SWANSON TV DINNERS CLASSIC TV SHOWS NEWSREELS CARTOON on DVD's on TVDAYS.com

[Sheri451]

I can remember the soup. But I think they took it out of the dinners back in the 1970s, I'd rather have the apple crisp than the brownie they put in there now too. But I remember meatloaf with a tomato sauce . Ans yes @Joshua Taylor is right about the Hungry Man XXX Large dinners, I can't eat it all and I usually share it with a family member.

[inkey2]

I LOVED the potatos in these dinners......they had this wonderfully hokey, bogus, processed flavor

[Chub4ChubsRule]

How much you wanna bet that these defrosted in the cart on the way to the check out and the soup leaked into the turkey with gravy and everywhere else and made everything taste like crud?

[inkey2]

@Chub4ChubsRule no, i remember these TV dinners. No way those defrosted fast....they were like a solid block of ice inside. You could use them as hockey pucks

[Simon5005]

I remember sticking one of these in a microwave oven in 1976...........I had no clue.

[jazzieppp]

wheni first saw the heading i thought it said shane dawson

lol

[fromthesidelines]

Swanson does indeed exist, 'nozcr'- Campbell Soup Company still markets Swanson broth, and licensed the name to Pinnacle Foods so they can continue to produce their "TV dinners". This ad probably dates from 1963....

[Dragons262]

just watching this makes me hungry :)

[nozcr]

Too bad Swanson doesn't exist anymore. Now they are just another subsidiary of a company called Pinnacle Foods. This was probably from the 1950's since they stopped putting soup in them by the time I was old enough to eat them in the 1970's.

[melvynn11]

oh, i loved those tv dinners!

[TVDude78]

I wan't born till the 70's and don't remember the soup, but they were a bit better when they were in the aluminum trays. Same with the pot pies. I remember Mom would toss would toss one out to me for lunch or a can of stew so she could watch The Young and The Restless.

[beefoneeto]

Funny but I don't recall the soup.

[jsharp1701]

Nostalgia has a selective memory. They weren't that great. YesYou described it perfectly. Especially the potatoes. After cooking they had a crusty brown and black ring around the outside, about a half-inch thick. I'd hate to know what type of chemicals they put in them nowadays to prevent that. The peas were always shriveled. It was primarily the convenience and novelty that sold them.

[YesYou123333]

It never looked like that. The soup would leak into the turkey and the peas would have gravy all over them. The edges of the potatoes were hard around the edges and you could only eat the middle part. My family lived off of these things. The apple crisp was really good though.

[GeronKizan]

After commercial: Vault-tec presents: Vaults!

[bigkdrman1]

My family rarely ever ate TV dinners (1960's and 70's) so when we did have one it was considered a treat. I really liked the 3 course dinners. It is a shame that they quit making those. Now you can't even get dessert with your meal anymore. They call them Swanson Classics but they're just not as good as they used to be.

[CAESARbonds]

I would never trust swanson...

[mrmjb1960]

Retro Ads I can still remember! Sitting near the TV,eating a Swanson's with my mom! God,I miss those days,badly!

[addisonfifield1]

If I lived in those days I would have the fried chicken one

[lobelix11397]

fuck those thing's now we have hungry man bitches..hahahahahahahaha!!

[fangorn40]

I'm guessing in reality that meal never came out of the oven looking that perfect... Also, the close-up shot of the turkey... take another look, I don't think that's steam coming off it, it looks more like dry ice...

[RabidKoala]

Bon appetit!

[elyseny]

I used to love swanson 3 course turkey dinner.

[lobelix11397]

Lol..so old..now we have hungry man tv dinners...best dinners ever!!!!!

[canadian4sure]

They don't even give you soup in these dinners nowadays!

[rkmugen]

*sigh* laziness in America...

*pops a frozen TV dinner in the microwave* XD

[inkey2]

@rkmugen back when these commercials were made Americans did not have microwave ovens. You had to cook them in a convential gas or electric over for about 40 minutes.

[rkmugen]

@inkey2 Ah, but they did have the "Radarange" microwave ovens, which were introduced in 1967... and were quite popular.

[inkey2]

@rkmugen yes but a black and white commercial pre-dates 1967......everything had gone to color by then

[Jitterro]

That "more people do" sounds vaguely threatening.

Man, I love old commercials.

[itisnttoohard]

Food cooked in aluminium foil gives you alzheimers, so if you don't remember this ad it's ok.

[ftsjr]

I remember eating Swanson TV dinners. They really weren't too bad.

[freddygoldstein]

Tasty!

[DisneyBlackJet]

Oh, I want one! I don't care much for apple crisp, but wow! The makers of food were so generous back then...soup, dessert, meat, vegetables, fruit...all in one box! If I were only born in the 50's!

