Jell-O: A wiggly, jiggly sign of the times

Jell-O, like Kleenex or Band-Aids, is an eponymous product—its brand name is used for an entire category of wiggly, jiggly snacks. Its identity as a sweet, inexpensive dessert or side dish [ready to bring to a potluck]( is relatively recent. Early gelatin dishes were usually savory and meaty—[think jellied eels]( and aspics. These labor-intensive delicacies usually only graced wealthy tables. Recent trends moving away from sweetened, highly processed foods have [driven down Jell-O sales](. High-end gelatin though, is very much back in style—on-trend bone broth is not far from aspic, and artisan butchers have revived [the art of head cheese](. Fergus Henderson, the British chef, is famous for his “trotter gear”, a gelatinous, long-cooked elixir made from pigs’ feet, that, [according to the New York Times]( “imparts an intensely flavorful, lip-sticking quality to any stew or soup to which it is added.” We may not be ready for a full-scale aspic revival, but it seems impossible that Jell-O wouldn’t bounce back, in one form or another. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( [Quartz Obsession] Jell-O July 24, 2019 There’s always been room for J-E-L-L-O --------------------------------------------------------------- Jell-O, like Kleenex or Band-Aids, is an eponymous product—its brand name is used for an entire category of wiggly, jiggly snacks. Its identity as a sweet, inexpensive dessert or side dish [ready to bring to a potluck]( is relatively recent. Early gelatin dishes were usually savory and meaty—[think jellied eels]( and aspics. These labor-intensive delicacies usually only graced wealthy tables. Recent trends moving away from sweetened, highly processed foods have [driven down Jell-O sales](. High-end gelatin though, is very much back in style—on-trend bone broth is not far from aspic, and artisan butchers have revived [the art of head cheese](. Fergus Henderson, the British chef, is famous for his “trotter gear”, a gelatinous, long-cooked elixir made from pigs’ feet, that, [according to the New York Times]( “imparts an intensely flavorful, lip-sticking quality to any stew or soup to which it is added.” We may not be ready for a full-scale aspic revival, but it seems impossible that Jell-O wouldn’t bounce back, in one form or another. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Have you tried the Quartz app yet? --------------------------------------------------------------- 👉Keep up with news for you, curated by Quartz editors 👉Engage with an informed community of leaders, subject-matter experts, and curious minds 👉Personalize your feed with the topics you love [Get the app for free]( Giphy Brief history [1845:]( Peter Cooper patents powdered gelatin. [1897:]( Pearle and May Wait experimented with Cooper’s product, and trademarked the name “Jell-O.” [1924:]( Norman Rockwell illustrates ads for Jell-O. [1934:]( The famous “J-E-L-L-O” jingle is created by ad agency Young & Rubicam. [1992:]( Ivette Bassa wins the Ig Nobel Prize in Chemistry for inventing blue Jell-O. [1993:]( Jurassic Park uses a trembling spoonful to illustrate the incredible anxiety one must surely feel when a velociraptor approacheth. [2001:]( Utah declares Jell-O the official state food [2011:]( Bill Cosby is the first winner of the American Advertising Federation’s President’s Award for a lifetime of work with brands [including Jell-O](. [2018:]( Bill Cosby becomes the first person to be kicked out of the American Advertising Federation’s Hall of Fame. Origin Story From gelatin to Jell-O --------------------------------------------------------------- Originally, gelatin was complicated and time-intensive to make, and [only the rich could afford to eat dishes imbued with its wobbly charm](. Thomas Jefferson, who never met a European gastronomical trend he didn’t like, brought fashionable gelatin dishes with him when he returned from his overseas trips and regularly featured them on the menu at Monticello. Powdered gelatin transformed what was once a laborious task into a simple preparation. Peter Cooper, an inventor [better known]( for the first American-built steam locomotive, figured out a way to shape gelatin into large sheets, then ground it into a cleverly named product called “Portable Gelatin.” That paved the way for Pearle and May Wait, a couple who ran a lackluster cough syrup and laxative business. While they were looking for a new product to hawk in the late 1890s, they stumbled upon the old patent for powdered gelatin. After purchasing it, they combined it with some tweaked syrup recipes, and voila: Jell-O. The Waits may have known syrup, but they didn’t know sales. They gave up trying to market their creation and sold the patent to their neighbor in 1899, when things really started to jell. Orator Frank Woodward was the owner of the Genesee Pure Food Company, and knew how to get Jell-O stocked in pantries across the nation. He placed $336 worth of ads in Ladies Home Journal, then sent nattily dressed salesmen to give free samples to homemakers. Annual sales skyrocketed to $250,000 (about $6.2 million today) almost immediately, and by 1924, the product was so successful that the Genesee Pure Food Company changed its name to the Jell-O Company. Giphy Quotable “A salad at last in control of itself.” —Food historian [Laura Shapiro]( on gelatin-based salads Explain it like I’m 5 How Jell-O gels --------------------------------------------------------------- Gelatin is made from