What Happened To Swanson's Once Popular Frozen TV Dinners?

Swanson's original TV dinner has become an iconic image of Americana. Gravy-covered slices of turkey sat on a bed of cornbread dressing (or is it stuffing?) in a partitioned aluminum tray, sides of butter-dotted peas and mashed potatoes positioned above the entree. This was the frozen TV dinner that set off a firestorm of competition and changed the way America ate. While Swanson was a major player in the frozen dinner industry for decades, you might have noticed that the brand has all but disappeared from the freezer aisle. Unfortunately, Swanson frozen dinners currently appear to be available only in Canada.

After experiencing huge success in the 1950s and '60s, Swanson's supremacy began to decline, although it was still a major frozen meal brand. By the '70s and '80s, many other brands had introduced frozen dinners, some of which included new technology (like microwave-friendly packaging), and there was a growing concern about nutrition. (If you've ever wondered if the oven or microwave is better for frozen meals, we tested several to find out.) Many were shunning the original frozen dinners for lower-calorie options. By 2001, Swanson was facing bankruptcy and was purchased by Pinnacle Foods, which stopped producing the Swanson brand dinners in 2010.

But this wasn't the end of the brand that sold 10 million trays of turkey and dressing in its first full year of production in 1954. In 2015, ConAgra bought Pinnacle Foods and reintroduced Swanson TV dinners, but, as mentioned above, only in Canada.

Swanson's original TV dinner of turkey, dressing, and vegetable sides was inspired by an excess of frozen turkeys that had been ordered around Thanksgiving in 1953. With over 200 tons of unsold poultry, the company settled on turning it into individual meals, which became its first frozen dinner. Swanson marketed the innovation by calling them "TV dinners," capitalizing on America's newest obsession, the television set. The dinners were an immediate success.

Soon after, Swanson added more options to its catalog, with fried chicken, meatloaf, and Salisbury steak dinners (which some argue deserve a comeback). In 1960, Swanson made another groundbreaking move in its TV dinner evolution when it added a fourth compartment to its trays to accommodate desserts like cobblers and brownies. Just two years later, the company removed "TV Dinners" from its packaging to encourage consumers to also eat the meals for lunch. By 1969, the company developed a frozen breakfast line, vying for every meal of the day. For those with bigger appetites, Swanson introduced the Hungry Man brand, which featured heartier meals.

Swanson continued to innovate and offer new meals for a customer base that was constantly seeking exciting flavors, but by the year 2000 it seemed the public was largely turning away from the meals enjoyed by the previous generation. While you may not find Swanson frozen meals in the U.S. anymore, the brand sealed its position as a classic piece of Americana when its famous aluminum tray became a part of the Smithsonian Institution collection in 1986.