Humans have known about gelatin for a long time; we’ve been extracting it from animal bones since the Middle Ages. It was popular with hosts of the 1800s, who presented it in elaborate shapes at formal dinners, but enjoyed new popularity after 1897, when Mr. Pearle Bixby Wait trademarked a gelatin product with fruit flavors.
The first Jell-O advertisement appeared in 1904 and was highly successful. It promoted Jell-O as “America’s Favorite Dessert.” It was followed by an ad that showed a four-year old girl holding a tea kettle in one hand and a Jell-O packet in the other. She solemnly assured readers, “You can’t be a kid without it.” That child became the Jell-O girl and appeared on the company’s ads for almost half a century.
America has shown a special attachment to Jell-O, which can be found in 75 percent of U.S. homes. (It’s even the state snack of Utah, which consumes more Jell-O than any other state.) Perhaps this connection was begun for many Americans when their ancestors arrived at Ellis Island — and free Jell-O was their first taste of America.
This article is featured in the September/October 2024 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.
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