What food item, that doesn’t require refrigeration and can be prepared by just adding water, has been a staple in more than three quarters of American homes, for a little over one hundred twenty years? If you think you have figured it out and you came up with JELL-O you would be correct.
Like most of you I grew up with jell-o being an important part of both every day meals at home and also at community and church dinners. Low cost, easy to prepare and colorful, it has long been a favorite. However, this popular salad fixing or dessert wasn’t always available. It had to start somewhere.
Like so many of the foods we enjoy today, it had to go through growing pains before it realized it’s full potential. In 1845 a man, Peter Cooper patented a method for the manufacture of gelatin which was odorless, tasteless and gelled and was made of animal by-products. It didn’t catch on and a little over 50 years later a man took the tasteless gelled product and added fruit flavors to it. His wife called it Jell-O. However they didn’t have the money to market and distribute it and in 1899 he sold the rights to Jell-O for just over $400. The first Jell-O girl appeared in magazine ads which featured a child playing, not with toys but with Jell-O packages. The first Jell-O recipe book had been published in 1904, and it was estimated that a quarter billion such books were distributed. The book was printed in several languages including German, Spanish, Swedish and Yiddish. There were many changes during the first part of the last century. By 1925, when the Postum Company (later to become The General Foods Corporation) acquired it, Jell-O’s estimated worth was $67 million. Jell-O is now an important part of the Kraft Foods empire.
A historic era began in 1934. with the advent of Jack Benny’s unforgettable “Jell-O again” greeting at the beginning of his Sunday evening broadcasts. Do you remember the catchy advertising song/ jingle where they sang, probably in the 50’s and 60’s…..J-E-L-L-O! ? I dare say that Jell-O ranks right up there with Apple Pie as an American favorite food item. The pictures on the small box has changed but the product remains the same. Easy to make, simple to add fruits to to make it a fruit salad or just plain as is found in many salad bars today. Once a failed processed food made of mash-up animal parts ( I think it is made from bone marrow) it is a dessert hit. And….its gelatinous aspect made it a popular inexpensive choice for mothers when treating their children for diarrhea. My mother used this treatment of flavored jell-o water and I think some still do.
