Swanson
Encyclopedia
TV dinner
A TV dinner is a prepackaged frozen or chilled meal that usually comes as an individual portion...
s, broth
Broth
Broth is a liquid food preparation, typically consisting of either water or an already flavored stock, in which bones, meat, fish, cereal grains, or vegetables have been simmered. Broth is used as a basis for other edible liquids such as soup, gravy, or sauce. It can be eaten alone or with garnish...
s, and canned poultry
Poultry
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
made for the North American market. The TV dinner business is currently owned by Pinnacle Foods
Pinnacle Foods
Pinnacle Foods Group LLC is a leading packaged foods company headquartered in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, owned by The Blackstone Group. Pinnacle Foods is a key player in the shelf stable and frozen food categories and their products can be found in more than 85% of American households.The company...
, while the broth business is currently owned by the Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company , also known as Campbell's, is an American producer of canned soups and related products. Campbell's products are sold in 120 countries around the world. It is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey...
. Current TV dinner products sold under the brand include Swanson's Classics TV dinners and pot pie
Pot pie
A pot pie is a type of baked savory pie with a bottom and top completely encased by flaky crusts and baked inside a pie tin to support its shape....
s, and the current broth lineup includes chicken broth and beef broth.
The brand is named after Carl A. Swanson
Carl A. Swanson
Carl A. Swanson was the founder of the national food production company, Swanson.-Background:Carl A. Swanson was born in Karlskrona, Blekinge County, Sweden...
, a Swedish immigrant
Swedish American
Swedish Americans are Americans of Swedish descent, especially the descendants of about 1.2 million immigrants from Sweden during 1885-1915. Most were Lutherans who affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ; some were Methodists...
who moved to Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, in 1896. Around the turn of the century, Swanson formed a partnership with John Hjerpe and Frank Ellison called the Jerpe (sic) Commission Company which was eventually incorporated in 1905. The company focused on butter production and poultry. In 1928 over a decade after Ellison's death, Swanson bought out Hjerpe's interest.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Jerpe was one of the largest suppliers of poultry and eggs to the military. After the war ended, Jerpe was renamed C.A. Swanson & Sons. After Carl Swanson's death in 1949, his sons Gilbert C. and W. Clarke took over the company. The brothers introduced a frozen chicken pot pie a year later. Then in 1952, Swanson & Sons introduced their TV brand TV dinner, quickly selling 5,000 units in its first year. A year later the company had sold over 10,000,000 TV dinners. A year later, the company dropped its successful butter and margarine business to concentrate on a poultry-based line of canned and frozen products. In April 1955, Swanson's 4,000 employees and 20 plants were acquired by the Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company , also known as Campbell's, is an American producer of canned soups and related products. Campbell's products are sold in 120 countries around the world. It is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey...
.
For the majority of its run, Swanson sponsored the game show, The Name's the Same
The Name's the Same
The Name's the Same is an American game show that was produced by Goodson-Todman for the ABC television network from December 5, 1951 to August 31, 1954, followed by a run from October 25, 1954 to October 7, 1955....
, with Robert Q. Lewis
Robert Q. Lewis
Robert Q. Lewis was an American radio and television personality, game show host, and actor. Lewis added the middle initial "Q." to his name accidentally on the air in 1942, when he responded to a reference to radio comedian F. Chase Taylor's character, Colonel Lemuel Q...
, alternating sponsorship with, first Bendix Home Appliance division of Avco
Avco
Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming.-Brief history:The Embry-Riddle Company created the Aviation Corporation in 1928 as a holding company tasked with acquiring small airlines...
; and then Johnson's Wax
S. C. Johnson & Son
S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. , previously known as S. C. Johnson Wax , is a privately held, global manufacturer of household cleaning supplies and other consumer chemicals based in Racine, Wisconsin. It has operations in 72 countries and its brands are sold in over 110...
.
In a few 1980s and 1990s commercials for the TV dinner, the announcer was Mason Adams
Mason Adams
Mason Adams was an American character actor and voice-over artist.-Early life:Adams was born in Brooklyn, New York. He earned an MA degree from the University of Michigan in Theatre Arts and Speech and also attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, studying theater arts...
