Seniors from Westwood Commons, a DePaul Senior Living Community in North Chili, took a trip into the past during a recent visit to the Jell-O Gallery Museum in LeRoy.
“America’s Favorite Dessert” was born in LeRoy in 1897, but it took many more years and a few changes in ownership before Jell-O really became a household name. Sam Nico purchased the company from Frank Woodward in 1899 for $35. Thanks to a successful marketing campaign, sales amounted to $250,000 within the first year of Nico purchasing it.
Succeeding years saw Jell-O change from a hand-packaged business to a highly mechanized factory, and become one of LeRoy’s most important industries. In 1925, it was sold to the Postum Cereal Company, Inc. which would eventually become General Foods Corporation.
Residents asked a lot of questions and took a lot of photos on the museum tour. They reminisced about memories from their childhood, including the theme song and some of the interesting recipes their mothers made using Jell-O. Each one was given a box of Jell-O as a souvenir.
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