Man I ate a many of these delicious meals growing up. We had a well stocked and organized freezer . Thanks mom and dad for the luxury of life. Couldn't have done it without you.
My grandma used to let us get a TV dinner each on grocery night. Mine was always fried chicken! She’d make us our TV dinners and pull out the TV trays and we’d sit and watch our shows and we thought we were living large! Those were the days ❤️
If they were microwaved dinners your favorite would not have been fried chicken. Natural oven heat makes crispy chicken, microwave makes rubber chicken.
We loved them too! On the rare days my mother didn’t cook from scratch lol we thought is was a real treat to pick our own TV dinner. Even though my mother was a great cook. I’m 60 and we very rarely ate fast food ( only on a trip) and we didn’t really have pizza or Chinese until the mid 70s.
In 1986, they replaced the stamped tin-foil trays with microwaveable ones. I’m actually young enough to vaguely remember a time when one person could earn enough to support a whole family, and it was economical to have one spouse concentrate on taking care of the family, while the other worked. Can you even imagine?
@@olivegreenpants7153 then she could be the breadwinner and father can stay home and take care of the family…smarty pants. I don’t think she would like the stress that goes along with the responsibility of supporting a family, mortgage, home and car insurance etc.
We got them only when my parents had an event and dumped a babysitter on us. Which was only once or twice. Loved them... back then. Haven’t had one in decades... but would probably. I DO still buy and eat Cpt’n Crunch a couple times a year, but never just before a dentist visit... he’d wonder if I have been eating fiberglass.
We lived on a farm, and these instant dinners were considered a special treat, just like homemade butter was considered inferior to margarine. Yikes. All that milk and eggs, and those ghastly Monarch puddings was what we got.... what a strange time it was.
My mother was a widow and had to work. We had a live-in babysitter that I'm sure we were a handful for. I think in order to get some peace, she used to feed us in the living room on TV trays. We rarely had TV dinners. When I look back on that time, what I remember is eating sliced up hot dogs (no bun, just sliced on a plate) while watching the Three Stooges. I'm sure we ate other things, but that's the memory that sticks in my mind.
I remember when my parents had to go out it was a rare treat to have a TV dinner .. my mom always cooked and very rare that we had tv dinner or McDonald's or Burger King etc.
Same with us! Too many kids for TV dinners ( 7 of us all together & 3 adults) so either my mom or Nana cooked! Definitely no fast food until I got a job @ 16 at the Burger King in the nx city! Then they would come through & get a bunch! My stepdad got job as manager of Arthur Treacher’s & loved their fried fish!
I had to get a job in tenth grade and take the bus from school to work so Burger King became dinner and place to do some homework, but before that I remember these crazy dinners in a box. It seemed like just enough for a small child lol.
@@danityvanityinsanity Yup, now it's not all covered with a bunch of sodium to preserve it and they also cheapened the ingredients so it doesn't taste as good
As a kid, I would sit and watch Happy Days, Mork and Mindy, Six Million Dollar Man, Incredible Hulk and the Dukes of Hazzard while eating these. Those were good days in life. 2021, not so much.
I really liked the Fried Chicken TV Dinner ! With Mashed Pats, Peas and Carrots and a Apple Pie of Sorts that remained piping hot for way too long for a little boys sweet tooth!
TV dinners were never gourmet, but those Swanson dinners were far superior to most of what they have now. I recall Stouffer's having excellent stuffed peppers back in the day, but these companies went cheap on the ingredients and they are not the same.
@C. W. Sayre I love their stuffed peppers too & actually have a box in my freezer right now! 🤣Only thing is, they have gotten very small considering the large, overstuffed peppers that you used to get in a pkg. Companies sadly everywhere have cut back on portion sizes & in many cases, quality of product!
It’s strange the things I remember. I recall an interview with Garry Trudeau, the creator of the comic strip “Doonesbury”. At the time he was still a bachelor. He described the success of Doonesbury by saying that when it came to meals, he went from Swanson’s to Stouffer’s. I think he meant that his frozen dinners improved in quality!
I'm 61 growing up in the 60's when mom got those we thought we were eating high on the hog on our TV dinners on our metal TV trays. Usually payday was the time to treat
In the 70's as a young bachelor Swanson's "Hungry Man" TV dinners were not that bad. I got the fried chicken usually. 5:02 - Pavlov's Dog here...I actually started salivating from remembering how much i used to love that particular dinner.
TV dinners were so special in my family when I was young. Didn’t go out to eat much, 5 kids, expensive and probably nerve racking for my parents! This truly brings me back to my childhood in the dawn of 1971. I wish my kids could hop in the way way back machine and get a taste of this gentle decade in America.
I remember having the chicken dinner in 1954 when I was 9 years old. I had to BEG my mom to buy it for me. She was Italian and a great cook, so this to her was NOT FOOD ! I'd get my TV dinner, put in on a TV tray and watch "The Three Stooges" ! I liked the Turkey dinner too ! Now, it's more of Stouffers and Marie Calander's.
My mom and dad worked opposite shifts when I was a child because of the lack of child care. Dad usually worked during the day and mom worked eves. So dad was left getting dinner on the table for himself and four children. TV dinners saved us (and my parents marriage 🙂).
Those meals were super hero status. Family glueman to the rescue. Lol go out side dig a hole with a stick dinner in 30min then back out wait who has homework do it while I cook and leave me alone I'm busy here.
The turkey train story is a pretty amazing and hilarious image... I'm picturing some 1950s executive in a grey suit yelling at a train conductor, "I don't care where you go, just keep moving! If we lose these turkeys we're through!"
I loved them. They were small and very tasty. The TV tray followed. I just noticed, that beef dinner was my favorite. It came with 3 small potatoes. It was delicious.
This reminds me, when I was in first or second grade, I was visiting a friend who was about to have lunch before his nap (He was 3 years younger than me). He told me his mother was fixing him a "beef Popeye". The way he described it, I pictured Popeye's face created out of beef! 😆😆😆 He claimed it was singing "I'm Popeye the sailor man" as it was cooking on the stove! Later on when I told my mother my friend had "a beef Popeye" for lunch, she explained he meant "beef pot pie". Denny's used to have a decent chicken pot pie. Wish they'd bring it back.
