TV Dinners
I read in the morning newspaper that Gerry Thomas, the inventer of the TV Dinner, died on Monday at the age of 83. It was 1954 when he got the idea for freezing a dinner in a foil try which was divided into compartments.
Marlin and I were married in 1956. After we were married, Marlin told me that he didn't want me to buy TV dinners. He wanted real dinners.
I'd never had TV dinners. My mom was a very good cook and had no interest in serving TV dinners. They sounded to me like they would be a really good but my husband assured me that they weren't what he wanted. I think he'd had one and knew it wasn't what he wanted.
I don't remember just when I did have my first TV dinner but it was many years later. It may have been after our children had left home and I was going to be alone for a meal and I indulged my curiosity about the TV dinner. Then I discovered that the idea of the TV dinner is much better than the actual thing. Of course, it could be that quality of the meal varies with brand and cost. I would have bought the most economical and that may have made the difference.
The obituary says that Gerry Thomas changed the way Americans eat --for better or for worse.
Submitted by
NJ
at 7/23/2005 9:14:44 PM- That was very interesting to read your story, Sally. Thanks for telling us your memories of the TV Dinner and how important they were for you at that time.
Submitted by
john
at 7/25/2005 7:10:51 AM- Another aside: The pictures on the box or advertisements have to, by law, be of the acutal contents of the food inside. So what they do is sort through hundreds of dinners picking one piece of food at a time till they get enough good looking food to take the picture. The report I read talked about them showing up with a tractor trailor load of dinners in order to get enough good peas for the picture.
Submitted by
NJ
at 7/25/2005 1:12:15 PM- I never took pictures of peas, so I don't know if they are hard to photograph or not, but probably food doesn't tend to look so great in pictures. On the other hand, we went to that site for Stuff on My Cat again and found a picture of a plate of food sitting on a cat and one of us thought that it looked pretty good! That's something you wouldn't do with Desy. She's eat that food real quick!
Submitted by
rosieposie
at 7/26/2005 11:43:30 AM- Yup, with TV dinners you get what you pay for. Marie Callendar's are excellent - if you took the food from the (now plastic) tray and served it on a real plate, few would be able to tell it was a TV dinner.
Submitted by
NJ
at 7/26/2005 12:25:28 PM- Rosie, that's interesting. I've never tried that. NJ
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Oh, how I remember when those tv dinners came out, and the commercials on the snowy tv make them look soooo good. I was 14, and very seldom had to cook, but, when Mom was "sick", it became my job. I could tell my brothers and Dad didn't think they were the best meals in the world, but, they tolerated my efforts and always said "thank you". I eventually added to my repertoire; minute steaks, minute rice and a can of green beans or corn. Even that brought bigger smiles to my family.
My mom was the best cook in the world, but, she also fought alcoholism and many times, when we'd get home from school she'd already be passed out. Once I realized it was indeed an "illness" I helped her the best I could by putting those meager meals on the table. Oh, life can be cruel, but, it can also be beautiful. I thank God every day that we all hung in there as a family and didn't let illness (or that of my brother's mental retardation) stand in the way of our love for each other.
Well, Nancy, I guess you didn't expect a short story today!!