The dessert was especially popular in the first half of the 20th century. The original gelatin dessert began in Le Roy, New York, in 1897, when Pearle Bixby Wait trademarked the name Jell-O. He and his wife May had made the product by adding strawberry, raspberry, orange, and lemon flavoring to sugar and granulated gelatin (which had been patented in 1845). The powder is mixed with boiling water and then cooled to produce a gel.
Description
Jell-O is sold prepared (ready-to-eat), or in powder form, and is available in various colors and flavors. The powder contains powdered gelatin and flavorings, including sugar or artificial sweeteners. It is dissolved in hot water, then chilled and allowed to set. Fruit, vegetables, and whipped cream can be added to make elaborate snacks that can be molded into shapes.
Some non-gelatin pudding and pie-filling products are sold under the Jell-O brand. Ordinary Jell-O pudding is cooked on the stove top (with milk) then eaten warm or chilled, whereas Jell-O instant pudding is mixed with cold milk and chilled; it sets without cooking. To make pie fillings, the same pudding products are prepared with less liquid.
History
Early history
(Left): Pearle Bixby Wait, creator of the "Jell-O" brand; (right): Jell-O advertisement by the Genesee Pure Food Company, c.1910
Gelatin, a protein produced from collagen extracted from boiled bones, connective tissues, and other animal products, has been a component of food, particularly desserts, since the 15th century.[1]
Gelatin was popularized in New York in the Victorian era with spectacular and complex jelly molds. Gelatin was sold in sheets and had to be purified, which was time-consuming. Gelatin desserts were the province of royalty and the relatively well-to-do. In 1845, a patent for powdered gelatin was obtained by industrialist Peter Cooper, who built the first American steam-powered locomotive, the Tom Thumb.[2][3] This powdered gelatin was easy to manufacture and easier to use in cooking.
In 1897, in LeRoy, New York, carpenter and cough syrup manufacturer Pearle Bixby Wait trademarked a gelatin dessert called "Jell-O". Wait and his wife, May, added strawberry, raspberry, orange, and lemon flavoring to granulated gelatin and sugar.[4] In 1899, Wait sold Jell-O to "Orator Francis Woodward", whose Genesee Pure Food Company produced the successful Grain-O health drink. Part of the legal agreement between Woodward and Wait dealt with the similar Jell-O name.[5][6]
1904 advertisement
Going mainstream
Various elements were key to Jell-O becoming a mainstream product: new technologies, such as refrigeration, powdered gelatin and machine packaging, home economics classes, and the company's marketing.[7]
Initially, Woodward struggled to sell the powdered product. Beginning in 1902, to raise awareness, Woodward's Genesee Pure Food Company placed advertisements in the Ladies' Home Journal proclaiming Jell-O to be "America's Most Famous Dessert."[8] Jell-O was a minor success until 1904, when Genesee Pure Food Company sent armies of salesmen into the field to distribute free Jell-O cookbooks, a pioneering marketing tactic.[9]
"America's Most Famous Dessert", 1910s advertisement
Within a decade, Genesee Pure Food Company added three new flavors, chocolate (discontinued in 1927), cherry, and peach, and it launched the brand in Canada.[8]Celebrity testimonials and recipes appeared in advertisements featuring actress Ethel Barrymore and opera singer Ernestine Schumann-Heink. Some Jell-O illustrated advertisements were painted by Maxfield Parrish.
In 1923, the newly rechristened Jell-O Company launched "D-Zerta", an artificially sweetened version of Jell-O. Two years later, Postum and Genesee merged, and in 1927 Postum acquired Clarence Birdseye's frozen foods company to form the General Foods Corporation.
Quick, Easy Jell-O Wonder Dishes, Jell-O Cookbook of 1930
By 1930, there appeared a vogue in American cuisine for congealed salads, and the company introduced lime-flavored Jell-O, to complement the add-ins that cooks across the country were combining in these aspics and salads. Popular Jell-O recipes often included ingredients like cabbage, celery, green peppers, and even cooked pasta.[8]
In 1934, sponsorship from Jell-O made comedian Jack Benny the dessert's spokesperson.[10] At this time Post introduced a jingle ("featured" by the agency Young & Rubicam[11]) that was familiar over several decades, in which the spelling "J-E-L-L-O" was (or could be) sung over a rising five-note musical theme.