[Watcher3223]

You know what would go great with that TV dinner? A bottle of Schaefer Beer.

[GrouchoLenin]

@Watcher3223 Schaefer Beer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one.

[kaos3124]

I remember eating tv dinners back in the 70's. If you raked your spoon on the bottom of the aluminum pan, you could actually taste the metal on the spoon. 

[RRaquello]

I like Fred Flintstone's reaction when she left him a TV dinner to eat while she was making the Happy Housewife TV show. I remember when I was a kid, I always wanted my mother to buy the TV dinners but she never would because she said they were junk. She was old fashioned and insisted on home cooked dinners. I never had a TV dinner til I was an adult and bought it myself out of curiosity.

[pyrogyra72]

@RRaquello I remember that episode. Fred didn't even bother to put the TV dinner in the oven, and tried to eat it. It shattered.

[elc1960]

@RRaquello "When he's a little chubby/He's a happy pappy/With Rockenspiel!" Sorry, couldn't resist. When we were kids, my sister and I used to regard TV dinners as a "special treat" . . . poor unsophisticated taste buds. We actually used to think the powder in Pixy Stix tasted good too. Just plain sad.

[mattybock]

very early on airlines were the first to use frozen dinners in the 40s. it was during the 50s (1953-4) that swanson perfected flash freezing. the airline food was lousy, but the quality of tv dinners in america has remained stagnant since 1953. ps- the first ever was turkey, peas, stuffing, sweet potatoes.

[agFinder2]

These were suuuuuch crap. They hadn't gotten the technology (of freezing food without destroying it) down and everything in the box tasted the same ... about like cardboard.

[2MKcreations]

@Deblano I don't get it.

[Airking11]

what??? soup in a tv dinner????

[nivmizzet926]

It reminds me of those simpsons jokes about tv dinners:

There are peas in my dessert!

There are peas everywhere XD

[JoshuaTaylor]

It's strange to think that TV Dinners actually used to be *better* than they are now. There's no reason why they couldn't be like that again, except for corporate greed, of course. I vaguely remember the TV dinners with soup in them, around the mid 70's or so... Oh well, now it's all that horrible Hungry Man XXL stuff... More food, lesser quality. The American way.

[DillaWorld]

@JoshuaTaylor That's where actual cooking comes into play.

[JoshuaTaylor]

@DillaWorld Actual *what*, now ?  ;-)

[Sheri451]

I remember those, they were good. But mine were from the 1970s. I considered TV dinners a luxury. My mom cooked every day exept Sundays, we'd go to my Grandparents on Sunday, we always had Fried Chicken rice, gravy, and some kind of veggie.

[luridplanet]

Something like that costs 4 bucks now.

[jonathanman111]

@luridplanet 4 bucks?!?!?! lol more like 8

[gstx1975]

the tv dinners from the 70's and early 80's, tasted better that what we currently have now, they used to come with french fries and apple pie, I liked the way they tasted. They taste like manure now.

[nukecat]

@gstx1975 thats not entirely true! the grean beans were waxy and tasted like shit .the brownies were not very appetizing.the chicken coating always made me ill .and the mashed potatos tasted like pasty glue . i would know, i grow up eating many .personally just the opposite i think the quality of the tv dinners has improved so much .million fold .

[gstx1975]

@nukecat hey pukecat, the 1970s tv dinners did not have browines or mashed potatoes in the 1970s , they came with apple pie and french fries and also nobody asked for your opinion!

[nukecat]

@gstx1975 ahhh excuse me,yes they did and they tasted like shit ,just like you! now stop harrassing you cunt

[MrFBCBSALES]

@nukecat What a vulgar comment! Can't fools like you use civil wording in your comments or are just showing how limited you are in vocabulary?????

[nukecat]

@MrFBCBSALES GO FUCK YOURSELF, REPROBATE!

[nukecat]

@gstx1975 THIS IS AN OPEN FORUM , dumbass !so, when anyone like yourself makes such a retort you should expect to get one right in return. if you dont like the way this system operates, try finding another hobby, like eating shit !

[gstx1975]

@nukecat

Wow, nukecat, you sound very unhappy, did you mom not give you enough attention when you were growing up, also it sounds like you are still in having a hard time in life otherwise you wouldnt be online so much. You need to get off welfare, take your meds and go back to school.

[nukecat]

@gstx1975 GO FUCK YOURSELF!

[bigkellyr]

About 1975 my Grandmother started eating Swanson tv dinners exclusively for her dinners every night. She had those aluminum tv trays and she would get one out and eat in the living room. This was after Grandpa died and she just didn't feel like cooking regular meals anymore. She insisted they were all she needed. Of course we would have her over for dinner from time to time or take her out but once in awhile some of the grandkids would join her in a tv dinner in the living room.