I do remember the 3 compartment aluminum trays as well as the 4 compartment trays before the plastic and paper trays were introduced. Happy recollections on Recollection Road. Always well done and thank you very much for these short videos.
And it sucked when your teacher said you needed to bring one and you didn't have any. Their other favorite was empty oatmeal boxes for drums etc. It always happened right after my mom threw away an empty box and opened a new one. We didn't have plastic containers like we do now, so she would call around to see if a neighbor had a box that was almost empty, or we'd be eating a lot of oatmeal. Didn't like it then and can't eat it now without gagging.
Ha! Me and my brother also. Mom and Dad went to the mall and my brother and myself would watch any number of TV shows in reruns or prime time. Emergency, Voyage to The Bottom of The Sea, The Invaders, and on and on. Great memories.
Great memories of the 📺 dinners. Back in the 60s and 70s... The t.v. dinner trays..watching a favourite show on the black and white television...then a colour one.. Time does fly.
Anyone remember Morton's brand TV Dinners? Regardless, Swanson's or Morton's.....the Turkey dinner was much better quality than today! As was the fried chicken, the meatloaf, Salisbury steak, macaroni and beef all delicious!!!
@@karenstrycharz1499 they all were pretty much good. But I haven't seen any ham tv dinners in ages, do they still exist? And yep I fondly remember tv trays too. Probably stopped using aluminum trays cause who wants to wait for the oven when microwave ovens are faster.
Back when they used meat, not hydrolyzed soy protein fillers! I do however, remember the mashed potatoes as a bit granular and watery tho. But I loved them!
I still have a Swanson classic fried chicken T.V. dinner from time to time. They're still tasty, and I like to play a game when I open the package called "identify the pieces" because unless it's a drumstick, they really don't resemble anything that come from a chicken. The corn and mashed potatoes are also still great, especially when you get them all buttery and salty.
God what a memory! I can still remember the taste of the ones with meatloaf in tomato sauce, mashed potatoes and green peas! My favorite would have been the the fried chicken with mixed vegetable and mashed potato. Wish they still had them available in the aluminum trays.
Meatloaf & mashed potatoes tied as my favorite with their turkey dinners!! I too loved meat loaf dinners!!!! Loved the mashed potatoes in the “tomato sauce gravy!!!” Yum! Yum!♥️
I am so hungry for one now. Not microwaved, but in the oven like then. Remember when almost every home had a set of TV trays? My mom saved up her S&H green stamps for ours❤️
OK, this edition is in the upper tier of this series. How have I missed it since May? Been a long time since the Swanson glory days. Hits the bittersweet nostalgia button for sure. Much to be missed from that time that has gone away. Thanks, even if it makes me a bit sad.
@@zzydny Oh yes, I remember the veal parmigiana too, now that you mention it & loved that one, too! Forgot all about it until you just mentioned it but I remember my mom buying that one for my step-dad too. I really loved the Veal Parmigiana!!!
@@karenstrycharz1499 I got to choose which dinner I wanted as an encouragement to eat quietly alone in my room so that the adults could have dinner without being bothered by the brat! Oh my. Good thing I liked Veal Parmigiana. I remember trying all the international dinners.
I remember when tv dinners came out in 1953 and cokes were a nickel in a returnable glass bottle. Ive always liked the turkey even to this day.the best times ever.
I was in awe the first time I had a TV dinner...best part of the 1960s growing up, another addition to my wonderful memories...it felt so special to eat out of a aluminum tray..that love went with me into adulthood....its still a special enjoyment even at age 66....thanks mom and dad....thanks Swanson!!!!!!
Back in the 1970s when I was a kid, it was so much fun watching television at night while eating a TV dinner. Today, I prepare my own dinners. Walmart sells the Disposable Aluminum 4 Compartment T.V Dinner Trays with Lid. You get ten for $17. I keep my chest freezer full of them and eat them year-round.
We were a poor family and could never afford Swanson, instead opting for one of their more plebeian competitors. Today I appreciate that upbringing because you appreciate pretty much everything. So often I am with friends and they just seem dissatisfied with the littlest thing, particularly in restaurants.
Same here. Dad bought IGA brand or other store brand TV dinners, but I loved them. My friends (and I too now) are pretty all well off now, and most do complain a lot about what’s served to them. I remember how we couldn’t afford Pop Tarts or Fruit Roll Ups or Corn Pops cereal and went with generic or without. But I loved it anyways!
It was amazing that Swanson was so dedicated to making sure that that leftover turkey did not go to waste. These days I don't know if many companies would care. They'd probably be like, "oh, well. Throw it all out."
WOW...this is crazy but as the different dinners were shown on the screen I INSTANTLY remembered EXACTLY what they tasted like...especially the turkey stuffing and the desserts! I remember these dinners tasting like real food...the turkey and fried chicken were my favorites and I loved the apple and cherry desserts. Thank you so much for making this video!
In the early 60's, we had Mexican TV dinners often, because we lived in Hawaii and there were no Mexican restaurants. We were from Texas and missed the food. We ate at a table on our patio in front of the TV.
TV dinners are still out there and pretty much taste the same as they always did. Actually there are a lot more of them since alot of people are wanting fast and various meals.
You can buy replica collectable metal trays... Oven Safe, but not microwave friendly! :-) And my, oh my, remember the little TV Dinner Tray tables ? Folding metal legs, and usually some wood or floral pattern on top... still some original ones available on e - bay . . .
Swanson dinners were serious 'livin' in the 60s and early 70s. Team that up with a great movie on non-cable TV on a Saturday night and it became magical.
I remember these!! They were actually a treat for us to be able to eat TV dinners and watch TV in the living room! Did this maybe once per month when we were kids and brings back great memories:) Turkey and stuffing was my favorite:)
I remember when my mother brought these home from the store. thought i had gone to heaven they were so good. Aned we were the kids eating them off tv trays in front of the television.