The jingle was written by Don Bestor, who, at the time, was the bandleader on Jack Benny's radio show, "The Jell-O Program Starring Jack Benny."[12]
By the 1950s, salads became so popular that Jell-O responded with savory and vegetable flavors such as celery, Italian, mixed vegetable, and seasoned tomato. These flavors have since been discontinued.[8]
Though much of the elaborate and dainty tea time fare served between the 1920s and 1950s was luxurious and decorative, using fancy ingredients like caviar or lobster, Jell-O became an affordable ornamental ingredient that women were able to use to create feminine, light, delicate dishes that were the standard of refined tea time fare during that period. By the Jazz Age nearly 1/3 of salad recipes in an average cookbook were gelatin-based recipes including varied fillings of fruit, vegetables or even cream cheese.
Typical recipes from the early 20th century included exotic fruits like figs, dates and bananas, or lemon flavored jello paired with maraschino cherries and other ingredients like marshmallows and almonds.[13] One sweet gelatin-based fruit dessert called only "Good Salad" includes vanilla pudding, tapioca pudding, pineapple, mandarin oranges and orange gelatin. The pudding mixes are made with the reserved juice from the canned fruit and the flavored gelatin, the fruits are added and the dessert salad is allowed to set in the fridge and served cool.[14]
One savory recipe collected by the Des Moines Register, published in Iowa, is for a tomato soup gelatin salad. The salad, served chilled, is made from lemon gelatin, tomato soup, cream cheese, stuffed olives combined with various other ingredients and seasonings.[14]
The baby boom saw a significant increase in sales for Jell-O. Young mothers didn't have the supporting community structures of earlier generations, so marketers were quick to promote easy-to-prepare prepackaged foods. By this time, creating a Jell-O dessert required simply boiling water, combining the water with Jell-O, and putting the mixture into Tupperware molds and refrigerating it for a short time.[7]
New flavors were continually added and unsuccessful flavors were removed: in the 1950s and 1960s, apple, black cherry, black raspberry, grape, lemon-lime, mixed fruit, orange-banana, pineapple-grapefruit, blackberry, strawberry-banana, tropical fruit, and more intense "wild" versions of the venerable strawberry, raspberry, and cherry. In 1966, the Jell-O "No-Bake" dessert line was launched, which allowed a cheesecake to be made in 15 minutes. In 1969, Jell-O 1∗2∗3 (later Jell-O 1•2•3), a gelatin dessert that separated into three layers as it cooled, was unveiled. Until 1987, Jell-O 1•2•3 was readily found in grocery stores throughout most of the United States, but the dessert is now rare. In 1971 packaged prepared pudding called Jell-O Pudding Treats were introduced. Jell-O Whip 'n Chill, a mousse-style dessert, was introduced and widely promoted; it remains available in limited areas today. A similar dessert called Jell-O Soft Swirl was introduced in 1972, flavors included Chocolate Creme, Strawberry Creme, Vanilla Creme, and Peach Creme. Florence Henderson appeared in TV ads for this product.
Sales decline and turnaround
Lime Jell-O
In 1964, the slogan "There's always room for Jell-O" was introduced, promoting the product as a "light dessert" that could easily be consumed even after a heavy meal.
Throughout the 1960s through the 1980s, Jell-O's sales steadily decreased. Many Jell-O dishes, such as desserts and Jell-O salads, became special occasion foods rather than everyday items. Marketers blamed this decline on decreasing family sizes, a "fast-paced" lifestyle and women's increasing employment. By 1986, a market study concluded that mothers with young children rarely purchased Jell-O.[7]
To turn things around, Jell-O hired Dana Gioia to stop the decline. The marketing team revisited the Jell-O recipes published in past cookbooks and rediscovered Jigglers, although the original recipe did not use that name. Jigglers are Jell-O snacks molded into fun shapes and eaten as finger food. Jell-O launched a massive marketing campaign, notably featuring Bill Cosby as spokesman. The campaign was a huge success, causing a significant market gain.[7]
Cosby became the brand's spokesperson in 1974, and he continued as the voice of Jell-O for almost thirty years.[15] Over his tenure as the mouthpiece for the company, he helped introduce new products such as frozen Jell-O Pops (in gelatin and pudding varieties); the new Sugar-Free Jell-O, which replaced D-Zerta in 1984 and was sweetened with NutraSweet; Jell-O Jigglers concentrated gummi snacks; and Sparkling Jell-O, a carbonated version of the dessert touted as the "Champagne of Jell-O". In 2010, Cosby returned as Jell-O spokesperson in an on-line web series called OBKB.[16]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Jell-O's family-friendly reputation was slightly tarnished by Jell-O shots and Jell-O wrestling.[7]
The original Jell-O Factory in Le Roy, New York, pictured in 2014
