to charge me like thirty six dollars 223 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:36,960 Speaker 1: for a box of grape nuts on Amazon, and it's like, 224 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:39,160 Speaker 1: why don't you just not eat grape nuts? Like what 225 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 1: what would I do without grape nuts? It's like, eat 226 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,719 Speaker 1: anything else save thirty six dollars a box is what 227 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:48,080 Speaker 1: you would do? Uh. It actually says though on the 228 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 1: page on Post despite its name, grape nuts do not 229 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:55,000 Speaker 1: contain grapes nor nuts. Legends state that the c W 230 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: Post believed glucose so what he referred to as grape 231 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:03,000 Speaker 1: sugar formed during the baking process. Well, you can't win 232 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: them all. Uh. This this, and also let us know 233 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,560 Speaker 1: what your favorite at least favorite cereals are. We probably 234 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: should do an episode on cereal in the future. But 235 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:16,360 Speaker 1: but we're getting to the Thanksgiving part because this is 236 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:20,760 Speaker 1: the story. Microwave dinners are the story of a series 237 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 1: of weird accidents and discoveries and mistakes. Just for the record, 238 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:30,320 Speaker 1: this this this bird's eye stuff. These are not microwave dinners. 239 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 1: These are frozen you know, frozen foods, right, preserve frozen corn, 240 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 1: frozen vegetables, frozen meats, but not all put together into one, 241 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: one deal. Yeah, yeah, not yet. But we have to 242 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:47,120 Speaker 1: know about that technology to understand what led to TV 243 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:51,800 Speaker 1: dinners today. As we see, war drives a lot of 244 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 1: human innovation in addition to making so much tragedy and atrocity. 245 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: World War two accelerated medical technology. World War two accelerated 246 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 1: packaging technology, supply chain logistics, and it accelerated the popularity 247 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: of frozen food. People started acquiring the bird's eye process. 248 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: Folks like Maxim Food Systems Inc. In they used this 249 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: flash freezing technology to create frozen, prepackaged dinners. But they 250 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:29,840 Speaker 1: were just for civilian air carriers and the military. They 251 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 1: had a cool name too. I like this name, strato 252 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: plates or sky plates. It's the meals of the future 253 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:40,160 Speaker 1: of the air. You know, they should have called mashed 254 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 1: potatoes cloud potatoes, Like I can think of all these 255 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: different names. I love it. No, it's really smart. Good branding. 256 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 1: Unnecessary kind of because it's not really public facing. Certain 257 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,480 Speaker 1: things a little bit wasted, but yeah, this is this 258 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: is essentially frozen m R E S. M R e's 259 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:58,360 Speaker 1: by the way, you know, not to be the dead 260 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,320 Speaker 1: horse here, but they are dry. They are not They 261 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:03,200 Speaker 1: don't need to be heated, isn't that right? Pen Or 262 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 1: like they're they're freeze dried in some sense, or they 263 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,160 Speaker 1: don't need to be they're like preserved in kind of 264 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 1: like an air tight packaging. But they're not frozen. Yeah, 265 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 1: they're vacuum sealed. They're not frozen, and they're supposed to 266 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:17,800 Speaker 1: have a they they have a wide temperature tolerance. It 267 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 1: will impact how long they last. But if you have 268 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:23,680 Speaker 1: them stored in a in a cool, dry place, they 269 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:27,320 Speaker 1: can keep for a long time. For anybody who has, 270 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: let me put this diplomatically, been in a situation where 271 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: you ate m R e's for a while, you may 272 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:37,400 Speaker 1: know the most popular urban legend about them, which is 273 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: that they can give you constipation. No comment either way, 274 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:43,560 Speaker 1: but would love to hear your war stories about it. No, 275 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: you are correct. One thing you will need that n 276 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: m R A doesn't include is water. So a lot 277 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: of the drink packets are going to be powdered and 278 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 1: you add water to them, but you don't have to 279 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: heat this stuff to eat it, which can be key 280 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: if you're in a um an active situation, right probably 281 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: you know, we like a hot meal. There are certain meals. 282 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:09,960 Speaker 1: I'm no stranger to eating cold leftovers, you know, usually 283 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: a little bit drunk in the middle of the night. 284 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:15,399 Speaker 1: Not gonna lie, but they definitely have a different They 285 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,359 Speaker 1: hit different than when they're warm e s. Humans tend 286 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,480 Speaker 1: to like certain things that we expect to be hot 287 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 1: to be hot, unless we're talking cold pizza. Day after 288 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:29,040 Speaker 1: pizza is really good and it's due to the chemical 289 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:32,120 Speaker 1: reactions between the bread, the cheese and the tomato. God, 290 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:36,320 Speaker 1: we're fun at parties. But so we've got the strato plates, 291 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 1: we've got the sky plates. And the interesting thing is 292 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:42,440 Speaker 1: these playing This is almost like a marketing ploy by 293 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:46,439 Speaker 1: the Maxim Company in a weird way because along with these, 294 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:50,720 Speaker 1: you know, these meals, maxis and is also installing their 295 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:55,119 Speaker 1: line of Whirlwind electric ovens, which is a precursor to 296 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:59,200 Speaker 1: convection ovens. W. L. Maxon, you know, was was the 297 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 1: founder of this company, and this is sort of a 298 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,119 Speaker 1: structor genius on his part to get these things to 299 00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:06,400 Speaker 1: get in with kind of the military, right this Unfortunately, 300 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 1: his plan to expand the strato plates idea to a larger, 301 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:15,960 Speaker 1: more consumer facing audience died along with the man, but 302 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:19,919 Speaker 1: it opened the door for others to jump into this 303 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:24,160 Speaker 1: kind of burgeoning new, uh new food space. And we 304 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:28,680 Speaker 1: remember Maxim's efforts because he did. He did place an 305 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:33,920 Speaker 1: important brick in the pavement toward towards your grocery store today. 