Jell-O parfait. Photo by the author; recipe provided below.
I grew up with a large extended family in Utah. I didn’t know when I was a child that Salt Lake City consumes more Jell-O than any other city in the United States or that Jell-O was a fairly unique Thanksgiving dinner dish. I just knew it was my favorite.1 Like most Utah families we had Jell-O at nearly every family event. Kids love my mother’s Jell-O because it is both a side dish and entertainment, cut into Christmas shapes with cookie cutters. After tasting nearly every imaginable combination of flavored gelatin, fruit, and whipped cream, I thought I knew Jell-O. Imagine my surprise when I encountered recipes for Jell-O flavored with fish, tomato soup, and even cheese in the archives at Utah State University. These and other recipes for Jell-O paint an interesting picture of American domesticity in the 20th century.
Although the history of gelatin and jellied foods began as early as the fourteenth century, Jell-O itself was invented in 1897 by Pearl Waite.2 Compared to earlier gelatin, Pearl’s had a much shorter preparation time and easier instructions, making it more realistic for everyday use. Other brands, especially Knox Gelatine, continued to be popular in the United States for many years, but Jell-O has outpaced them all. This is not surprising, because Knox continued to make “pure protein” gelatin, and Jell-O’s “pure fruit flavors” are more appetizing to modern audiences.3
Recipe from The Jell-O Girl Gives a Party (1925). Illustration courtesy of Special Collections and Archives, Merrill-Cazier Library, Utah State University.
Jell-O has often been advertised as an easy way to accomplish domestic success. A 1925 recipe booklet described how a young girl’s mother encouraged her to learn to make Jell-O for a party, because “pretty soon, little girls grow up, and she wanted me to be a good house-keeper and hostess.”4 The booklet contains Jell-O based recipes for asparagus salad and prune whip along with more typical child-friendly dessert dishes, clearly intended to help both mother and daughter impress their guests.
During World War II, domesticity meant helping your family and the country survive the war. In the 1940s, Jell-O was used to supplement limited food supplies. By adding gelatin, mothers could continue to provide “good American family meals” from their ration coupons. Using recipes from one gelatin cookbook, wives could make gelatin meatloaf to “stretch leftover meat into supper for 6!” and satisfy a child’s sweet tooth with “fluffy, nourishing” Spanish cream (a dessert dish with a jelly texture on the bottom and custard on the top).5
Recipe from The Jell-O Girl Gives a Party (1925). Illustration courtesy of Special Collections and Archives, Merrill-Cazier Library, Utah State University
For 1960s housewives, whose domestic success might be tied to their appearance, gelatin was advertised as a dieting tool. Knox Gelatine published an “eat and reduce plan” for several years, claiming almost miraculous results.6 Since gelatin was calorie-free, women could add it to almost anything without gaining weight. They could thus continue to entertain and feed their families while also maintaining their appearance.
These fascinating, funny, and often questionable Jell-O recipes show us the changing meaning of domesticity through the 20th century. Jell-O remains an easy, popular way to enter the domestic realm. Even I began learning how to cook (more or less) with a Jell-O recipe. Since 1925, Jell-O dishes have been “easy to prepare… sure to turn out right… and amazingly economical.”7 Who could resist?
FAMILY Recipe 1: Jell-O Parfait
Ingredients
1 box of flavored Jell-O
16 oz Cool Whip
Directions
Prepare Jell-O according to package directions. Let set overnight in a casserole dish.
Cut Jell-O into small squares, transfer to a serving bowl. Stir in Cool Whip.
FAMILY Recipe 2: Jell-O Fruit Salad
Ingredients
Small box of flavored Jell-O
Cottage cheese
Cool Whip
Canned fruit (oranges, pineapple, fruit cocktail, etc.)
Directions
Combine cottage cheese and Jell-O powder. Stir in Cool Whip until you reach a desired consistency/flavor. Add fruit and stir. Serve chilled.
FAMILY Recipe 3: Jell-O Pretzel Salad
Ingredients
2 cups crushed pretzels
1 cup and 3 tablespoons sugar
½ cup butter (melted)
6 oz package of Strawberry Jell-O
2 cups boiling water
1 cup cold water
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz Cool Whip (can substitute any whipped cream)
Fresh fruit (as desired)
Directions
Stir together pretzels, 3 tablespoons sugar, and ½ cup melted butter. Press into glass baking dish and bake for 8-10 minutes at 400 degrees. Let cool.
Mix together cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, and Cool Whip. Spread over cooled crust.
Mix Jell-O powder into boiling water. Add cold water (or ice cubes or frozen fruit). Let set until it thickens but can still be poured.
Pour Jell-O mixture over the cream cheese layer and refrigerate until set. Top with fruit if desired.
Historical Recipe 1: Asparagus Salad
Source: The Jell-O Girl Gives a Party (Jell-O Co., 1925)
Prepare a pint of Lemon Jell-O with two tablespoonfuls of vinegar and half a teaspoonful of salt included. Arrange well drained bundles of asparagus tips in mold as shown in illustration. Cover with cold Jell-O and harden. Serve with mayonnaise.
Historical Recipe 2: Prune Whip
Source: The Jell-O Girl Gives a Party (Jell-O Co., 1925)
Dissolve a package of Orange Jell-O in a pint of boiling water. Prepare one cup of prune pulp. When the Jell-O is cold and slightly thick, whip it to the consistency of whipped cream; add the prune pulp and two tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar. Garnish with prunes, cut in half, pit removed, and one-half English walnut meat inserted in each half. Serve with whipped cream.
Historical Recipe 3: Meat Loaf
Source: Knox Wartime Recipes: How to Be Easy on Your Ration Book (Knox Gelatine Co., 1943)
Ingredients
1 envelope Knox gelatine
¾ cup cold water
1 10½ oz. can condensed consommé
2 tablespoonfuls lemon juice
¼ teaspoonful salt
1 cup finely diced leftover meat (lamb, veal, beef, pork, chicken, etc.)
½ cup chopped celery
2 tablespoonfuls chopped green pepper, if desired
Directions
Soften gelatine in ¼ cup of the cold water. Combine soup with remaining ½ cup water and bring to a boil. Add softened gelatine and stir until dissolved. Add lemon juice and salt. Cool, and when mixture begins to thicken, fold in meat and celery and green pepper if used. Turn into 4-cup mold or loaf pan (or individual molds) that has been rinsed in cold water first, and chill. When firm, unmold onto desired salad greens and serve with mayonnaise.
- Linda Murray Berzok, “Gelatin,” in Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, ed. William Woys Weaver (New York: Scribner/Thomson Gale, 2003), 104. The origins of Utahns’ love for Jell-O are unclear, except that it’s popular at church functions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Many modern Utahns, regardless of their religious affiliation, have developed a taste for it.
- Berzok, “Gelatin,” 104.
- Quick Easy Jell-O Wonder Dishes (G. F. Corporation, 1930), Published Collections Department, Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, Delaware, online at Hagley Digital Archive; Knox Wartime Recipes: How to Be Easy on Your Ration Book (Knox Gelatine Co., 1943), Jerry Crouse Collection, National WWII Museum, New Orleans, online at the Adam Matthew database America in World War Two.
- The Jell-O Girl Gives a Party (Jell-O Co., 1925), Jay Allen Anderson Foodways Collection, Special Collections and Archives, Merrill-Cazier Library, Utah State University.
- Knox Wartime Recipes.
- Knox Gelatine Recipe Book: Eat and Reduce Plan (Knox Gelatine Co., 1952), Alan and Shirley Brocker Sliker Collection, Special Collections, Michigan State University Libraries, online via the library’s website.
- Quick Easy Jell-O Wonder Dishes.