As of 2011[update], there were over 420 million boxes of Jell-O gelatin and over 1 billion Jell-O cups sold in the United States each year.[19]As of 2016[update], there were more than 110 products sold under the Jell-O brand name.[20]
Jell-O is used as a substantial ingredient in a well-known dessert, the "Jell-O mold", which requires a mold designed to hold gelatin, and the depositing of small quantities of chopped fruit, nuts, and other ingredients before it hardens to its typical form. Fresh pineapple, papaya, kiwifruit, and ginger root cannot be used because they contain enzymes that prevent gelatin from "setting". In the case of pineapple juice and the enzyme bromelain that it contains though, the enzyme can be inactivated without denaturing through excessive heating and thus altering the flavor by the addition of a small measured amount of capsaicin sourced from hot chilies.[21]
An alternative recipe calls for the addition of an alcoholic beverage to the mix, contributing approximately one third to one half of the liquid added after the gelatin has dissolved in a boil.[22] A serving of the resulting mixture is called a "Jell-O shot", or the genericized "Jello shot", at parties. The quantity and timing of the addition of the liquor are vital aspects; it is not possible to make Jell-O shots with liquor alone, as the colloidal proteins in dry gelatin consist of chains which require a hot liquid to denature them before they can then reform as a semisolid colloidal suspension. Pure alcohol cannot be heated sufficiently to break down these proteins, as it evaporates.[23]
Vodka or rum is commonly used in Jell-O shots, but the shots can be made with almost any liquor or blends of multiple liquors. It is important to adjust the proportions of alcohol and cold water to ensure that the mixture sets when experimenting with various liquors. The Jell-O shots can be served in shot glasses and/or small paper or plastic cups; the paper or plastic cups are easier to eat from, but shot glasses are more attractive. The alcohol in Jell-O shots is contained within the Jell-O, so the body absorbs it more slowly, causing people to underestimate how much alcohol they have consumed. Drinkers must monitor their intake because of this.[24]
American singer-songwriter Tom Lehrer claims to have invented the Jell-O shot in the 1950s to circumvent restrictions on alcoholic beverages at the army base where he was stationed.[25] An early published recipe for an alcoholic gelatin drink dates from 1862, found in How to Mix Drinks, or The Bon Vivant's Companion by Jerry Thomas: his recipe for "Punch Jelly" calls for the addition of isinglass or other gelatin to a punch made from cognac, rum, and lemon juice.[26][27] Thomas warns that strength of the punch is "artfully concealed" by the gelatin.[26]
As of 2012[update], LeRoy, New York, is known as the home of Jell-O and has the only Jell-O Museum in the world, located on the main road through the small town. Jell-O was manufactured here until General Foods closed the plant in 1964 and relocated manufacturing to Dover, Delaware.[3] The Jell-O Gallery museum is operated by the Le Roy Historical Society at the Le Roy House and Union Free School, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.[28]
At the museum, visitors can learn about the history of the dessert from its inception. Visitors starting on East Main Street, follow Jell-O Brick Road, whose stones are inscribed with the names of former factory employees. The museum offers looks at starting materials for Jell-O, such as sturgeon bladder and calves' hooves, and various molds.
The Jell-O plant in Mason City, Iowa, produces America's supply of ready-to-eat Jell-O gelatin dessert and pudding cups.
Advertising
(Left) 1920 Jell-O recipe pamphlet featuring the "Jell-O Girl"; (center): 1948 ad published in The Ladies' Home Journal; (right): a Jell-O thermometer
Jell-O's early advertising campaign, initially directed by William E. Humelbaugh and later Frank LaBounty, first appeared in the Ladies' Home Journal in 1904. The print ads were often accompanied by recipes and color illustrations and became very popular. Artists such as Rose O'Neill, Maxfield Parrish, Coles Phillips, Norman Rockwell, Linn Ball, and Angus MacDonall contributed to the campaign. Franklin King, working for ad agency Dauchy Company, depicted his daughter Elizabeth in many of the illustrations, making her the recognizable "Jell-O Girl".[10]
Jack Benny's top-rated radio program began its Jell-O sponsorship in 1934.[10] The show did not break for commercials; instead, announcer Don Wilson incorporated speeches about Jell-O into the program at appropriate places, to Jack's feigned comic annoyance. The first show originated the five-note "J-E-L-L-O!" jingle retained in Jell-O's later advertising. Lucille Ball's My Favorite Husband, the radio predecessor to TV's I Love Lucy, was another popular program sponsored by Jell-O for much of its 124-episode run, beginning January 7, 1949. Ball's character Liz Cooper often opened the program with the lively greeting, "Jell-O, everybody!"