306 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: So there's this other guy named Jack Fisher, and he 307 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: also wants to get in the frozen food business, and 308 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:47,000 Speaker 1: like Maxim before him, he wants to aim for a 309 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:52,720 Speaker 1: specific demographic, a specific slice of customerhood. Customer two. We're 310 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:55,520 Speaker 1: just making up words. It's fine, it's American English. Uh. 311 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:57,960 Speaker 1: He has these things that are frozen meals. They're in 312 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:02,640 Speaker 1: aluminum trays and he calls them frigie dinners like frigid 313 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: air dash dinner. And he said, look, I'm not gonna 314 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 1: sell these necessarily in grocery stores. I got a business 315 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:14,120 Speaker 1: to business model, and my business sells exclusively to bars, 316 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:20,040 Speaker 1: basically bars that not just every bar, bars that want 317 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:25,120 Speaker 1: to feed hungry customers so they keep consuming booze, but 318 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,560 Speaker 1: also bars that don't want to spend the scratch to 319 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: hire a cook or build a kitchen. So he's that's 320 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 1: what he's doing. You could call them lazy bars. Maybe 321 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,440 Speaker 1: they just didn't have the real estate behind the bar 322 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:40,960 Speaker 1: to have a kitchen. So he's selling these things, and 323 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:45,000 Speaker 1: uh he meets with some success, but Frozen Dinners are 324 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: still not something you see in the average US household 325 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: because history is still waiting for one big, great mistake. 326 00:19:55,600 --> 00:20:00,159 Speaker 1: And this great mistake, folks, is all about Thanksgiving, and 327 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:04,960 Speaker 1: it's all about turkeys. Turkey. Yuh talk to talk a 328 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,879 Speaker 1: little turk. It's worth it. Let's get turky, gobble it up. 329 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:14,160 Speaker 1: So yeah, this the Albert and Meyer Bernstein. Um, we're 330 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:20,639 Speaker 1: two brothers who founded the Frozen Dinners Incorporated under a 331 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: label that I love because it is it's kind of 332 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:25,880 Speaker 1: does didn't age well that I do. I do get 333 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 1: an image with the one eyed Eskimo. I imagine he 334 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: is winking in some just to some degree, probably sort 335 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:36,640 Speaker 1: of like a big blocky logo cartoonish looking fellow. But yeah, 336 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:39,960 Speaker 1: we we we uh, we can't really culturally co opt 337 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: things like that for the purposes of slinging our microwave 338 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:47,040 Speaker 1: meals for the better, I would add. They began selling 339 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:52,439 Speaker 1: a product in Pittsburgh. It's very regional in nineteen selling 340 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:55,199 Speaker 1: these frozen dinners. By around nineteen fifty the company had 341 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 1: produced more than four hundred thousands of these meals, and 342 00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:03,760 Speaker 1: that is when they formed the Quaker State Food Corporation 343 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: and started to look into creating an expanded distribution network 344 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 1: around the east eastern part of the United States. By 345 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:16,800 Speaker 1: then had it sold more than two million prepackaged frozen meals. 346 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:20,439 Speaker 1: Has really taken off around that time. A company that 347 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: we reference to the top of the show, uh, a 348 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:28,720 Speaker 1: Nebraska based company called ce A Swanson and Sons, which 349 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: is a you know, very popular food brand already known 350 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 1: for its frozen chicken and turkey uh and also chicken 351 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: pot pies. UM. They decided and were kind of the 352 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,640 Speaker 1: impetus for taking this concept national because at this point 353 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,160 Speaker 1: you have some kind of like little you know, factions, 354 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:52,280 Speaker 1: little regional factions. They're really have their own territories. But 355 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 1: it was because again as a reference at the top 356 00:21:54,760 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 1: of the show, of a mistake, a very particularly bad 357 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:05,520 Speaker 1: lead time mistake happening around the Thanksgiving holidays in nineteen 358 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:08,640 Speaker 1: fifty three. Yeah, yeah, and a little bit of context 359 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:12,160 Speaker 1: gobble gobble. Indeed, Max and a little bit of context here. 360 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:16,120 Speaker 1: So the frozen food industry, as we've outlined, is already 361 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 1: really taking off, and part of that is due to 362 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:23,960 Speaker 1: the demand of labor. In World War Two, a lot 363 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:25,960 Speaker 1: of uh, you know, there was still very much a 364 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:30,879 Speaker 1: glass ceiling for women right in the workforce, and when 365 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:35,560 Speaker 1: more men were taken off to war, more women became 366 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: started working, right, and this limited the amount of time 367 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:43,440 Speaker 1: they could spend preparing meals as they would have done 368 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 1: in decades prior. So after World War Two closes, there's 369 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,680 Speaker 1: this post World War two economic boom. You know, for 370 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: some people, it's like the Golden years, right, two point 371 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: five kids, you could buy a car, everybody's buying a house. 