Too young to have experienced the original introduction but I do remember watching old tv shows that featured them. Depending on the decade (50s, 60s or 70’s) it was either a desired treat dinner or a dreaded consequence of the wife/mom having to be elsewhere.
My first TV dinner was when me and my cousin begged our grandmother to go into town to the then Acme and she did ! It was pure pleasure full of amazement as we ate it ... I remember she was not at all impressed and with good reason as NOTHING replaced her cooking
I had Swanson’s TV Dinner many times when I was growing up. The History Channel has a show “The Food That Built America” that talks about Swanson and the TV Dinner. Great show!!
Growing up in the sixties and seventies I recall eating the Swanson dinners trays. Back when we were growing up my mother would cook most days, so it was a treat to receive mc Donald’s or a Swanson dinner. Now remember that was a simpler time when one parent would actually go out and work. And the mothers often stayed home to raise the family.
Grew up in the 60's and yes, going to McDonald's was a treat for us. A family of 4 could eat for less than a dollar. Hamburgers and fries were 15 cents. There was also no indoor dining, only a walk-up window (early-mid 60's). Always wished I could be older so I could work there and get to wear one of those goofy hats their employees wore. Those hats were considered a "badge of honor" back in those days. A teen was lucky if they could secure a job there.
Swanson TV Dinners were awesome. And those TV dinner trays were great for setting those real heavy old televisions on...the ones with the "clunk clunk" channel knobs.
Had these often growing up in the 60's, then pretty much lived on hungry man dinners, chicken pot pies, and later breakfasts in the 70's as a young single man. Not the healthiest, but what a time saver!
I can remember sitting in the living room with a TV tray and a TV dinner the aluminum trays and watching emergency or even chips or even the Six Million Dollar Man that was quite a good time I sure wish we could bring those times back
Yes, remember the commercials where a crown suddenly appeared on the head of everyone who tasted Imperial margarine? 1960's...a great time to be a kid!
You’ve really got something here Recollections Man. Your content is solid, your voice work is spot on, the background music is perfect. I hope you reach a million subscribers and millions of views.
Boy this brings back memories... good one's, g. I remember having these in the 60s, 70s and beyond. Times are different now with a very competitive market but Swanson's TV dinners set the stage and fit well with television era of those days. Good memories ... Thanks for these videos 😉
My grandma kept a few in the “deep-freeze” to eat while my grandfather was on the road working. Once in a while I got a TV dinner at her house. A real treat!
There is an old Woody Allen movie Broadway Danny Rose where he is a talent agent. In the movie, Woody's character always invited his clients on Thanksgiving, to come to his apartment where he would serve them turkey dinners.
98 cents for a Swanson frozen dinner wasn't "chump change" back in 1953 considering sixty eight years later you can often get pretty much the same frozen dinner for about $1.50 today. Interesting story on how excess frozen turkey led to the "TV dinner." Thanks for sharing!
I was thinking the same thing! $0.98 for a single serving meal when $1.00 bought 4 gallons of gas and minimum wage was $0.75 an hour. That's pricey enough to be a special treat!
As a 10 year old kid in 1969 my grandma had a Huge Freezer about (5ft long) she would buy TV Dinners..Frozen Pizzas..Ice Cream in Tubs..etc. She was able to buy multiple quantities when on sale 👍
She sounds like she was a great grandmother! Loved my Nana too & I think of her most ever day even though she has been gone almost fifty yrs! I am so well aware of the memories you leave behind with our own grandchildren, due to the fun, love & caring my Nana treated me with!♥️
My Grandmother Margaret Hamilton was on the team that developed the TV dinner. In fact you could say she saved it! After all the research was done and they were ready to go to marketing. They were all sitting at a large table and Mr Swanson was not sure they would sell and was talking about cancelling the project. My grandmother that had left a abusive marriage a few years before and was a single mom with a teenage son, my dad. Spoke up she told Mr Swanson that as a working mom with a teenager son. There was times when she was to tired to make supper when she got home. She said these would be a perfect fix for that problem. As she told the story. Mr Swanson looked at me and said well Margaret if you think they will sell we will move forward with the marketing. THANKS Dan H
when we came to america in the 70's, mom and dad had to work long hours to survive . We kids survived on Ramen and TV dinners ,and took care of ourselves at a very young age. once in a while i open up a TV dinner and it brings me back to simpler times.
Man, we ate a ton of those when I was growing up.Mom had the same menu for each day of the week. Monday was hash, yuck, Tuesday was meatloaf, etc. As my brother and I got older, these were ideal, Mom didn’t complain. Seems it was generally Friday and Saturday nights, but that was 50 years ago. Aside from the occasional Marie Calenders pot pie, which are really great,I don’t eat much frozen food.
I remember them very well and it seemed like forever waiting for the oven timer to ring as you could smell them cooking the entire time and you were already hungry when you put them in the oven. :-)
YES!! Still great. In fact, I preferred Swanson's $1.99 version more than the unnamed national Italian eatery's version! The breaded veal is awesome! I still buy a dozen of them when they're on special.
Genius idea that so many people loved. I remember eating a Swanson dinner as a kid and thinking it was the coolest thing ever.... and it was. Great stuff. Thanks.
My mom would have been mortified at the thought of serving a frozen TV dinner. She never did, not even once. The nearest she came was fish fingers with peas and mash on Fridays, which was also the only night of the week we were allowed soda (soft drinks) and chips (crisps). She did get frozen desserts like cheesecakes and fruit pies.
My mom was the same! Seven of us kids & she cooked every night or my Nana did. One thing though & I remember fish sticks with mashed potatoes & peas every Friday( with ketchup)! My husband was appalled when we got married & he asked me if I liked fish 🐠 & I told him “Yes, fish sticks!” He said “That isn’t fish, Karen!”🤣I told him I didn’t like any other kinds of fish but now, 49 yrs later we have been married, he has me eating all types of fish & I love it! Never had fish sticks again though after getting married for as I said my husband hated fish sticks. They have better quality now though!
