Jell-O is a dessert that is made by Kraft Foods for a number of gelatin desserts, including fruit gels, puddings and no-bake cream pies. The brand's popularity has led to it being used as a generic term for gelatin dessert across the U.S. and Canada.

Description[link]

Lime Jell-O

Jell-O is sold prepared (ready to eat) or in powder form, and is available in many different colors and flavors. The powder contains powdered gelatin and flavorings including sugar or artificial sweeteners. It is dissolved in very hot water, then chilled and allowed to set. Fruit, vegetables, whipped cream, or other ingredients can be added to make elaborate snacks that can be molded into various shapes. Jell-O must be refrigerated until served, and once set properly, it is normally eaten with a spoon.

There are also non-gelatin pudding and pie filling products under the Jell-O brand. To make pudding, these are cooked on stove top with milk, then either eaten warm or chilled until more firmly set. Jell-O also has an instant pudding product which is simply mixed with cold milk and then chilled. To make pie fillings, the same products are simply prepared with less liquid.

Although the word Jell-O is a brand name, it is commonly used in the United States as a generic and household name for any gelatin products.

History[link]

Gelatin, a protein produced from collagen extracted from the boiled bones, connective tissues, and intestines of animals, has been well-known and used for many years.

It was popularized in the Victorian era with spectacular and complex "jelly moulds". Gelatin was sold in sheets and had to be purified, which was very time-consuming. It also made gelatin desserts the province of the relatively well-to-do. In 1845, industrialist Peter Cooper (who built the first American steam-powered locomotive, the Tom Thumb), obtained a patent (US Patent 4084) for powdered gelatin.^[1][2]

Forty years later the formula was sold to a LeRoy, New York-based carpenter and cough syrup manufacturer, Pearle B. Wait. He and his wife May added strawberry, raspberry, orange and lemon flavoring to the powder and gave the product its present name in 1897.^[3] Unable to successfully market their concoction, in 1899 the Waits sold the business to a neighbor, Orator Francis Woodward, for $450.

Even Woodward struggled to sell the powdered product. Beginning in 1902, to raise awareness, Woodward's Genesee Pure Food Company placed advertisements in the Ladies' Home Journal proclaiming Jell-O to be "America's Most Famous Dessert." Jell-O remained a minor success until 1904, when Genesee Pure Food Company sent enormous numbers of salesmen out into the field to distribute free Jell-O cookbooks, a pioneering marketing tactic at the time.^[4] Within a decade, three new flavors, chocolate (discontinued in 1927), cherry and peach, were added, and the brand was launched in Canada. Celebrity testimonials and recipes appeared in advertisements featuring actress Ethel Barrymore and opera singer Ernestine Schumann-Heink.

In 1923, the newly rechristened Jell-O Company launched D-Zerta, an artificially sweetened version of Jell-O. Two years later, Postum and Genesee merged, and in 1927 Postum acquired Clarence Birdseye's frozen foods company to form the General Foods Corporation. By 1930, there appeared a vogue in American cuisine for congealed salads, and the company introduced lime-flavored Jell-O to complement the various add-ins that cooks across the U.S. were combining in these aspics and salads. By the 1950s, these salads would become so popular that Jell-O responded with savory and vegetable flavors such as celery, Italian, mixed vegetable and seasoned tomato. These savory flavors have since been discontinued.

In 1934, sponsorship from Jell-O made comedian Jack Benny the dessert's spokesperson.^[5] At this time also was introduced a jingle (created by the agency Young & Rubicam^[6]) that would be familiar over the next several decades, in which the spelling "J-E-L-L-O" was (or could be) sung over a rising five-note musical theme.

In 1936, chocolate returned to the Jell-O lineup, this time as an instant pudding made with milk. It proved enormously popular and over time other pudding flavors were added such as vanilla, tapioca, coconut, pistachio, butterscotch, egg custard, flan and rice pudding.