372 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,560 Speaker 1: Everybody has money, no one has time, right, at least 373 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:04,800 Speaker 1: that's the rose colored, sanitized version of history. And so 374 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,479 Speaker 1: Swanson is doing something a lot of food companies and 375 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:11,600 Speaker 1: manufacturers in general have to do in the modern day. 376 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:15,920 Speaker 1: They're gambling a little. They're taking their past sales estimates 377 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:19,000 Speaker 1: and they're doing the math and they're saying, Okay, we're 378 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 1: gonna buy this many you know, of this many widgets 379 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:27,480 Speaker 1: or this many gallons or tons of something. Right, And 380 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: in nine the Swanson's, they make them wrong move at 381 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 1: the casino of food manufacturing sales of turkeys for Thanksgiving, 382 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:45,680 Speaker 1: our stupid low and all of a sudden, Swanson, which 383 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,600 Speaker 1: is a powerful company, as you said, they find themselves 384 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:53,040 Speaker 1: with no less than five hundred and twenty thousand pounds 385 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:57,000 Speaker 1: on leftover turkey. Yeah, if you've ever dealt with leftover 386 00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: turkey at a family Thanksgiving, you can amend imagine the 387 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: problem this could sink their company. This is a lot 388 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,200 Speaker 1: of turkey, and you know, people might have turkey fatigue, 389 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:09,680 Speaker 1: they might not want to all of a sudden buy 390 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: a bird, even if it's on a discount. Well, isn't 391 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 1: that funny? I mean, turkey really is kind of a 392 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:18,000 Speaker 1: seasonal bird in terms of like you know, typically a 393 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 1: year round chicken is more popular, but turkey, I don't know, 394 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,920 Speaker 1: because of marketing or history or tradition or whatever, typically 395 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:28,760 Speaker 1: is something that you really buy and stock up on 396 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 1: around the holidays. So they miscalculated, like you said, grossly 397 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:38,040 Speaker 1: and ended up with thousand pounds of frozen product that 398 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 1: will not last forever obviously, and also as a narrowing 399 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:46,720 Speaker 1: window of interest, right in terms of like when this 400 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:49,959 Speaker 1: bird is appropriate to serve. You know, I think turkey 401 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:52,240 Speaker 1: is good. I like turkey stuff. I'll get like a 402 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:55,520 Speaker 1: turkey pop pie or jerk turkey. You know, there's definitely 403 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 1: places here in Atlanta where you can get like really 404 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 1: good turkey meat loaf around, turkey in on the spaghetti. 405 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:06,840 Speaker 1: I like the turkey leg at the Renaissance. That's awesome. Also, 406 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:09,000 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I think a lot of times 407 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:13,720 Speaker 1: when people are anti turkey, it's because they haven't had 408 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 1: it properly cooked. It is a bird that can dry out, 409 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 1: and that's you know, that's the bane of many a 410 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: Thanksgiving gathering. But also health people who are into the 411 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:28,159 Speaker 1: health food world love turkey, right, turkey bacon if you 412 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: don't eat pork, that kind of stuff. Turkey's often used 413 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:34,080 Speaker 1: as alternatives. I had a turkey Philly one time, which 414 00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:37,000 Speaker 1: was really good. I still think about it. I had 415 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 1: a dream about it. That's how you know it's good. 416 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:43,600 Speaker 1: Dream sandwiches. I love that. Take me there. But you know, again, 417 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 1: like this, this requires some innovation, right, so the company 418 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:51,200 Speaker 1: essentially had to like think fast and and and basically 419 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:56,440 Speaker 1: invent something that they could sell successfully to the American 420 00:25:56,520 --> 00:26:02,080 Speaker 1: public that would be year round seasonal, not a holiday themed, 421 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 1: and that would also keep they had they had an 422 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:16,639 Speaker 1: expensive ticking clock too. This is like a gosh, this 423 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:20,400 Speaker 1: is almost like a Mr. Show situation or a Christopher 424 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:23,719 Speaker 1: Guest film. So they dropped the ball on or they 425 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:29,159 Speaker 1: dropped the bird, I should say, on over buying turkey, 426 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:31,399 Speaker 1: and they didn't want it to thaw and go bad. 427 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: So what they did instead was they got ten refrigerated 428 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 1: railway cars, kind of like the stuff you would see 429 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,439 Speaker 1: on on on the rails today. And they knew the 430 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:45,560 Speaker 1: refrigeration for these cars only worked when the train was moving, 431 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 1: so they shuttled trains back and forth, This is a 432 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:53,439 Speaker 1: true story, from Nebraska to the East coast, just boom 433 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:56,399 Speaker 1: to the East Coast, boom to Nebraska, just in a 434 00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:59,560 Speaker 1: desperate bid to an expensive bid to keep the stuff frozen. 435 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,280 Speaker 1: All the executives were sitting there in the boardroom going on, 436 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:08,360 Speaker 1: come on, come on, uh, let's not forget too that had, dude, 437 00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 1: that couldn't have been an inexpensive property. Yeah, man, serious 438 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:16,959 Speaker 1: ticking cloth. Uh. And then like again, sort of like 439 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,159 Speaker 1: with the Scotch tape situation, you had kind of a 440 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: junior salesperson or like you know junior. Yeah, salesman, a 441 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 1: guy named Jerry Thomas who remembered seeing these like aluminum 442 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:33,880 Speaker 1: trays in distribution warehouses that he visited in Pittsburgh. These 443 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:36,160 Speaker 1: were the same kinds of trays that you see stacked 444 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 1: in those kind of racks like on airplanes for you know, 445 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 1: in all the old days of sort of like PanAm 446 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 1: early airline food kind of situations. And he just kind of, 447 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:52,240 Speaker 1: you know, planted this seed with the Swanson execs and 448 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:55,399 Speaker 1: what if we you know, package this all together with 449 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: like like a meal, you know, with complete with with 450 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:03,440 Speaker 1: stuffing and peas and uh sweet potatoes and all that stuff. Yeah, yeah, 451 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: they did, and they did something smart. So remember we 452 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:09,240 Speaker 1: talked about turkey fatigue. That's what I like to call it. 453 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:11,720 Speaker 1: It's a real problem. You know, they knew it would 454 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:14,119 Speaker 1: be the wrong move to try to say, hey, wasn't 455 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:17,159 Speaker 1: the last Thanksgiving where you got stressed out with your family? 