@@karenstrycharz1499 - haha, yes, I have not had fish sticks/fingers since I left home many years ago. Maybe I tried to cook them once or twice when I first moved out, I have a vague memory of burning them and not being able to do them like mom did. So they went by the wayside. Sometimes at as kids on Fridays we got battered fish fillets and chips from the shop, slightly steamed from being wrapped in newspaper, with lemon slices and those little packets of tartare sauce.
I must say I remember my mom and dad sometimes sitting at the table eating them with my brother and me. God what a different time that was, back in them days folks bought these at our local supermarket in steady quantities. Like someone stated below the had less sugar, but I sure loved the desserts that came with some. It is nice that people still remember them day.
My aunt would buy these then when empty she would wash then cook a large meal and portion it up, cover with foil, mark then freeze them. She was busy doing research and traveling most of the time and always wanted a home cooked meal when she was home.
I used to feed myself after my mother went back to work she bought them for me to eat after school I saved the heavy foil trays and re used them when I went camping to cook on .things were so much more simple back then .
The fried chicken and salisbury steak were my favorites. I loved when the mashed potatoes would have the little brown crust around the edges when cooked just long enough. I never ate the peas if they were the vegetable.
I remember being ten years old eating a Swansons TV dinner and watching the Six Million Dollar Man. It didn't get much better than that.
Im in my 60's same story except it was Batman and the Munsters.
To the way way back machine, we got this .
I did the very same thing, eating Swanson’s Salisbury Steak dinners & watching Steve Austin. Good times!
@@irvan36mm fried chicken.
Man I ate a many of these delicious meals growing up. We had a well stocked and organized freezer . Thanks mom and dad for the luxury of life. Couldn't have done it without you.
My grandma used to let us get a TV dinner each on grocery night. Mine was always fried chicken! She’d make us our TV dinners and pull out the TV trays and we’d sit and watch our shows and we thought we were living large! Those were the days ❤️
If they were microwaved dinners your favorite would not have been fried chicken. Natural oven heat makes crispy chicken, microwave makes rubber chicken.
The fried chicken was my favorite too.
@@MelodyMeanFace We didn’t have microwave ovens back in the 1960s when we ate them.
Great memories.❤️
We loved them too! On the rare days my mother didn’t cook from scratch lol we thought is was a real treat to pick our own TV dinner. Even though my mother was a great cook. I’m 60 and we very rarely ate fast food ( only on a trip) and we didn’t really have pizza or Chinese until the mid 70s.
In 1986, they replaced the stamped tin-foil trays with microwaveable ones.
I’m actually young enough to vaguely remember a time when one person could earn enough to support a whole family, and it was economical to have one spouse concentrate on taking care of the family, while the other worked.
Can you even imagine?
Aw gee and what if SHE wanted to work outside the home?
@@olivegreenpants7153 then she could be the breadwinner and father can stay home and take care of the family…smarty pants.
I don’t think she would like the stress that goes along with the responsibility of supporting a family, mortgage, home and car insurance etc.
The good old days 😀
I may have saved one of the foil trays. If so, it's far back in a closet.
America has become more expensive and more greedy, that's what happened
A great time to grow up.
It was a treat to have frozen dinner in front of the TV.
Less dishes to wash. Good times.
Growing up I ate Swanson tv dinners a lot, especially the Hungry Man version..😁👌
I'll never forget the feeling of the aluminum tray and the forks we used to use reacting with all my fillings! LOL! anybody else remember that?
Yes, a very weird metal-on-soft metal feeling! I remember that vividly!
@@natehawkins2910 yes! Perfect description!👍🏼
i do ! and my tube socks as well !
@@soulfly4076 ha ha! Yes!
Oh, thank you for that! I had forgotten all about that!
You were really something if you got a TV dinner. Good ole days.
We got them only when my parents had an event and dumped a babysitter on us. Which was only once or twice. Loved them... back then. Haven’t had one in decades... but would probably. I DO still buy and eat Cpt’n Crunch a couple times a year, but never just before a dentist visit... he’d wonder if I have been eating fiberglass.
We lived on a farm, and these instant dinners were considered a special treat, just like homemade butter was considered inferior to margarine. Yikes. All that milk and eggs, and those ghastly Monarch puddings was what we got.... what a strange time it was.
Yes but now that I'm older and a widower I miss the home cooked meal😥
@SnoopyDoo bullshit //// sodium was ur friend back then hahahaha
You were really something if you got a homecooked meal. Good ol' days.
Wow. I remember every one of those vividly from almost 60 years ago. Getting to eat dinner in the living room in front of the TV! Fun times as a kid!
Eating your tv dinner on the tv tray !
My mother was a widow and had to work. We had a live-in babysitter that I'm sure we were a handful for. I think in order to get some peace, she used to feed us in the living room on TV trays. We rarely had TV dinners. When I look back on that time, what I remember is eating sliced up hot dogs (no bun, just sliced on a plate) while watching the Three Stooges. I'm sure we ate other things, but that's the memory that sticks in my mind.
I remember when my parents had to go out it was a rare treat to have a TV dinner .. my mom always cooked and very rare that we had tv dinner or McDonald's or Burger King etc.
Same with us! Too many kids for TV dinners ( 7 of us all together & 3 adults) so either my mom or Nana cooked! Definitely no fast food until I got a job @ 16 at the Burger King in the nx city! Then they would come through & get a bunch! My stepdad got job as manager of Arthur Treacher’s & loved their fried fish!
I had to get a job in tenth grade and take the bus from school to work so Burger King became dinner and place to do some homework, but before that I remember these crazy dinners in a box. It seemed like just enough for a small child lol.
Actually, home made is best. And the healthiest.😉
@@danityvanityinsanity Yup, now it's not all covered with a bunch of sodium to preserve it and they also cheapened the ingredients so it doesn't taste as good
Exactly the same in our house!
As a kid, I would sit and watch Happy Days, Mork and Mindy, Six Million Dollar Man, Incredible Hulk and the Dukes of Hazzard while eating these. Those were good days in life. 2021, not so much.
