LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - MARCH 8, 2020 by Lynne Belluscio Mydaily triviapopped up with the question – Which National Park was established on this day in 1872? The answer of course, was Yellowstone. By an act of Congress, a “public park or pleasuring- ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people” was established in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming. It was the first National Park and was placed “under exclusive control of the Secretary of the Interior.” President Ulysses Grant signed the bill. Although some people might think that Yosemite was the first national park, it was in fact established as a state park in California before it was put under the protection of the National Park Service. As I mentioned in an earlier article, a couple of months ago, I was contacted by a man in Oklahoma, who wanted to know if the Jell-O museum had the original Yellowstone painting which was used for the “Jell-O Girl in America” series of package inserts. I told him, unfortunately, no, that we had three in the series: The Jell-OGirl in the Grand Canyon; The Jell-OGirl at theMissions (California); and the Jell-O Girl in Yosemite. And unfortunately, we don’t know where the other nine are, including Yellowstone. When the Jell-O factory closed in 1964, employees were told to take any of the art home. The rest were given to the Historical Society. E a c h of the package inserts had a couple of recipes and short story about the Jell-O Girl’s visit. On her visit to Yellowstone, accompanied by her parrot, Polly, she tells about riding in a “coach” through the park. They had to stop because there was a family of bears in the road: “The curious od bear rose on his hind legs and peered, sniffing into the coach. Polly let out a scream of fright and got as far away as possible. The other passengers all looked rather nervous, but our little Jell-O Girl drew frim her bag a large ripe banana. The bear smelled it, grasped it in one of his large paws and then, satisfied, dropped on all fours and trotted to the side of the road. The two little bears, seeing something to eat, scrambled up and ran after him and the mother bear slowly followed after her children.” The Jell-OGirl stays at the Yellowstone hotel and goes to visit Old Faithful. “As they watched there came a dull rumble under the earth, then a loud report, and with a magnificent roar a column of steaming water rose high in the air before their astonished eyes.” None of the paintings are signed and we continue to try to learn more about the artist, who applied paint with a pallet knife. The colors are bold and colorful but all three paintings need to be cleaned. The Jell-O Girl at the Grand Canyon needs major restoration and the paintings are now at Westlake Conservators in Skaneateles. They will be examined and we will receive an estimate for conservation so they can be put back on exhibit. It will cost several thousand dollars to complete the project. Two years ago, we applied for a state grant to help defray the cost, but the application was denied because we asked for funds for all three pieces. So, we will see what happens this year. As for the location of the Jell-O Girl at Yellowstone, we have no clues. If it is indeed out there somewhere, there is a good chance that whoever has it, doesn’t know that it is a Jell-O painting, because there is nothing to suggest Jell-O. Unfortunately, I suspect, that it was thrown out long ago. All we have are the twelve little package inserts. On This Day – March 1, 1872