History of Birds Eye - Birds Eye View You are here: Birds Eye View > The Wonder of Vegetables > Bird's Eye Roots Bird's Eye Roots Clarence Birdseye was a man of vision, curiosity and persistence. During his travels through the Arctic, he saw Eskimos use ice, wind and temperature to freeze just-caught fish almost instantly to retain its freshness. He envisioned a way to apply this flash freezing process to vegetables—a simple biological concept that would revolutionize the frozen food industry. During flash freezing, vegetables are frozen so fast that only small ice crystals are able to form. The veggies' cell walls aren’t damaged, which protects their maximum flavor, texture and color. Back in the U.S., Birdseye formed the General Seafood Corporation with some wealthy partners who believed in his process. In 1926, the partners' financial support allowed Birdseye to unveil the “Quick Freeze Machine." Birdseye then focused on great food and selling it, including the development of freezer grocery display cases. By 1944, Birdseye's company was leasing refrigerated boxcars to transport frozen foods, making national distribution a reality and Birdseye a legend.

Birds Eye® shares our founder's commitment and celebrates his contributions to making delicious, high-quality vegetables accessible to everyone. A Chilling History of Frozen Food A Chilling History of Frozen Food A Chilling History of Frozen Food Swanson TV Dinner. Courtesy of the Pinnacle Foods Corporation By Mary Bellis Updated April 01, 2016. When we crave fresh fruits and vegetables in the middle of winter, we can thank an American taxidermist for making possible the next best thing. Clarence Birdseye, who invented and commercialized a method for quick-freezing food products in convenient packages and without altering the original taste, was simply seeking a way for his family to have fresh food all year round. The solution came to him while conducting fieldwork in the arctic, where he observed how the Inuit would preserve freshly caught fish and others meats in barrels of sea water that quickly froze due to the frigid climate. The fish were later thawed, cooked and most importantly tasted fresh -- much more so than anything at the fish markets back at home. He surmised that it was this practice of rapid freezing in extremely low temperatures that allowed meat to retain freshness once thawed and served months later.

Back in the U.S., commercial foods were typically chilled at a higher temperature and thus took longer to freeze. continue reading below our video Should I Buy my House or Continue to Rent? Compared to conventional techniques, fast freezing causes smaller ice crystals to form, which is less likely to damage the food. So in 1923, with an investment of $7 for an electric fan , buckets of brine, and cakes of ice, Clarence Birdseye developed and later perfected a system of packing fresh food into waxed cardboard boxes and flash-freezing under high pressure. And by 1927, his company General Seafoods was applying the technology to preserve beef, poultry, fruit, and vegetables. Two years later, The Goldman-Sachs Trading Corporation and the Postum Company (later the General Foods Corporation) bought Clarence Birdseye’s patents and trademarks in 1929 for $22 million. The first quick-frozen vegetables, fruits, seafoods, and meat were sold to the public for the first time in 1930 in Springfield, Massachusetts, under the trade name Birds Eye Frosted Foods®.

These frozen products were initially only available at 18 stores as a way to gauge whether consumers would take to what was then a novel approach to selling food. Grocery shoppers could choose from a fairly wide selection that included frozen meat, blue point oysters, fish fillets, spinach, peas, various fruits and berries. The products were a hit and with the company continued to expand, with frozen food products transported by refrigerated boxcars to distant stores. Today commercially frozen foods are a multi-billion dollar industry and "Birds Eye," a top frozen-food brand, is widely sold just about everywhere. Birdseye served as consultant to General Foods up until 1938 and eventually turned his attention to other interests and invented an infrared heat lamp , a spotlight for store window displays, a harpoon for marking whales. He would also establish companies to market his products. By the time of his sudden passing in 1956 he had about 300 patents to his name.

The Strange History of Frozen Food: From Clarence Birdseye to the Distinguished Order of Zerocrats - Eater The Strange History of Frozen Food: From Clarence Birdseye to the Distinguished Order of Zerocrats Photo: ValeStock / Shutterstock.com Gregory Ng is the chief marketing officer for a marketing agency from North Carolina and the self-proclaimed "Frozen Food Master." He doesn't like pickles — especially the frozen kind — and as the dedicated host to the Youtube frozen food review series Freezerburns , he tried Bob's Pickle Pops, which apparently is pretty trendy in Texas. "People tell me they use it as an energy boost before exercising or as a refreshing snack," he says. "To me that's really disgusting." But the pickle popsicle is only one of thousands of frozen food items Greg has sampled. He walks the frozen food aisle twice a week at every major supermarket chain. He gets two or three shipments of new frozen meal or snack options per week on dry ice. "Part of the reason why I coined the term "Frozen Food Master" is really just the idea that I can say with great certainty that I have tasted more [frozen food] variety than anyone on this planet," he says.

