I have a terrible confession to make. I love Jello. My mother and father were old enough to remember when Jello was still a new and fancy dessert and so they still treated it like any other sweet treat. Sometimes it was plain, but other times, mom served it in fancy molds with fruit suspended in it. My mom had the Tupperware parfait and sorbet cups, and so there was cherry jello ready to eat in the fridge at all times. Everywhere else jello had become kids’ food, diet food or what you ate when you were sick. But not in my house.
Recently, I found a couple jello recipe brochures. Advertising booklets like these are terrific for looking at how meals were presented to the middle class, because make no mistake, that’s who these advertisers were aiming for. Many etiquette books describe formal dinners for twelve with servants, cooks and cleaning help, but brochures were meant to move product, so they couldn’t get too far away from the actual day to day life of a middle class housewife. They’re just aspirational enough to say Jell-O is desirable and fancy, but practical enough to mention that it only costs ten cents.
For me, these are wonderful insights on how people presented their food. I can picture a young wife, flipping through her booklet, admiring the presentation of strawberry Jell-O and trying to emulate it herself. My maternal grandmother was dirt poor and yet even she was one of those women. My mother remembers fondly the rare occasions they had Jello when she was a child and how pretty it looked after having been moulded in an old tin mold.
I’m determined to make some of these old dishes myself. Below are some of the most delightful… and horrifying dishes here. I’m going to try to recreate some and I’ll post the results. Let me know if there are any you really want to see.
Last wish, Jello company, bring back ice cream powders!