Comedian Bill Cosby is associated with Jell-O and, more famously, Jell-O pudding, and he appeared in many commercials promoting both. Later shows like Mad TV, The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live parody Cosby, using Jell-O references like "pudding pop". In the 1960s, the cast of the sitcom Hogan's Heroes did a commercial with Carol Channing featuring Colonel Hogan, his men, Kommandant Klink and Sergeant Shultz having Jell-O and Dream Whip for dessert. Also, in the first few seasons of the first of Lucille Ball's two 1960s television series, The Lucy Show, cast members including Vivian Vance often did commercials for Jell-O.
In 1995, Jell-O carried the tagline "It's alive!" and had the phrase "J-E-L-L-OOOOOOO!".
In 2023, Dessert brand Jell-O updated the brand design for the first time in a decade, making it more playful. The logo became bolder and blockier, and hyper-realistic images of pudding and jelly fruit appeared. [30]
In September 2024, Jell-O launches The Jelly Collection inflatable furniture series inspired by the iconic Jell-O molds. [31]
In 1992, Ivette Bassa won the second ever Ig Nobel Prize in chemistry for inventing blue Jell-O.[35][36]
The rock group Green Jellÿ was originally named Green Jellö, but had to change their name due to a lawsuit by Kraft Foods which claimed that the band was infringing the trademark for Jell-O.[37]
Mormonism
Jell-O is especially popular among Mormons, so much so that the Mormon Corridor region is nicknamed the Jell-O Belt.[38][39][40][41][42] Jell-O was recognized in 2001 as "a favorite snack food of Utah" by the Utah Senate,[43] observing that Utah had had the highest per-capita consumption of Jell-O for many years, and how citizens of Utah had rallied to "Take Back the Title" after Des Moines, Iowa, exceeded Utah in Jell-O consumption in 1999.[44] The culture of Utah, petitions by Utahns, and campaigning by students of Brigham Young University were also mentioned as reasons for recognizing Jell-O.[44]Bill Cosby, longtime spokesperson for the Jell-O brand, appeared before the Utah Legislature in support of the resolution. "He told the assembly that he believes the reason people in Utah love Jell-O is that the snack is perfect for families – and the people of Utah are all about family."[45]
The stereotype of Mormons loving Jell-O does not have a long history. Media reports in 1969 and 1988 on foods popular among Mormons or in Utah make no mention of Jell-O, and a 1988 article mentions Jell-O as a Lutheran tradition. In the late 1980s, Jell-O had a marketing campaign promoting the snack and its Jigglers recipe as fun for children and easy for parents, which played well among family-oriented Mormons.[46] In 1997, Kraft released sales figures revealing Salt Lake City to have the highest per-capita Jell-O consumption.[7]
Current flavors
This section is about an event or subject that may not be current but does not specify the time period. Please help improve it to include this information. The talk page may contain suggestions. (April 2017)
The following are the flavors of Jell-O products that are currently being produced:[47]
Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly savory to create desserts. In some parts of the world there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal.
Gelatin desserts are desserts made with a sweetened and flavoured processed collagen product (gelatin), which makes the dessert "set" from a liquid to a soft elastic solid gel. This kind of dessert was first recorded as "jelly" by Hannah Glasse in her 18th-century book The Art of Cookery, appearing in a layer of trifle. Jelly recipes are included in the 19th-century cookbooks of English food writers Eliza Acton and Mrs Beeton.
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce to the thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used in custard desserts or dessert sauces and typically include sugar and vanilla; however, savory custards are also found, e.g., in quiche.
Pudding is a type of food. It can be either a dessert, served after the main meal, or a savoury dish, served as part of the main meal.
Starburst is the brand name of a box-shaped, fruit-flavoured soft taffy candy manufactured by The Wrigley Company, which is a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated. Starburst has many different varieties, such as Tropical, Sour, FaveREDs, Watermelon, Very Berry, Superfruit, Summer Blast and Original.
