back in the 1960's, my mother slaved over a hot stove every night except mondays, we usually had left overs from a big sunday dinner, and friday, my dad was in charge of cooking, he usually did tv dinner or mcdonalds, or sandwiches__he was not a very good cook, my mom was an awesome cook
i was born in 1962, the dinners were better quality back in the 1960's and 1970's and considered a "treat", they use to taste really good. It was a big deal for us kids being able to pick out the flavor we wanted from the freezer.
Yes, they were always a treat when the parents were out for the night. And at $.79 aka $8.00 a pop it was definitely not every day food. Microwaves ruined them and making them cheap enough to eat regularly.
I remember eating these in the 80's. Unlike the ones today that have plastic trays , the older ones had aluminum foil trays so they had to be heated in the oven.
@@tenshi890 The quality of the food was far better than it is now. Also, since it was cooked in an oven on a metal tray, the food was warmed throughout, not bombarded with microwaves.
Apparently there was also an English-style fish-and-chips and a "Polynesian-style" dinner with sweet-and-sour chicken and pork, roasted rice, chow mein, and an orange tea cake. The Polynesian one isn't real Polynesian food but emulating the "Polynesian" restaurant craze targetting returning WWII Pacific Theater veterans, combining Polynesian decor, Cantonese food, and fruity cocktails like maitais to make something "exotic."
That turkey dinner looked absolutely delicious. It looked like actual turkey meat. The Chinese meal also looked great. I bet the ingredient list was all natural or close to it.
As someone who occasionally ate them in the early 60's I can tell you that TV dinners looked much better on TV than in their aluminum tray. I remember the turkey one particularly as a couple of slices of meat, some of hich was cut by a buzz saw, with strictlty generic stuffing, potatoes and gravy. The cranberry sauce wasn't bad. But as food, it had no real character.
Even today food advertising shows something very different from what you actually get. Back in those days they would even tell you doctors recommended cigarettes, so you can bet what they're showing isn't even close to what you got in the packet.
Well they were directed at women because it was the era of Mary Tyler Moore and working women didn't want to cook. Can you imagine working all day and then cooking a full course meal after? You wouldn't get to bed until 1am every morning.
They were a special treat for the kids because that it was the only time you were allowed to eat dinner while watching tv in the living room. And most Mom’s cooked real meals every day, so TV dinner night gave her a break.
In my area, none of the major super markets sell Swanson TV dinners anymore. They sell the Hungry Man dinners, but not the regular TV dinner. I saw the last TV dinner here about 10 years ago, they were calling them Swanson Classics, then they just disappeared. I don't know if it's that way across the country or not, but definitely not in the Pacific North West.
@@raiisleep Yeah, that's unfortunate, there is still Banquet TV dinners, but they are no where near as good as the Swanson TV dinners were. My favorite was Beans and Franks, I remember the uproar when it was discontinued in the late 70's, it was National News! My father was happy, because that was the most expensive one and he rarely bought it because it was almost a dollar! My mother would by it for me when I was sick.
I believe it may have been based on a pudding called Biscuit Tortoni; which is made with eggs and cream, and has origins in Italy en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuit_Tortoni
Yes, just from judging from the shots in these commercials (which really can't be trusted, all foods are made up to look better in ads), modern-day microwave dinners do seem quite pathetic and much less appetizing. I wouldn't doubt that the tv dinners of the past were of a higher quality, before the onslaught of modern-day food processing techniques introduced in the '70s and later to make it cheaper to manufacture (i.e. hydrogenization, HFCS, etc.).
Better way to cook these was in a toaster oven but now it's plastic so if you put it in the T O now it'll melt and you'll be chewing on pvc with turkey and peas stuck in it
You are right. They were of higher quality in the 1960s and the portions were much larger. Of course they did take 40-60 minutes to bake in the oven. Of course you watched tv in the living room while they cooked. And once out of the oven you set them on your TV tray and bon appetite
@saintalofcincinnati The man in #2 is Hans Conried, actor & voice-over artist. Rent the film "The 10,000 Fingers of Dr. T" to see him at his finest (despite the script he had to work with).
@@fromthesidelines Conried also hosted Jay Ward's absurdist TV show "Fractured Flickers", and provided the voice of Waldo Wigglesworth in the cartoon series show "Hoppity Hooper".
@AmazingGordo you said it!!!! i wish they would make these again instead of the big portions of "hungryman" dinners :o( & i remember loving the little "dessert". i remember the cherry one reminded me of the kenner "baby alive" doll's food. LOL..... the good ol' days, huh???!!!
hippie doll Do they not have Swanson dinners in your area? They have them in most grocery stores here in Saskatchewan (they say “Product of USA if I recall correctly).
Some years ago, Gordon Ramsay was exposed using pre-cooked, frozen meals to heat up at his Foxtrot Oscar restaurant, so in a way, he was selling TV dinners.
They're doing the same thing in actuality that which was depicted on the television commercial is not how the actual food looks like it's misleading advertising it's always been a thing since forever
The German flavor looks intriguing. They got creative back then. And I bet even adjusting for inflation the price was reasonable. Now you have to pay like 3x more with less food and more additives lol. Not worth it anymore.
I want Mexican they stopped around 15 yrs ago Banquet made them too They were HORRIBLE CRAP but oddly good THE BEANS N RICE were my fave part hated the off meat inside scraper it out..
dutch sounds good than german. pandas live in china's jungles. winx club fantasy series from italy. judd as mexican maraca player near callie as miku & marie as ulala jumps up.
the salisbury steak dinners and some of the chicken dinners have ungrinded chewies in the meat and poultry...why? and the sauce in the chicken strips overflow into the potatoes...who inspects this garbage? im grossed out