New flavors continued to be added and unsuccessful ones were removed: in the 1950s and 1960s, apple, black cherry, black raspberry, grape, lemon-lime, mixed fruit, orange-banana, pineapple-grapefruit, blackberry, strawberry-banana, tropical fruit and more intense "wild" versions of the venerable strawberry, raspberry and cherry. In 1966, the Jell-O "No-Bake" dessert line was launched, which allowed a cheesecake to be made in 15 minutes. In 1971 packaged prepared pudding called Jell-O Pudding Treats were introduced. During this same period, 1-2-3 Jell-O, a gelatin dessert that separated into three layers as it cooled, was unveiled. Until 1987, 1-2-3 Jell-O could readily be found in grocery stores throughout most of the United States, but the dessert is now extremely rare. Jell-O Whip 'n Chill, a mousse-style dessert, was also introduced and widely promoted; it also remains available only in limited areas today.

In 1964, the slogan "There's always room for Jell-O" was introduced, promoting the product as a "light dessert" that could easily be consumed even after a heavy meal.

In 1974, comedian Bill Cosby became the company's pudding spokesperson, and continued to serve as the voice of Jell-O for almost thirty years. Over the course of his tenure as the mouthpiece for the company, he would help introduce new products such as frozen Jell-O Pops (in both gelatin and pudding varieties); the new Sugar-Free Jell-O, which replaced D-Zerta in 1984 and was sweetened with NutraSweet; Jell-O Jigglers concentrated gummi snacks; and Sparkling Jell-O, a carbonated version of the dessert touted as the "Champagne of Jell-O." In 2010, Cosby returned as Jell-O spokesperson in an on-line web series called "OBKB."^[7]

In 1989, General Foods was merged into Kraft Foods by parent company Philip Morris (now the Altria Group). New flavors were continually introduced: watermelon, blueberry, cranberry, margarita and piña colada among others. In 2001, Green Jell-O was declared the "Official State Snack" of Utah, with Governor Michael O. Leavitt declaring an annual "Jell-O Week."^[8] During the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the souvenir pins included one depicting green Jell-O.^[9]

As of 2008^[update], there are more than 158 products sold under the Jell-O brand name and about 300 million boxes of Jell-O gelatin sold in the United States each year.

Jell-O is also used as a substantial ingredient in a well-known dessert, a "Jell-O mold" the preparation of which requires a mold designed to hold gelatin, and the depositing of small quantities of chopped fruit, nuts, and other ingredients before it hardens and takes on its typical form. Fresh pineapple, papaya, kiwi, and ginger root cannot be used because they contain enzymes that prevent the gelatin from "setting."

Jell-O shots[link]

A popular alternative recipe calls for the addition of an alcoholic beverage to the mix, contributing approximately one third to one half of the liquid added after the gelatin has been dissolved in the boil.^[10] A serving of the resulting mixture is typically called a "Jell-O shot" at parties. The quantity and timing of the addition of the alcohol are vital aspects; it is not possible to make Jell-O shots with only alcohol:

Dry gelatin is composed of colloidal proteins. These proteins form chains that require hot water to denature them, so that they can then reform as a semisolid colloidal suspension incorporating the added water. Pure alcohol cannot be heated (without evaporation) enough to initially break down the proteins.^[11]

Vodka or rum is commonly used in Jell-O shots, but the shots can be made with almost any type of alcohol. It is important to adjust the proportions of alcohol and cold water to ensure that the mixture set when experimenting with different types of alcohol. The Jell-O shots can be served in shot glasses or small paper cups; using the paper cups makes it easier for the people to eat it, but shot glasses are more attractive. The alcohol in Jell-O shots is contained within the Jell-O, so the body absorbs it slower causing people to underestimate how much alcohol they have consumed. Drinkers must monitor their intake because of this. ^[12]

Manufacturing and tourism[link]

Jell-O Museum, Le Roy NY, August 2010

As of 2008^[update], LeRoy, New York, is still known as the home of Jell-O and has the only Jell-O Museum in the world, which is located on the main road through the small town. Jell-O was manufactured here until General Foods closed the plant in 1964 and relocated manufacturing to Dover, Delaware.^[2] The Jell-O Gallery museum is operated by the Le Roy Historical Society and located at the Le Roy House and Union Free School, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.^[13]

At the museum, visitors can learn about the history of the dessert from its inception. Visitors starting on East Main Street, follow Jell-O Brick Road, whose stones are inscribed with the names of former factory employees. The museum offers looks at starting materials for Jell-O, such as sturgeon bladder and calves' hooves, and various molds.