Chocolate puddings are a class of desserts in the pudding family with chocolate flavors. There are two main types: a boiled then chilled dessert, texturally a custard set with starch, commonly eaten in the U.S., Canada, Germany, Sweden, Poland, and East and South East Asia; and a steamed/baked version, texturally similar to cake, popular in the UK, Ireland, Australia, Germany and New Zealand.
Jello salad is an American salad made with flavored gelatin, fruit, and sometimes grated carrots or other vegetables. Other ingredients may include cottage cheese, cream cheese, marshmallows, nuts, or pretzels. Jello salads were popular in the early 20th century and are now considered retro.
Seafoam salad, also known as orange salad, is a cafeteria and buffet staple popularized by F. W. Woolworth's lunch counters. Seafoam salad is often considered a dessert because of its sweetness, and so is one of many dessert salads. It is composed of green lime-flavored gelatin, cream cheese, pears, maraschino cherries, and whipped topping.
A Gansito is a Mexican snack cake, described as "a strawberry-flavored jelly and crème-filled cake with chocolate-flavored coating." It is made and distributed by the Marinela Brand, which is owned by Grupo Bimbo. Gansito is also available in the U.S., Colombia, Peru, and many countries in Latin America, as well as having a limited presence in Europe. In 2019 in the U.S., 5.46 million Americans ate Gansito 1-3 times a month, with 1.24 million eating 4-7 in a month, and 1.31 eating 8 or more in a month.
"Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise" is a satirical novelty song by the American composer William Bolcom. It is written for voice and piano, and Bolcom frequently performs it with his mezzo-soprano wife, Joan Morris, accompanying her on the piano. Composed in 1980, it is based on his experiences, in his youth, of playing the piano for women's clubs, and being fed absurd and unappetizing cuisine, including foods resembling Jello salad.
Jell-O 1-2-3 was a Jell-O gelatin product introduced in 1969 and discontinued in 1996. The product was one 4.3 ounce powdered mix that, when properly prepared, separated and solidified into three distinct layers: a creamy top, a mousse-like middle, and regular Jell-O bottom.
American comedian and actor Bill Cosby was a popular spokesperson for advertising from the 1960s – before his first starring television role – until the early 2000s. He started with White Owl cigars, and later endorsed the Jell-O frosty ice pop treats Pudding Pop, gelatin, Del Monte, Ford Motor Company, Coca-Cola, American Red Cross, Texas Instruments, Service Merchandise, E. F. Hutton & Co., Kodak, and the 1990 United States Census. As of 2002, Cosby held the record for being the longest-serving celebrity spokesperson for a product, through his work with Jell-O. In 2011, he won the President's Award for Contributions to Advertising from the Advertising Hall of Fame.
Götterspeise is the German name for a dessert made of gelatine or other gelling agent, sugar, flavourings and food colouring, it is similar or identical to jelly or jello and other gelatin desserts. Other German names include Wackelpudding or Wackelpeter ; green Götterspeise is also known as Froschsülze. Götterspeise is usually eaten with whipped cream or vanilla sauce. The best-known flavours are the following:
Frogeye salad is a type of sweet pasta salad made with small, round acini di pepe pasta, whipped topping, and egg yolks. Fruit, such as mandarin oranges and pineapples, are often mixed in, and it is sometimes topped with marshmallows, all of which contribute to the sweetness while adding variety. The humorous name refers to the pasta looking like frog's eyes.
Almond tofu is a soft, jellied dessert made of apricot kernel milk, agar, and sugar popular throughout East Asia.
A jello shot, colloquially, or Jell-O shot, is a gelatin and alcohol mixture consumed as a shot. The shot is commonly made with vodka or other hard liquors. Shots made with non-branded or unflavored gelatin rather than Jell-O are sometimes known as jelly shots or gelatin shots.
Mosaic gelatin is a gelatin dessert that is popular in Mexico and Brazil. However, it is unclear if it is of Mexican or Brazilian origin. It is sometimes called broken or stained glass gelatin due to its appearance. This dessert is sold at fairs, markets, plazas, and food carts. It can even be found in upscale restaurants. It is popular amongst individuals of all ages, but particularly children because of its colorful, attractive appearance. It can be served at special occasions, and is often found at birthday parties for children. It is a relatively simple and inexpensive dessert to prepare.
↑ Chandler, Michael Alison (26 January 2006). "Big-Screen Religion". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2017. [...] the Jell-O Belt (the self-referential term for Utah and Idaho, home to large Mormon families that consider the colorful gelatin a staple food for dinner and church socials)[.]
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