Defunct Major Brand Frozen Pizzas I Remember

1) Hungry-Man from Swanson. This had a weird sour-and-sweet taste, and when I wanted one, I wanted one. It was about 9x12, 1/2" thick crust, some weird sauce and cheese. The cheese was like thin slices of cheese before baking. It lived up to its name. Pete Rose did a TV commercial for this, I wish I had a tape of it, he said/mumbled something like "The only things I hate are striking out and skimpy pizzas." They had a mail-in offer for a "Hungry Man" pizza cutter, and I still have it and use it. It'll outlast me--and to remind me forever, it has the original "Hungry-Man" logo on the blade.

2) Chef Boy-Ar-Dee frozen pizza. I remember a yellow box (cheese) and a red box (pepperoni?). Thin lousy crust, Boy-Ar-Dee sauce, and about the smallest amount of cheese they could get away with. But it was cheap and OK for that.

3) Kraft Frozen Pizza. Blue Box. This came on a very thin, non-reusable, aluminum pan with holes in it. Middle thickness crust, great cheese, mediocre sauce.

I wish, oh how I wish, all three would be brought back. Hungry-Man the most.

Do you remember back in the 80s, I think it was Pepperidge Farm maybe,that came out with "Croissant Pizza"....Ewwwwww.....Needless to say it didn't last long...

And that's a shame, b/c PF hardly ever strikes out with their products...

quote:

Originally posted by johno

1) Hungry-Man from Swanson. This had a weird sour-and-sweet taste, and when I wanted one, I wanted one. It was about 9x12, 1/2" thick crust, some weird sauce and cheese. The cheese was like thin slices of cheese before baking. It lived up to its name. Pete Rose did a TV commercial for this, I wish I had a tape of it, he said/mumbled something like "The only things I hate are striking out and skimpy pizzas." They had a mail-in offer for a "Hungry Man" pizza cutter, and I still have it and use it. It'll outlast me--and to remind me forever, it has the original "Hungry-Man" logo on the blade.

2) Chef Boy-Ar-Dee frozen pizza. I remember a yellow box (cheese) and a red box (pepperoni?). Thin lousy crust, Boy-Ar-Dee sauce, and about the smallest amount of cheese they could get away with. But it was cheap and OK for that.

3) Kraft Frozen Pizza. Blue Box. This came on a very thin, non-reusable, aluminum pan with holes in it. Middle thickness crust, great cheese, mediocre sauce.

I wish, oh how I wish, all three would be brought back. Hungry-Man the most.

Gosh, I remember none of these! Now the Chef Boy-Ar-Dee pizzas in the box that you have to make, I love, I REALLY do! I just wish they'd give you a tad more dough flour. I like my crust thin, but this is really thin. I buy them all the time.

My mom always used to serve us Tree Tavern Frozen Pizza. I don't know if it's still around but I hated it!

I remember growing up , my Mom would make the Chef Boy Ar Dee pizzas from the box. She would cook them on a cookie sheet because we didn't have a pizza pan. We thought they were the thing back then. Then along came frozen ones- we even liked them. I remember when Fox Deluxe came out and we even bought them then. But , now I guesss that we have to have the better pizzas. I haven't found a frozen one that I like in a long time.

We used to get those pizza sticks that were guaranteed to cause third degree burns to the roof of your mouth as the napalm oozed out.

Topps Frozen Pepperoni Pizza, made by Topps Frozen Foods of Minnesota, possibly Marshall, MN. We got these in US Military Commissaries in the United Kingdom around 1972-1973. The crust had indentations on the bottom forming concentric circles. Nice and spicy. The pepperoni was quite decent.

When I got out of the service, I couldn't find any in New York. I went to the public library and found some grocery directories. However, Topps Frozen Foods never showed up in any directories.

A few years ago, I wrote to Schwan's (makers of Red Baron) of Marshall, MN, asking them if they had anything to do with it at that time. They had no records of it. I think back then, the company was known as Schwan's Ice Cream Company.

The only other frozen pizza the commissary sold was Chef Boy Ar Dee. If Schwan's and Pillsbury didn't make it, American Home Products could have, but that is just a wild guess.

These pizzas were lifesavers for the nights the food in the dining hall in inedible.

David

I used to live on the frozen Chef Boyardee pizzas. They were thin which I liked and they did skimp on the cheese which I disliked. But they were cheap and I thought their pepperoni's tasted much better then the competing cheap frozen pizzas. It was saltier and had a better texture. It's getting tougher to find such low budget treats in the small town where I reside. The market seems to be moving toward the Red Baron, Freschetta, Di Giorno, and Tombstone direction for good. I go for the extremes: either make my own or eat a cheap frozen pizza. I would guess that more and more cheapies will make this topic as time goes by.