The Jell-O plant in Mason City Iowa, produces America's entire supply of ready to eat Jell-O gelatin dessert and pudding cups.

Current flavors[link]

The following are the flavors of Jell-O products that are currently being produced:^[14]

Gelatin[link]

Pudding[link]

^a Also available in a sugar free/low calorie product.
^b Available seasonally.
^c Only available as a prepared product.

Discontinued flavors[link]

Advertising[link]

Jack Benny's top-rated radio show did not break away for commercials. Instead, his announcer, Don Wilson, incorporated speeches about Jell-O into the program at appropriate places, to Jack's feigned comic annoyance. Lucille Ball's My Favorite Husband, the radio predecessor to TV's I Love Lucy, was another popular program sponsored by Jell-O for much of its 124-episode run.

Comedian Bill Cosby is usually associated with Jell-O and, more famously, Jell-O pudding as he has appeared in many commercials promoting both. Shows like MAD TV, The Simpsons and SNL parody Cosby, using Jell-O references like "pudding pop". In the 1960s, the cast of the sitcom Hogan's Heroes did a commercial with Carol Channing featuring Colonel Hogan, his men, Kommandant Klink and Sergeant Shultz having Jell-O and Dream Whip for dessert. Also, during the first few seasons of the first of Lucille Ball's two 1960s television series, The Lucy Show, cast members including Vivian Vance often did commercials for Jell-O.

In 1995, Jell-O carried the tagline "It's alive!" and had the phrase "J-E-L-L-OOOOOOO!".

Other[link]

In 1992, Ivette Bassa won the second ever Ig Nobel Prize in chemistry for inventing blue Jell-O.^[15][16]

See also[link]

• Mormon Corridor – also known as the "Jell-O Belt"
• Jello salad
• List of generic and genericized trademarks
• Aeroplane jelly
• Jello Biafra

Gallery[link]

• 

  Original Jell-O Factory, Le Roy NY, August 2010

• 

  Original Jell-O Factory Historic Marker, Le Roy NY, August 2010

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Kraft Jell-O website
• Upstate, Where It Was First Made, Unwavering Devotion to Jell-O New York Times May 4, 2008
• Thoughts on Jell-O With Antioxidants
• Jell-O Gallery, Le Roy Historical Society, Le Roy, NY
• How to Make Jello

Rye Rye
Rye Rye at WMC 2009 in Miami, Florida
Background information
Birth name	Ryeisha Berrain
Also known as	Rye Rye
Born	November 25, 1990 (1990-11-25) (age 21)
Origin	Baltimore, Maryland, US
Genres	Hip hop, Electrohop
Occupations	Rapper, Dancer
Years active	2000s
Labels	N.E.E.T./Interscope
Associated acts	M.I.A., Blaqstarr, Diplo, Robyn, Crookers, The Count & Sinden
Website	Rye Rye Myspace Rye Rye official website

Ryeisha Berrain (born November 25, 1990), known by her stage name Rye Rye, is an American rapper, dancer and actress from Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Signed to N.E.E.T. Recordings, she released Go! Pop! Bang! on May 15, 2012. In early 2009, MSNBC listed Rye Rye as one of the "5Top: Top of the pops! Up-and coming young singers."^[1] In 2011, Rye Rye was named one of Billboard 's "21 Under 21".^[2] Rye Rye made her acting debut in the 2012 film 21 Jump Street.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Rye Rye began performing at the age of 16.^[3] She wanted to join the music industry because she felt there was potential there, adding "I love performing, singing, dancing, all of that and I felt that given the opportunity I would destroy it."^[4]