collagen—from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals—that has been heated in liquid. As the collagen cooks, [long strings of proteins bind together in a three-dimensional pattern]( that effectively traps water and holds it in suspension. Boing. A similar, vegetarian texture can be derived from seaweed, [which is commonly called agar-agar](. And that rubbery, springy texture, while something of a novelty in much of modern Western cuisines, is highly desirable in Asia. [The Taiwanese term “Q Texture”]( used to describe the highly desirable, squishy-crunchy feel of foods like mochi, boba, fish cakes, and beef tendon. But if the texture of a Jell-O salad sets your teeth on edge, there’s a reason. According to Rachel Herz, a specialist on the psychology of smell and author of the book That’s Disgusting: Unraveling the Mysteries of Repulsion, humans are hardwired to identify inconsistent textures as a threat. “We know if we eat something and it’s consistent in texture then it’s probably OK. But inconsistent qualities are signals that it could be contaminated,” [she told The Huffington Post](. Fun fact! In 1976 a neurologist [conducted a brain wave analysis of a bowl of lime Jell-O](. To illustrate [how difficult it is to diagnose brain death,]( Adrian Upton used an electroencephalogram (EEG) machine to confirm that Jell-O can pick up electrical “artifacts” from nearby equipment that mirror human brain waves. Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with Jell-O? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Obsession email – to the email – Reuters/Chris Helgren By the digits [$932.5 million:]( Jell-O sales in 2009 [$753.8 million:]( Jell-O sales in 2013 [26%:]( Decline in Jell-O sales between 2013 and 2018 [22%:]( Decline in dessert mix sales overall between 2013 and 2018 [9:]( Boxes of flavored gelatin sold every second in the U.S. [$450:]( Purchase price for the rights to Jell-O in 1899 [10,000:]( Tourists who flock to Le Roy, NY, Jell-O’s hometown, annually [$10 million:]( Inheritance of which Elizabeth McNabb—who, as an infant, was put up for adoption by Jell-O heiress Barbara Woodward—was denied a share. Upon discovering her mother’s identity as an adult, McNabb lobbied for a portion of the trust fund intended for the descendants of her biological grandfather. DI-Why Try this recipe? --------------------------------------------------------------- Today, we place Jell-O fairly firmly in the dessert category, but for decades it was infamously used to suspend salads. [It made sense at the time:]( their clean, plastic-like appearance fit the emergence of the domestic sciences and the industrialization of food, and their sculptural form gave domestic goddesses the opportunity to show skill with an otherwise easy ingredient. [Savory flavors]( like celery, mixed vegetable, and seasoned tomato flew off of the shelves. Even flavors like lime were used to levitate olives and pickles. If that sounds too tempting to resist, never fear: We’ve got a recipe for you. [Olive Relish]( From Bright Spots For Wartime Meals – 66 Ration-Wise Recipes published in1944 - - 1 pkg Lime Jell-O - 1 pint hot water - 3 tbsp. vinegar - 1/4 tsp. salt - 3/4 cup sliced stuffed olives - 1/2 cup sliced sweet pickles - 1/4 cup diced celery, if desired Dissolve Jell-O in hot water. Add vinegar and salt. Chill. When slightly thickened, add remaining ingredients. Turn into small individual molds. Chill until firm. Unmold. Serve with fish or meat. Makes 12 molds. Giphy Pop quiz What famous satirist claims to have invented Jell-O shots as a workaround to a Christmas party rule banning alcoholic beverages (but not foods)? Erma BombeckLenny BruceTom LehrerShel Silverstein Correct. Lehrer told SF Weekly that, attending a party on a naval base at which alcoholic beverages were not allowed, he skirted the rule by embedding vodka in orange Jell-O. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Watch this! Let my people Jell-O --------------------------------------------------------------- In Cecil B. DeMille’s 1923 silent film The Ten Commandments, Jell-O was used to create the effect of keeping the Red Sea parted as the Israelites escaped Egypt. Here’s how. Million-Dollar Question Does Jell-O have any nutritional value? --------------------------------------------------------------- It’s complicated. The brand-name dessert is packed with sugar and artificial flavors. Powdered gelatin is colorless and flavorless, though, and can be [flavored with actual fruit]( to delicious ends. Those long protein strands that bind together to form gelatin’s unforgettable texture are amino acids. Their precise make-up depends on the source of the gelatin, usually either cattle or pigs, and there is [some evidence that those proteins can help repair connective tissue]( and encourage collagen production, though [not all researchers agree that ingesting collagen or gelatin]( is beneficial. And while the added sugar may not be nutritionally ideal, powdered gelatin delivers many of the same nutrients as [bone broth, which supposedly does everything from improve joint health to healing the gut](. Yes, you can get a [grass-fed version](. Giphy take me down this 🐰 hole! [Like Jim Halpert]( (or [Tim, before him]( you, too, can suspend a stapler in a Jell-O mold. Here’s your [step-by-step guide,]( even if you don’t trust the way it moves. Reuters/TT News Agency/Johan Nilsson Poll Jell-O? [Click here to vote]( Jell-Oh yes!Jell-Oh... sometimes.Oh hell no. 💬let's talk! 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