Sit down to dinner with the Whitebreads and learn how taking a meal together is done. No arguing, no unpleasant talk. Mother and Father even greet each other with a handshake so as to keep the emotions in the house on an even keel (and, considering the age gap between Junior and the other two kids in the family, to prevent any more accidents).
This short was probably created to combat the trend of family meals eaten in front of that wonderful new machine, television. Just try to picture Father in his undershirt, his plate on a TV tray and the fights on the tube. You can't, can you? Nor should you try. Get that out of your head at once and get back to the dinner table.
For the gentler sex, the narrator delivers a fantastically vintage line: "The women of this family seem to feel that they owe it to the men of the family to look relaxed, rested, and attractive at dinnertime." Uh...yeah.
I'm all for family dinners and time spent together, but pedantry typically has the effect of pushing people in the opposite direction. Much like warnings about the evils of rock n' roll only make me want to listen to more Black Sabbath, this short just makes me want to eat in front of my laptop so I can watch MST3k shorts on YouTube.
For a quick double feature, pair this short (the MST3k version, natch) with the "Don't hit the hair!" dinner scene from "Saturday Night Fever".