When I was growing up, my mom (Joy Washburn Gillis) cooked very healthy meals for our family dinners. She had to put thought and care into each recipe because my dad (William Gillis, Jr.) had a heart condition.
Breakfast was often cereal and fruit. Lunch was usually a sandwich. But she insisted that we enjoy a hot, home-cooked meal for dinner.
Thursday nights were different. My mom and dad were in the cathedral choir at Rader Memorial United Methodist Church in Miami Shores. When I was very young, I stayed with my grandmother (Eunice LaSenius Washburn) while my parents were at choir practice, and she cooked dinner.
After my grandmother passed away, my parents had to hire a babysitter, a local high schooler. That meant my mom had to prepare my dinner ahead of time. She still insisted on a hot meal. That’s when Libbyland TV dinners came to the rescue.
TV dinners were not as common in the early 1970s as they are now. We didn’t have a microwave back then. From 1971-76, Libbyland dinners were a way to provide a hot meal with much less prep, perfect for choir rehearsal nights.
I remember when my mom first brought one home and told me that’s what I would be eating. As a kid, I thought it was exciting. Each dinner had a double entree. My favorite combo was spaghetti and meatballs with fried chicken. Each meal had sides like tater tots and a flavoring packet, like chocolate or strawberry crystals, to stir into a glass of milk.
Each dinner came in a box that folded out into a game board. It was a new adventure every week. The Libbyland experience was such a novelty and so different from our everyday dinners. I looked forward to my Thursday night adventures.
These weren’t the kind of healthy dinners my mom wanted me to have, but they were a helpful workaround for Thursday nights. She wanted me to have that hot meal for dinner, even if it came in a box. Her choice of Libbyland shows how much she cared about maintaining that family routine and dinner as a special meal, even on a busy night.
If we had a microwave back then, she could have heated up leftovers for me. But that wasn’t an option. Libbyland was the simplest alternative.
Each TV dinner came in an aluminum tray. My mom heated it in the oven for about 30 minutes before the babysitter arrived. That way the babysitter didn’t have to mess with the oven.
I have fond memories of my Libbyland adventures. Folks my age might remember them too. Even a healthy household like ours benefited from convenience when needed.
Can you remember a novelty from your childhood that found a place in your family routine?
Exploring Generations 