She met the musician Blaqstarr, a friend of her sister's, and worked with him on her early material after leaving a rap verse on his answering machine. On this process she notes "I used to like to write poetry and stories. One day I was home, bored, and started to compose songs."^[5]

Her song "Shake It To The Ground," produced in collaboration with Blaqstarr, was a club hit in 2006, leading to local speculation that Rye Rye could be a fresh, new female success within hip hop music.^[6] A meeting between Rye Rye, M.I.A. and Diplo in a studio in 2006/2007 was arranged by Blaqstarr after the song caught M.I.A.'s attention. Blaqstarr had told Rye Rye somebody wanted to meet her, but refused to say more. Although upon meeting them Rye Rye did not know who they were, M.I.A. told the rapper that she had been looking for her.^[7][8][9] At the time, Rye Rye was in her junior year at Dr. Samuel L. Banks High School.^[10] She toured with M.I.A. during the KALA Tour in fall and winter of 2007, which included opening for her during the CMJ Music Marathon and dates in the United Kingdom in 2007, the People Vs. Money Tour in early 2008 and briefly with Afrikan Boy.^{[3][10][11][12]} They both appeared in M.I.A.'s 2007 music video for the song "Paper Planes."

[edit] Go! Pop! Bang!

Rye Rye is the first artist signed to M.I.A.'s record label N.E.E.T., imprint of Interscope Records.^[8][13][14] Her debut album, titled Go! Pop! Bang! was set to come out in March 2009, but its release was delayed. In the interim, she recorded guest verses for other songs. She performed the song "Get it from my Mama" with Blaqstarr and M.I.A. in live performances; other recordings completed but not confirmed for her album included "Gangsta Girl" with Zakee, "Bang" with M.I.A., "Wassup Wassup" with DJ Diplo, "Hardcore Girls" with The Count & Sinden and "Reasons" as well as "Older Man", a song about falling in love with someone twice your age, and "Quit Swinging."^[5][9][15] A music video for "Shake It To The Ground" was made.^[16] Rye Rye appears on M.I.A.'s remix of Busy Signal's "Tic Toc"^[8][17] and she performed in Sweden in summer of 2008, featuring on the rapclash remix of Adrian Lux's single "Strawberry". She features on a remix of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" with Afrikan Boy, which she performed during her 2007 live dates on the Kala Tour and appears on the Paper Planes - Homeland Security Remixes EP.^[18] In an interview with Nylon during the making of "Bang", M.I.A. described Rye Rye as "the voice of Baltimore".^[19] Rye Rye also worked with The Neptunes while recording her debut. In October 2008, she performed the song "Paper Planes" with Pharrel Williams and a pregnant M.I.A. at the Diesel XXX party at Pier 3 in Brooklyn.^[20]

Rye Rye is featured on the Crookers debut album, Tons of Friends, rapping on the track, "Hip Hop Changed". Rye Rye also appears on a track by Tel-aviv based Soulico called "Exotic On The Speaker". Rye Rye is featured on the track "Have You Heard?" by Ceci Bastida. She song "X Girl" for the electro-duo Teenage Bad Girl's second album "Backwash". Rye Rye's single "Bang" (featuring M.I.A.) appeared on the Fast & Furious motion picture soundtrack, and she released her M.I.A.-directed video for the track in 2009. Rolling Stone called the track "gloriously showoffy". Rye Rye's performance at SXSW in 2010 was well received by critics and festival goers.^[21] She performed at the Winter Music Conference in Miami before opening for indie rock band The Gossip in April 2010.