I really liked the Fried Chicken TV Dinner ! With Mashed Pats, Peas and Carrots and a Apple Pie of Sorts that remained piping hot for way too long for a little boys sweet tooth!
Me too.
I agree. The apple pie - potential mouth roof burner. Brownie was awful.
This was another great video. When I was a kid we used to get the pot pies as a treat when we had babysitters. And I still love them.
I hated pot pies. Granted they were good but they are just above nuclear fission🤣
@@robertwilliams450 I ate many, many of those in college because they were so cheap. I haven't had one in the 40+ years since.
I have never met a pot pie that I ever liked. That dislike goes back to my childhood in the 50s. Ugh!
@@barbarak2836 Has your poor tongue finally recovered?
@@randallmarsh1187 I think so, but I never, ever want a pot pie again.
TV dinners were never gourmet, but those Swanson dinners were far superior to most of what they have now. I recall Stouffer's having excellent stuffed peppers back in the day, but these companies went cheap on the ingredients and they are not the same.
@C. W. Sayre I love their stuffed peppers too & actually have a box in my freezer right now! 🤣Only thing is, they have gotten very small considering the large, overstuffed peppers that you used to get in a pkg. Companies sadly everywhere have cut back on portion sizes & in many cases, quality of product!
It’s strange the things I remember. I recall an interview with Garry Trudeau, the creator of the comic strip “Doonesbury”. At the time he was still a bachelor. He described the success of Doonesbury by saying that when it came to meals, he went from Swanson’s to Stouffer’s. I think he meant that his frozen dinners improved in quality!
4 stuffed peppers=2 lbs I don’t consider that a small portion
Stoffers is owned by Nestle.
Ey
I'm 61 growing up in the 60's when mom got those we thought we were eating high on the hog on our TV dinners on our metal TV trays. Usually payday was the time to treat
In the 70's as a young bachelor Swanson's "Hungry Man" TV dinners were not that bad. I got the fried chicken usually.
5:02 - Pavlov's Dog here...I actually started salivating from remembering how much i used to love that particular dinner.
I ate a ton of those growing up
@@t-squared6406 I grew up on them too.
its where dumbass "karen" carlson's $$ came from
stuff's crap
....yes, that one was a guilty pleasure.
A TV dinner was a treat for me after a cold day delivering newspapers & served in front of the TV of course! Thanks for the memories!!
I love, love love your videos !!!!!
I do too! Best videos ever!♥️
It was such a treat to me to have a Swanson TV dinner. Another one was jiffy popcorn in the pan and foil. So much beautiful memories!
I so remember that popcorn to & how it would get bigger on the stove! The best memories!
We could never master the Jiffy popcorn touch - it was always burnt on the bottom. I think we used a lot of a popcorn called "TV Time".
TV dinners were so special in my family when I was young. Didn’t go out to eat much, 5 kids, expensive and probably nerve racking for my parents! This truly brings me back to my childhood in the dawn of 1971. I wish my kids could hop in the way way back machine and get a taste of this gentle decade in America.
In the early 70's I worked nights. TV dinners were a staple for me then. I liked them and still do but rarely eat them anymore.
Oh, yes! And those TV trays to support them! I still eat Swanson dinners. But the turkey story is priceless!
I remember having the chicken dinner in 1954 when I was 9 years old. I had to BEG my mom to buy it for me. She was Italian and a great cook, so this to her was NOT FOOD ! I'd get my TV dinner, put in on a TV tray and watch "The Three Stooges" ! I liked the Turkey dinner too ! Now, it's more of Stouffers and Marie Calander's.
The chicken was good but I loved the Salisbury steak (or as my brother called it - a hamburger in gravy). The hot apples with cinnamon were good too.
I too loved the turkey dinner! My favorite actually was the turkey dinner, then I came the meatloaf dinner & finally the fried chicken , close third!
Stick to Italian. The Mediterranean diet is proven to be tasty and healthy
My mom and dad worked opposite shifts when I was a child because of the lack of child care. Dad usually worked during the day and mom worked eves. So dad was left getting dinner on the table for himself and four children. TV dinners saved us (and my parents marriage 🙂).
That's either a great story, or a really sad one.......
@@charlesshreeve319 Mom and Dad are gone now but for years and years we all laughed about those TV dinners. Life is made if fond memories.
Those meals were super hero status. Family glueman to the rescue. Lol go out side dig a hole with a stick dinner in 30min then back out wait who has homework do it while I cook and leave me alone I'm busy here.
Trust me... The TV dinners saved many a marriage.. My friends mother could not cook for shit..I think his dad married her for her looks..
Nice story. Greetings from Germany. 🙋♀️
The turkey train story is a pretty amazing and hilarious image... I'm picturing some 1950s executive in a grey suit yelling at a train conductor, "I don't care where you go, just keep moving! If we lose these turkeys we're through!"
I loved them. They were small and very tasty. The TV tray followed. I just noticed, that beef dinner was my favorite. It came with 3 small potatoes. It was delicious.
Remember the jingle "It's the next best thing to YOUR good cookin', Swanson makes it good"
Never had a bad Swanson's TV dinner. Portions were a little skimpy but it all tasted great. My favorite was the fried chicken dinner.
Ate MANY many many tv dinners back in the day, in front of the TV with my family... then later on was chicken pot pies, REALLY loved those!
This reminds me, when I was in first or second grade, I was visiting a friend who was about to have lunch before his nap (He was 3 years younger than me). He told me his mother was fixing him a "beef Popeye". The way he described it, I pictured Popeye's face created out of beef! 😆😆😆 He claimed it was singing "I'm Popeye the sailor man" as it was cooking on the stove! Later on when I told my mother my friend had "a beef Popeye" for lunch, she explained he meant "beef pot pie". Denny's used to have a decent chicken pot pie. Wish they'd bring it back.
@@MisterMikeTexas 😄
i loved tv dinners as a kid in the 70s, and i still eat them now. Of course, the aluminum trays are gone...kinda miss those lol
Man I remember how special it was for mom to cook the tv dinners we would break out the tv trays and watch tv it was great..................