.
By the 1970s, the Swanson's brand trailed other frozen dinner brands such as Stouffer's
Stouffer's
Stouffer's is a brand of frozen prepared foods available in the United States and Canada. Stouffer's is known for such popular fare as meatloaf, salisbury steak, lasagna, macaroni and cheese, and ravioli. It also produces a line of reduced-fat products under the banner Lean...
and Lean Cuisine
Lean Cuisine
Lean Cuisine is a brand of frozen entreés and dinners sold in the United States, Canada, and Australia by Nestlé. The brand began as low fat, low calorie versions of Stouffer's products. Today Lean Cuisine includes traditional dinners, ethnic dishes, pizzas, whole grain Spa Cuisine entreés, and...
. Campbell Soup spun off Swanson's TV dinner business with several other brands, including the Vlasic brand of pickles, on March 30, 1998, to a new company called Vlasic Foods International, whose name was changed to Pinnacle Foods
Pinnacle Foods
Pinnacle Foods Group LLC is a leading packaged foods company headquartered in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, owned by The Blackstone Group. Pinnacle Foods is a key player in the shelf stable and frozen food categories and their products can be found in more than 85% of American households.The company...
in 2001. In the spin-off, Campbell Soup granted Vlasic International/Pinnacle Foods a ten-year license to use the Swanson name on its frozen meals and pot pies. That agreement expired in mid-2009 just before Pinnacle purchased Birds Eye Foods
Birds Eye
__FORCETOC__Birds Eye is an international brand of frozen foods owned by Pinnacle Foods in North America and by private equity group Permira in Europe....
and Pinnacle discontinued the use of the Swanson name in favor of the Hungry-Man brand for its frozen dinners (the Swanson frozen breakfast line had been rebranded Aunt Jemima
Aunt Jemima
Aunt Jemima is a trademark for pancake flour, syrup, and other breakfast foods currently owned by the Quaker Oats Company of Chicago. The trademark dates to 1893, although Aunt Jemima pancake mix debuted in 1889. The Quaker Oats Company first registered the Aunt Jemima trademark in April 1937...
several years before).
Swanson TV dinners were mentioned on 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show
101 Ways to Leave a Game Show (U.S. game show)
101 Ways to Leave a Game Show is an American game show hosted by Jeff Sutphen. The series premiered on June 21, 2011, on ABC and the first season ran for six episodes. Matt Kunitz, the show's executive producer has stated "If we get a pickup, we'll do at least 12 more episodes."-Main Game:The game...
as an incorrect answer to the question: "What two products are currently in production?" The other two answers were Members Only Jackets and Tiger Beat
Tiger Beat
Tiger Beat is an American fan magazine marketed primarily to adolescent girls. It is currently published by Laufer Media, Inc. of Los Angeles, California, which also produces its sister publication, Bop....
.
External links and references
- Official Website of Hungry-Man Frozen Dinners
- Swanson TV Dinner website
- Swanson Chunk Chicken website
- Swanson Family Vineyards website
- Swanson Broth website
- Pinnacle Foods Pinnacle Foods website]
- Hungry-Man TV Commercials featuring NFL players Jeremy Shockey, Warren Sapp and Clinton Portis
- Too much turkey led Swanson to invent TV Dinner, an October 2004 column from the Lincoln Journal StarLincoln Journal StarThe Lincoln Journal Star is Lincoln, Nebraska's major daily newspaper. Owned by Lee Enterprises, the Journal Star was created by the 1995 merger of Lincoln's morning newspaper and its evening newspaper The Lincoln Journal Star is Lincoln, Nebraska's major daily newspaper. Owned by Lee...
- Who “invented” the TV dinner?, from a website of the Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
- Daily Trouble: Vlasic Foods International, a July 1999 Motley FoolMotley FoolThe Motley Fool is a multimedia financial-services company that provides financial solutions for investors through various stock, investing, and personal finance products. The Alexandria, Virginia-based private company was founded in July 1993 by co-chairmen and brothers David and Tom Gardner, and...
article - Campbell spinoff to be named 'Vlasic Foods International'