By: HISTORY.com Editors
On March 27, 1984, after a year of blazing hot sales, the company that invented Hot Pockets receives a registered trademark for the gooey stuffed sandwich that kids across the U.S. can easily heat up in the microwave after school.
With flavors like Ham & Cheese and Pepperoni Pizza, Hot Pockets arrived in stores a year earlier in 1983, just as more women were entering the workforce and more households were embracing the use of microwaves.
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The iconic American sandwich was invented by Paul and David Merage, Jewish Iranian brothers who immigrated to America from Tehran in the 1960s to attend universities in California. The entrepreneurial brothers founded Chef America in 1977, initially selling frozen Belgian waffles to restaurants and cafes.
Noticing the growing popularity of the microwave oven, Paul Merage began developing a filling-stuffed sandwich that could be heated up in a microwave. In 1980, Chef America introduced the Tastywich, but there was a problem: When microwaved, the sandwich bread turned rubbery. So the company spent years researching and developing a specially formulated dough and incorporated a sleeve that would make the sandwiches crispy when microwaved. The result: Hot Pockets.
At first, Hot Pockets were only sold to restaurants. But as microwave ovens became more widely used (nearly a quarter of U.S. households owned one by 1986), the sandwiches were soon found in the freezer aisles of supermarkets nationwide. The company eventually expanded its product line to include Breakfast Pockets, Lean Pockets and Croissant Pockets.
Hot Pockets also became a cultural phenomenon. In the 1990s, the company aired ads featuring its catchy jingle “What are you going to pick? Hot Pockets!” Comedian Jim Gaffigan also made Hot Pockets the center of his comedy routines for years. And rapper and actor Snoop Dogg starred in two music videos about Hot Pockets: “Pocket Like It’s Hot,” a parody of his popular “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” and a surreal music video featuring the Hot Pocket mascot, supermodel Kate Upton and rapper Bow Wow that goes to the tune of Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend (You Got What I Need).”
In September 2002, Swiss multinational food conglomerate Nestlé bought Chef America from the Merage brothers for $2.6 billion. At the time, annual sales of Hot Pockets were estimated to be about $720 million.
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