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by Robrt L. Pela
I know—it’s too easy, right? Pulling a recipe from an old Jell-O cookbook is like shooting fish in a barrel. I figured I’d open to any page and just start transcribing, but the page I opened to first was this double-truck of a Jell-O party, circa 1967, and I knew there’d be no recipe from me here this week. Because nothing, not Topaz Parfait or Ring Around the Fruit Mold or even Jellied Avocado Ring moved me more than this shocking illustration from The New Joys of Jell-O.
I suppose it’s possible that swinging Sixties folk got all dressed up in the middle of the day to eat stuff that had been suspended in artificially-flavored, rainbow-hued gelatin. Perhaps if one was too old to drop acid, this is what one did of a Sunday: donned evening wear and dropped in on friends who’d had the kicky inspiration to serve black-and-white-striped parfaits, a colossal bowl of Lemon Chiffon Surprise, and an enormous platter overflowing with Two-Layer Quick-Cranberry Apple Mold.
I love the bumblebee dress on the gal on the far left. And is that Fannie Flagg on the far right? Whoever she is, she doesn’t look happy.
