Food History: TV Dinners

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  • Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
  • The frozen TV dinner is the result of decades of technological advancements and helped end outdated gender roles. Yeah, you read that right.
    From frozen Thanksgiving dinners to scorching hot brownies, the TV dinner is the pinnacle of convenience food. But who came up with the idea of putting an entire frozen meal on a tray?
    Food History is a new series from Mental Floss where we dive deep into the culinary stories that lead to the food on our plates. If you have an idea for a dish, cooking technique, or cuisine that you’d like us to explore in a future episode, tell us in the comments.
    Website: www.mentalfloss...
    Twitter: / mental_floss
    Facebook: / mentalflossmagazine

Комментарии • 112

  • @whatareyoudoingyouidiot342
    @whatareyoudoingyouidiot342 2 года назад +26

    TV dinners, the meal so great ZZ Top made a song about them.

    • @cornbreadfedkirkpatrick9647
      @cornbreadfedkirkpatrick9647 2 года назад +1

      And a video about them

    • @crimesforkibble6912
      @crimesforkibble6912 2 года назад +1

      They used to be pretty great in the 70's and 80's but not anymore you used to get enough food in them to fill you up you could actually call them a meal

  • @lynn858
    @lynn858 2 года назад +30

    Forget the guys, I’m thanking Betty Cronin for figuring out how to make their ideas actually work.

    • @poluticon
      @poluticon 2 года назад

      I can never forget the guys. Bros before ho’s!

  • @jfiorello68
    @jfiorello68 2 года назад +22

    Don't forget that we put our TV dinners on TV trays so we could eat them in front of the TV! TV everything lol

    • @chriswatkins8711
      @chriswatkins8711 2 года назад +1

      And now I watch most of my TV on my phone thouphone so the TV that's on the wall doesn't get used very much anymore

    • @ExcelsiorElectric
      @ExcelsiorElectric 2 года назад

      Also, turn on the T.V. lamp to avoid the glare on the screen.

  • @SlyPearTree
    @SlyPearTree 2 года назад +9

    I literally had the exact frozen dinner shown at 10:02 yesterday for dinner. Have you ever done an episode on cooked canned food?

    • @MentalFloss
      @MentalFloss  2 года назад +2

      We haven't. What do you have in mind, something like corned beef hash?

    • @SlyPearTree
      @SlyPearTree 2 года назад +1

      @@MentalFloss Spaghetti, ragout, soups, etc...

    • @bobd2659
      @bobd2659 2 года назад

      @@SlyPearTree @Mental Floss ...or take it a step further with Duck Confit, Whole Chicken, even Cheeseburger!

  • @K_i_t_t_y84
    @K_i_t_t_y84 2 года назад +5

    I really love your nail polish, what color is it?! ♥

  • @Riz2336
    @Riz2336 2 года назад +18

    I think just about everyone has had a tv dinner in their lifetime, good creation

    • @Pfooh
      @Pfooh 2 года назад +5

      It must be typical North-American, we have some frozen prepared dinners in Europe, but they are not very popular, and this variety is non-existent here.

    • @thesimskitten
      @thesimskitten 2 года назад

      As an Australian in their late 20's I've never had a TV dinner. The closest I'd say is a frozen meal which is usually something like frozen butter chicken or a carbonara. The difference being all the ingredients were in a bowl together. I've never experienced a frozen meal that has segmented parts like a TV dinner. I'm not sure that don't exist in Australia but they certain aren't common enough that most people have had one.

  • @dadoctah
    @dadoctah 2 года назад +1

    No mention of the original Swanson TV dinner packaging? With the box showing a TV-screen-shaped cutout and the food inside it?

  • @Observer31
    @Observer31 2 года назад +2

    The presentation was *sublime* for this one. Well done!

  • @katnip266
    @katnip266 2 года назад +7

    kid cuisine will always hold a place in my heart

  • @gussnarp
    @gussnarp 2 года назад +8

    Man, now I have a craving for a TV dinner.

  • @mike79patton
    @mike79patton 2 года назад +1

    Swanson used to have a veal parmesan dinner and it was so good. When I was 10 anyways.