I loved TV dinners. It was like a special treat. Instead of sitting down for dinner, we would get the TV trays out and watch TV while we ate .
I do remember the 3 compartment aluminum trays as well as the 4 compartment trays before the plastic and paper trays were introduced.
Happy recollections on Recollection Road. Always well done and thank you very much for these short videos.
I used to bring the aluminum trays to elementary school to mix water color paints for painting pictures.
And it sucked when your teacher said you needed to bring one and you didn't have any. Their other favorite was empty oatmeal boxes for drums etc. It always happened right after my mom threw away an empty box and opened a new one. We didn't have plastic containers like we do now, so she would call around to see if a neighbor had a box that was almost empty, or we'd be eating a lot of oatmeal. Didn't like it then and can't eat it now without gagging.
Part of my Saturday nights when I was a kid.
Ha! Me and my brother also. Mom and Dad went to the mall and my brother and myself would watch any number of TV shows in reruns or prime time. Emergency, Voyage to The Bottom of The Sea, The Invaders, and on and on. Great memories.
Yep in the 60s mom and dad would go out on sat. Night to dinner and leave me at home with the babysitter and TV dinner.......the best of times
We didn't get to have them very often but they were always considered a special treat.
Wow, these videos brings back memories! Why is this channel not at 1 Million subscribers yet?
Great memories of the 📺 dinners. Back in the 60s and 70s... The t.v. dinner trays..watching a favourite show on the black and white television...then a colour one.. Time does fly.
Anyone remember Morton's brand TV Dinners?
Regardless, Swanson's or Morton's.....the Turkey dinner was much better quality than today! As was the fried chicken, the meatloaf, Salisbury steak, macaroni and beef all delicious!!!
You are certainly right about that. They were much better then.
Absolutely true & so much better “back then!” Loved the turkey( my favorite), meatloaf, fried chicken & Salisbury Steak dinners too.... my favorites!
@@karenstrycharz1499 they all were pretty much good. But I haven't seen any ham tv dinners in ages, do they still exist? And yep I fondly remember tv trays too. Probably stopped using aluminum trays cause who wants to wait for the oven when microwave ovens are faster.
@@karenstrycharz1499 fried chicken was one of my favorites besides ham. The good old days , gone but not forgotten.
Back when they used meat, not hydrolyzed soy protein fillers! I do however, remember the mashed potatoes as a bit granular and watery tho. But I loved them!
The Mexican Enchilada meals were my favorite along with the one that had the little chocolate cake (Salisbury Steak or chicken )
I still have a Swanson classic fried chicken T.V. dinner from time to time. They're still tasty, and I like to play a game when I open the package called "identify the pieces" because unless it's a drumstick, they really don't resemble anything that come from a chicken. The corn and mashed potatoes are also still great, especially when you get them all buttery and salty.
I remember those tv dinners; they were very good, back when this country used to produce quality food products.
No gmo's then or frankenfood.....
God what a memory! I can still remember the taste of the ones with meatloaf in tomato sauce, mashed potatoes and green peas! My favorite would have been the the fried chicken with mixed vegetable and mashed potato. Wish they still had them available in the aluminum trays.
Meatloaf & mashed potatoes tied as my favorite with their turkey dinners!! I too loved meat loaf dinners!!!! Loved the mashed potatoes in the “tomato sauce gravy!!!” Yum! Yum!♥️
I am so hungry for one now. Not microwaved, but in the oven like then. Remember when almost every home had a set of TV trays? My mom saved up her S&H green stamps for ours❤️
"I even like the chicken if the sauce is not too blue!" - ZZ Top
Love that song from ZZ Top!
"I even like the truck if it is no a Ford " Ali Arshad
Tv dinners there's nothing left to eat🎸🎸
OK, this edition is in the upper tier of this series. How have I missed it
since May? Been a long time since the Swanson glory days. Hits the bittersweet nostalgia button for sure. Much to be missed from that time that has gone away. Thanks, even if it makes me a bit sad.
I remember the "International" (Chinese, Mexican and German) dinners. They were my introduction to other cuisines.
Oh gosh! I remember them too, 🤣now that you mention it. Remember eating some of these “exotic” meals! Ha!
Me, too. Not sure which company made it but I vividly recall the Veal Parmigiana dinner. Now that was considered something fancy.
@@zzydny Oh yes, I remember the veal parmigiana too, now that you mention it & loved that one, too! Forgot all about it until you just mentioned it but I remember my mom buying that one for my step-dad too. I really loved the Veal Parmigiana!!!
@@karenstrycharz1499 I got to choose which dinner I wanted as an encouragement to eat quietly alone in my room so that the adults could have dinner without being bothered by the brat! Oh my. Good thing I liked Veal Parmigiana. I remember trying all the international dinners.
@@zzydny Was that the one with green beans and Alfredo?
I remember when tv dinners came out in 1953 and cokes were a nickel in a returnable glass bottle. Ive always liked the turkey even to this day.the best times ever.
I used to eat these when I was a kid. They were really not that bad.
I was in awe the first time I had a TV dinner...best part of the 1960s growing up, another addition to my wonderful memories...it felt so special to eat out of a aluminum tray..that love went with me into adulthood....its still a special enjoyment even at age 66....thanks mom and dad....thanks Swanson!!!!!!
Love these throwback flashback vids!
Back in the 1970s when I was a kid, it was so much fun watching television at night while eating a TV dinner. Today, I prepare my own dinners. Walmart sells the Disposable Aluminum 4 Compartment T.V Dinner Trays with Lid. You get ten for $17. I keep my chest freezer full of them and eat them year-round.
I loved the chicken with the brownie. That brownie was GOOD!!!
These early TV Dinners were tremendously helpful to me as a kid learning how much I appreciated & looked forward to my Mom's cooking.
My younger siblings had the experience of Swanson TV Dinners when Mom worked out of the home. She was grateful for them on occasion.
