Jello Recipes

One hundred years ago, Jello was little more than a brand name and an unfulfilled dream.

Today, the Jello brand is found on over 158 products encompassing everything from gelatin and puddings, ready-to-eat snacks, and no-bake desserts. How did the Jello brand come to be recognized by 95% of Americans and used regularly in 66% of our homes?

The industrialist, inventor and philanthropist Peter Cooper, of Tom Thumb engine and Cooper Union fame, obtained the first patent for a gelatin dessert. Although he packaged his gelatin in neat little boxes with directions for use, Cooper did very little with it. Home cooks still relied on sheets of prepared gelatin, which had to be clarified by boiling with egg whites and shells and dripped through a jelly bag before they could be turned into shimmering molds. This was a time-consuming process, very different from today's Jello gelatin.

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 Jello. First flavors were: strawberry, raspberry, orange and lemon.

Everyone has a JELL-O memory. From 1998-2000, A JELL-O Billboard stood in New York City's Times Square. The billboard featured hundreds of personal JELL-O memories, submitted by people from across the country.

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 the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers movie. In addition, they have played parts in Kindergarten Cop, Corrine Corrine, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Muse, and Reindeer Games.

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. Spokesperson Bill Cosby came to Utah to share in a moment of levity with lawmakers in the State Capitol, and was made an honorary Utah citizen while he was there. More than 14,000 signatures from people in Utah were collected on a petition in support of the Official Snack designation.

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.