What? You didn’t think I was serious?
Jell-o, a nineteen-twenties aesthetic…and Joan Crawford in Our Dancing Daughters, circa 1928, a naughty, scandalous flapper…
Madcap youth!
The 1950’s, a changing aesthetic, and Jell-o UNLEASHED:
One of my favorite films of all time about the birth of talkies, Singin’ in the Rain, released in 1952 and some astonishingly 1920’s REMINISCENT wardrobe, but the palette, hm… It looks just like Technicolor J— – –
And, it’s still one of the sexiest dances in the history of cinema:
god, the jello salads! they were a course at every family event’s meal at our house
As a child I was kind of ape for them, our house knew not Jell-o. That and Cool Whip – forbidden! SO, of course, I LOVED it.
Okay, you got me with that one. Yep, I grew up with jello salads. So glad those days are over.
A friend had a retro-dinner and served a multi-tiered Jell-o salad. I heaped it on my plate in anticipation of childhood delight, and instead BLECH.
Great post. Lots of laughs. Jello-salad — ugh!
The link between ad art and the same era’s movies just jumped out at me…
There’s always room for Jell-O!
I think we’re of the same vintage, when we meet we’ll have to sing each other all the ad jingles lodged in our 1960 baby-minds 😉 .
Jell-O salads! Only in America! That picture looks ab-so-lute-ly and fab-u-lous-ly DIS-GUS-TING… 🙂 It wouldn’t be out of place in some sequel to The Blob (and not the one directed by Larry Hagman!), paging Steve(n) McQueen! “Jen, she got me thinking about Jell-o in the first place”, now, Ms Vickie, that’s not a phrase you hear every day… Bwahahaha!
Great post and I love the stream of consciousness linking of the images, so inspired, and gosh, that Jell-O green dress from Singin’, you are brilliant!
What do they call it on the other side of the pond? Calf’s foot jelly? 😉 . You are too kind!
I have no sympathy for gelatin at all, in any iteration, but Jell-O has got to be the worst use of an already disgusting product. Gross! Although for my money I would eat the top (red) version ten times over before I would take even a nibble of the green thing on the bottom.
You mean the version with sliced pimento stuffed olives and cubes of Velveeta? Oh golly, suddenly I DO feel a bit queasy!
Haha, yes! Just reading the description sickens me a little. I hate olives, and the thought of eating them whilst they are trapped in green Jell-O…ugh!
Jello shots? Well, apparently I am the only one that was game! Especially as that freaky green one had olives in it. Who knows, maybe it was a massive quivering mass of martini Jello? My, now that would have been a hit on T-day, wouldn’t it?
My WT Grandma (I will leave it to you to translate) was the Queen of the most repulsive Jaylo salads. I don’t even know how she did the light green one with cottage cheese and nuts but shiver me timbers…
Oooo, martini gelatine mold…I’ve made a mojito one before. It was pretty good.
Though veg does not really belong in Jello. Or meat. That’s just wrong. Some of the recipes in my vintage Jell-o books… *shudder*
Yes, Vickie, and it’s made with real calf’s feet with a bit of calf’s brain for texture! Ahahaha! George, er, Hal, er, George Pal?! Blame it on the virus!
Oh god jello salad. I had many a jello salad as a kid…it was practically a jiggle epidemic in every kitchen in Southern California in the 1950’s.
And Joan… as a flapper. Poor thing she as as much talent as a dancer as Francis the Talking Mule… I mean have you seen her dance with Fred Astaire? Not to mention that early talky where she does the Charleston. I need a jello shot and a nap to get over just thinking about it.
Very clunky (ohhh and that routine with Mr. Astaire, OUCH), the only modern corollary I can think of is Madonna 😉 .
“Francis the Talking Mule”! Bwahahaha! Hilarious! Welcome back, Lanier. Vickie may be putting up a few things on Joanie soon from, er, me, so keep ’em peeled tho’ anything good in those posts’ll be down to Ms Lester. 🙂
Well George, my frequent contributor, thank you, and I’ll get on it!
Jello salad? Available in 6 different flavours? What have I missed?
Lemon, lime, raspberry, orange, cherry, strawberry 😉 . Now, if it came in Mango maybe it would regain my faith.
🙂
Ha! Thanks, I think. Some of you all need to learn to have fun in the kitsch-en. 😉 And for what it’s worth, my cranberry gelatine salad (made with the plain gelatine, not Jell-o) was a big hit at every Christmas party I brought it to. An empty plate and requests for the recipe were the only things that came home!
Hope you’re feeling better, Vickie. Think we had the same sickness, and it was a doozy!
I AM feeling better and hope the same for you! Your Christmas cranberry gelatine extravaganza sounds right up my alley 🙂 .
yiiiiiiikessssss.
russian housewives make them today still. and they found a way to make weapons of liver destruction from that. they put gelatine into mayonnaise. like so: http://mayonesa-nax.livejournal.com/510569.html
but now the meat. miss c. looked so different there. I think it’s my preferred look of her. don’t know why 😉
Mayonnaise AND gelatine sounds TOXIC, oh lord, and so unappetizing.
Ms. C, when she was just a youngster who liked to party and not a hardened alcoholic…
oh, so it was probably the hardened alcoholic I didn’t like 🙂