Henry John Heinz (October 11, 1844 – May 14, 1919)

In 1869 ,Heinz began packing foodstuffs on a small scale in Sharpsburg,
Pennsylvania. It was there he founded Heinz Noble & Company with a
friend, L. Clarence Noble, and began marketing horseradish.The company
went bankrupt in 1875, but the following year Heinz founded  F&J Heinz,
with his brother and a cousin. One of this company’s first products was
tomato ketchup.

Early Heinz ketchup bottles

The Popeye radio program was broadcast over three different networks by two
sponsors from 1935 to 1938. Wheatena hot cereal first sponsored the show on
September 10, 1935 thru March 28, 1936. A total of 87 episodes aired on the
NBC Red Network on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights at 7:15pm. The 
show followed Amos & Andy, one of the most listened to programs in radio
history. Popeye the Sailor starred Detmar Poppen as Popeye along with
most of the major supporting characters,Olive Oyl (Olive Lamoy), Wimpy
(Charles Lawrence), Bluto (Jackson Beck) and Swee’Pea (Mae Questel).

In their first year, Swanson & Sons sold over 10 million TV dinners. The 98-cent
meals included turkey, corn bread dressing, gravy, peas, and sweet potatoes.