[answerstolucky]

0:26 See the tabs over the soup? There was a separate, flat cover that you removed after heating. Had forgotten about that.

[paulj0557]

Yum ,I love gray food!

TOPOFFMAN says it right. We luv those meals on wheels. This was back when lil' Michaelina was just a pea.

[lambchopxoxo]

we used to eat them off of tv trays also. i loved them. it felt like my own personal meal

[thegirl44]

I still have our aluminum TV tables from the '70's. People always get a kick out of seeing them when I bring them out to set the extra food on when we're feeding a big crowd

[lambchopxoxo]

I need a low carb one. possible?

[1952kid]

I remember my family tried our first TV dinners, my mom bought tv dinner trays , so we could sit in the living room and eat and watch TV. It was a big thing in the late to early 1960's , SO COOL, we could eat and watch tv. I liked them. But it was never enough food in those dinners.

[inkey2]

I always liked the way the mashed potatos tasted. There was something delisciously phoney and bogus in the texture and flavor

[ReggieZER0]

@1952kid did the same thing when i was a kid in the early 90's lol

[anonymoush8machine66]

They make it look so good...But, in reality...Tv dinners: Prepare for the shits.

[rstp354]

Rappy's Thanksgiving Dinner!

[stonerj0e]

you cannot get these anymore . all you can buy is the shitty ones now !

[TOPOFFMAN]

One Alzheimers special coming right up !

[hippee77]

I want to eat one in front of the tube watching I Love Lucy :)

[wannawatchu66]

@hippee77 Or "The Twilight Zone!"

[justme632]

Soup out of tin foil? Hardly appetizing

[zzzzxxxx341]

wow!!!!! mouthwatering.....

it makes me hungry....

i better prepare myself meal right now..

yeeeepeee........

[sundowna]

umm this is what i got to have when my parents went out to a party..i loved the meatloaf one..now they are both gone..no need for anymore tv dinners...

[AnonymousOnSteroids]

me too

[willyboi708]

Me three!!! They were actually quite good for what they were!!  :)

[qwertasdcfghjklmo24z]

I have to admit that does look good!

[Enigma049]

Those were GREAT!!! The worst thing Swanson did was get rid of the aluminum trays!

[kensingtonpalace]

food looks AWEFUL in black & white lol

[tmobileg]

I'd buy this if it were around today. I actually remember the aluminum TV dinner trays from the 70's & 80's when we used to eat them. Oh how i love nostalgia! And you don't have to be a boomer! Thanks Swanson. Thanks TVDAYS.

[rightstyle668]

that would tase good as

[RugbyFootballer]

Ah Yes And Loaded With Tons Of Salt. Good Enought To Clog Your Arteries

[Watcher3223]

That would be fat and cholesterol that would clog arteries.

Salt would increase your blood pressure, increasing the risk of stroke.

[TheScrappyCat]

Watcher--come on. Don't be a buzzkill. These commercials are FUN. Let the rest of us enjoy them, k?

[Watcher3223]

Why don't you tell that to "RugbyFootballer."

I was merely correcting him, but he was the one that made the original post that would kill the buzz.

[xitongzou]

TV dinners used to be alot better and give you alot more back then. Now dinners have gotten smaller while prices have gone up..

[CalikoKat]

portions are so tiny

[nintengirl79]

That was when they actually used real, fresh ingredients in the dinners, now it taste artificial. I am actually have a swanson dinner in the oven as we speak. Quick and easy late night dinner for the single gal.

[mvbeckril]

Haha... I'm not so sure they were any better back then.. I rmbr 'em being better than today but then again I was 10 years old...

[fabian927]

that dessert at 0:14 looked like crap!

[ArmyofBoglins]

I eat at least three swansons a week. Damn I am going to get an autoimmune disease. But its worth it.

[ASD123ME]

they had frozen tv dinners back then ?!?

[fromthesidelines]

And because Campbell Soup Company owned Swanson in the early '60s, what brand of tomato soup do YOU think they'd include in their "3 course dinners"? This ad was usually seen on "LASSIE" and "THE DONNA REED SHOW" [Campbell Soup was the primary sponsor].

[fuhrman66]

you are insane

[curtisdonthurtus]

yeah thats why my Cholesterol is through the roof and my blood presher is high .. All that salt and shit in them things

[Dmasterman]

Trust swansons. more people do. ;)

[char4him99]

I love classic tv and especially old commercials. I don't think I could eat one of these today though.

[koolbossjock]

lol Man i cannot believe i used to eat these things.Every once in a while i read the ingredients,you could build nitro with that stuff.

[Kiaininja]

Yummy, I love eating my Swanson TV Dinners.