Tag: dessert

Boomers Liked Dessert In An Instant

Jell-O products became a staple of many boomer households in the 1950s and ’60s. The company’s mixes were easy enough for kids to make and they were fun to eat. Plus, they  constantly tinkered with new flavors and mixes to keep boomer children happy.

Powdered puddings — which were basically flavored corn starch — were available as far back as the 1600s, but these packaged foods required cooking. Jell-O introduced their instant pudding — just add milk — in the 1930s.  For many boomers, this was their entry into cooking.

Looking to expand the Jell-O empire from gelatins and puddings, two new instant dessert mixes were introduced in the 1960s: Jell-O 1-2-3 and Whip ‘N Chill. Both required no cooking, so they were truly instant in the Space Age definition. Families embraced the idea of “Better Living Through Chemistry,” as the Dow Chemical Company used to advertise, so anything that carried the word “instant” was given serious consideration by consumers, despite having an unpronounceable ingredients list. Since the way had been paved by Tang, various companies jumped in with instant breakfast, instant oatmeal, instant mashed potatoes, revamped no-cook instant pudding and no-bake cheesecake mixes, too. It was all part of being modern, not to mention saving mom time in the kitchen — a prime advertising theme of the boomer era.

There was another factor involved, too. Families used to live close enough to one another in urban areas that extended families of aunts, cousins and grandmothers could often cook together. As a result, cooking knowledge and family recipes could be exchanged and more complex desserts were made, even when holidays weren’t approaching. Now that new boomer families were moving to the suburbs, moms found themselves alone in the kitchen. Mix in the beginning of moms returning to the workforce in the ’60s and ’70s and a ready-made market for anything instant became apparent.

Mister Boomer’s family didn’t eat dessert as a general rule; that was reserved for holiday meals. Nonetheless, there was a short window of a year or two in the early 1960s when Mister B’s mom was on a dessert kick. It may very well have been because of the instant mix availability, because when the family did have dessert, it was often a Jell-O gelatin or pudding.

Most of the time, Mister B’s sister served as the catalyst for new product purchases, so he believes it was Sister Boomer who convinced their father — the shopper-in-chief — to try Jell-O Whip ‘N Chill. It came in a variety of flavors, but to Sister Boomer, there could be only one: chocolate. Before Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published in 1961, “mousse” was pretty much unknown in the suburban boomer world. Now Jell-O, a trusted brand, was delivering an easy, instant “mousse-like” substance to the American boomer family masses without the fancy-schmancy French label.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-ATPdMaEsQ

As far as Mister B can recall, his family only had Whip ‘N Chill a few times. Mister B liked the sort-of malted milk chocolate taste, and, not knowing what a mousse was, found the texture was just OK. Sister Boomer liked it much more. Brother Boomer wasn’t one to get worked up over desserts — if it was available, he’d eat it, though he had been known to steal the hard skin off the top of pudding cups cooling in the refrigerator.

Mr. B does not recall whether his parents liked Whip ‘N Chill, so it’s hard to say whether they disliked it … or the cost being more than Jell-O pudding or gelatin was the deciding factor in not continuing to purchase the product.

The family’s encounter with Jell-O 1-2-3 was even shorter-lived than Whip ‘N Chill. This dessert mix was a late-comer to the party, being introduced in 1969. The idea was perfect to enthrall young children: an instant mix that separates into three layers as it cools. The bottom layer was Jell-O gelatin, the middle one was similar to Whip ‘N Chill and the top was a foamy concoction. The taste was unimpressive; the strawberry flavor could be described more as “red” than “strawberry.”  Since by then Mister B and his siblings were in high school and college, the novelty of it wasn’t enough to bring it home.

What experiences did you have with Jell-O Whip ‘N Chill and Jell-O 1-2-3, boomers?

Boomers Ate Their Just Desserts

For centuries, dessert in the Western World had primarily been the privilege of royalty and the merchant class. The working and lower classes reserved desserts for special celebrations and religious holidays, as ingredients were often expensive. As the middle class developed in the early 20th century, anytime-dessert found its way into American homes. The Depression seriously curtailed the trend, then just when North America was getting back on its footing, just when it looked like the trend would continue, World War II arrived. The rationing of sugar, butter, milk and eggs limited the making of traditional cakes and pies. The governments of the Allies wanted their people who remained on the homefront to maintain morale and their way of life, so they released a barrage of war-time recipes that helped promote substitute items like margarine. It was our parents and grandparents who lived through that time, bringing their newfound tastes and favorites with them after the War.