456 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: Wasn't that awesome? Don't you want to relive that? They 457 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 1: knew that was a dumb idea, So they tapped into 458 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:28,720 Speaker 1: the zeitgeist of another invention sweeping the nation. Television. Uh 459 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 1: that same year they sold more than twenty five million 460 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:37,920 Speaker 1: instances of this product by not calling it Whoops too 461 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:41,640 Speaker 1: much Turkey. Instead, they called it TV dinners. For ninety 462 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,680 Speaker 1: cents a package, you could get this thing that was like, now, 463 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:49,160 Speaker 1: it was part of your TV viewing experience. Hey, honey, 464 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:51,360 Speaker 1: you don't have to slave away in the kitchen. Sit 465 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,440 Speaker 1: down with us and let's see what's on the quiz 466 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:57,720 Speaker 1: broadcast or whatever. It's it's a it's a futurist concept, right, 467 00:28:58,000 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: which which was so is microwaves, and now we think 468 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:02,440 Speaker 1: a microwave is sort of like a last resort. You know, 469 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:05,120 Speaker 1: any microwave dinners are fine, but like they're you know, 470 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,120 Speaker 1: not nearly as good as like a home cooked meal 471 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 1: or even like reheating leftovers on the stove or something about. 472 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, it's come a long way. But 473 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:14,880 Speaker 1: I would also say, Penn, you could probably credit this 474 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:19,080 Speaker 1: with with single handedly creating the TV tray industry. Oh, 475 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 1: it definitely goes to that level. Now, there have been 476 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: people who were eating on trays by a radio or 477 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:30,040 Speaker 1: something beforehand, but this but no, but something. Yeah, I 478 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:32,560 Speaker 1: think you're onto something. And this origin story about our 479 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:37,840 Speaker 1: guy Thomas is sometimes debated and sometimes people will say 480 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:41,680 Speaker 1: you you should give a lot more credit to Thomas's bosses. 481 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:48,040 Speaker 1: The company itself credits Gilbert and Clark Swanson with dreaming 482 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:52,120 Speaker 1: up that iconic three part plate and the TV name. 483 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,680 Speaker 1: And you know, you'll hear stories that swants that Gilbert 484 00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:59,240 Speaker 1: Swans in particular was inspired by an airline food tray 485 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 1: while flying to just Banker. But there's this other thing, 486 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:07,120 Speaker 1: you know, there's so many things. There's an urban legend now, right. 487 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:09,600 Speaker 1: There's the also the idea that Gilbert thought of the 488 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,280 Speaker 1: name TV dinner because he had people over for a 489 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:17,080 Speaker 1: party and everybody's watching the TV. But folks were balancing 490 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:20,440 Speaker 1: the trays on their laps or balancing plates of food. 491 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:22,920 Speaker 1: So you know, take it as you make. Someone at 492 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: Swanson came up with it. I tend to be a 493 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:28,520 Speaker 1: fan of the underdog and the common man, so I'm 494 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,440 Speaker 1: gonna go team Thomas on this. It just seems a 495 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:35,440 Speaker 1: little convenient for the official Swanson company to say, oh, 496 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:38,160 Speaker 1: are fearless leaders came up with it. But if that's 497 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:40,880 Speaker 1: the truth, that's the truth. Thumbs down from the company 498 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:45,240 Speaker 1: line company line line. H But but even just the 499 00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:48,200 Speaker 1: circumstances surrounding it or bonkers you know, the idea of 500 00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:51,360 Speaker 1: like the ticking clock, like you know, as as as 501 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: dull as the invention of TV dinners might sound as 502 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:57,840 Speaker 1: the subject for like a biopic, I could see this 503 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:02,840 Speaker 1: part being kind of tense. Yeah, I mean this is 504 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:07,640 Speaker 1: like again, this is another great opportunity for Ridiculous History 505 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:11,800 Speaker 1: Studios and the extended Ridiculous History Universe. We would make 506 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:16,080 Speaker 1: an awesome, awesome feature on this, and we can say 507 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: that with certitude because we know there's more to the story. 508 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:23,200 Speaker 1: So these are TV dinners, but as student listeners, you'll 509 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:27,680 Speaker 1: notice the timeline of this stuff and the timeline of 510 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:31,880 Speaker 1: the microwave they don't line up. The TV dinner makes 511 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:35,880 Speaker 1: it into the American household. Before the microwave, what what 512 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:38,440 Speaker 1: you needed to do was pop this in an oven 513 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:42,200 Speaker 1: and wait twenty five minutes, which doesn't maybe sounds super 514 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:44,640 Speaker 1: convenient for a lot of people these days. Right, you 515 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:50,560 Speaker 1: can still see this as a preparation instruction on chicken 516 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:52,920 Speaker 1: pot pies. Right, you can put it in the microwave 517 00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:55,440 Speaker 1: for what eight to twelve minutes or something or better 518 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:58,480 Speaker 1: in the oven. It's always a thing like with a 519 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:02,920 Speaker 1: crust like that that is essentially uncooked pastry. You know 520 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:04,640 Speaker 1: what I mean. You want in the in the microwave, 521 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:07,160 Speaker 1: it's gonna be soggy and not as good, or you 522 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,000 Speaker 1: can put it in the oven for you know, thirty 523 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:13,760 Speaker 1: something minutes, and a lot of people, no judgment. A 524 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 1: lot of people want to save the time and they 525 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,720 Speaker 1: just settle for something that tastes a little less crispy. 526 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:23,680 Speaker 1: I think it was this Smithsonian article that you found, 527 00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:26,160 Speaker 1: Max that had one of my favorite facts from Kovie 528 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:28,960 Speaker 1: by a Colo who we've mentioned on the show before. 