Thanksgiving Dinner - Another Helping of Jello

Kate Smith holding a cup of Jello like it just might explode at any moment. Yes, please eat cow hooves, now I'll go back to my caviar. Kate had a radio hour program from 1937 through 1945, but I doubt she ate any Jello during that time.

Thanksgiving Dinner - Jello

Jello, bane of school lunches, wiggly wrong on the dinner table, it's hard to imagine gelatin as a special treat during the holidays as General Foods would have you believe in this 1945 ad. Then there are the flavor combinations, harbingers of the horrifying aspics that would show up in the 1950's. Ever envision combining cinnamon toast with chocolate pudding? How about butterscotch and peppermint candy?

To me, the most interesting part of this ad is the little statement down in the lower left corner. "When the sugar shortage eases..." In 1945, even with the war at its end, rationing hadn't stopped. The American consumer was waiting for the salad years, waiting for the time when the world's larder would reopen and everyone could have Jello pudding.