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A standard TV dinner consisted of an entree, two sides and, by the 1960s, a dessert. Courtesy of the Campbell Soup Co.

Maybe you loved them and recall them as a special treat served only on nights when the babysitter was on duty. Or, maybe you hated them for masquerading as real meals.

But whether you remember them fondly or if they left a bad taste in your mouth, they are part of 20th century culture in America. That is, the vast majority of baby boomers likely sat at a snack table at least once to eat the meal from a foil, compartmentalized tray known as a TV dinner.

courtesy of flickr.com

“Don’t touch it yet! Let it cool down!”

In 1996, retired Swanson executive Gerry Thomas claimed he thought up TV dinners after the company found itself with a huge surplus of frozen turkeys in the 1950s because of poor Thanksgiving sales. Before you swallow that tale, bear in mind that Thomas' version of events has been challenged by the Los Angeles Times, members of the Swanson family and former Swanson employees.

Interestingly, it’s difficult to find anyone claiming – or even accepting – responsibility for the concept of ‘Salisbury Steak.’

While companies and individuals have claimed credit for parts of the idea, it’s indisputable that there would have been no TV dinners to begin with save for a resident of New Jersey and his penchant for invention.

courtesy of the Campbell Soup Co.

William Maxson established the W.L. Maxson Co. in 1935 while a resident of West Orange. He was personally credited with nine inventions, while his company was responsible for another 72 patents. During World War II, Maxson developed the concept of freezing cooked foods and then packaging them in reheatable containers to serve on troop transports.

After the war, these meals became available on commercial flights as “Strato-Meals,” direct forerunners of the TV dinners that became a staple of supermarkets.

Swanson’s Thomas may not have been the father of food in foil, but his company was primarily responsible for their becoming an American icon. In 1954, the first year of national distribution. Swanson sold more than 10 million of the meals at a cost of 99 cents each. The first TV dinner options included either salisbury steak, meat loaf, fried chicken or turkey with side compartments of mashed potatoes and carrots or peas. Desserts, very often a kind of cobbler, were added in 1960.

The name "TV Dinner" was removed from the packaging in the mid-1960s, and the Campbell Soup Co. replaced the aluminum trays of Swanson frozen TV dinners with plastic, microwave-safe trays in 1986. Today’s ready-made meals of entrees, sandwiches and lunchables bear little resemblance to the divided metal trays that were enshrined in the Smithsonian Institute in 1987.

What, in your opinion, was the WORST TV dinner entree?