By the 1950s, American factories and technical ingenuity were humming once again. Processed foods of all types hit the markets, contributing to what food historians sometimes refer to as the worst food decade for Americans. But the timing was right for this “modern” cuisine: Women, having been employed during the War, now returned home and had babies in record numbers. The Space Age was soon to arrive and dreams of a modern future weaved their way into all aspects of 50s life, from furniture to cars, fashions to food. Our parents did not want the same things as their parents, and that also meant mothers of boomers were going to take advantage of any technological breakthrough that would be presented to them. As a result, dessert was not high on the list of things moms wanted to do for their families. While they would bake for hours for holidays, the everyday meal would be dessert-less if it wasn’t for the processed foods available.

Cake mixes, first introduced in the late 1940s, became a tastier convenience than the previous decade and ushered in a new definition of “from scratch.” Jell-O®, around since the late 1890s, started gaining national prominence in the 20s and 30s due to massive advertising campaigns and the branding of its famous name. The gelatin dessert was quick and inexpensive, so it was a nice fit for the housewife and mother of the fifties. As the middle class grew along with the country’s hope for a better tomorrow, the desire for “the good life” meant having your dessert, and eating it too.


Dig this crazy commercial from the 50s, man. The beat poetry-like narration and minimal linear drawing style really represents the era in advertising as well as food trends of the decade.

That same decade instant pudding was introduced, allowing for another quick taste of the dessert good life with minimal fuss. In fact, it was marketed as so easy to make even the children could do it. Mister Boomer certainly recalls making instant pudding, as well as the stove-top method of the regular pudding mixes. Instant pudding had the advantage of being a no-cook mix: just add cold milk and beat to a creamy consistency.

Throughout the fifties and sixties, women wanted convenience while families desired tasty treats. Every decade had its food fads, so when it comes to the dessert category for boomers, many recall what Mister Boomer can remember in his own household: Dessert wasn’t an everyday occurrence. On special occasions and holidays, there were pies and cakes; Mister Boomer’s mother specialized in pineapple cream and banana cream pies, and pineapple upside down cake, all staples of the era. Though not in a consistent manner, dessert in the Boomer household went in spurts of one week with, several weeks without, sometimes Tuesday, sometimes Wednesday. Mostly it was no dessert.

Mister Boomer’s parents reflected their generation in the dessert department. His father preferred a simple dish of fruit, which was more often than not, canned fruit cocktail in heavy syrup. It was thought of as a healthy alternative at the time. Boomer children will remember fighting over the one, or if you were lucky, two Marischino cherry halves in the can. Inevitably, the can contained mostly grapes. His dad would on occasion buy a can of Mandarin oranges, in step with the expansion of “ethnic” foods of the day.

Mister Boomer’s mother was a modern woman who wasn’t enthralled with spending hours in the kitchen. As a mother with a growing brood in the 50s and 60s, she ate a lot of cottage cheese. Served over a lettuce leaf or in a bowl with some fruit cocktail, it was her preferred dessert.

Jell-O gelatin and instant pudding were quite popular in the household, but unlike many homes of the day, Mister Boomer’s family did not eat “Jell-O salads” with any regularity. Every so often, a drained can of fruit cocktail was added to the mix, but it was more the exception rather than the rule. Mister Boomer’s sister loved cherry Jell-O above all the other flavors, despite the expansion of varieties introduced in the sixties. Both parents also succumbed to the commercial pitch of, “There’s always room for Jell-O!”

More than Jell-O, the Boomer children loved pudding. Jell-O had competitors, of course. In Mister Boomer’s area, that was primarily Royal pudding. Though the family tried it, they mostly stayed loyal to the Jell-O brand. In no time at all, it was the children who prepared the dessert. At that time, Jell-O had three pudding flavors: Vanilla, chocolate and Butterscotch. Mister Boomer’s sister led the way, and she wanted chocolate. Mister Boomer also enjoyed the Butterscotch pudding. It wasn’t long, though, before the Boomer children preferred the original cooked pudding to the instant variety, though that meant making it sooner and refrigerating it until after dinner. This cooking process also produced the children’s favorite part: the hard skin on top of the creamy pudding. Many people placed plastic wrap on their dessert dishes to avoid this layer, but Mister Boomer and his siblings left the glass dishes open so the chocolatey skin would form on top.

Somewhere around 1965, Jell-O brand Whip ‘n Chill was brought to the American public. It became an instant hit with Mister Boomer’s sister. The mousse-like dessert was easy to make and had a tasty chocolate flavor. Mister Boomer enjoyed an occasional cup himself, but whether it was the additional cost of this premium brand or lack of interest on the part of his parents, Whip ‘n Chill remained an occasional treat.

By the late-60s, Mister Boomer’s mother went back to part-time employment since her children were all in high school. With it, the desire for dessert waned and the family rarely ate dessert, except on holidays.

What family dessert memories are conjured up for you, boomers?