I always liked the sauce on the "Appian Way" boxed pizza better than the Chef BoyRDee boxed.

quote:

Originally posted by TJ Jackson

I always liked the sauce on the "Appian Way" boxed pizza better than the Chef BoyRDee boxed.

Wow, I remember that too! Many a time has this site made me realize my age...thank goodness it's the weekend and my home computer has gone tot he great landfill in the sky! Well, far from the sky..

There were a couple in the Chicago area, Ron Santo Pizza, originally sold only at Wrigley Field in the early and mid 70's, and for a short while in stores. It was a lot like Home Run Inn pizza, if I remember correctly, which has a nice buttery crust. Home Run Inn is also in the Chicago area and I don't know if they are available anywhere else. They started with some resteraunts and added the frozen pizza later.

The other one I haven't seen in years is Mama Celeste Pizza. This was all over the place in the 70s and early 80s, and she was a real person. Her daughter even owns a small italian resteraunt near me, but the pizza's are nowhere to be found.

Frozen "Celeste Pizza" is still available near me, and I have one in the freezer now! It's a "Pizza For One - Pepperoni", about six inches round. I haven't seen larger ones for some time. Maybe the brand is a low-price brand now, and they have definitely cheapened it. The "pepperoni" is little chunks, not slices. But the overall taste is good, for the price (99 cents on sale). I remember they still have "Cheese" and "Four Cheese" versions too, and I've bought those within the last year.

I remember the TV commercials with Mama. But Mama's picture is still on the box. She'd probably hate this version.

good to hear Celeste Pizza is still around, but sorry to hear they've cheapened it. That was my favorite 'brand' frozen pizza as a kid. My brother loved Tombstone but I hated that crust. Tombstone crust broke not only one of my teeth, but eventually one of my friend's teeth. I gave Tombstone up but my friend kept eating it at home and finally paid the price.

When Home Run Inn pizzas first hit local grocery stores in Chicago, they were packaged in a foil tin with a clear plastic lid. Crust was SOOOO much better then. Now machine made.

We used to have a brand in Milwaukee called Lambrects' Big Wheel Pizza.
I thought it was great. But then again, I thought Chef BoyarDee was great. We used to cut up hot dogs and use them as a topping. yum

Chef Boy-Ar-Dee frozen pizza... I used to eat those for lunch every day when I was in kindergarten or the 1st grade... can't seem to remember, but my mom bought them at the commissary.

I remember these little 6" frozen pizzas in the Chicago area; the brand name was "Rossi's". This was in the '70s.

Also, in Hebron, IL, they make (or did make) "Champion Pizza". I bought one once in a supermarket; it was awful. For those of you who don't know, Hebron is a very small town near the Wisconsin border. It's sole claim to fame is the fact that their 1952 High School Basketball team won the State championship. Their watertower is painted like a basketball.

We lived in Monroeville, outside of Pittsburgh for a couple of years when I was in junior high. I remember the milkman would also deliver donuts at times as well as some kind of pizzas. Not frozen, just ready to be baked. Anyone know about this?

For my money, Stouffers French Bread Pizzas are the only frozen way to go!

I miss the Mr Chef pizzas back from the 70's. I also miss the Red Baron pizzas, back when they made them good... (Red Baron is still out there, they just suck now)...

Anybody remember those toaster pizzas from the mid 60's that you heated in the toaster? I think they were called Geno's or Gino's? My sister seems to remember they were called Buitoni? Anyone??

I used to enjoy Bravissimo frozen spinach pizza about 10 years ago, but I never see it around any more. It used to be in a lot of stores around Chicago, but I'm not sure if it was available elsewhere. Has anyone seen it lately? We've switched to Home Run Inn. We also like Amy's frozen pizza, which is a bit healthier and uses better ingredients than some of the others.

I also liked the Chef Boyardee pizzas when I was a kid. Mom would let us make them. Probably the first experience with cooking I had. Also probably the first experience with pizza I had.

In recent times I liked the Wolfgang Puck pizzas when they first came out. Several years ago they farmed out the manufacture of them to some other company and now they suck.


Dino

quote:

Originally posted by Kristi S.

Do you remember back in the 80s, I think it was Pepperidge Farm maybe,that came out with "Croissant Pizza"....Ewwwwww.....Needless to say it didn't last long...

And that's a shame, b/c PF hardly ever strikes out with their products...

