Jell-O (stylized in all caps) is an American brand offering a variety of powdered gelatin dessert (fruit-flavored gels/jellies), pudding, and no-bake cream pie mixes.

The original gelatin dessert began in Le Roy, New York, in 1897, when Pearle Bixby Wait trademarked the name Jell-O.

Gelatin, a protein produced from collagen extracted from boiled bones, connective tissues, and other animal products, has been a component of food, particularly desserts, since the 15th century.

In 1845, a patent for powdered gelatin was obtained by industrialist Peter Cooper, who built the first American steam-powered locomotive, the Tom Thumb.

In 1897, in LeRoy, New York, carpenter and cough syrup manufacturer Pearle Bixby Wait trademarked a gelatin dessert called "Jell-O".

[4] In 1899, Wait sold Jell-O to "Orator Francis Woodward", whose Genesee Pure Food Company produced the successful Grain-O health drink.

[5][6] Various elements were key to Jell-O becoming a mainstream product: new technologies, such as refrigeration, powdered gelatin and machine packaging, home economics classes, and the company's marketing.

Beginning in 1902, to raise awareness, Woodward's Genesee Pure Food Company placed advertisements in the Ladies' Home Journal proclaiming Jell-O to be "America's Most Famous Dessert.

[9] Within a decade, Genesee Pure Food Company added three new flavors, chocolate (discontinued in 1927), cherry, and peach, and it launched the brand in Canada.

[8] Celebrity testimonials and recipes appeared in advertisements featuring actress Ethel Barrymore and opera singer Ernestine Schumann-Heink.

[10] At this time Post introduced a jingle ("featured" by the agency Young & Rubicam[11]) that was familiar over several decades, in which the spelling "J-E-L-L-O" was (or could be) sung over a rising five-note musical theme.

Typical recipes from the early 20th century included exotic fruits like figs, dates and bananas, or lemon flavored jello paired with maraschino cherries and other ingredients like marshmallows and almonds.

The salad, served chilled, is made from lemon gelatin, tomato soup, cream cheese, stuffed olives combined with various other ingredients and seasonings.

Young mothers didn't have the supporting community structures of earlier generations, so marketers were quick to promote easy-to-prepare prepackaged foods.

[21] An alternative recipe calls for the addition of an alcoholic beverage to the mix, contributing approximately one third to one half of the liquid added after the gelatin has dissolved in a boil.

[24] American singer-songwriter Tom Lehrer claims to have invented the Jell-O shot in the 1950s to circumvent restrictions on alcoholic beverages at the army base where he was stationed.

Visitors starting on East Main Street, follow Jell-O Brick Road, whose stones are inscribed with the names of former factory employees.

Jell-O's early advertising campaign, initially directed by William E. Humelbaugh and later Frank LaBounty, first appeared in the Ladies' Home Journal in 1904.

Artists such as Rose O'Neill, Maxfield Parrish, Coles Phillips, Norman Rockwell, Linn Ball, and Angus MacDonall contributed to the campaign.

Franklin King, working for ad agency Dauchy Company, depicted his daughter Elizabeth in many of the illustrations, making her the recognizable "Jell-O Girl".

[10] The show did not break for commercials; instead, announcer Don Wilson incorporated speeches about Jell-O into the program at appropriate places, to Jack's feigned comic annoyance.

Lucille Ball's My Favorite Husband, the radio predecessor to TV's I Love Lucy, was another popular program sponsored by Jell-O for much of its 124-episode run, beginning January 7, 1949.

Later shows like Mad TV, The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live parody Cosby, using Jell-O references like "pudding pop".

Also, in the first few seasons of the first of Lucille Ball's two 1960s television series, The Lucy Show, cast members including Vivian Vance often did commercials for Jell-O.

[31] Jell-O is mentioned in the 1936 popular song "A Fine Romance" by Dorothy Fields (with music by Jerome Kern), where it is humorously referred to as a mundane alternative to the excitement of romantic love.

[44] The culture of Utah, petitions by Utahns, and campaigning by students of Brigham Young University were also mentioned as reasons for recognizing Jell-O.

In the late 1980s, Jell-O had a marketing campaign promoting the snack and its Jigglers recipe as fun for children and easy for parents, which played well among family-oriented Mormons.