Entrepreneur. He was an American businessman, who brought to the American home the "TV Dinner." A TV Dinner is a prepackaged, pre-cooked frozen meal, which was originally served on an aluminum tray after being heated in the oven for 30 minutes. One source states his company's vice president, Gerry Thomas, who was trying to figure ways to use an overabundance of frozen Thanksgiving turkeys in the company's inventory, had the idea of the TV Dinner. He brought his idea of the fast-food "Thanksgiving Dinner" to the directors of Swanson's who quickly moved to bring the product to market. Other sources including the "Los Angeles Times" state Swanson and other employees actually invented the idea. The idea had been used by commercial airlines since 1944. The TV Dinner hit the grocery store shelves as early as 1953 and became an instant success with consumers. Their frozen chicken pot pie successfully started in 1951. Gilbert Swanson used his marketing skills to sell this product. Born into a Swedish-American family, his father began the business by selling butter, eggs, poultry and milk to hotels and grocery stores. He used a wagon and one horse to start the business. Starting at an early age, his father trained him to run the business. During World War II, the company sold to the United States military, and by 1945, the company was called C.A. Swanson and Sons. After his father's 1949 death, he and his two-year-younger brother W. Clarke Swanson managed the growing business expanding into frozen foods and chicken product and ending the butter, eggs, and milk side of the business. The business was grossing $60 million a year in 1949 according to the "New York Times." He became the president of the company. In April of 1955, Swanson's 4,000 employees and 20 plants were acquired by the Campbell Soup Company for stocks in Campbell Soup. Although the company retains the Swanson name, he and his brother were no longer in the frozen TV dinner business. The two men did invest in other companies. He married Roberta, the sister of Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. The couple had two sons and two daughters. He built a large stone mansion, flanked by servants' quarters in Omaha. He proudly displayed a collection of the original TV dinner trays in his home. His brother died in 1961 and he died in 1968 from cancer. The official family history "The Swanson Story," was published in 1977. Starting in 1961, the Gilbert C. Swanson Foundation, a non-profit corporation, provides educational scholarship funding for institutions in Omaha for secondary and higher education.