  • @burkiwa
    @burkiwa 2 года назад +9

    And the Swanson family gave the world Tucker Carlson.

    • @phife1878
      @phife1878 2 года назад +1

      Fantastic non sequitur! WTF does that have to do with food history?

    • @EvanRustMakes
      @EvanRustMakes 2 года назад +2

      @@phife1878 just a not-so-fun fact

    • @lucascoval828
      @lucascoval828 2 года назад

      @@EvanRustMakes
      He can't keep getting away with this!
      😱

    • @lucascoval828
      @lucascoval828 2 года назад

      Based.

  • @mojosbigsticks
    @mojosbigsticks 2 года назад +1

    Let's hear it for Thomas Midgley Jr.

  • @cornbreadfedkirkpatrick9647
    @cornbreadfedkirkpatrick9647 2 года назад +2

    I heard a woman was the actual creator of the TV dinner, in a tin tray in a museum somewhere has it I seen it on an episode on unwrapped on Food network

  • @Mirvana
    @Mirvana 2 года назад +1

    "Tik Tok Burritos"
    Tik Tacos was RIGHT THERE!

  • @edflintlaw
    @edflintlaw 2 года назад +2

    Block Chain Burritos. Could mean several things.

  • @deboralee1623
    @deboralee1623 2 года назад

    "from the freezer to the oven to the table" was, if memory serves, part of the Corningware jingle.

  • @tgooding34
    @tgooding34 2 года назад

    I think a history of soda or soft drinks would be interesting, I always thought about how that started.

  • @lp-xl9ld
    @lp-xl9ld 2 года назад

    I damn close to lived on those from 1992 to 2008 but haven't had one since then

  • @kevinchong5424
    @kevinchong5424 2 года назад

    Loving the nail polish

  • @claysoggyfries
    @claysoggyfries 2 года назад +4

    TV Dinners are one of the greatest things ever created

  • @kaylaaa317
    @kaylaaa317 2 года назад

    I love this series

  • @ninjabiatch101
    @ninjabiatch101 2 года назад

    I rarely eat the brownie.

  • @keegan707
    @keegan707 2 года назад

    Are you related to Tim Dodds?

  • @StarlightJosh
    @StarlightJosh 2 года назад

    ❤️

  • @thisnameistaken
    @thisnameistaken 2 года назад +2

    They really just need to give the cringy lame jokes a rest.

    • @-Devy-
      @-Devy- 2 года назад

      Cringy and lame? What are you, 12?

    • @lucascoval828
      @lucascoval828 2 года назад

      They're witty and non-threatening jokes.
      🤪😜😛😋🤗😝

  • @thepeff
    @thepeff 2 года назад +1

    Modern hipsters to women's lib: "You gave up gardening so you could get a job?!"

  • @oceanicmartian
    @oceanicmartian 2 года назад

    Those brownies were sooo bad! 😂

  • @JamesAutoDude
    @JamesAutoDude 2 года назад +7

    What mainly sucks about TV dinners is, it went from actual food to chemical food 😩

    • @SnakeSalmon8izback
      @SnakeSalmon8izback 2 года назад +6

      what ever you do, never drink dihydrogen monoxide!

    • @monkieassasin
      @monkieassasin 2 года назад +3

      All things are chemicals, organic or not.

  • @willarddevoe5893
    @willarddevoe5893 2 года назад +1

    TV dinners are out of the question without recycling the aluminum.

  • @christophergardner658
    @christophergardner658 2 года назад

    What happened to John hosting these? These hosts are boring af

  • @Former_star_wars_fan
    @Former_star_wars_fan 2 года назад

    When does Tucker Carlson fit in as a benefactor to the Swanson empire?

    • @MemphiStig
      @MemphiStig 2 года назад +1

      well he's a half-frozen non-nutritious piece of vegetable matter, and his skull is full of irradiated meat-mush... and somehow that's worth money to some people!

    • @lucascoval828
      @lucascoval828 2 года назад

      @@MemphiStig
      He's not Muslim.

