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Monday, February 11, 2008

February 10 - 16

Is JELL-O week !!

Some history about the WIGGLE:

1845: The industrialist, inventor and philanthropist Peter Cooper, of Tom Thumb engine and Cooper Union fame, obtained the first patent for a gelatin dessert.

1897: Pearle B. Wait, a carpenter and cough medicine manufacturer from LeRoy, New York, developed a fruit-flavored version of Cooper’s gelatin. His wife, May Davis Wait, named it
JELL-O®. The first flavors were: strawberry, raspberry, orange and lemon.

1899: Wait sold the business to Orator Francis Woodward, a neighbor, for $450.

1902: First JELL-O ad - it ran in Ladies' Home Journal

1904: JELL-O Girl makes her debut

1905: Canadian JELL-O gelatin production began in Bridgeburg, Ontario

1907: Peach JELL-O debuts

1923: JELL-O goes sugar-free - D-Zerta®, was introduced.

During the early quarter of the 20th century, immigrants entering Ellis Island in New York City were served JELL-O gelatin as a “Welcome to America”.

1927: Chocolate flavor gelatin was discontinued

1930: Gelled or “congealed” salads became very popular around this time, with almost one-third of the salad recipes in the average cookbook gelatin-based. This led to the introduction of Lime JELL-O® gelatin, a flavor well-suited to salads, appetizers, relishes, and entrees.

1934: The return of chocolate - Chocolate flavor was first marketed to consumers as Walter Baker’s Dessert, then in 1936 was renamed JELL-O® Chocolate Pudding.

1942: Cola flavor introduced, but it only lasted a year.

1944: World War II - Because of the scarcity of shortening, one-crust pies became popular, with fillings made with JELL-O® gelatin or pudding.

1948: JELL-O® Tapioca pudding in three flavors was introduced: vanilla, chocolate and orange-coconut.

1950: JELL-O® Apple gelatin made its debut, followed later in the decade by grape, black cherry and black raspberry flavors.

1950: No longer promoted as a food-stretcher, JELL-O® gelatin took a light-hearted approach, positioned as a treat and a festive dessert to be served with pride. One-crust gelatin and ice cream Parfait Pies became all the rage.

1953: JELL-O® Instant Pudding chocolate, vanilla and butterscotch flavors were joined shortly by coconut cream and strawberry. These were promoted as “Busy Day Desserts,” stressing that it's never too late for real homemade desserts.

The 60s were a time of flavor expansion and experimentation for JELL-O gelatin.
Introduced: Blackberry, Concord Grape, Fruit Mold Supreme, JELL-O® Gelatin for Salads (Celery, Italian, Mixed Vegetable and Seasoned Tomato), Lemon-Lime, Mixed Fruit, Orange-Banana, Orange-Pineapple, Pineapple-Grapefruit, Strawberry-Banana, Tropical Fruit, Variety Packs, Wild Strawberry, Wild Raspberry and Wild Cherrry
Discontinued: Apple, Blackberry, Grape, Lemon-Lime, Pineapple-Grapefruit and Strawberry Punch.

1966: The first JELL-O® No-Bake Dessert was introduced, a real cheesecake which required no baking and took only 15 minutes to prepare.

1971: JELL-O® Pudding Treats were introduced.

1974: Comedian Bill Cosby became the spokesperson for JELL-O® pudding. The synergistic relationship between Cosby and the JELL-O® brand lasted nearly 30 years.

1975: Peach flavor reappeared.

1976: New flavors were Americana Rice pudding and Pistachio instant pudding.

1981: JELL-O® Gelatin Pops were introduced.

1984: Sugar Free JELL-O® Gelatin was introduced. A second convenient JELL-O® No Bake Dessert, Chocolate Silk Pie, was introduced.

1987: After 13 years with JELL-O Pudding, Bill Cosby was so successful in appealing to young moms and kids that he became the spokesperson for JELL-O Gelatin, as well.

1990: JELL-O® JIGGLERS® (concentrated gelatin snacks) were introduced.

1991: The Smithsonian Institute held its first and only mock conference on JELL-O Brand History, featuring such topics as “American History is JELL-O® History,” “The Dialectics of JELL-O® in Peasant Culture,” “The Semiotics of JELL-O®,” “JELL-O® Salad or Just Desserts: The Poetics of an American Food.” The event included a JELL-O® Jell-Off Cooking Contest.
Snacktivities evolved from JIGGLERS®—ideas to encourage parents and kids to create recipes together using JELL-O® gelatin and pudding in playful edibles like Dirt Cups.
New Watermelon and Berry Blue gelatin flavors appealed to youngsters, Grape reappeared with the help of dinosaurs from Jurassic Park, and Blackberry was reincarnated as Berry Black.

