A Sara Lee cheesecake and several Swanson TV dinners play important supporting roles in FALLOUT. I can’t say I’ve eaten, or, for that matter, even seen a Sara Lee Cheesecake in many years, but there was a time when they were a suburban freezer treasure, on a par with ice cream and frozen pudding pops.

 

 

 

 

The same could not be said for the frozen TV dinners of the early 1960s, which came on aluminum trays and tended to be watery, tough, and mostly tasteless.

 

 

The graphics on the packaging of the first TV dinners made them look like they were on TV screens, with wood “cabinetry” and knobs.

 

 

TV dinners did have an impact on furniture design, inspiring the portable TV dinner tray.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since most homes only had one TV set, and it was often located in a den or other room where the family could gather to watch, these folding trays with legs were perfect for combining dinner with TV viewing, and thus almost entirely eliminating the need for family members to converse with each other over the most important meal of the day.