    • @laniwilliamson
      @laniwilliamson 2 года назад

      His stepmother was the Swanson heiress and he has Swanson as a middle name

  • @ninjabiatch101
    @ninjabiatch101 2 года назад

    You didn’t have to go deep, but you shoulda at least mentioned Tucker Carlson.

  • @jovanweismiller7114
    @jovanweismiller7114 2 года назад

    They have yet to make a TV dinner that's a 'full meal in a tray'. A good first course, maybe.

  • @juancaballero1416
    @juancaballero1416 Год назад

    Home cooked meals are so much better!!! Women need to go go back to doing that!!!

  • @AJJuly
    @AJJuly 2 года назад +12

    My great grandpa loved TV dinners. His favorite was the Salisbury steak dinner. I have fond memories of eating TV dinners while watching old black & white cowboy movies with him.

  • @dstinnettmusic
    @dstinnettmusic 2 года назад +15

    So, I can’t speak to their quality now, but I remember a Kid Cuisine being a triumph of a dinner in 1996. It made me feel like I had won something to be 3 years old and have weird long pizza and corn rather than something home cooked.

    • @schmeltingaccident
      @schmeltingaccident Год назад

      I might be a little older than you, I used to get down on the Kids Cuisines when I was around 7 and 8 in early 90’s. I loved them but I am pretty sure the quality, even back then probably sucked. But I bet the price was right.

  • @alanmorris7669
    @alanmorris7669 2 года назад +5

    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.

  • @batya7
    @batya7 2 года назад +21

    TV dinners were a real treat in our 1960s home. Convenience food.

  • @jlarnold24
    @jlarnold24 2 года назад +4

    JELLO SALAD !!!!!! My rural Midwestern heart is full 😍

    • @jlarnold24
      @jlarnold24 2 года назад

      Also I’d like to this become a jello salad fan thread

    • @cheepawful
      @cheepawful 2 года назад

      Lime jello cottage cheese salad??

  • @lucascoval828
    @lucascoval828 2 года назад +2

    The jokes aren't working.

  • @michaelodonnell824
    @michaelodonnell824 2 года назад +3

    I can't help but wondering at the 5% of Married women working figure.
    In many industries, female employees were preferred. Also, Black Married Women regularly worked outside the home as servants and cleaners. Were they EVER counted?!
    Also, please note at the lack of Black faces in the period ads!!!

    • @whatareyoudoingyouidiot342
      @whatareyoudoingyouidiot342 2 года назад

      African-Americans made up (and still make up) a small portion of the American population. That 5% of married women is probably mostly black, as black families were almost always poorer (thanks to Jim Crow laws and other examples of systemic racism in American history) and required multiple incomes to survive.

    • @JamesAutoDude
      @JamesAutoDude 2 года назад

      Honestly where do they ever get their % from anyways? I've never been asked or a part of any survey, nor has anyone I know, yet they'll claim X% of whatever exists or X% of people did/got this? I call B.S

    • @mimsydreams
      @mimsydreams 2 года назад +1

      @@JamesAutoDude Census. You know who's working and who's married. Pretty easy to compile.

    • @-Devy-
      @-Devy- 2 года назад

      @@JamesAutoDude Dude, how are you a functioning adult when you can't figure something as simple as this out?

    • @lucascoval828
      @lucascoval828 2 года назад

      @@JamesAutoDude
      Racism bad.

  • @b003
    @b003 2 года назад +2

    I miss the foil trays for toaster ovens to actually cook the food. Microwaving for me is either underdone or hardened.

  • @freekeefox
    @freekeefox 2 года назад +1

    Having to explain what "prime time" was to people. I know it's reasonable, but gawd do I feel old now...

  • @gamesman0118
    @gamesman0118 2 года назад +1

    The original tv dinners tasted better than the ones you get now. No corn syrup or highly processed food.

  • @edkeaton
    @edkeaton Год назад +1

    "Who bothers to cook TV dinners? I suck them frozen." - Woody Allen.