On February 9, 2011 at midnight, Rye Rye put up her highly anticipated pre-album mixtape, RYEot PowRR for download, along with a video to her remix of Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A.."^[22] After several date changes, an official release date for Go! Pop! Bang! was announced for February 22, 2011. However, the album did not come out and is presently slated for a Fall 2011 release.^[23] Rye Rye performed at the 2010 Alexander Wang fashion week after party. The first single to be lifted from her debut album Go! Pop! Bang! entitled "Sunshine", was released on October 5 and leaked online a day earlier. A music video with M.I.A. was shot in September 2010, and released on October 8. Rye Rye has recently joined M.I.A. to perform on her tour of international shows in 2010.^[24]

On June 7, 2011, she released a second single "Never Will Be Mine" featuring Robyn. The video featuring the two artists premiered on June 15, 2011 and after two days, had been viewed 2,740,998 times. The song reached number 12 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs.^[25] Rye Rye also toured with Robyn, as well as Katy Perry and LMFAO on arena shows.^[26]

Rye Rye released her single "New Thing" in 2011, which showcases and soundtracks fashion designer Prabal Gurung's collection and the 2011 "Women Go All In" Adidas advert. In April 2012, her single "Boom Boom" reached number 8 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs.^[27]

Acting[link]

Rye Rye appeared in the film 21 Jump Street and co-wrote its main theme with Esthero.

Artistry[link]

Style and inspiration[link]

The LA Times described her music as a "hardcore club sound."^[28] Rye Rye collaborated on the album with executive producer, co-writer and stylist M.I.A., whom Rye Rye described as her fashion icon. Rolling Stone described Go! Pop! Bang! as "the hip-hop album most likely to set the club on fire" while Paper stated the album "will take over car stereos one impossibly ear-catching kinetic party jam at a time." Bust described her debut album as "Baltimore grime at its best." She told Rap-Up TV that she was also a fan of clothing designer Jeremy Scott.^[28][29]

Speaking of the ease at which writing her lyrics comes to her, Rye Rye notes that listening to her songs' beats repeatedly in the studio helps her to focus.^[30] Rye Rye has spoken of her intention to work with Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Rihanna and Jay Z as well as a Disney Channel artist to reach out to child audiences. She says, "Of course I want to work with artists that can dance so in saying that I have to say that Ciara is someone I really want to work with, as that girl have moves. Not forgetting Ms. Missy Elliott of course as I think her videos are crazy."^[4]

Influence[link]

Rye Rye is the muse of fashion designer Prabal Gurung.^[31] Music critics have noted similarities between the style of the music video in the song "What You Talking About!?" by Redlight, featuring Ms. Dynamite, with that of M.I.A. and Rye Rye.^[32]

Personal life[link]

Pursuing her music career, Rye Rye has also expressed interest in attending college to study child care.^[3][33] Although Rye Rye was slated be part of the A-Trak tour, she had to pull out as she was expecting her first child.^[34][35] She had a baby girl, Kennidi Malaysia Battle, with boyfriend Evan Battle on September 30, 2009.^[10]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Go! Pop! Bang! (2012)

Mixtapes[link]

• RYEot PowRR (2011)

Singles[link]

• "Bang" (featuring M.I.A.) (2009)
• "Sunshine" (featuring M.I.A.) (2010)
• "Never Will Be Mine" (featuring Robyn) (2011)
• "New Thing" (2011)
• "Boom Boom" (2012)

As featured artist[link]

• "Shake It To The Ground" (2007) (Blaqstarr featuring Rye Rye)
• "Paper Planes (Blaqstarr remix)"(M.I.A. featuring Rye Rye and Afrikan Boy)
• "Hardcore Girls" (2008) (The Count & Sinden featuring Rye Rye)
• "Wassup Wassup" (2008) (Diplo featuring Rye Rye)
• "Lovely" (2009) (Johnny Spanish featuring Rye Rye)
• "Exotic On The Speaker" (2009) (Soulico featuring Rye Rye)
• "Hip Hop Changed" (2010) (Crookers featuring Rye Rye)
• "Kawaii" (2011) (Missill featuring Rye Rye)
• "X Girl" (2011) (Teenage Bad Girl featuring Rye Rye)
• "Jello" (2011) (Far East Movement featuring Rye Rye)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rye Rye official website
• Rye Rye at Interscope