The Greater Jell-O Recipe Book (G.F. Corporation, 1931)
I’m currently working on a big special collections project (it’ll be ready to roll in a few months, and you’re going to love it – stay tuned!). Today’s post, however, is about another set of items that are inadvertently crossing my path during my adventures in collections acquisitions. Specifically, hilarious historic cooking pamphlets. Like The Greater Jell-O Recipe Book. Because who doesn’t want to whip up a gelatinous Ham and Celery Loaf? Mmmmmmm.
I bought this for my personal collection. It’s a little 7up recipe pamphlet.
9 Ways to Spark Family Favorites (The Seven Up Company, 1948)
With a recipe for ham basted with 7up.
Or hey! 7up with milk for the kiddies???
As it turns out, Katie also had a small horde of these pamphlets, and we started rifling through them with gusto. Check out the During Scalomatic instructions. Honestly, I’m not sure if the woman’s expression on this is excitement or horror.
During Scalomatic Pressure Cooker (During Developments Inc., 1946)
Or how about New Cake Secrets? Because everyone already knows the old cake secrets.
New Cake Secrets (G.F. Corporation, 1931)
Here’s one of Katie’s favorites. Both for the title and the illustration. Those are some FIERCE skirt pleats. Apparently part of the standard uniform in Health Defense.
Meat in the Meal for Health Defense (National Live Stock and Meat Board, 1942)
And just in case you are needing 99 tempting pineapple treats…I wonder…did the 100th recipe not quite meet the “tempting” threshold…?
Ninety-Nine Tempting Pineapple Treats (Association of Hawaiian Pineapple Canners, 1924)
Here’s Some of My Favorite Good Things to Eat, a vision in plaid:
Some of My Favorite Things to Eat (Church & Dwight Inc., 1940)
Funny. In one of the illustrations, the mother’s waistline appears to be smaller than that of her her 6-year-old daughter. Also, call my picky, but last time I checked, sour milk was not listed under my top 5 “Good Things to Eat.”
There were quite a number of Jell-O pamphlets. Here’s the “Mordor” of Jell-O towers.
Jell-O Recipes Pamphlet (G.F. Corporation, 1934)
One the back cover, instructions to delicately inhale the bouquet of your freshly opened box of Jell-O. Which I never thought to do, honestly. But now I’m totally going to try it.
Another Jell-O pamphlet, this one from 1920.
Many Reasons for Jell-O (Genesee Pure Food Company, 1920)
I want to frame this center spread. The “Strawberry Brick” is giving me pause, however.
I save the best for last. This is a pamphlet for Spry, a product that is still going strong!
What Shall I Cook Today? (Lever Brothers Company, circa 1950)
The hilarity continues on the back. This is my favorite panel. Because I don’t know about you, but I do all my grocery shopping in a hat, lipstick, and white gloves.
As you can see, we had a paper bowl tunnel, a bumpy drinking straw “path,” green pipe cleaners acting as vine wickets, and a blue construction paper river. We used tagboard to make a bridge, as well as a ramp and an elevated pathway. At the bottom of the box lid are the “goals”…paper cup halves cut down to various heights. Want to fill things out a little? Add construction paper foliage:
You can also add fabric (or construction paper) flowers for some pops of color!
To play, drop a bouncy ball in anywhere, then navigate through the obstacles and foliage by tilting and turning your box top. The ball goes in a cup, you win! Bonus fun – use multiple balls at once, or play with one kid at each end of the box top!
Swoosh down the plastic table slopes in your magnificent snow tube, then grab a delicious cup of hot chocolate (enhanced with chocolate scratch-and-sniff stickers) at the sweetest little snow station in the universe – the Cocoa Chalet!
Snow tubes first! Cut the bottom off a tissue box, leaving 1″ sides on the box. Cut a circular tube shape out of tagboard or poster board. Decorate it, then hot glue (or tape) it to the top of the box. Next, flip the snow tube box over and glue two mini craft stick runners to the bottom – this will allow the tube to slide most effectively. Finally, hot glue (or tape) a large plastic button to the inside bottom of the box. This provides the weight that will send your tube zipping down the hill rather than slow-poking to a halt.
The tube rider is a toilet paper tube decorated with construction paper and markers. We added a felt scarf and a pair of mini pom-pom earmuffs as well. Did you recognize the red-cloaked rider on the right? That’s Little Red Skating Hood from this 
Your snow tubes are done, now for the slope! These were two, 6′ plastic tables we secured on stools. We’ve done exactly the same thing for this 
We took four, 60″ pieces of PVC pipe, and speared wads of 
Here’s the back of the chalet. As you can see, the whole thing is attached to a cake pad base. Oh, and the chimney is a bubble tea straw.
The hot chocolate was a little piece of brown construction paper curled into a 1oz plastic sample cup. I topped it off with some poly fill whipped cream, then added a chocolate scratch-and-sniff sticker so the cup would exude a chocolatey bouquet.
Hey! Do you want to see the most amazing hot chocolate in the world that I consume far too much of? Right here, my friend. Right