1994: Cranberry JELL-O® gelatin flavor was introduced.

1995: Cranberry-Raspberry and Cranberry-Strawberry JELL-O® gelatin flavors were introduced. JELL-O® JIGGLER® Eggs were launched, with molds that produced three-dimensional jewel-like gelatin snacks the size and shape of real eggs. That same year, more than 15,000 of these were handed out to children attending the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House. Other 90s innovations include JELL-O® Microwave Pudding and Pie Filling, JELL-O® Free Pudding Snacks made with skim milk, JELL-O® Sugar Free Fat Free Instant Pudding & Pie Filling, and seven new JELL-O® No Bake Dessert flavors. Low Fat Yogurt containing JIGGLERS® Bits was introduced.

1996: JELL-O® gelatin in space made news in June, 1996. According to a Reuters dispatch, Shannon Lucid, an astronaut on a 140-day mission to the Russian Mir space station, revealed that she kept track of time by allowing herself to wear pink socks and eat JELL-O® gelatin on Sundays. After Lucid served her Russian crewmates their first JELL-O® gelatin as a special Easter treat, they decided to share a bag every Sunday night. “It is the greatest improvement in space flight since my first flight over 10 years ago,” Lucid wrote. “Every once in awhile, Yuri will come up to me and say, 'Isn’t today Sunday?' and I will say 'No, it’s not. No JELL-O® [gelatin] tonight!'” The JELL-O brand introduced Sparkling White Grape Flavor, known as “The Champagne of JELL-O®™”. This new gelatin flavor was so popular that it was joined by Sparkling Berry and Sparkling Mandarin Orange.

1996: The JELL-O® Museum opened its doors in LeRoy, NY (the birthplace of JELL-O®). The museum features JELL-O® artwork by famous artists such as Maxfield Parrish and Norman Rockwell, and has memorabilia that is loved by JELL-O® brand fans everywhere!

1996: The JELL-O® brand had a “faloon” (air inflated float) in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade three years—featuring such talent as the Olson Twins, Kool and the Gang and country sensation JoDee Messina.

2001: In January 2001, the Utah Senate declared JELL-O® gelatin the “Official State Snack” of Utah, in an effort to recognize the popularity of the wiggly treat in the state. And, to celebrate, an annual “JELL-O® Week” was proclaimed (the second full week of February) by Governor Michael O. Leavitt.

JELL-O® gelatin and pudding have been featured and/or mentioned in many Hollywood movies, including Some Like it Hot with Marilyn Monroe, Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park and teamed up with the video release of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. In addition, they have played parts in Kindergarten Cop, Corrina, Corrina, My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Muse, and Reindeer Games.

JELL-O’s legacy: Today, there are more than 158 products sold under the JELL-O® brand name. With about 300 million boxes of JELL-O® gelatin sold in the United States each year, it’s no wonder that JELL-O® gelatin is “America’s Most Famous Dessert.”

SENSATIONAL SAND ART

Evenly layer 4 packages different colors/flavors JELL-O Gelatin in 4 clear plastic cups.
Poke the gelatin colors gently with a toothpick in each cup to create cool color patterns.
Stand back and admire your work!
Now eat your art—prepare each cup of JELL-O according to package directions.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! You KNOW...JELLO. I'm so impressed. I guess everything has a history, I just never thought about Jello's history before. My mom would make strawberry jello and put banana's in it. Hmmm, I might have to do that this week. Thanks for the hard work on this post. It made for great reading.

ChrisB said...

Gosh that is a really interesting history>

Beckie said...

Who knew?!

SJINCO said...

Super interesting, where do you find this stuff?

And the jell-o sand art? I'm totally going to do that. Thanks for the idea.

"J" said...

Wow.....that was a LOT of history!!! =) Toooooo cool!!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!!!!!

It's been a while since I've stopped by....BAD BAD BAD me!!!!

Joy T. said...

I remember when Bill Cosby first started promoting JELL-O. It didn't seem that long ago? OMG I feel so old! But I do love me some Wiggly JELL-O.