529 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 1: A brief history of the TV Dinner Covid points out 530 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:38,840 Speaker 1: that some people were writing angry letters to Swanson because 531 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:43,240 Speaker 1: TV Dinners got so popular. They were saying, Hey, Swanson brothers, 532 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,800 Speaker 1: you know I can't even get a home cooked meals 533 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:49,880 Speaker 1: in my house anymore. It's always always TV dinners. I'm 534 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:54,560 Speaker 1: sick of the turkey or something like that. We're paraphrasing 535 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 1: by saying some people and not just saying men, right, 536 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:03,120 Speaker 1: angry angry angry dudes. Maybe some proto in cells in 537 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:08,920 Speaker 1: the basement. And no, we didn't mention that the the 538 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:12,360 Speaker 1: packaging of these things was designed to look like many 539 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 1: television's A little tuning knobs uh so, I think that. 540 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:21,760 Speaker 1: I think it's cool. Yeah. So they hit grocery stores 541 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:26,560 Speaker 1: right September nine fifty three, huge success. By that same 542 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,840 Speaker 1: time next year they have sold ten million units. The 543 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:35,280 Speaker 1: year after that, they've sold twenty five million, and people 544 00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:39,120 Speaker 1: loved it. They also expanded, right, it wasn't always just Turkey. 545 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:44,600 Speaker 1: After they saved themselves from the Great Turkey Crisis, they 546 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:49,600 Speaker 1: they started going into Salisbury steak, pot roast things like that. 547 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:52,760 Speaker 1: You know, I ate Salisbury steak as a kid, both 548 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 1: homemade and and TV dinners, and I remember really liking 549 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:03,200 Speaker 1: it was quite young until I had my first actual steak, 550 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:06,000 Speaker 1: and you know, it was like a meat of the 551 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:10,960 Speaker 1: gods straw, the fool Situationally, I felt so built. Yeah, 552 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:14,960 Speaker 1: Salisbury steak is kind of like it pales in comparison 553 00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:17,000 Speaker 1: to just the texture and the flavor of of of 554 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:19,359 Speaker 1: a real piece of steak. But it's more like meat 555 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 1: low f Really, it's really kind of more of a 556 00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:24,600 Speaker 1: meat product. It's a pound of beef patty, Yeah, like 557 00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:30,200 Speaker 1: a mcribb or like hamburger in Japan. Muh so. But 558 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:34,120 Speaker 1: the sauce is good, way, people like sauces. Sauces great. 559 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,759 Speaker 1: Other companies, you know, similar to what happened when Bird's Eye, 560 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:41,000 Speaker 1: Like we were saying other companies like Staffers and then Banquet, 561 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:43,800 Speaker 1: Oh we forgot about Banquet. They got into the game. 562 00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:49,319 Speaker 1: This became a huge business for food manufacturers. It was 563 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:53,280 Speaker 1: a synergistic effect too. It's like TV wanted to promote 564 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:58,600 Speaker 1: this too, right, because of the association with their medium. 565 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:01,280 Speaker 1: He started getting all these celebrity eat tie ins essentially, 566 00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:03,480 Speaker 1: and you know it being shielled on I Love Lucy 567 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:05,480 Speaker 1: and gun Smoke and all that stuff in the same 568 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,520 Speaker 1: way that now we have, you know, all these TV 569 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:12,320 Speaker 1: and movie tie ins with like cereals and silly products 570 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:15,520 Speaker 1: like that. Yeah. Yeah, And you know, you make an 571 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:19,920 Speaker 1: excellent point there because think about it. If you're manufacturing TV, 572 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:26,040 Speaker 1: so you're making programs for television, then you want people watching, right, 573 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:30,520 Speaker 1: So now if you can sort of infiltrate their traditional 574 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:34,160 Speaker 1: meal time and say, hey, instead of sitting around at 575 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:37,800 Speaker 1: the kitchen table eating and talking about your day, tuning 576 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:41,000 Speaker 1: into guns Smoke or I Love Lucy or what have you, 577 00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:43,960 Speaker 1: and eat TV dinners while you do it. This became 578 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:48,120 Speaker 1: a symbiotic relationship between the two industries and a quite 579 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:52,600 Speaker 1: successful one, because no one really could have predicted this. 580 00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:57,239 Speaker 1: Television was a massive hit and very quickly it didn't 581 00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:59,759 Speaker 1: take long to catch on. I want to shout out, 582 00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:03,000 Speaker 1: by the way, Filo Farnsworth another stuff. A genius guy, 583 00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:06,680 Speaker 1: Filo Farnsworth invinced the concept of television when he's like 584 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:11,240 Speaker 1: fourteen as a farm boy. He's plowing across a field 585 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:14,160 Speaker 1: line by line and he thinks, huh, what if I 586 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:17,440 Speaker 1: could send images this way line bio line the way 587 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:20,480 Speaker 1: that I'm plowing this field. That sounds crazy, but it's 588 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:23,280 Speaker 1: true and it lets you know how far the mind 589 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:25,759 Speaker 1: can wander. Would you have to do work like that? 590 00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:29,480 Speaker 1: So shout out to Filo. Okay, I yield my tipe. No, 591 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:31,920 Speaker 1: it's fine, now, it's very very fascinating, and it's it's 592 00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:34,160 Speaker 1: it really really is that kind of outside of the 593 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:39,000 Speaker 1: box thinking that that creates the most bizarre and incredible 594 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:44,040 Speaker 1: innovations of humanity? Really, so I have a question for you, 595 00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:47,400 Speaker 1: uh and and new Bet in New Max, what credit 596 00:36:47,719 --> 00:36:52,919 Speaker 1: is due to the brainstorming under lane that happens upon 597 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:56,400 Speaker 1: a genius idea and then the company takes it and 598 00:36:56,480 --> 00:37:00,399 Speaker 1: runs with it. You know, no, not you can leave 599 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:04,840 Speaker 1: maybe morally, Let's say, like, is is he owed a 600 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:08,520 Speaker 1: stake in the company? You know, is you know? I 601 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:10,839 Speaker 1: mean that's I really am asking seriously, I'm not being 602 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:13,480 Speaker 1: cynical about it. Like he you know, he claims this 603 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:16,800 Speaker 1: guy he was given a thousand dollars in nineteen fifties bucks, 604 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:19,480 Speaker 1: which would be probably more like a hundred thousand dollars 605 00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:25,280 Speaker 1: right today, roughly, I'm guessing. And a promotion, a relatively 606 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:28,040 Speaker 1: vague promotion. But it's like, you know, it was it 607 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:30,560 Speaker 1: was brainstorming time the guy opened his mouth. He had 608 00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:33,720 Speaker 1: an idea and then it was executed by the company 609 00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:36,839 Speaker 1: and they had the product to do it. Like, are 610 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:40,799 Speaker 1: they stealing this guy's idea? Well? Is it parallel? Thinking? 