Jell-O - This giggly dessert was invented in 1897 when May Wait, a housewife from LeRoy, New York purchased the rights of an existing powdered gelatin and added sugar to the mix. In 1899 Jell-O® was sold to Orator Woodward who successfully marketed Jell-O to the American public. When Jell-O celebrated its 100th anniversary in May of 1997, Jay Leno of THE TONIGHT SHOW commented "If it wasn't for Jell-O...hundreds of female wrestlers would be out of work."

Today, Jell-O (now owned by Kraft Foods) is known as "America's Most Famous Dessert." Oh yeah, don't forget the company's trademark slogan: "There's Always Room for Jell-O."

Over the years, Jell-O has been the focus of numerous TV commercials. An early Jell-O commercial produced by Young and Rubicam Advertising Agency in 1957 was entitled "Prancing Boy." It featured an animated drawing of a little boy (drawn by Maurice Sendak) dancing about a field of flowers, riding a pony made out of a Jell-O box; scribbling the words lemon and banana on a wall with a crayon; and singing "Banana, manana, oh I love banana..."

Vintage Jell-O Print Advertisements

In the 1970s and 1980s comedian Bill Cosby starred in a series of successful Jell-O® TV ads (Young & Rubicam, 1975) that hawked the creamy goodness of Jell-O puddings as well as their dee-licious Puddin' Pops.

In 2001, Bill Cosby traveled to Utah (those folks love their Jell-O) and petitioned legislators at a joint convention of the Utah State Legislature to vote for a resolution that proclaimed Jell-O gelatin the Official Snack of Utah. Jell-OH!

TRIVIA NOTE: For the history of Jell-O check out The Jell-O Museum. See also - "Jell-O Baby" & VULNERABILITIES: "Jell-O"