14 Surprising Things You Never Knew About Jell-O

Jell-O is a staple in homes across America, but do you actually know much about it? We all know it's squishy and tasty but for most of us, that's about all we know. Here are some interesting facts about the early years of Jell-O. This company has a very strange and not well-known history. 1. The first person to hold the patent for what would become Jell-O was Peter Cooper (not pictured) in 1845. He made a poor decision and sold it to Pearle B. Wait, a cough syrup manufacturer in 1897. Pearle then actually sold it in 1899 to his neighbor, Orator Frank Woodward (a high school dropout), who bought it for $450 (about $12,000 today). Ultimately Woodward became so rich it's unbelievable. 2. There were four original flavors of Jell-O — lemon, orange, strawberry, and raspberry — as detailed in this 1904 advertisement. 3. Jell-O began to take off in the early 1900s thanks to clever marketing and promotion. They would even give out free Jell-O molds to immigrants as they arrived at Ellis Island. Click Next To Read More 4. Jell-O commissioned art for ads by several famous artists, including Norman Rockwell. 5. And Maxfield Parrish. 6. As Jell-O increased in popularity, so too did a desire for gelatin salads (ew!) and so Jell-O began making savory versions in celery, seasoned tomato, and mixed vegetable flavors. 7. There are some pretty weird alternative uses for Jell-O. It can be sprinkled over cat litter, used as a hair or clothing dye, made into a finger paint, or used as an aid for ridding bathrooms of soap scum. Oh, and wrestling. Click Next To Read More 8. In Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 silent film, The Ten Commandments, Jell-O was used to aid in the parting of the sea effect. 9. In the 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz, the colorful horses in the Emerald City got their hues from Jell-O powders. 10. "March 17, 1993, technicians at St. Jerome Hospital in Batavia test a bowl of lime Jell-O with an EEG machine and confirm the earlier testing by Dr. Adrian Upton that a bowl of wiggly Jell-O has brain waves identical to those of adult men and women." Uhhhh. What??? Click Next To Read More 11. Jell-O has often been associated with Mormon culture. Kraft's sales figures from 1997 show that Salt Lake City residents consume more Jell-O than anywhere else in the U.S. 12. Scandal! When Elizabeth McNabb found out she was adopted and decided to search for her birth mother, she came up with Barbara Woodward (direct heir to the Jell-O fortune). Woodward had become pregnant with a married man and subsequently gave up the child for adoption. After Woodward's death in 2003, McNabb sued for a piece of the inheritance, which she finally got — $3.5 million — in 2007. 13. Some notable discontinued of both Jell-O classic and Jell-O puddings include: Bubble gum Cotton candy Coffee Cola Green apple Passion fruit Maple syrup Triple chocolate Plain (huh?) 14. Candy cane, however, is a flavor still in circulation. As are: margarita, butterscotch, pumpkin spice, pina colada, and orange ice cream. Credits: buzzfeed