Television sets had just entered the American public in the early 1950s. Families began to spend time together with this new contraption.

Early popular shows like “Lassie,” “Bonanza,” and “Three Stooges” were enjoyed after a long day. The family began to make dinnertime, a “TV” time.

The evolution of dinnertime with the family was complete in 1954 when Gerry Thomas invented the  “Swanson TV Dinner.”

The first TV Dinner contained turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, and peas packaged in an organized tray. It was sold for under $1.

After Swanson sold millions of these TV Dinners, furniture companies followed with the development of the TV tray table. As seen above, original TV tray tables were aluminum, featuring folding tops, and collapsible legs.

It was the ultimate combination in convenience, and the popularity of the product grew into several designs and materials as we grew through the early years of TV.

Manchester Wood entered the TV tray table business. We’ve been making them for 35 years though, so not so far off.

In the beginning, we made the same classic TV tray table – just like all the rest. And like many others we evolved our products just like the entertainment that attracts us.

TV dinners and even tray tables seem distant from the current media connection frenzy we now experience. Computers have become the latest contraption, and our time spent using them has increased tremendously, moving away from the couch and TV experience.

The TV tray table is becoming to us, a computer tray table. Take a look at our new Folding Portable Work Table below. To learn more about this product, click here.