
A Social History of Jello Salad - vinchuco
https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/history-of-jell-o-salad.html
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Djvacto
It's fascinating how it seems that the plethora of processed-instant food with
little nutritional content in the US seems to have been caused by the fact
that they didn't want to ramp down production. While I haven't researched it
super heavily, I've always felt like the US has been in a long-term Military-
Industrial complex, but never thought about how that would impact food/diet.

It's crazy to see just how much it's all connected.

>After the war, corporations that had begun producing instant and processed
food products to feed the troops were in no rush to slow production. They'd
profited on war contracts and were eager to continue their prosperity by
bringing new innovations onto the market.

~~~
nerdponx
_> After the war, corporations that had begun producing instant and processed
food products to feed the troops were in no rush to slow production. They'd
profited on war contracts and were eager to continue their prosperity by
bringing new innovations onto the market._

Am I the only one who is thoroughly incensed by this kind of thing?

~~~
djrogers
Possibly? The US military needed to feed it's soldiers during WW2 on the other
side of the globe. There were a lot of advances in food prepartaion, sotrage,
and manufacturing that came about in order to do this.

What are the alternatives here? Either the government builds the factories and
just shuts them down post war, or private companies can do it, in which case
they've got a factory at the end of the war - might as well use it...

It's not as if these are factories for chemical weapons or warplanes - it's
food..

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arkades
The whole bit about jellied foods being an aristocratic affair that requires a
significant kitchen staff doesn’t ring true. My family are/we’re Eastern
European serfs, and have always made these dishes. It requires little more
than throwing bones in a pot and leaving to simmer a while. It’s the same
process as making stock or broth, just with more bones.

~~~
pavel_lishin
Sure, but as someone whose mother makes holodets for special occasions, it
looks much different than the fancy colorful examples in the article - and our
version (and probably yours) aren't "clarified" as the article seems to imply
the fancy versions were.

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brightsize
Some vintage Jell-O ads:

[http://gogd.tjs-labs.com/table-view.php?product=JELL*O](http://gogd.tjs-
labs.com/table-view.php?product=JELL*O)

~~~
bb101
Excellent resource! Found this one from 1942 in a search for sugar: "LIFE
BEGINS ON DEXTROSE SUGAR". Scary stuff.

[http://gogd.tjs-labs.com/show-
picture?id=1154476215&size=FUL...](http://gogd.tjs-labs.com/show-
picture?id=1154476215&size=FULL)

~~~
dawnerd
Gesh, the tagline above it "The sun is the source of all energy... The energy
of sunshine is crystalized in Dextrose Sugar"

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mhb
The Gallery of Regrettable Food:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17443593](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17443593)

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jpatokal
Shortly after moving to the US in the late eighties, my mom signed up for a
cooking class.

The first dish they taught was... savoury Jell-O salad.

She never went back.

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zupzupper
Seems like they're due for a revival.