  • @Murff97
    @Murff97 2 года назад +1

    Luv the nails 😍

  • @AnneQuiet
    @AnneQuiet 2 года назад +2

    I'm hungry now.

  •  2 года назад +2

    I remembered how they invented TV dinners on Murdoch Mysteries before there was television.

  • @amakowsk1
    @amakowsk1 2 года назад +1

    I love the puns

  • @marksusskind1260
    @marksusskind1260 2 года назад +1

    Winner, winner, textured vegetable dinner!

  • @justinmccrae6666
    @justinmccrae6666 2 года назад +1

    ❤❤❤💖💖💖💖amazing 💖😗

  • @ExcelsiorElectric
    @ExcelsiorElectric 2 года назад

    I still call ALL microwaveable meals "T.V. Dinners" lol

  • @divarachelenvy
    @divarachelenvy 2 года назад

    Spare a thought for the first commercial freezing of meat sent to Great Britain by us Aussies too... way back before 1900

  • @deboralee1623
    @deboralee1623 2 года назад

    "🎤...The coolerator was crammed with TV dinnahs an-a jinjah ale..🎤"

  • @BananaDynastyX
    @BananaDynastyX 2 года назад

    Why is this guy always doing that weirdo trump impression in every video lmao

  • @Pottery4Life
    @Pottery4Life 2 года назад

    We still call TV dinners... TV dinners.

  • @BertGrink
    @BertGrink 2 года назад

    TV Dinner by the Pool, I´m so glad I finished School.

  • @HayTatsuko
    @HayTatsuko 2 года назад

    Betty Cronin > Betty Crocker

  • @jamesriggs1351
    @jamesriggs1351 2 года назад +1

    Groovy content!:)

  • @Mystninja
    @Mystninja 2 года назад

    I seen her frozen tictok taco.

  • @baritonetenor
    @baritonetenor 2 года назад

    do I spy pretty blue nails?

  • @jackwood8307
    @jackwood8307 2 года назад

    🎃👻🎃

  • @symet
    @symet 2 года назад

    Its not heat proof....

  • @geebsterswats
    @geebsterswats 2 года назад

    At 4:35, what the hell is that horn thing going into that switchboard operator's chest?

    • @MentalFloss
      @MentalFloss  2 года назад

      I believe that's the mouthpiece she would've talked into (a bit more cumbersome than air pods).

  • @ImAMassiveBender
    @ImAMassiveBender 2 года назад +5

    Around the same time domestic appliances were freeing women from the responsibilities of the kitchen, TVs were freeing families from having to talk to each other.

    • @whoeveriam0iam14222
      @whoeveriam0iam14222 2 года назад +5

      Hahaha radios and newspapers already existed

    • @hinoname3954
      @hinoname3954 2 года назад

      no, I'd say watching tv together actually encourages my family to talk a lot more! we can each be working our own hobby or eating with a show on that we watch and enjoy all together that we can ause and talk about ect. We all have adhd or autism, so it helps us to focus on interacting with each other rather than isolating in our own thing accidentaly. And to the other commentators point, people already did this with radio, books and newspapers before they had home televisions.

  • @FantasyFootballProphets
    @FantasyFootballProphets 2 года назад +1

    If you guys are ever hiring for someone to make new thumbnails please contact me! I love this channel and I think you guys could get more views if the thumbnails were better!

  • @chriswatkins8711
    @chriswatkins8711 2 года назад

    dude thanks I just sold the name tic tok Burritos to Taco Bell for one million dollars thanks thank you I'm a millionaire and you're not haha

  • @usernameed
    @usernameed 2 года назад

    Remember, if there are ever “tik tok burritos” blame Justin!

  • @ramford3057
    @ramford3057 2 года назад

    Why is this whole thing about women it’s a TV dinner

    • @hinoname3954
      @hinoname3954 2 года назад +1

      because he's giving accurate historical context as to why they became so popular. did you not watch the video?

  • @kuhnhan
    @kuhnhan 2 года назад

    Our family had Banquet TV dinners, I prefer those over Swanson.

  • @romeishereable
    @romeishereable 2 года назад +3

    First