There are thousands of new items introduced into the market every month, he says. Some gourmet, some gluten-free, others family size. These days, there are entire grocery store aisles dedicated to frozen pizzas alone. In 2010 — during a recession — frozen-food sales grew 3.1%, according to the Wall Street Journal . Since then, frozen food technology has increased its popularity by including healthier options and more eco-friendly packaging, which allow foods to stay fresher longer and retain more nutrients. Clarence Birdseye: Father of Frozen Food The frozen food industry would be nothing without Clarence Birdseye, the man responsible for Birds Eye frozen foods, which is currently owned by Pinnacle Foods Inc. People have been freezing foods as a means of preservation since as early as 1000 B.C., when the Chinese stored goods in ice cellars. But Birdseye figured out the logistics of selling frozen foods: how could he freeze it fast so it didn't deform the food tissue? How would he package it? How would he transport the product?

Clarence Birdseye [Photos: Birdseye] As a young engineer in Labrador, an eastern province in Canada, Birdseye often froze his catch after a day of fishing to keep it fresh. He learned this from the Inuit who would fish from holes in the ice and let it freeze instantly in the frigid temperatures, Mark Kurlansky writes in Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man. Birdseye noticed that when the fish thawed, it wasn't mushy like other frozen foods he had tried before. This was around 1912. "When he lived in Labrador, the food he froze for his family was really good — not like the frozen food that was available everywhere," Kurlasky writes. "He realized that because it froze instantly, because it was so cold — that was the key to making frozen food good." It wasn't until 1927 that Birdseye applied to patent a multiplate freezing machine. According to the Handbook of Frozen Foods, Birdseye placed food between two metallic plates at -13 degrees F against a low convection tunnel to flash-freeze the product.

In 1928, Birdseye was successful in creating the double belt freezer which would be the forerunner to modern freezing technology. In 1930, the first line of frozen foods went public through the Birds Eye Frosted Food Company which was later sold to Postum, Inc. The company advertised June peas "as gloriously green as any you will see next summer." The original, flash-frozen foods included haddock fillets, 17 other cuts of meat and fish, as well as fruits and veggies like spinach, loganberries and raspberries. The company advertised June peas "as gloriously green as any you will see next summer." By World War II, canned goods were sent to soldiers overseas and Americans were encouraged to purchase frozen foods. Frozen also used fewer ration points than canned, according to the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association's (NFRA) website. Post-war, between 1945 and 1946, Americans bought 800 million pounds of frozen food, Kurlansky writes. With the invention of the fish stick and the 98-cent TV dinner in 1954, frozen meals became an American staple.

TV trays are still among foods Greg reviews on his show, but they make up less than one percent of the total frozen variety. "People just don't eat that way anymore," he says. "You can make a really good full meal using frozen products out of components in a way that saves time without sacrificing health." [Photo: letsgoroadtripping / Flickr ] Gerry Thomas: Father of the TV Dinner Back in 1954, when the Swanson TV dinner was first sold in retail outlets, a complete, frozen meal was the first of its kind. And it was controversial: men wrote to the company complaining that they preferred their wives cook from scratch like their mothers did as opposed to the "just heat and serve" Swanson meal. (A sign of the times, surely). In 25 minutes, this commercial from 1955 says, your wife could make a meal with "hearty slices of moist tender Swanson turkey, with whipped sweet potatoes and golden Swanson butter." The original TV dinner also included "garden fresh" peas and a cornbread dressing.

Video: 1955 Swanson TV Dinner Ad But as these invention stories go, at least three different sources have been attributed to the TV dinner, according to the Library of Congress: Gerry Thomas, the Swanson Brothers, and Maxson Food Systems, Inc. In 1944, W.L. Maxson Co. created the first frozen dinner called "Strato-Plates," which it sold to the Navy and airlines. In 1944, W.L. Maxson Co. created the first frozen dinner called "Strato-Plates," which it sold to the Navy and airlines. The meals consisted of three basic dishes — meat, vegetables and a potato — on a paperboard tray treated with Bakelite resin. According to the April 1947 issue of Popular Mechanics , until then, crew members and passengers had only had the choice of cold sandwiches and K-rations. Knowing that airplanes had weight limits, founder William Maxson invented a convection oven called the "Maxson Whirlwind Oven" that weighed 35 pounds (made of aluminum and steel) and could cook six frozen meals at once in half the time of a conventional oven.

At the time of the Popular Mechanics article, Maxson was making plans to produce "single food items for the busy housewife" like french fries, corn, carrots, Swiss steak and turkey. But due to decline in demand at the end of WWII and the death of Mr. Maxson in 1947, Strato-Plates never made it to the retail market. Three years later, Jack Fisher released FrigiDinner, the first aluminum tray for frozen meals. It was the design the Swanson TV dinner tray — which was shaped like a television — would borrow from a decade later. When Albert and Meyer Bernstein created Frozen Dinners, Inc. in 1949, the FrigiDinner found a market. By 1954, the same year Swanson trademarked the TV dinner concept, the brothers sold over two and a half-million frozen dinners. [Photos: blakta2 , joebehr / Flickr ] The most popular story — until recently — was that Swanson exec Gerry Thomas came up with the idea during a turkey surplus in 1952. The company needed a way to sell 520,000 pounds of extra bird.

The most popular story was that a Swanson exec came up with the idea during a turkey surplus in 1952. Thomas, then 30, was on a business trip to Pittsburgh flying Pan American Airlines, when it hit him. His heated meal was served in a metal tray. This was how Swanson would package the extra turkeys: frozen and in trays like the one on the plane. "It was just a single compartment tray with foil," he said in a 1999 Associated Press interview. "I asked if I could borrow it and stuck it in the pocket of my overcoat." The first few thousand TV dinners were sold in Omaha near Swanson headquarters in 1954. After the meal went national, they sold ten million dinners in the first year. In the 1999 AP interview, Thomas claimed credit not for the TV dinner itself — the airlines did that first — but for the method of how it was served. Marketing the product as an easy-to-eat meal in front of the television set, which was then skyrocketing in popularity, and using your lap as a table is what set Swanson apart from the previous frozen meals.

The Swanson TV Dinner Tray at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History [Photo: SNMAH ] For his years of work in the industry and, of course, the TV dinner, Thomas was inducted into the Frozen Food Hall of Fame (more on that later). One of his trays made an appearance in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and his hand prints are cemented into the ground outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre. But in 2003, controversy over the real inventor surfaced from a Los Angeles Times article that questioned Thomas's story. Heirs to the Swanson fortune told the newspaper that Thomas made the whole thing up, that he had little or nothing to do with the design of the dinner tray. Carol Swanson Price said her father, Clarke Swanson, and uncle, Gilbert Swanson, who ran the company in the early 1950s, pitched the idea. "This has been a source of annoyance to me over the years because I have seen a lot of people claim credit," Price told the LA Times. "I'd like to set the record straight." Nearly 60 years later, the true inventor remains unknown.

One thing we do know: Thomas stuck with his story until he died from cancer in 2005. He was 83. The First Frozen Bagel The first frozen bagel was born in New Haven, Connecticut, a product that would introduce a convenience for shoppers that would change the American breakfast table for good. In 1927, Harry Lender and his sons Murray and Marvin began selling traditional Jewish breads and rolls and what would eventually make them famous: bagels. With the efficiency of the Thompson machine (it could form 600 bagels an hour), Lender's outgrew the state of Connecticut in bagel production. Even after they began packaging them in plastic bags in the mid-fifties, the bagels would go stale after a few days. To extend the shelf life of the bagels they were producing in such large quantities, they flash-froze the product before shipping. This, of course, compromised some of the made-from-scratch goodness of the original Lender's bagel, but over time, the company developed recipes for sweeter, softer bagels post freeze. By the seventies, Lenders bagels could be found in grocers' freezers across the country.

Murray Lender, founder of Lender's Bagels. [Photo: Easy Home Meals ] The original use of frozen technology was just to keep the bread fresh before delivery. The night before, they'd defrost the bagels and their recipients were "none the wiser," writes Maria Balinska in her book The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread. Word eventually got out that the "fresh" bagels were yesterday's frozen bread and buyers were angry at first. But the convenience of the easy-to-grab, frozen breakfast item drowned out initial complaints. Lender's was also the first bagel producer to sell frozen bagels pre-cut so clumsy customers wouldn't slice themselves on slippery, recently-defrosted bread. Pre-cut, the frozen product was toaster ready straight from the freezer — a first for bagels and the frozen food industry as a whole. The Frozen Food Hall of Fame Gerry Thomas is among hundreds of others in the Frozen Food Hall of Fame, which honors individuals who have substantial involvement with the frozen food industry or have contributed substantially to the advancement of the industry.

According to National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association president and CEO Skip Shaw, the first class of the Hall-of-Famers included frozen food wonders from Clarence Birdseye, John Baugh from the Sysco Corporation, to C. James McNutt of the Campbell's company, among others. The Hall of Fame was co-founded by the NFRA in 1990, but has roots dating back to the early fifties with the creation of the somewhat mysterious group known as The Distinguished Order of Zerocrats. Each spring, the Zerocrats, made up of industry professionals including Hall-of-Famers and incoming chairman of various trade associations, vote on the newest inductees. The nominations are then sent to the selection committee, which consists of the Chairman of the Zerocrats, the Chairman-Elect and presidents of the NFRA and The American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI). The 2013 Refrigerated Food Hall Of Fame Inductees: Harry Hussmann, Nevin B. Montgomery, and L.B. (Lively) Willoughby. [Photo: The Shelby Report ] At the last Zerocrat dinner, the inductees for October 2013 were announced.

Three individuals: the late Harry Hussmann, founder of the Hussmann Patented Refrigerated Meat Display case and Hussmann Refrigerator Company; Nevin B. Montgomery, retired president of the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association; and the late L.B. (Lively) Willoughby, patented inventor of the refrigerated biscuit dough (later used by Pillsbury). This summer, the Zerocrats will meet again to pick next year's recipients. While the TV dinner seems a novelty item these days — nostalgic down to its individual tray compartments — it doesn't seem like frozen food products are going anywhere. At least if the "Frozen Food Master" has anything to say about it. "The technology and convenience of frozen food has created a hyper niche market served by Whole Foods and Trader Joe's," Gregory says. "These healthier companies like Amy's Organics and Kashi are feeding really specific eaters—gluten free, low calorie, and organic. As long as companies have microwave-only kitchens and there are healthy options are out there, frozen food technology is always gonna be around." —K. Annabelle Smith writes about weird food history at Smithsonian.com and has tackled everything from gun culture in New Mexico to the lost Rice Krispie mascot.

Her work also appears in OutsideOnline.com and Esquire.com . NFRA | Article History of Frozen Foods is Long and Varied Date: May 14, 2009 The easy and convenient home meal solutions provided by frozen food products today make our hectic life-styles seem a bit easier. Convenient, easy-to-prepare, nutritious and delicious frozen foods seem as if they were recently invented—specially-designed for modern life. In fact, frozen foods have been around a lot longer than you think, successfully evolving and adapting to the needs of consumers. Freezing Foods Has Long History The modern frozen food industry was born over 70 years ago, in 1930, but freezing foods as a means of preservation is a practice that has long historical roots. The first to harness the power of freezing foods beyond the winter months were the Chinese, who used ice cellars as early as 1000 B.C. The Greeks and Romans stored compressed snow in insulated cellars, and the Egyptians and Indians discovered that rapid evaporation through the porous walls of clay vessels produced ice crystals in the water inside the vessels.

But it was Clarence Birdseye and his American company that finally made frozen foods a practical reality in 1930. Legend has it that Birdseye’s interest in freezing food began in 1912, when, as a young engineer in Labrador, he often froze his catch after a day of fishing to keep it fresh. But it wasn’t until 1928 that Birdseye was successful in creating the double belt freezer, the forerunner of modern freezing technology, and not until 1930 that he finally introduced a line of frozen foods to the public. Contrary to popular belief, the line was not strictly vegetables, but included 18 cuts of meat, spinach, peas, fruits and berries, fish fillets and Blue Point oysters. But the road to consumer acceptance of these products was a long and rocky one. The first obstacle was the retailers themselves, who were unwilling to spend the money to buy refrigerated display cases to merchandise the new products. Consumer resistance was also high, so the industry found its early savior in the institutional market.

By the latter part of the 1930s, railroads and steamship lines became dumping grounds for surplus retail inventories and low or off-grade frozen products, because the frozen products were prepared before being served to diners, and customers didn’t know the food was frozen. The War to Save Frozens Frozen foods might have died off altogether if not for the onset of World War II. When Japan overran southeast Asia, it captured a large portion of the world’s tin resources and the U.S. government placed stringent controls on canners in an effort to conserve this vital wartime metal. This opened the door for frozens, which used less crucial materials such as paperboard, waxed paper and cellophane. Furthermore, retail shelves emptied as canned goods went to war, so major grocery chains eagerly pressed frozens into service to fill the gaps. Additionally, since frozens did not use metal, their purchase by consumers required fewer ration points than canned products. The 1940s were host to another milestone in the growth of the frozen food industry: the introduction of frozen concentrated orange juice. This product really marked the first volume item for the frozen food industry, but was soon followed by another: frozen breaded seafood.

The TV Age The 1950s were significant for the frozen food industry because it marked the introduction of a product that grew to be synonymous with the term frozen food: the TV Dinner. For the first time, a complete meal was available in frozen form to families who wished to dine quickly and easily at the table or in front of the TV, as the name implied. These dinners included an entree/meat item, a starch and a vegetable, and sometimes a dessert. Americans were introduced to another favorite frozen food in the early 50s—the fish stick, and more companies scrambled to win a piece of the suddenly growing frozen food market. Because of this heightened competition, the 1950s remain as one of the most innovative periods in the history of frozen foods, and manufacturers all scrambled to bring new products to consumers first. Among the other innovative foods introduced in frozen form during this decade were frozen pies and frozen side dishes. The Lean Years The 1960s were lean years for the frozen food industry, but not in the traditional sense. The 1960s were characterized by a new “diet” craze in America, and from this craze such products as Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers were born.

The industry continued to experience growth until the early 70s, when the country was gripped by one of the worst recessions in history, and an inflationary spiral that led the government to institute severe price controls. Creative marketing and a strong determination attitude helped the industry to survive this tough period, and allowed the industry to remain strong heading into the late 70s and 80s, when a new invention led to booming sales. The introduction of the microwave oven for home use allowed consumers to prepare frozen foods in record time, and solved the dilemma of families who now had two working parents. Teamed with the microwave oven, frozen food’s new buzzword became “convenience,” and consumers were quick to respond. TV dinners were replaced by “frozen entrees” and upscale dinners, with more taste and variety, and the option to prepare in minutes using the microwave. The 1990s ushered in an era of “healthy” eating for Americans. Frozen foods were quick to adapt to this new life-style of America, and brands like Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers, and many others thrived.

Consumers were hungry not only for taste, but for healthy ingredients, and regulations requiring full disclosure of ingredients made consumers more health conscious than ever before. Words like “lite,” “low-salt,” “low-fat,” and “low-cholesterol” were the new adjectives of choice on frozen meals. The Future What does the future hold for frozen foods? It’s impossible to predict. Clarence Birdseye may have shook his head in disbelief if someone had suggested in his day that the future would hold frozen dinners that could be prepared in minutes, frozen foods targeted specifically to children, frozen ethnic foods of every variety and frozen food choices for every meal occasion in the day. But, thanks to the tenacity and innovation of the frozen food industry, all these dreams are reality today, and our dreams of tomorrow could show up in your freezer much sooner than you think! Source: National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association Clarence Birdseye - Biography, Facts and Pictures Blog Clarence Birdseye For people who thank the heavens every day for the convenience that is frozen foods, you may also want to thank the man behind the invention. His name is Clarence Frank Birdseye II and he just happens to be the founder of the modern frozen food industry.

So every time you take that bag of frozen veggies or other frozen food from the icebox, you should give a little thanks to Birdseye as well. Without him, you would not be enjoying the convenience of frozen foods. Who is Clarence Birdseye? Clarence Birdseye was an American inventor, naturalist, and entrepreneur. He made one of the biggest innovations and contributions to the food industry when he found a way to flash-freeze food. He did this all on his own and he is the man responsible for the flash-freezing method that is still used up to this day. His is one invention that will stick around for ages which is proof of how useful it is. Advertisements His Early Years Clarence Birdseye was born on December 9, 1886 in Brooklyn, NY. His parents were Ada Jane Underwood and Clarence Frank Birdseye I. he was the 6th of 9 other kids. He was a student at Amherst College but only for a brief amount of time as he dropped out around the year 1908 although the exact date is unclear. It wasn’t because he was mentally slow by any means but he and his family really did not have the funds for college.

He moved out west to work for the USDA. He also began a career working as a taxidermist. He got a job in Arizona and New Mexico and his title was “assistant naturalist”. This job required him to kill coyotes. He also worked with entomologist Willard Von Orsdel King in 1910 and 1911. On the job, Birdseye would catch about several hundred small mammals and King would remove ticks from them for research purposes. This was how he found out that ticks were the cause of the Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. He moved on to another field assignment in 1912 and kept the spot until 1915. This job took him to Labrador in Canada (then known as Dominion of Newfoundland). This was where he really developed an interest in preserving and freezing food (most especially fast freezing). He had some dealings with the Inuit and they taught him how to ice fish underneath very thick ice layers. Given the -40C weather, he found that the fish was iced almost in an instant and tasted fresh when thawed.

He thought of the frozen food served in New York and knew that they were of poor quality compared to the frozen fish enjoyed by folks in Labrador and got the idea of applying his new found knowledge in starting a lucrative business. His records from that time period are held in the Special Collections section in Amherst College. His Flash-freezing Method Back in the day, the freezing method they used was commonly performed at higher temperatures which and this was how freezing was brought about. However, freezing was done at a slower rate which meant that ice crystals were given time to grow. It is now common knowledge that using the fast freezing method results in smaller ice crystals which means that less damage is brought to the tissues of the food. When using the slow freezing methods on food, fluids leak from the cells and this causes tissues to be damaged by the crystals. This is why food that is frozen using the slow freezing method often has a mushy or dry feel to it. Birdseye changed all that and saved the people from mushy and dry textured food for the years to come. In the year 1922, he began a series of fish-freezing studies at the Clothel Refrigerating Company.

He established his own company soon after and called it Birdseye Seafoods Inc. what they did was they froze fish fillets using chilled air that was as cold as -43C. Two years later, in 1924, his company filed bankruptcy as there was a lack of consumer interest in their product but that did not stop him. In that same year, he came up with a brand new process that made for commercially viable quick-freezing which involved packing fish inside cartons then putting them between two refrigerated surfaces under pressure to free the food. With this new invention he also started a new company which he called General Seafood Corporation. Development of His Invention In the year 1925, his new company moved to Gloucester in Massachusetts where he made use of his new invention. He called it the double belt freezer where brine was used to chill a couple of stainless steel belts that carried packaged fish so they froze so much more quickly. He applied for a patent for his invention and it was given the US Patent #1,773,079 and this marked the very beginning of a flourishing frozen foods industry. He was a man of vision so he created other machines and took out patents on them as well.

These new machines he patented cooled foods even more quickly so that only the smallest ice crystals formed in the food and cell membranes did not endure any damage. In 1927, he decided to extend the process past fish and started flash-freezing other food items as well. That year, they also froze vegetables, chicken, meat, and fruits. Birdseye didn’t keep the company but sold it to Goldman Sachs and Postum Company instead. Together with the patents, he got paid around $22 million which was a massive amount at that time. His company was eventually given the name General Foods Corp. and that founded the Birds Eye Frozen Food Company. Clarence Birdseye wasn’t completely out of the picture since he still worked for the company and never really stopped coming up with newer and better frozen food technology. His Death He died on 7 October 1956 at the Gramercy Park Hotel at 69. His cause of death was a heart attack. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea just off the area in Gloucester in MA.

Advertisements Birdseye Surname, Family Crest & Coats of Arms Birdseye Surname, Family Crest & Coats of Arms Buy PDF History » The surname Birdseye was first found in Sussex where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed. But Saxon surnames survived and the family name was first referenced in the 13th century when they held estates in that county. Birdseye Spelling Variations Birdseye Spelling Variations The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore, spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Birdseye has been recorded under many different variations, including Birsty, Bursty, Berstie, Bersty, Berstie, Birchensty, Burchensty, Berchensty, Birchenstey, Birchsty, Burchsty, Berchsty, Berdsey, Berdesly, Birdseye and many more.

Birdseye Early History Birdseye Early History This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Birdseye research. Another 285 words (20 lines of text) covering the years 1455, 1487, 1510, and 1600 are included under the topic Early Birdseye History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Birdseye Early Notables (pre 1700) Birdseye Early Notables (pre 1700) More information is included under the topic Early Birdseye Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. The Great Migration The Great Migration For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed.

Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Birdseye or a variant listed above: Birdseye Settlers in United States in the 19th Century C G Birdseye, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1850 Birdseye Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century Cornelius Birdseye arrived in Kangaroo Island aboard the ship "Lady Mary Pelham" in 1836 [1] CITATION[CLOSE] State Records of South Australia . (Retrieved 2010, November 5) LADY MARY PELHAM 1836.

Retrieved from Contemporary Notables of the name Birdseye (post 1700) Contemporary Notables of the name Birdseye (post 1700) Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956), American inventor who is considered the founder of the modern frozen food industry Birdseye Family Crest Products Clarence Birdseye And His Fantastic Frozen Food Machine : The Salt : NPR Clarence Birdseye And His Fantastic Frozen Food Machine Birdseye's original multiplate freezing machine froze food fast — the secret to maintaining fresh flavor USPTO hide caption toggle caption Birdseye's original multiplate freezing machine froze food fast — the secret to maintaining fresh flavor USPTO There's a particular pleasure in being reminded that the most ordinary things can still be full of magic. Frogs may turn into princes. Lumps of dirt can hide sparkling gems. And having just read Mark Kurlansky's new biography of Clarence Birdseye , I now see the humble fish fillet in a whole new light.

For as Kurlansky tells it, when Clarence Birdseye figured out how to pack and freeze haddock, using what he called "a marvelous new process which seals in every bit of just-from-the-ocean flavor," he essentially changed the way we produce, preserve and distribute food forever. Today, tiger shrimp from Thailand, Japanese edamame and blueberry cheesecake outshine the plain white fillets in the freezer case, but those packs of haddock launched the freezer revolution: They embody the magic combination of size, shape, and packaging. Unlike Kurlansky's book on cod , here he focuses on the man behind the fillet. And Birdseye's remarkable life uniquely prepared him to lead the world into its frozen future. Born in 1886, he had a naturalist's curiosity, a love of food, and a strong entrepreneurial streak. At the age of ten, he was hunting and exporting live muskrats and teaching himself taxidermy. He studied science in college, but had to drop out for financial reasons. Forced to support himself, he joined various scientific expeditions that took him to remote places, including Labrador , where he spent several years in the fur business.

Article continues after sponsorship On all these trips he liked to experiment with whatever fresh food was on hand. In the Southwest, he ate slices of rattlesnake fried in pork fat. From Labrador, he wrote letters home that described exotic meals like lynx marinated in sherry, porcupine, polar bear meat and skunk. The long Labrador winters also taught him what it was to crave fresh food, and introduced him for the first time in his life to frozen food that tasted good. Up until the 1920s in America, it was the food of last resort. "When it thawed it was mushy and less appealing than even canned food," writes Kurlansky. But in Labrador he learned from the Inuit how to fish trout from holes in the ice and watch it freeze instantly in the air, which registered at 30 degrees below zero. And when it was cooked, it tasted like fresh trout. It was the same with their meat and game, which they kept fresh for months in hard-packed snow. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Birdseye packed and froze his fish fillets in the patented cartons he developed U.S.

Patent and Trademark Office He soon figured out that the key to success was to freeze food fast, and at very low temperatures. This prevented large ice crystals from forming. These large crystals could damage cells and were responsible for giving much frozen food an unpleasant mushy texture. But it took a while for Birdseye to see where all this would lead him. He and his family returned to the US in 1917 and he took a series of jobs before joining the U.S. Fisheries Association in Washington — a lobbying group. It was while working with them that the "big Birdseye idea," as Kurlansky calls it, first began to take shape. Packaging Matters Birdseye realized that the way to expand the market for fish was to develop the means to pack and transport it over long distances, "in compact and convenient containers" and distribute it to individual customers with its "intrinsic freshness" intact. He experimented with his own containers to chill food at first, but when that failed, he started thinking about what he learned in Labrador. And the more he thought about it, the more he became convinced that quick freezing had huge potential.

In 1922 he left his job at the Fisheries Association and set out to "create an industry, to find a commercially viable way of producing large quantities of fast frozen fish." Even if he didn't pioneer actual freezing, Kurlansky points out, that Birsdseye he had "to pioneer most everything else in his process." This included everything from the boxes he packed the fish in to the machine that froze them and everything in between — from waterproof inks and glues to scaling and filleting machines. The fish had to be frozen in small portions both for speed and because he wanted to sell it to individual customers. He was also concerned with eliminating the little air pockets that in whole fish could harbor bacteria and lead to decomposition. So a key part of his original 1924 process called for filleting the fish — which was an unusual thing to do in 1920s. It had to be done by hand. But it allowed them to be packed tightly into rectangular fiberboard boxes. At first, Birdseye put these boxes into a long metal holders that was immersed in freezing calcium chloride, but three years later, in 1927, he applied to patent his multiplate freezing machine.

Large Scale Fast Freezing This invention, along with the process which went with it, became the basis of the new frozen food industry, says Kurlansky, and "remained the basic commercial freezing system for decades." Independent Booksellers In essence, the machine squeezed waterproof cartons holding two inch blocks of fish between freezing plates that were kept between 20 and 50 degrees below Farenheit, for 75 minutes.The cartons never came into contact with the refrigerant and the neat packages were suitable for marketing to individual customers. And with a few tweaks, this new machine could be used to freeze anything from berries to pork sausages." By now, Birdseye's own ambitions had soared way beyond fish fillets, but it didn't happen quite as Birdseye had imagined. His haddock fillets were slow to catch on. Kurlansky explains that people distrusted frozen food, railroads worried that they might be sued if the fish thawed in transit, public health officials fretted about bugs and germs. Stores had nowhere to store the frozen fillets and customers had no way to keep them frozen. The boxes piled up in the factory.

Birdseye ran out of money and sold his company to the Post company. But Birdseye, now a newly minted millionaire, continued to work for the new Birds Eye Frosted Foods division of the Post company. It shared Birdseye's vision that this was the food of the future. Convincing The Public To win over customers, the company started with ten stores in Springfield Massachusetts in March 1930. They gave them display freezers, put their staff through a three-day training course, and offered the food on consignment. These included 27 different frozen items: The original haddock fillets, porterhouse steak, spring lamb chops, loganberries and raspberries, spinach and June peas advertised "as gloriously green as any you will see next summer." Gradually, the world came to realize that frozen food was safe, and could provide an appealing and often more nutritious alternative to canned, salted and smoked foods. It overcame the limitations of local and seasonal food in unprecedented ways. Stores and domestic kitchens began to acquire freezers , and after World War II, frozen food got a huge boost, because it made it possible to put entire meals on the table without women having to spend hours in the kitchen.

It even helped shaped current school lunch programs. as Allison Aubrey reported. There was no going back. Kurlansky argues that "by modernizing the process of food preservation, Birdseye nationalized and then internationalized food distribution... facilitated urban living and helped to take people away from the farms... and greatly contributed to the development of industrial -scale agriculture." Birdseye, he says, would have seen all these as positive things. Not everyone would agree with that verdict of course, but it's harder to disagree with Kurlansky's claim that "Undeniably, Birdseye changed our civilization." About Us About Us About Us Birds Eye History Birds Eye is one of the most important brand names in the history of the frozen food industry. Clarence 'Bob' Birdseye was single-handedly responsible for a major early breakthrough in the development of the methods and technology that made freezing a viable way of preserving food. Birds Eye continues to develop nutritious and convenient products for Australian families. 1910 Discovery While studying biology in the arctic winter, Clarence Birdseye notices that freshly caught fish placed on the ice freeze solid almost immediately, yet when thawed still taste fresh.

1920s Technology Clarence designs and patents his Quick Freeze Machine, builds the first frozen food laboratory and develops a full line of frozen foods designed for commercial sale. He also develops super insulated railroad cars that enable the safe transportation of frozen foods over long distances. 1930s In Stores The first products under the Birds Eye name become available in store - mainly vegetables, meat and some fruit. Consumers are amazed at the convenience offered by these ready-to-cook products. 1940s To Australia Amidst the food rationing of the war years, quick frozen vegetables become available in Australia. In 1949 the first vegetables are specially grown and processed in NSW for sale under the Birds Eye brand. Production later expands to Tasmania. 1950s Fish Fingers In 1956 Birds Eye introduces the Fish Finger as an ideal way to encourage Australian children to eat more fish. The Birds Eye Fish Finger will go on to become an icon. The number of Birds Eye Fish Fingers sold in Australia each year would cover an area twice the size of Tasmania. Laid end to end, these Fish Fingers would be twice the length of the Great Wall of China.

1960s Television Frozen Peas and Fish Fingers become ever more popular and Birds Eye begins advertising on television 1970s Freezer Families A third of all Australian households have a freezer in 1976. Most freezers can hold a months worth of food for an average family, so Birds Eye introduces larger packs to provide more value for the 1970s “Freezer Family”. The “decade of the quiche” also sees Birds Eye depart from traditional vegetables to introduce a Vegetable Flan. 1980s Give ‘Em Your Best Birds Eye undertakes extensive market research, which reveals 9 out of 10 Australian mums understand that Birds Eye’s “Time Lock” snap freezing method retains much of the vegetables’ nutritional value. Birds Eye also introduces the “Give ‘Em Your Best” tagline. Australians will identify that tagline with Birds Eye for the next two decades. 1990s Leading the Way Birds Eye introduces a range of chips and wedges cooked in cholesterol free Canola as well as launching Oven Bake fish portions. Oven Bake quickly becomes the Australian favourite and has remained that way for the last 10 years.

At the end of the decade, Birds Eye introduces Create a Meal, the first frozen meal starter with vegetables and sauce. 2000 Innovation Continues Birds Eye continues developing and launching new products, like Golden Crunch chips and wedges, the crunchiest, tastiest chips and wedges to ever come out of the oven. In an industry first, Birds Eye launches Steam Fresh vegetables and Steam Fish for a convenient and nutritious offering. Birds Eye: a timeline and history - Telegraph Food and Drink News Birds Eye: a timeline and history Birds Eye has come along way since Clarence Birdseye first set up Birdseye Seafoods in 1922. Here is a history and timeline of the company. Captain Birds Eye 1922 Clarence Birdseye, who was a biologist for the US government, set up Birdseye Seafoods. The company patented the 'quick freezing' process and is now considered one of the founders of the frozen food industry. 1930s Unilever bought Birds Eye and rights to the 'quick freezing' patent. 1950 Birds Eye launched its first beef burger. 1955 Birds Eye launched the famous fish finger at a price of 1s 8d.

The fish finger was developed in its old factory in Great Yarmouth by Mr H A J Scott. 1967 Captain Birds Eye, the white-bearded seaman with a strong seafaring accent, became the Birds Eye advertising mascot. He was played by actor John Hewer until 1998 when he officially retired. Related Articles 1967 First television commercial, starring Captain Birds Eye. 1969 The first colour commercial. The advert featured Birds Eye peas. 1971 John Hewer briefly retired from the role as Captain Birds Eye leading The Times newspaper to publish an obituary for the character. Hewer returned to the Captain Birds Eye role three years later in 1974. 1979 Birds Eye started printing food facts on products. 1985 Birds Eye removes all artificial colours. 1993 Captain Birds Eye was voted the most recognised sea captain after Captain Cook in a poll. 1998 John Hewer retires as Captain Birds Eye aged 76. The character was taken over by actor Thomas Pescod but the new take on the character, with designer stubble, was a flop and Captain Birds Eye was dropped from the advertising campaign.

2002 Birds Eye switches to sunflower oil to cut down on fat. 2005 Birds Eye closed its Grimsby factory with the loss of 650 jobs. The factory had been operating since 1929. 2006 Unilever sold Birds Eye, to private equity firm Permira for £1.2billion. 2007 The former Grimsby factory was set on fire. The blaze, which was believed to have been started by local youths, was so severe that local residents had to be evacuated. 2007 Birds Eye launched Alaskan Pollock fish finger to reduce pressure on cod. 2010 Birds Eye estimate that on an average day in the UK 4.2million people eat a Birds Eye product. The Birds Eye group currently operates across the UK, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, Portugal, Turkey and Russia and employs around 2,400 people across Europe and 800 in the UK.

Question: What was the Christian name of the founder of the Birdseye frozen food company?
Answer: Clarence