611 00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:43,520 Speaker 1: Would somebody else have come up with it? Anyway? Like 612 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:46,280 Speaker 1: what is a truly unique idea and what is owed 613 00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:49,520 Speaker 1: to the person that like spits it out into existence? Well, 614 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:53,959 Speaker 1: I have some thoughts on that. First off, in any 615 00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:59,120 Speaker 1: large organization, Unfortunately, what tends to happen is if it's 616 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:02,359 Speaker 1: a good idea, all of a sudden, everybody had some 617 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:05,760 Speaker 1: sort of contribution, whether or not that's the case. And 618 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:09,959 Speaker 1: it's an unfortunate reality of how self centered people can be. 619 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:12,880 Speaker 1: Now as far as whether this is a unique innovation, 620 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:16,760 Speaker 1: I think it's fair to point out that while while 621 00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:19,959 Speaker 1: our boy Mr Thomas may not have been the only 622 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:23,320 Speaker 1: person to think of this thing, he was Swanson was 623 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:26,640 Speaker 1: one of the few organizations that had five hundred and 624 00:38:26,719 --> 00:38:30,759 Speaker 1: twenty thousand pounds of turkey to bring to bear. Right, 625 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:34,080 Speaker 1: So it's no longer just a conversation some you know, 626 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:36,520 Speaker 1: we've got a lot of a lot of folks working 627 00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:40,759 Speaker 1: in the tech industry or consulting or engineers who are 628 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:46,040 Speaker 1: fellow ridiculous historians. And often companies require you to sign 629 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:49,480 Speaker 1: some sort of agreement that says anything made with company 630 00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:53,680 Speaker 1: equipment or on company time belongs to the company. So 631 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:57,839 Speaker 1: you can run into stuff like that ethically, however, it's 632 00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:01,520 Speaker 1: just my opinion. Ethically, I am a huge believer in 633 00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:05,120 Speaker 1: giving people credit where it's due for what they have done. 634 00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:11,399 Speaker 1: I think it's incredibly important, increditively important. Oh so we're 635 00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:14,040 Speaker 1: gonna miss but uh, but it is a good question. No, 636 00:39:14,719 --> 00:39:18,359 Speaker 1: it is a good question. Well, let's just I I 637 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:20,120 Speaker 1: think I'm with you on all of those points. I 638 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:21,760 Speaker 1: just think, you know, in the heat of the moment, 639 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:26,239 Speaker 1: it is interesting where you know, like someone doesn't have 640 00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:30,600 Speaker 1: the bargaining power, let's say, from their position, to ensure 641 00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:33,200 Speaker 1: that their idea pays them dividends for like the rest 642 00:39:33,239 --> 00:39:36,600 Speaker 1: of their life, you know, yeah, yeah, I mean, and 643 00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:40,720 Speaker 1: then I know, like so people who have pet peeves. 644 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:43,319 Speaker 1: Everybody has a few pet peeves. People who have a 645 00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:45,960 Speaker 1: lot tend to be pretty chill about them. People who 646 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:48,600 Speaker 1: have only a few tend to get a little zealous 647 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:52,120 Speaker 1: about them. And uh, I know I'm preaching to acquire 648 00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:54,920 Speaker 1: here for a lot of us tuning in. But one 649 00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:58,480 Speaker 1: of my pet peeves, for instance, is hearing an idea 650 00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:01,160 Speaker 1: concept that I made hold back to me as though 651 00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:03,799 Speaker 1: it was not my idea in the first place. And 652 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:07,160 Speaker 1: that is something you know, that's something that people encounter 653 00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:10,560 Speaker 1: in the corporate world all the time. So shout out 654 00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:12,879 Speaker 1: to everybody, I think on behalf of the showing say 655 00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:15,759 Speaker 1: the shout out to everybody who feels like you have 656 00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:17,680 Speaker 1: been in a situation where you come up with a 657 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:21,520 Speaker 1: banger idea and all of a sudden your bosses say, hey, 658 00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:23,840 Speaker 1: I've got an idea. Oh it's like that high on 659 00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:27,600 Speaker 1: potent news sketch exact, you know, I mean, like it's 660 00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:29,800 Speaker 1: all about who said a lot. And this also happens 661 00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:32,839 Speaker 1: not to get on a soapbox here, but with sexism, 662 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:35,640 Speaker 1: like with with with women, for example, maybe who have 663 00:40:35,719 --> 00:40:38,239 Speaker 1: an idea but they don't say it forcefully enough, or 664 00:40:38,280 --> 00:40:42,200 Speaker 1: it's or they're just not a man. And therefore when 665 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:45,160 Speaker 1: a man repeats it, you know, or the boss, and 666 00:40:45,160 --> 00:40:47,440 Speaker 1: it makes it their own, then it gets the attention 667 00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:50,239 Speaker 1: that it maybe didn't get when somebody who maybe is 668 00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:54,160 Speaker 1: viewed in a company culture as less than um put 669 00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:58,760 Speaker 1: it out there. So yeah, but with this, oh, here's 670 00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:04,480 Speaker 1: a way we can segue back. So Filo Farnsworth weird story. 671 00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:08,239 Speaker 1: Speaking of credit, Filo Farnsworth only makes one appearance on 672 00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:11,239 Speaker 1: television and the entirety of his life. And he's on 673 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:15,920 Speaker 1: this show where you have to guess why someone is 674 00:41:16,280 --> 00:41:20,839 Speaker 1: famous or what what makes them a notable figure. And 675 00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:23,520 Speaker 1: he was on this show called I've Got a Secret, 676 00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:27,000 Speaker 1: and they tried to guess his secret, and you know, 677 00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:30,960 Speaker 1: he answers these questions from this panel, and his secret 678 00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:35,239 Speaker 1: was I invented electric television. No one could guess it, 679 00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:39,839 Speaker 1: and so he won the game and his prize was 680 00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:45,760 Speaker 1: eighty dollars and a carton of Winston Cigarettes. Good job, Filo. 681 00:41:45,960 --> 00:41:50,520 Speaker 1: But uh, but that that happens in fifty seven, and 682 00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:55,120 Speaker 1: television sweeps the world before then. In nineteen fifty less 683 00:41:55,160 --> 00:42:00,000 Speaker 1: than ten percent of people had television sets, but by 684 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:05,560 Speaker 1: five more than sixty four percent of US households had TVs, 685 00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:10,280 Speaker 1: by more than eighty seven percent. That's that's a rise 686 00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:15,280 Speaker 1: so precipitous that it outdoes the cellular phone. It's nearly 687 00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:19,120 Speaker 1: a hundred percent adoption, which is probably close to that today. 