We were a poor family and could never afford Swanson, instead opting for one of their more plebeian competitors. Today I appreciate that upbringing because you appreciate pretty much everything. So often I am with friends and they just seem dissatisfied with the littlest thing, particularly in restaurants.
Same here. Dad bought IGA brand or other store brand TV dinners, but I loved them. My friends (and I too now) are pretty all well off now, and most do complain a lot about what’s served to them. I remember how we couldn’t afford Pop Tarts or Fruit Roll Ups or Corn Pops cereal and went with generic or without. But I loved it anyways!
It was amazing that Swanson was so dedicated to making sure that that leftover turkey did not go to waste. These days I don't know if many companies would care. They'd probably be like, "oh, well. Throw it all out."
WOW...this is crazy but as the different dinners were shown on the screen I INSTANTLY remembered EXACTLY what they tasted like...especially the turkey stuffing and the desserts! I remember these dinners tasting like real food...the turkey and fried chicken were my favorites and I loved the apple and cherry desserts. Thank you so much for making this video!
In the early 60's, we had Mexican TV dinners often, because we lived in Hawaii and there were no Mexican restaurants. We were from Texas and missed the food. We ate at a table on our patio in front of the TV.
I wish they would reissue these.
Lofl
i wish
TV dinners are still out there and pretty much taste the same as they always did. Actually there are a lot more of them since alot of people are wanting fast and various meals.
@@carolynmiles9281 no hotdog and beans with cornbread stopped making it
You can buy replica collectable metal trays... Oven Safe, but not microwave friendly! :-) And my, oh my, remember the little TV Dinner Tray tables ?
Folding metal legs, and usually some wood or floral pattern on top... still some original ones available on e - bay . . .
Featureman has a channel where he eats TV dinners, among other simple old-fashioned meals
There's not much Tom *won't* eat; he's had everything conceivable at one time or another.
I like his channel too.
And Don't Forget The Secrete Ingredient. 👍
Terrific channel. The meals combined with his recollections of his Hollywood years are just the right way to relax.
Swanson dinners were serious 'livin' in the 60s and early 70s. Team that up with a great movie on non-cable TV on a Saturday night and it became magical.
I remember these!! They were actually a treat for us to be able to eat TV dinners and watch TV in the living room! Did this maybe once per month when we were kids and brings back great memories:) Turkey and stuffing was my favorite:)
It was my favorite too!!!
I always had the Haddok dinner and my Mom would make tarter sauce, early 60's. Great memory!!
It's "Haddock"
Watching TV in the evening on a Friday night with my family with a TV dinner in front of me.
The band ZZ Top recorded a song called TV Dinners.
I remember when my mother brought these home from the store. thought i had gone to heaven they were so good. Aned we were the kids eating them off tv trays in front of the television.
Too young to have experienced the original introduction but I do remember watching old tv shows that featured them. Depending on the decade (50s, 60s or 70’s) it was either a desired treat dinner or a dreaded consequence of the wife/mom having to be elsewhere.
My first TV dinner was when me and my cousin begged our grandmother to go into town to the then Acme and she did ! It was pure pleasure full of amazement as we ate it ... I remember she was not at all impressed and with good reason as NOTHING replaced her cooking
I had Swanson’s TV Dinner many times when I was growing up. The History Channel has a show “The Food That Built America” that talks about Swanson and the TV Dinner. Great show!!
Growing up in the sixties and seventies I recall eating the Swanson dinners trays. Back when we were growing up my mother would cook most days, so it was a treat to receive mc Donald’s or a Swanson dinner. Now remember that was a simpler time when one parent would actually go out and work. And the mothers often stayed home to raise the family.
Grew up in the 60's and yes, going to McDonald's was a treat for us. A family of 4 could eat for less than a dollar. Hamburgers and fries were 15 cents. There was also no indoor dining, only a walk-up window (early-mid 60's). Always wished I could be older so I could work there and get to wear one of those goofy hats their employees wore. Those hats were considered a "badge of honor" back in those days. A teen was lucky if they could secure a job there.
Swanson TV Dinners were awesome. And those TV dinner trays were great for setting those real heavy old televisions on...the ones with the "clunk clunk" channel knobs.
Had these often growing up in the 60's, then pretty much lived on hungry man dinners, chicken pot pies, and later breakfasts in the 70's as a young single man.
Not the healthiest, but what a time saver!
I can remember sitting in the living room with a TV tray and a TV dinner the aluminum trays and watching emergency or even chips or even the Six Million Dollar Man that was quite a good time I sure wish we could bring those times back
You're great with nostalgia, remember Imperial margarine? I still use this every day, along with a occasional RC Cola.
“Everything’s better with Blue Bonnet on it!” That jingle sticks with me 35 years later. Lol Mom always used imperial margarine too, tho!
OMG RC Cola!!! When Coke came out with 'new' Coke, I switched to RC and never looked back!
Yes, remember the commercials where a crown suddenly appeared on the head of everyone who tasted Imperial margarine? 1960's...a great time to be a kid!
You’ve really got something here Recollections Man. Your content is solid, your voice work is spot on, the background music is perfect. I hope you reach a million subscribers and millions of views.
Boy this brings back memories... good one's, g. I remember having these in the 60s, 70s and beyond. Times are different now with a very competitive market but Swanson's TV dinners set the stage and fit well with television era of those days. Good memories ... Thanks for these videos 😉
I just found you.That was a really good presentation! Down to earth and informative.
Salisbury steak! Enchilada! Good times!
Loved both!
Thanks for sharing 😊
"Anyway, my TV dinner's almost done, It's a lonely Saturday night!" - Lou Reed
My grandma kept a few in the “deep-freeze” to eat while my grandfather was on the road working. Once in a while I got a TV dinner at her house. A real treat!
My brothers and I ate quite a few of Swanson's TV dinners on those very folding TV trays. Funny how things change. I wouldn't eat one now.
I think the quality diminished over the years. When I was younger (late 70's to early 80's) I remember eating them and thinking they were OK.
There is an old Woody Allen movie Broadway Danny Rose where he is a talent agent. In the movie, Woody's character always invited his clients on Thanksgiving, to come to his apartment where he would serve them turkey dinners.
