Little Invention That Changed Things

Today I pay tribute to a little known inventor, who's little recognized and simple idea changed the world in a simple way. Gerry Thomas, 83, died from cancer a couple of years ago, though few know it. What did Gerry do that merits my taking time in this E mail to pay tribute? He changed the way Americans, and later everyone everywhere eat-for better or worse....with his invention. You see, Gerry was the inventor of the TV dinner. You know it. The "TV Dinner" is that pre-packaged frozen meals in those disposable containers (originally aluminum, but with the invention of the microwave, replaced with microwave able trays). Gerry said he named it that because at the time he invented it in 1954 TV was a booming interest. The first TV dinner was a Swanson turkey with cornbread dressing, gravy, sweet potatoes and buttered peas. It sold for $1 and was cooked (while mom watched TV with the family) in about 25 minutes. Since it was fast, convenient and fit nicely on a "TV tray" mom, dad and the kids could watch TV while they ate.
Oh, I remember how popular those things were. Sure, this was a less than gourmet dinner, probably much less nutritious and trivialized or eliminated family dinners, but it made it even more possible for TV to "take over" the routine of family evenings. One could call the TV dinner a tool for enabling the TV age to bloom. Gerry said the inspiration for his TV dinner invention was when he saw a metal tray developed for an experiment in the preparation of hot meals on airlines (airlines had not yet begun to serve hot food).
He came up with a three compartment tray because "I spent five years in the military. I knew what a mess kit was. You could never tell what you were eating because it was all mixed together." Ok, maybe TV dinners (and the many frozen compartmentalized dinners now sold in groceries) aren't the best in nutritional history. But they are a milestone in the world's culture, one of those inventions that changed the way we lived our daily lives.
I bow to Gerry for his creativeness...but..I think I will pass on eating on of those frozen TV dinners.
Since I am writing about cultural changes here's the latest statistics on marriage and divorce. Both the U.S. marriage and divorce rates are dropping while the number of unwed couples living together is rising, according to a study by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University.
The numbers show a gradual shift in this country toward the lifestyles most found in Scandinavia (particularly Sweden), where unmarried cohabitation with children is common. Here are some statistics from the report.
1) The number of unmarried couples living together in the U.S. grew to more than 5 million last year.
2) More than half of all first U.S. marriages are preceded by living together.
3) The ratio of married U.S. adults has fallen to its lowest since 1960, to about 55% from 69%.
4) The divorce rate dropped to 17.7 per 1000 married women in 2004 from 18.8 in 2000 and a high of 22.6 in 1980.
5) 11 percent of adult U.S. women and 8% of U.S. men are currently living in a divorced state. this is up from 3% of women and 2% of men in 1960.
6) Almost 35% of last year's babies were born to unmarried women. Of those, 40% were born to unmarried couples living together.
7) The ratio of U.S. households with children has been dropping since 1960, when it was almost half. The figure dropped to 33% in 2003 and is expected to fall to 28% in 2010. So what does all this statistical mess show?
Well, it means that those people who marry might have a little stronger marriage than they once did, but fewer people are marrying and more people are living together outside of marriage (Are you confused yet?) And one more conclusion I might add...If you serve your lover or spouse too many of those TV dinners the odds for a good marriage may be a little rocky at best.