688 00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:21,840 Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I mean there's definitely you know, 689 00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:23,920 Speaker 1: obviously there can be a backlash against that, and there 690 00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:26,680 Speaker 1: are stuff course cord cutters, but even now, the TV 691 00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:30,320 Speaker 1: manufacturers have figured out how to you know, integrate TVs 692 00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:33,240 Speaker 1: into cable less homes, like with smart TVs and apps 693 00:42:33,239 --> 00:42:34,759 Speaker 1: and all of that stuff. So I would argue that 694 00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:37,759 Speaker 1: number probably is very close to the same today, if 695 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:40,120 Speaker 1: not a little bit higher. Oh yeah, it's it's probably 696 00:42:40,160 --> 00:42:42,880 Speaker 1: a higher. I mean, you know, we're cord cutter generation 697 00:42:43,080 --> 00:42:45,719 Speaker 1: over here, so a lot of people, you might not 698 00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:48,880 Speaker 1: a lot of people are getting rid of cable. But 699 00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:51,920 Speaker 1: you probably do have a TV in your home for 700 00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:54,719 Speaker 1: games you like to play, or you have a connected 701 00:42:54,760 --> 00:42:57,959 Speaker 1: to a computer, right, or you could say you don't 702 00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:01,000 Speaker 1: need a television because your computer monotcher does all the 703 00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:04,160 Speaker 1: things you want a TV to do. Still still very 704 00:43:04,239 --> 00:43:08,239 Speaker 1: much the same thing. Swanson is, you know, not in 705 00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:10,960 Speaker 1: a vacuum. Here, Swanson has their finger on the pulse. 706 00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:13,919 Speaker 1: They saved themselves from the Great Turkey Crisis. They knew 707 00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:15,480 Speaker 1: a good thing when they saw it. So what do 708 00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:20,440 Speaker 1: they start making TV commercials? Commercials for TV dinners on TV? 709 00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:24,799 Speaker 1: How exhibit is that? So? So they kind of pimp 710 00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:28,319 Speaker 1: their TV dinner ride and they also get pressed from 711 00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:31,480 Speaker 1: celebrities like you alluded to earlier in old nineteen sixty 712 00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:34,960 Speaker 1: two talking to New Yorker, Barbara Streichs said says the 713 00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:37,760 Speaker 1: best fried chicken I know comes with a TV dinner 714 00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:41,640 Speaker 1: and that you couldn't write better copy than that, you 715 00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:44,319 Speaker 1: know what I mean? And she apparently told this of 716 00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:48,120 Speaker 1: her own volition to the New Yorker in nineteen sixty two. 717 00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:51,160 Speaker 1: Because at this point, this is probably this is innovative. 718 00:43:51,560 --> 00:43:54,600 Speaker 1: So it's almost chic to be like leaning into the 719 00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:57,319 Speaker 1: TV dinner craze at this point, as opposed to it 720 00:43:57,400 --> 00:44:01,320 Speaker 1: becoming kind of ghosh a bit later, right, It wasn't 721 00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:06,080 Speaker 1: looked at as uh, food for people who hated cooking, 722 00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:10,960 Speaker 1: or food for people who are somehow less successful. Right, 723 00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:14,520 Speaker 1: it was looked at as the food of the busy, 724 00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:19,239 Speaker 1: the early adopters, right, the movers and the shakers. And 725 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:23,880 Speaker 1: now if we fast forward, we see that this stuff 726 00:44:23,960 --> 00:44:28,759 Speaker 1: just expanded, right, it diversified their through their microwave desserts 727 00:44:28,880 --> 00:44:33,320 Speaker 1: a plenty. In the sixties, Swanson starts making TV breakfast 728 00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:36,879 Speaker 1: TV lunch kind of things. Campbell's gets in the game, 729 00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:40,600 Speaker 1: of course in nine three. By this point they're Swanson's 730 00:44:40,640 --> 00:44:45,719 Speaker 1: parent company, and they introduce Hungry Man, which are you know, 731 00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:51,960 Speaker 1: larger meals aimed towards surprise hungry dudes. And then, you know, 732 00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:55,239 Speaker 1: in the seventies, we get it starts to kind of 733 00:44:55,239 --> 00:44:57,040 Speaker 1: go off the rails a little bit with like sort 734 00:44:57,080 --> 00:45:02,480 Speaker 1: of tastemaker kind of poorly placed taste maker attempts. Let's 735 00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:06,560 Speaker 1: just say by this one since take on Polynesian style dinner, 736 00:45:06,600 --> 00:45:10,640 Speaker 1: which is like completely not anything that would even resemble 737 00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:14,880 Speaker 1: food you might get in Polynesia. And critics take note 738 00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:18,920 Speaker 1: because now this really is kind of encroaching on you know, 739 00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:21,680 Speaker 1: fine foods and on like, you know, the idea of 740 00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:24,120 Speaker 1: fine dining. So you have a lot of like kind 741 00:45:24,160 --> 00:45:28,520 Speaker 1: of New York Times New Yorker types who are turning 742 00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:30,120 Speaker 1: their nose up at the thing now and now it 743 00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:33,080 Speaker 1: is kind of becoming more ghost and a little more like, 744 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:38,920 Speaker 1: you know, the the the meal of of the tasteless consumer. Yeah, 745 00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:42,680 Speaker 1: because there's always a backlash in the world of arts 746 00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:46,520 Speaker 1: and culture. And this is something I used to talk 747 00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:49,000 Speaker 1: about at length with our old pal and felt ridiculous 748 00:45:49,120 --> 00:45:53,520 Speaker 1: historian Casey Pegram. There's this recursive logic, right, if something 749 00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:56,440 Speaker 1: gets too popular too quickly, there's going to be someone 750 00:45:56,480 --> 00:46:00,000 Speaker 1: who comes out as a contrarian, right, and they say, 751 00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:04,680 Speaker 1: this is uh, you know, the emperor has no clothes. 752 00:46:05,080 --> 00:46:09,160 Speaker 1: So of course, people like New York Times food critic 753 00:46:09,200 --> 00:46:13,120 Speaker 1: back in nineteen seventy seven would say TV dinners, you know, 754 00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:17,040 Speaker 1: they're basically too popular. They have there for people who 755 00:46:17,120 --> 00:46:22,319 Speaker 1: have no taste. And this cultural critique begins, this national conversation. 756 00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:26,600 Speaker 1: One newspaper out of Shrewsbury, New Jersey says, well, hey, 757 00:46:26,719 --> 00:46:30,359 Speaker 1: maybe it's maybe it's more about the value in the convenience. 758 00:46:30,480 --> 00:46:33,759 Speaker 1: Sure it's not a Michelin restaurant necessarily, but in what 759 00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:36,280 Speaker 1: other way, can I get a single serving of turkey, 760 00:46:36,320 --> 00:46:39,280 Speaker 1: a portion of dressing, and the potatoes, vegetable and dessert 761 00:46:39,640 --> 00:46:42,160 Speaker 1: for less than dollar for something like sixty nine cents. 