Is it just me, or did TV dinners taste so much better in the 1960s and 1970s?

Question

Morton's was the best, with Swanson's following. However, the food is horrible now. What happened?

Answer 1

Yes, they did taste better then, and they even filled you up.
My kids used to love the beef and/or chicken pot pies.
Nowadays they are so loaded with preservatives, and the Sodium is off the roof, along with the Sat. Fat. I do not buy them anymore, any brand, as they are all the same.

Answer 2

It's funny you asked, I was not born in that era but a few of my aunts ans my mother were talking about this a while back. My aunt said we are paying for food that taste like the box.
So at least you are not the only one who feels the taste has changed for the worst.

I'd like to think that back when the TV dinner was first introduced, it was a new idea and the care and love they put into was based on a higher scale. We as people are always in a rush so taste seems like the last thing we care about. And the companies know this, people hate the taste but will still buy them. Especially since you can buy them for a dollar a pop.

Answer 3

I think you are buying the wrong brands. LOL, I buy Maria
Callendars, for all around taste without the artificial flavorings.
I no longer buy either Mortons, and rarely Swansons, unless
it's their dark meat fried chicken. But I tend to go with the
roast chicken with the Maria Callenders brand. No taste of
fake flavors. They give you broccoli and better tasting mash-
ed potatoes. And the roasted chicken with herbs and spices
is just the right balance of flavor. Try that one. I'll bet you'll like it.
And to answer more directly, the cheaper brands never did
taste good, did they? To me they taste the same. So I go for
the newer brands now for more flavor.

Answer 4

Well, I think the difference is in the fact that everything is so automated today. The modern robots that were predicted so well in the 50's have made all our tv dinners into tasteless lumps of goo on little biohazardous plastic dishes. Back in the days of my youth prior to these modern soulless tv dinner makers, I firmly believed there was someone like my grandmother at the Swanson's kitchen who lovingly made large batches of chicken, mashed potatoes, Salisbury steak, peas and carrots, and of course the yummy dessert. She would spoon her delicious delights into the recyclable (though we didn't recycle back then), modern-looking, aluminum portion plates that all her tv dinner eating children loved. There was nothing quite like the excitement of a hot tv dinner placed on a metal folded-open tv tray in front of the tv. The anticipation of pulling back the aluminum covering (even though your mother tells you not to burn yourself) was always exciting!

I think there is a difference in preparation. Some of the modern dinners are ok, but the memory of the early ones make me nostalgic. I do believe they put a lot less preservatives in the dinners "back in the day." However, there is more choice now. BTW - I loved everything in those old dinners except the peas and carrots. It just never seemed that they got them right - they always seemed a little chewy to me. But then again, I was a kid at the time and anything vegetable was anathema to me. :-)

Though I don't think I answered your question, it did remind me of those special tv watching nights!

Answer 5

I'm not sure about them, but I remember when the pot pies were better. I just got some the other day (they were on sale), but now they have compressed meat stuff. I remember when real meat was used. I haven't had a tv dinner since the 60's. The chicken was good, as well as the apple crisp. The peas weren't the best, but they sure were green.

Answer 6

Well yeah: They were great.
That's why everyone was
eating in front of the TV.
There was also enough in
one TV dinner and they were
real food.
Nowadays 2 of them won't fill you up. Look at the ounces
per dinner...it's about 4 oz.
And I think they are imitation
food, plus check out the
additives. My dog won't even eat them.

Answer 7

The only one I think still tastes close to the same is salisbury steak. The Marie Callender pot pies are great, you could make 3 times as many for what you pay for one. I still like the old Banquet fried chicken.

Answer 8

I remember trying to impress that mean Billy that lived next door and tore my dolls heads of and threw them over the fence.

When I got to be around 14 he came to our new house with his mother and I tried to impress him by cooking him a tv dinner.

I wanted to finally win his respect. I put the tv dinner in the oven and smoke filled the room. Again, he laughed at me because I forgot to take the dinner out of the cardboard box. He was so mean to me!!!

Answer 9

I used to love the Swanson's turkey dinners! I remember my husband's grandmother saved the trays and when we moved in together and had no dishes, she gave us a bunch of those old divided trays! It's amazing how long those aluminum trays lasted!

Answer 10

Wow you learn something new everyday. I didn't know they had tv dinners in the 60s and 70s!!!
I never even saw tv until 1974. I grew up in a town that didn't have tv.