Meet the Author

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The cookbook’s author is Genesee Pure Food Company, the owner of which was Francis Woodward. This company was founded in 1897, in LeRoy, New York, and originally produced a health drink called Grain-O. The Jell-O, however, was originally invented by Pearle Bixby Wait, who was a cough syrup manufacturer. Pearle Bixby Wait trademarked the dessert made of sugar and gelatin, creating the first flavours: lemon, orange, raspberry, and strawberry. He then sold it to Francis Woodward, whose company continued the production of this product under the name of Jell-O.

The Genesee Pure Food Company was originally not very successful at selling the newly introduced Jell-O. In order to promote it, advertisements were placed in various magazines, describing Jell-O as America’s Most Famous Dessert. In 1904, cookbooks were produced by the company, and salesmen distributed them for free. Within the next ten years, the Jell-O brand became available in Canada, and similar cookbooks were created, named Canada’s Most Famous Dessert. This cookbook is likely one of those first cookbooks, as it has the same title, and was published in 1924, around the time when these advertisements were appearing. Like the American version of the cookbook, this Canadian cookbook was meant to promote the product and to show Canadian housewives how multipurpose Jell-O is.

The Genesee Pure Food Company did not last long, as it was merged with another company called Postum, to form a new company called General Foods Corporation. Nevertheless, the Jell-O brand continued to be produces, regardless of the countless company changes, as well as the product itself undergoing many changes throughout the years. Many new flavours were created and discontinued since initial production of this item. Today, the Jell-O brand is produced by the Kraft Foods company.

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