The Wild, the Savory & the O Sweet Wiggle

July 13, 2019 4:05 PM

Ever found yourself wondering about the first flavors of Jell-O? Or which flavors you could have used to make a gelatin salad in 1965? No? Mid-Century Menu's creator has long been bothered by these and other Jell-O-related questions, and has, at last, assembled The Timeline of Jell-O Flavors From 1897 to 1997.

Two disclaimers: This is a postfromyourbookmarks FPP. And I originally found Mid-Century Menu because I didn't know what a ham boat was, and had to go look up what, exactly, the local fire company was selling. Then I found the Wham Spam Pie... (Mid-Century Menu, previously.)

posted by MonkeyToes (23 comments total)

reads title
sighs
clicks “add to favorites”
posted by Etrigan at 4:14 PM on July 13, 2019 [4 favorites]

Since 1997, there have been a lot more flavors introduced. Weirdly, the savory flavors were pretty tasty.
I wish they still made coffee.
posted by Ideefixe at 4:26 PM on July 13, 2019 [5 favorites]

Did anyone ever actually get that sparkling white grape flavor to WORK? I always had a problem with all the carbonation effervescing out of the gelatin before I chilled it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:45 PM on July 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

Italian Salad flavor Jello?
posted by octothorpe at 4:50 PM on July 13, 2019

Listen, Jell-O, don’t tell me how to use my Seasoned Tomato Imitation Flavor Jell-O. I didn’t sign an end user license agreement, you can’t make me use it in salad if I don’t want to.

I think I remember Jell-O 1-2-3 from the early 90’s revival. It was...OK.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:12 PM on July 13, 2019

Exactly how "brief" a time was 1-2-3 first produced? That was my favourite version, and I was born in 1969.
posted by GhostintheMachine at 5:13 PM on July 13, 2019 [5 favorites]

Mmmmmmmm Jello! There's ALWAYS room...

Ever since I started Mid-Century Menu, I have wanted to have a Jell-O flavor timeline on the blog, but I could never nail down the dates...

*snort*
I saw what he did there.
posted by BlueHorse at 5:23 PM on July 13, 2019

It's made from hooves, you know.
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:37 PM on July 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

I have the same question as GitM, I was born in 1967 but I have strong childhood memories of 1-2-3.
posted by tavella at 6:02 PM on July 13, 2019

I grew up in the 60s, and there was pretty much always jello in the refrigerator in our house. I definitely remember 1-2-3 as a big deal, but I could have sworn it was much earlier than 1969.

Black Cherry jello with celery, walnuts and red grapes was a staple for our family Thanksgivings. It's the one thing my siblings and I all insist on to this day. Interesting to see that Black Cherry was introduced the year my parents got married.
posted by maggiemaggie at 6:15 PM on July 13, 2019

Cool post. It amazes me that Jell-O 1-2-3 was still in my brain somewhere.

I love the package for 30s lime flavour - it looks like it was from ancient Egypt.
posted by bonobothegreat at 7:35 PM on July 13, 2019

For a bit there, my family bought the pre-made single-serving Jello packs, but eventually my mom decided that was a waste of money and just washed and saved a few of the cups and would re-use them. Whenever she used the cups to make jello, it would invariably be referred to as "specimens" (as in medical specimens) (especially if it was a yellowish flavor).

This is only marginally related to the history of Jello flavors, but I thought you should all know.
posted by ckape at 7:43 PM on July 13, 2019 [9 favorites]

Black Cherry jello with celery, walnuts and red grapes

And people are grossed out by durian.

(Did they ever make durian jello?)

My fave jello story is about my childhood friend who was raised on a commune. He had never in his life seen jello, and when my grandparents, roped into babysitting, presented him with some, he immediately began bawling in terror.

They got a lot of mileage out of that one.

I haven't bought or tasted Jell-O in the past 25 years or so, and none of this is making me want to rush out and get some.
posted by aspersioncast at 7:47 PM on July 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

..you can put anything into gelatine salads.

Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
posted by ninazer0 at 10:47 PM on July 13, 2019 [7 favorites]

Has anyone ever tasted the savory flavors? Can you tell me what they were like? And what was Italian Salad supposed to be?
posted by Hactar at 1:28 AM on July 14, 2019

Great post. Boy oh boy do I remember Jell-O 1-2-3!

Leroy, New York, where Jell-O was invented, has something called the Jell-O Gallery Museum. Lots of fascinating stuff, including original artwork created in the early 20th century to promote the product. Highly recommended!
posted by kinnakeet at 3:12 AM on July 14, 2019 [4 favorites]

What is the big brown thing in the middle of this ad?
posted by Drab_Parts at 5:18 AM on July 14, 2019

When we visited my great-grandmother in Minnesota, she would serve us grape jello with shredded carrots and peanuts suspended in it. I was really young and I don't remember what it tasted like (or if I ate it at all). Sometimes I'm tempted to make a batch just to taste it.
posted by Drab_Parts at 5:21 AM on July 14, 2019

What is the big brown thing

It’s a ham.
posted by kinnakeet at 5:59 AM on July 14, 2019 [1 favorite]

It’s a ham.

Of course it is!
posted by Drab_Parts at 7:28 AM on July 14, 2019

I love Jello. If you buy unflavored gelatine, you can make it with coffee. It's quite good made with OJ. and tequila.
posted by theora55 at 8:01 AM on July 14, 2019 [2 favorites]

“He’s the ‘orse of a different color you’ve ‘eard tell about!”
posted by elphaba at 8:21 AM on July 14, 2019 [2 favorites]

1993 - Ocean Spray introduces Craisins.
1994 - Cranberry Jello debuts.
1995 - Cranberry Jello is joined by Cranberry Strawberry and Cranberry Raspberry.
1995 - The Cranberries' 'Zombie' wins 'Best Song' at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

Cranberry had a real run in the mid-'90s.
posted by box at 8:58 AM on July 14, 2019 [4 favorites]