Pepperidge Farm makes the best toasting bread. For a while a couple years ago they were going to discontinue it in favor of their big homestyle loaves, but there were lots of complaints so they brought it back. Good thing, too. We're loyal customers.

However, I don't remember the croissant pizza. Probably for the best.

quote:

Originally posted by emsmom

I remember growing up , my Mom would make the Chef Boy Ar Dee pizzas from the box. She would cook them on a cookie sheet because we didn't have a pizza pan. We thought they were the thing back then. Then along came frozen ones- we even liked them. I remember when Fox Deluxe came out and we even bought them then. But , now I guesss that we have to have the better pizzas. I haven't found a frozen one that I like in a long time.

Chef Boy Ar Dee marketed both the boxed pizzas and their frozen pizzas for years in the '60s on through the late '70s at least. Then at some point the frozen pizzas disappeared from the market.

You can still find Chef Boy Ar Dee boxed pizzas in just about evey gocery store still today. But their '60s boxed competitors--Appian Way Pizza and Kraft Pizza Mixes--are harder to find. I had thought that they had disappeared for good, but thanks to the Internet I discovered that:

1) You can still get Appian Way Pizzas from a web grocer:

http://www.hometownfavorites.com/shop/htfg.asp

A couple of years ago, I tried one after an absence of maybe forty years. It confirmed my opinion that of the Big Three boxed pizza mixes, Appian was still a solid Number Three.

And, although Kraft stopped marketing Kraft Pizza mixes in the US market, you can still get them in Canada for some reason. but now it's only the cheese pizza that's still available, no Sausage version anymore.

They are available on the web at:

http://canadianfavourites.com/cover.html

I get them on a fairly regular basis and they are as every bit as good as I remember them from the '60s until they quietly disappeared from my grocer's shelves in the mid-'80s. They are still the Number One boxed mix in my opinion. Add some pepperoni and some Whole Milk Mozerella and you've got a great pizza.

Finally, a long gone, apparently long forgotten frozen pizza we had briefly in Birmingham, AL in the early to mid '60s was Holloway House Pizza. We got it at the Eastwood Mall Winn Dixie. It came in a box and all I remember was the Sausage variety. The sausages were this sort of round shaped thick things. Very distinctive. Industrial grade. But good frozen pizza.

I don't think it lasted very long and I think I'm the only person who remembers this brand. Have no idea who made and distributed it, but would love to know.

But it was good pizza.

quote:

Originally posted by David_NYC

Topps Frozen Pepperoni Pizza, made by Topps Frozen Foods of Minnesota, possibly Marshall, MN. We got these in US Military Commissaries in the United Kingdom around 1972-1973. The crust had indentations on the bottom forming concentric circles. Nice and spicy. The pepperoni was quite decent.

When I got out of the service, I couldn't find any in New York. I went to the public library and found some grocery directories. However, Topps Frozen Foods never showed up in any directories....

David

There is a restaurant in Rosemount, Minnesota, called Topps Pizza & Hoagies. Here is the phone number: (651) 423-7331. Perhaps they were the purveyors.

When I was a stripling in the 60's, there was a frozen pizza sold in So Cal by the name of Oh Boy. I still remember the smell and taste of those things, and I immediately lose my appetite for any food.

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Bad

Anybody remember those toaster pizzas from the mid 60's that you heated in the toaster? I think they were called Geno's or Gino's? My sister seems to remember they were called Buitoni? Anyone??

Buitoni Instant Pizza c. 1972. I believe "Roman" also made frozen\toaster Pizza

APPIAN WAY: I had the experience of eating it last summer. They don't have the sets any more in Chicago, and I came across it in Michigan. NOTHING like it was. Believe me, I remembered the sauce, but this stuff was orange-y and with a gloss, as if corn starch was used in it. OR, could I have had a damaged box set? Any opinions? It is definitely not what it used to be.

I remeber Chef Boyardee frozen. I liked it. I wonder if it is around anywhere in US or Canada?
Does anyone in the Midwest remember JOHN'S ORIGINAL frozen pizza? The sausage was excellent. Almost like Tomstone original sausage. There was a pepper spiciness to it. Then they came out with some kind of center cut pizza. The slogan was "it's nothin' but the middle ,'cause the middle tastes the best." I liked it.
Thank god for carb counting---we can get rid of the rising crust crap and go back to the nostalgic "cardboard" crusts.

I used to LOVE Buitoni's toaster pizzas when I was a kid! They were completely crust-enclosed, with all the filling on the inside. You always burned the roof of your mouth with the first bite, but they were delicious.