LEROYPENNYSAVER&NEWS - SEPTEMBER 7, 2014
Jell-OGallery To The Rescue
byLynneBelluscio
I took the phone call. “This
is Candice Choi. I’m a reporter
for
Associated Press
. Can I
talk to you about the history of
Jell-O?” “Sure. What do you
want toknow?”Andsowe talked
for about twenty minutes. The
usual information – everything
I can cram into twentyminutes.
Then she said, “Jell-O saleshave
declined recently. Have you
seen a decline in visitors at the
museum?” “Certainly not this
year. Attendancedipped the last
couple of years, but it is directly
linked to the amount of money
I spend for advertising and this
year, attendance is back up. But
I can tell you, that for the most
part, the people that visit here,
love Jell-O and if they haven’t
had Jell-O lately, they leave
saying they’re going home to
make some. Most of themwish
we had samples, or ask why we
don’t sell Jell-O.”
On Friday, August 22,
As-
sociatedPress
released the story
and the entireworld learned that
Jell-O sales had slipped 19% in
the last four years. I had a call
from a radio station in Canada.
“You know, Jell-O is Canada’s
Most Famous Dessert,” I said,
“Andonlyacoupleof years after
Jell-Owas introduced inLeRoy,
it was being manufactured and
distributed in Canada. Canada
has one of my favorite flavors
- - Granny Smith Apple Jell-O.
- -Andno I don’t know anything
about slumping sales. We really
concentrate on the history of
Jell-O and we aren’t part of the
Jell-OCompany.”
That night I went home and
kept thinking, there’s got to be a
way tomake something good of
this. Already folks were coming
in to tell us that they learned
about themuseumbecauseof the
AP article. - - Something about
any publicity is good publicity.
So Iwent toTops and bought 80
boxesofJell-Oandpostedasign.
The boxes flew off the shelf and
the next day I went to Batavia
and bought more at Walmart
and discovered several different
flavors. I had to go back again
the next day.
Folkswereelated tofind Island
Pineapple and Cranberry and
went homewith several boxesof
their favoriteflavors.Agroupof
foreignexchangestudentsbought
boxes of Lime. I have made
arrangements with Walmart to
buy Jell-Oby thecase, but itwill
be two weeks before the order
arrives.So Iwentup toBrockport
and hitWalmart andWegman’s.
(Myapologies to the folksbehind
me in line.)
In the meantime, we have
arranged the boxes of Jell-O
according to the
year that they
were introduced:
1897 Strawberry,
Raspberry, Lemon,
Orange; 1904
Cher ry; 1907
Peach; 1930 Lime;
1956 Grape and
Black Cherry;
1961 Strawberry-
Banana; 1978
Apricot ; 1992
Berry Blue; 1993
Watermelon; 1994
Cranberry; 1996
Island Pineapple.
The newest flavors
areMango, Cherry
Lemonade and the
“Fusion” flavors
(whatever thatmeans).
We also offer several Sugar-
Free Jell-O flavors. Jell-O has
offered sugar-free favors since
1925when it introducedDiabetic
Jell-O also calledDezerta.
WhenJell-Owas introduced in
1897, it cost 10centsabox. Idid
an Internet search to determine
howmuch that10centboxwould
cost today and was amazed to
discover, itwould cost $2.50. So
Jell-O is really quite a bargain
today.
TheAP article cited yogurt as
infringing on the popularity of
Jell-O – which considering the
fact that Batavia is producing
“tons”ofyogurt - -givesa ironic
twist to the story. I think Jell-O
needs to promote recipes that
use Jell-O and yogurt. Why not
shake some powdered Jell-O on
youryogurt. Infact,wearegiving
away Jell-O and yogurt recipes.
(I remember as a kid, shaking
powdered Jell-O on cottage
cheese - -sounds sogood, I think
I’ll get some cottage cheese
tomorrow and try some of that
IslandPineapple on top. Yum!)
We hope to sell Jell-O from
nowon, and I amkickingmyself
thatwedidn’thave itonourselves
before. So if you are looking for
the illusive Cranberry or Island
Pineapple andWatermelon, stop
byandbuy.We justmightbeable
to make Jell-OAmerica’s Most
FamousDessert again!
One of the easiest yogurt and
Jell-O recipes:
One cup boilingwater
One cup non-fat (or regular)
yogurt
1 3 oz pkg of Jell-O
Pour all ingredients into blender
andmix
Pour into dishes and refrigerate
Another recipe for Jell-O and
Yogurt piefilling
Mix 32 oz non-fat yogurt
with large box of Jell-O. Put
into microwave and heat 1
½ minutes. Take out and stir
thoroughly. Return tomicrowave
for 1 minute. Pour into graham
cracker pie crust and refrigerate.