98 cents for a Swanson frozen dinner wasn't "chump change" back in 1953 considering sixty eight years later you can often get pretty much the same frozen dinner for about $1.50 today. Interesting story on how excess frozen turkey led to the "TV dinner." Thanks for sharing!
Where can you get a TV dinner for $1.50?
I was thinking the same thing! $0.98 for a single serving meal when $1.00 bought 4 gallons of gas and minimum wage was $0.75 an hour. That's pricey enough to be a special treat!
Of course a $1.50 meal today tastes like hot garbage. But, you're right, that 98 cents is almost $10 today.
@@deanvoss7098 You can find them for $1 at most grocery stores, but those cheap one are even more awful than normal.
I think that was the price when they first came out. During the 1960s they were always on sale and I think you could get one for 29-49 cents.
I remember the TV dinners quite vividly! I had them while watching my favourite TV series -M.A.S.H.!
As a 10 year old kid in 1969 my grandma had a Huge Freezer about (5ft long) she would buy TV Dinners..Frozen Pizzas..Ice Cream in Tubs..etc. She was able to buy multiple quantities when on sale 👍
She sounds like she was a great grandmother! Loved my Nana too & I think of her most ever day even though she has been gone almost fifty yrs! I am so well aware of the memories you leave behind with our own grandchildren, due to the fun, love & caring my Nana treated me with!♥️
@@karenstrycharz1499 Me too..everyday something I see or think about reminds me of Nana Lupe M.Leon..my mothers mom..RIP passed in 1985..
My Grandmother Margaret Hamilton was on the team that developed the TV dinner. In fact you could say she saved it! After all the research was done and they were ready to go to marketing. They were all sitting at a large table and Mr Swanson was not sure they would sell and was talking about cancelling the project. My grandmother that had left a abusive marriage a few years before and was a single mom with a teenage son, my dad. Spoke up she told Mr Swanson that as a working mom with a teenager son. There was times when she was to tired to make supper when she got home. She said these would be a perfect fix for that problem. As she told the story. Mr Swanson looked at me and said well Margaret if you think they will sell we will move forward with the marketing. THANKS Dan H
when we came to america in the 70's, mom and dad had to work long hours to survive . We kids survived on Ramen and TV dinners ,and took care of ourselves at a very young age. once in a while i open up a TV dinner and it brings me back to simpler times.
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TV dinners were a major event in our house. Didn't get them often but I can still remember the excitement of eatting a tv dinner. Seemed so special.
Man, we ate a ton of those when I was growing up.Mom had the same menu for each day of the week. Monday was hash, yuck, Tuesday was meatloaf, etc. As my brother and I got older, these were ideal, Mom didn’t complain. Seems it was generally Friday and Saturday nights, but that was 50 years ago. Aside from the occasional Marie Calenders pot pie, which are really great,I don’t eat much frozen food.
I remember them very well and it seemed like forever waiting for the oven timer to ring as you could smell them cooking the entire time and you were already hungry when you put them in the oven. :-)
My parents would buy these occasionally and my favorite was the veal parmesan. It was so good (then)!
I forgot about the veal Parmesan. I loved that too!♥️
YES!! Still great. In fact, I preferred Swanson's $1.99 version more than the unnamed national Italian eatery's version! The breaded veal is awesome! I still buy a dozen of them when they're on special.
Genius idea that so many people loved. I remember eating a Swanson dinner as a kid and thinking it
was the coolest thing ever.... and it was. Great stuff. Thanks.
My mom would have been mortified at the thought of serving a frozen TV dinner. She never did, not even once. The nearest she came was fish fingers with peas and mash on Fridays, which was also the only night of the week we were allowed soda (soft drinks) and chips (crisps). She did get frozen desserts like cheesecakes and fruit pies.
My mom was the same! Seven of us kids & she cooked every night or my Nana did. One thing though & I remember fish sticks with mashed potatoes & peas every Friday( with ketchup)! My husband was appalled when we got married & he asked me if I liked fish 🐠 & I told him “Yes, fish sticks!” He said “That isn’t fish, Karen!”🤣I told him I didn’t like any other kinds of fish but now, 49 yrs later we have been married, he has me eating all types of fish & I love it! Never had fish sticks again though after getting married for as I said my husband hated fish sticks. They have better quality now though!
@@karenstrycharz1499 - haha, yes, I have not had fish sticks/fingers since I left home many years ago. Maybe I tried to cook them once or twice when I first moved out, I have a vague memory of burning them and not being able to do them like mom did. So they went by the wayside.
Sometimes at as kids on Fridays we got battered fish fillets and chips from the shop, slightly steamed from being wrapped in newspaper, with lemon slices and those little packets of tartare sauce.
Your mom sounds judgemental.
I must say I remember my mom and dad sometimes sitting at the table eating them with my brother and me. God what a different time that was, back in them days folks bought these at our local supermarket in steady quantities. Like someone stated below the had less sugar, but I sure loved the desserts that came with some. It is nice that people still remember them day.
Those designs were so much better,we ate them at the dinner table in front of a tv!
Swanson for a short time had pancakes with 2 sausage links. That was yummy start to a Saturday morning cartoon fest.
My aunt would buy these then when empty she would wash then cook a large meal and portion it up, cover with foil, mark then freeze them. She was busy doing research and traveling most of the time and always wanted a home cooked meal when she was home.
As a kid of that exact era...Those TV dinners were an occasional treat ,it was huge we went to grocery store and was allowed to choose our favorite...
I used to feed myself after my mother went back to work she bought them for me to eat after school I saved the heavy foil trays and re used them when I went camping to cook on .things were so much more simple back then .
Ditto when my mom went back to college and my dad worked full time. I was a latchkey kid before there were latchkey kids.
The fried chicken and salisbury steak were my favorites. I loved when the mashed potatoes would have the little brown crust around the edges when cooked just long enough. I never ate the peas if they were the vegetable.
Swanson’s TV dinners, my mom’s favorite (to avoid cooking)