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'There's Always Room' for Western New York’s Jell-O Museum

posted by Teresa Farrell at 2018-09-24 21:36:00

You’ve eaten it since you were a kid, and you’ve probably never met someone who hasn’t at least tried it. You can pour it in a mold or cut it into fun shapes with cookie cutters. You probably can’t even name a single brand competitor. But have you ever stopped to wonder what the story is behind the fruity, wiggly dessert staple we know as Jell-O? 


Well, there’s a place in Upstate New York where you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about Jell-O: the Jell-O Museum. The museum is located in Western New York, just 30 minutes from Rochester and 10 minutes from Batavia, in Le Roy, the birthplace of America’s Most Famous Dessert.


The museum pays tribute to all things Jell-O, from the origin story of its invention in Le Roy in 1897 to its place in pop culture throughout the ages. Here’s a short version: it all began with a cold remedy gone wrong. Pearle Wait, a carpenter in LeRoy, was experimenting with gelatin to make cough medicine and instead wound up with a fruity dessert that his wife May named Jell-O. He took this idea and ran with it, but didn’t have the funds or experience to make it work. Wait spent two years trying to market Jell-O before he sold the trademark and company to another local man, Orator Francis Woodward of the Genesee Pure Food Company, for only $450. From there, advertising and merchandising efforts made this dessert the star it is today. Jell-O salesmen took to the streets in horse-drawn carriages touting the product. There were billboards on every roadside, pictures and posters in windows all over the country, and magazine ads galore.  Soon, Jell-O was the household name we all know and love today.


At the Jell-O Museum, you can get the whole, in-depth scoop on the history of this iconic American dessert. Stroll through the museum to look at all sorts of artifacts from the early days of Jell-O, from original advertising art, magazine ads, and package inserts to molds, spoons, recipe books, toys, collectibles and other memorabilia. Tours are also available, and there’s a gift shop to check out as well.


So next time you’re in western New York, make sure to stop by and spend some time at the Jell-O Museum. After all, as the slogan goes: There’s always room for Jell-O!


PHOTO CREDITS
Jell-O mobile photo credit Lucy Gray via Flickr
Jell-O Museum Entrance photo credit Bev Sykes via Flickr
Jell-O boxes photo credit Bev Sykes via Flickr
Antique Jell-O molds photo credit jenn via Flickr
Jell-O advertising photo credit Bev Sykes via Flickr
Flavor line photo credit David Wilson via Flickr
 

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