762 00:46:42,600 --> 00:46:45,480 Speaker 1: That's a good point. Also, people who are on diets 763 00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:48,920 Speaker 1: liked it from what we read, Yeah, exactly. And then 764 00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:51,920 Speaker 1: you start getting things like lean cuisine and again I 765 00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:54,640 Speaker 1: don't know the exact history of that, but as an example, 766 00:46:55,120 --> 00:46:58,440 Speaker 1: or weight Watchers, because it is uh even today like 767 00:46:58,480 --> 00:47:02,600 Speaker 1: a lot of the really expensive subscription meal plan you know, 768 00:47:02,880 --> 00:47:06,839 Speaker 1: weight loss kind of like solutions are frozen dinners that 769 00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:09,200 Speaker 1: that you know, get shipped to you like in these 770 00:47:09,480 --> 00:47:14,120 Speaker 1: kind of refrigerated boxes or whatever. Um. So that makes sense, 771 00:47:14,160 --> 00:47:16,279 Speaker 1: the whole built in portion control just don't go for 772 00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:20,920 Speaker 1: the hungry man style. But it is actually only just 773 00:47:21,080 --> 00:47:25,279 Speaker 1: now through all of this that the biggest innovation of 774 00:47:25,320 --> 00:47:30,280 Speaker 1: all kind of comes nineteen eighties six when the Campbell's 775 00:47:30,320 --> 00:47:34,799 Speaker 1: Soup company invents the microwave safe tray. So up to 776 00:47:34,840 --> 00:47:37,440 Speaker 1: this point we've been you know, twenty minutes in the oven. 777 00:47:37,920 --> 00:47:40,000 Speaker 1: Now this is cutting down prep time for these things 778 00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:43,560 Speaker 1: to just you know, twelve minutes thirt less than that, 779 00:47:43,600 --> 00:47:45,600 Speaker 1: even depending on the size and the and the type 780 00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:49,760 Speaker 1: of of of dish. Yeah, this is where the TV 781 00:47:49,840 --> 00:47:55,680 Speaker 1: dinner becomes the microwave meal, and people are already nostalgic 782 00:47:55,760 --> 00:47:58,959 Speaker 1: for the TV dinner. There was one columnist who said 783 00:47:59,080 --> 00:48:01,600 Speaker 1: progress is one of full but I was still miss 784 00:48:01,680 --> 00:48:08,320 Speaker 1: those steaming creekly aluminum TV trees. Uh and uh. Now, 785 00:48:09,160 --> 00:48:13,440 Speaker 1: if you have been around for the past couple of years, 786 00:48:13,640 --> 00:48:16,719 Speaker 1: you know that there was a global pandemic, one that 787 00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:20,880 Speaker 1: continues today despite the news moving on to different stories. 788 00:48:22,280 --> 00:48:26,280 Speaker 1: It turns out that the COVID nineteen pandemic was huge 789 00:48:26,480 --> 00:48:29,600 Speaker 1: for frozen meals. People who didn't want to cook and 790 00:48:29,640 --> 00:48:32,600 Speaker 1: who would usually go to a restaurant or something found 791 00:48:32,600 --> 00:48:35,960 Speaker 1: that their favorite restaurants were closed to one degree or another. 792 00:48:36,440 --> 00:48:41,600 Speaker 1: So people were by nearly fifty more frozen meals in 793 00:48:41,800 --> 00:48:47,560 Speaker 1: April as compared to and Uh. Then you saw kind 794 00:48:47,560 --> 00:48:53,200 Speaker 1: of fancier stores like Williams Sonoma stock fancy gourmet TV dinners, 795 00:48:53,239 --> 00:48:55,880 Speaker 1: So we didn't even talk about that part. Now, micro 796 00:48:55,880 --> 00:48:59,560 Speaker 1: wave mules and TV dinners have also moved into the 797 00:48:59,600 --> 00:49:03,320 Speaker 1: world of like gourmet Upper Echelont and Whole Foods, Trader 798 00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:06,239 Speaker 1: Joe's type stuff. You can get it organic, you can 799 00:49:06,280 --> 00:49:10,719 Speaker 1: get a vegan, gluten free all sorts of neat cuisines 800 00:49:10,760 --> 00:49:14,680 Speaker 1: from around the world that taste pretty close in some 801 00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:21,440 Speaker 1: cases to the actual traditionally cooked versions. It's it's pretty neat. Also, 802 00:49:21,600 --> 00:49:25,640 Speaker 1: I didn't I I think I saw this of one 803 00:49:25,680 --> 00:49:29,640 Speaker 1: Atlanta restaurant over the past few years. They were offering 804 00:49:29,719 --> 00:49:35,600 Speaker 1: frozen versions of their restaurants or restaurant offerings for carry out. Yeah, 805 00:49:35,640 --> 00:49:37,920 Speaker 1: did you try any of those? No? But I mean 806 00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:41,279 Speaker 1: I have noticed more of that lately with like T 807 00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:45,279 Speaker 1: G I Fridays, you know, potato loaded potato skins and 808 00:49:45,960 --> 00:49:49,759 Speaker 1: PF Chang's, you know, but whatever, like orange chicken. But 809 00:49:50,360 --> 00:49:53,880 Speaker 1: usually I mean, if the if the chain restaurant dishes 810 00:49:53,920 --> 00:49:57,000 Speaker 1: even that good to begin with, the microwave version is 811 00:49:57,040 --> 00:50:00,600 Speaker 1: probably gonna pale in comparison. Yeah. Yeah, And in this 812 00:50:00,640 --> 00:50:04,000 Speaker 1: case we're talking to about, uh, maybe restaurants that aren't 813 00:50:04,080 --> 00:50:07,759 Speaker 1: chain restaurants. But I've figured out how to you know, 814 00:50:07,880 --> 00:50:11,719 Speaker 1: from some family meal. Yeah, that's cool, that's cool. Yeah, No, 815 00:50:11,800 --> 00:50:16,080 Speaker 1: I think that's neat. There's certainly, especially certain restaurants or 816 00:50:16,160 --> 00:50:20,600 Speaker 1: bakeries say that make like a really beloved lasagna or 817 00:50:20,640 --> 00:50:22,680 Speaker 1: like a really like like a family meal thing, and 818 00:50:22,719 --> 00:50:26,600 Speaker 1: you can get that frozen ready to freeze. That's great. 819 00:50:26,960 --> 00:50:33,399 Speaker 1: Casseroles such for soul food and now frozen meals are 820 00:50:33,719 --> 00:50:37,239 Speaker 1: here to stay. Uh. They're not all unhealthy. That's a 821 00:50:37,239 --> 00:50:41,799 Speaker 1: bit of a stereotype. They're not all super fancy, obviously, 822 00:50:42,239 --> 00:50:48,120 Speaker 1: but almost everybody has tried one and enjoyed it. They 823 00:50:48,120 --> 00:50:52,080 Speaker 1: are all kinds of options, and we owe it all. 824 00:50:53,800 --> 00:50:57,400 Speaker 1: We really do owe it all in part to Jerry 825 00:50:57,400 --> 00:51:02,440 Speaker 1: Thomas and his solution to a massive mistake by the 826 00:51:02,520 --> 00:51:06,640 Speaker 1: good folks over at Swanson. So thanks, what do you 827 00:51:06,640 --> 00:51:09,560 Speaker 1: say we that's started. That's our company line here. Thanks 828 00:51:09,600 --> 00:51:12,680 Speaker 1: to you, Jerry. Yeah, and all the Jerry's of the 829 00:51:12,680 --> 00:51:15,680 Speaker 1: world that don't get credit for their ideas. Yeah, go 830 00:51:15,719 --> 00:51:20,040 Speaker 1: eat some frozen turkey Swanson. So so I didn't even 831 00:51:20,080 --> 00:51:23,040 Speaker 1: talk about what that Swanson money did for right wing 832 00:51:23,239 --> 00:51:33,160 Speaker 1: punditry than you can google it yourself, though, google it yourself. 833 00:51:33,239 --> 00:51:35,040 Speaker 1: Well we yeah, we'll take you to the edge of 834 00:51:35,120 --> 00:51:39,480 Speaker 1: that rabbit hole or that turkey turkey roost, turkey hangout. 835 00:51:39,960 --> 00:51:42,279 Speaker 1: And I was thinking, since it's a holiday and we 836 00:51:42,360 --> 00:51:46,520 Speaker 1: might guys, we might be accompanying someone right now as 837 00:51:46,520 --> 00:51:49,400 Speaker 1: they're getting away from their family, or as they're like 838 00:51:49,480 --> 00:51:52,879 Speaker 1: washing dishes, or as they're cooking, and they just say, oh, 839 00:51:52,920 --> 00:51:56,000 Speaker 1: don't talk to me. I'm listening to something very important. 840 00:51:56,440 --> 00:51:59,120 Speaker 1: If you need a note from to your family from us, 841 00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:01,319 Speaker 1: let us know we got your back, and here are 842 00:52:01,320 --> 00:52:04,960 Speaker 1: some things to give you a laugh, some terrible jokes. Well, 843 00:52:05,160 --> 00:52:08,320 Speaker 1: what do you call a group of featherless turkeys? M 844 00:52:10,320 --> 00:52:12,280 Speaker 1: I don't know, Ben, what do you call a group 845 00:52:12,320 --> 00:52:19,520 Speaker 1: of featherless turkeys? I'm so glad you asked a cluster pluck? Uh? Okay, okay, 846 00:52:19,560 --> 00:52:21,480 Speaker 1: just one more, just one more, just one more here? 847 00:52:22,239 --> 00:52:25,480 Speaker 1: Why did the turkey cross the road to prove he 848 00:52:25,600 --> 00:52:30,280 Speaker 1: wasn't a chicken? Yeah? Classic classic format there, classic format. 849 00:52:30,640 --> 00:52:33,800 Speaker 1: So well you can also say because it was the 850 00:52:33,880 --> 00:52:37,160 Speaker 1: chickens day off. Yeah that's good. No, that's good. Any 851 00:52:37,239 --> 00:52:40,160 Speaker 1: judges will accept both. Yeah, this was a lot of fun. 852 00:52:40,200 --> 00:52:42,319 Speaker 1: We went long, but we again, we wanted to give 853 00:52:42,360 --> 00:52:44,719 Speaker 1: you some time. Uh if you if you need a 854 00:52:44,760 --> 00:52:48,279 Speaker 1: little escape for these holidays. I hope this finds you 855 00:52:48,680 --> 00:52:52,359 Speaker 1: well and in good health, good spirits. Thank you so 856 00:52:52,440 --> 00:52:55,520 Speaker 1: much as always for tuning in. We wish you the 857 00:52:55,560 --> 00:53:00,040 Speaker 1: happiest of thanksgivings to those who celebrate uh. And if 858 00:53:00,040 --> 00:53:04,080 Speaker 1: you don't, well, we just made some American customs sound 859 00:53:04,160 --> 00:53:08,000 Speaker 1: even weirder and I think you're okay with that. Yeah. Always, 860 00:53:08,320 --> 00:53:11,879 Speaker 1: that's what we do here in Pardiculous Sister Uh. We'll 861 00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:21,000 Speaker 1: see you next time, folks. For more podcasts for my 862 00:53:21,040 --> 00:53:23,719 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 863 00:53:23,800 --> 00:53:25,920 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows