FROZEN FOOD TURNS 70 ON MONDAY (MAR. 6)

FROZEN FOOD TURNS 70 ON MONDAY (MAR. 6)

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (Wireless Flash) -- Monday marks a heartwarming anniversary for lazy Americans: the 70th birthday of the day frozen food first hit the market. On March 6, 1930, Clarence Birdseye sold his first package of frozen food in a Springfield, Massachusetts, grocery store. About 21 frozen varieties were available including frozen peas, fish and cherries. Birdseye became inspired to freeze food 12 years earlier when, while working as a fur trapper in Alaska, he saw Eskimos freezing their fish outdoors. When he discovered frozen fish tasted the same as fresh, he realized he had the makings of a successful business. However, consumers were cold to the idea at first because previous attempts at freezing food failed. Birdseye stuck to his guns and, by the time he created the first insulated railroad car in 1944, America was hot on frozen food.