Happy birthday, Swanson TV dinner!
That’s right, boys and girls. It was 56 years ago today that the Swanson TV dinner was introduced, forever changing the face of American convenience food.
That first Swanson TV dinner included turkey, cornbread dressing, peas and sweet potatoes, all together in one tin package with dividers for each portion of the meal.
Instructions: Pull the tray out of the box, pop it in the oven for 25 minutes at 425°F, and then set it down on the folding stand in the living room so you could eat dinner and watch your favorite television show at the same time. That’s right, vintage multi-tasking…
The cost: The first Swanson TV Dinners sold for 98 cents.
Sales: The company figured that they would probably sell about 5,000 TV dinners in the first year. But in fact, they sold 10 million.
Ah the folding tv table. What memories. What tacky, awful, wobbly memories.
And so good for ya, too!
The desserts were pretty good and made it worth working your way through the other “courses”. Must be eaten on folding tray only.