Jell-O as Food and Architecture

I know...this is a postcard blog and these aren't postcards. I just couldn't help myself. A little diversion is good every now and then, especially if it's a Jell-O diversion. I have harbored a secret desire to visit the Jell-O Museum in LeRoy, New York ever since I discovered there was such a thing. In the meantime, I'll just have to be satisfied with these Jell-O recipe folders.

Recently I suggested to the man who steals my covers that I might like to make the recipe for Thrifty Salad from one of the folders. He was less than encouraging and made some idle threats, so it hasn't happened yet.

O.K., maybe the recipe is a little odd, but they used real fruit flavoring in Jell-O back then, so it might actually have been tasty. It must have been or they wouldn't have received all of these gold medals:

Jell-O is wonderfully architectural, so I guess it should come as no surprise that people want to construct things out of it. Still, to make a replica of the entire City of San Francisco out of Jell-O! A California Artist by the name of Liz Hickok has done that and more by meticulously creating her own forms and making a miniature model of the city. Here are some pictures of her San Francisco 

creations. The first one is Alamo Square. I think you can just see the Transamerica Pyramid in the background.

 This picture shows the Ferry Building:

Yes, it's a little wobbly. And here's a view of the whole city from Alcatraz:

Don't worry about the possibility of an earthquake, because Jell-O buildings are much more resilient than wood and concrete ones. A hot tidal wave would be truly disastrous though. To see more of Liz's work, click here.

Don't Tell the Beauty Parlor

The message on the card reads:

7/31/67

We are having a fine trip. As far as I know we will be home late Fri night Aug 4th. We are all fine and hope you are too. You be careful. Don't say anything to the beauty parlor yet about us coming home as Charlene doesn't want to go back to work yet. Love Mary Jane

The Locks at Lockport, New York

The message reads:

Your letter received yesterday. Will get you a job if I can. Andrew June 25, '09.

Lockport, New York is located about 18 miles from Niagara Falls. The locks at Lockport originally consisted of five locks on the Erie Canal, as shown above, built in the first half of the 19th century to try to overcome the difficulties of running barges up the 60-foot rise of the Niagara escarpment. At the time this postcard was sent, work was starting on reconstructing the locks. The message on the card probably refers to that work.

General Marquise de LaFayette declared the original locks to be one of the greatest engineering feats in the world. A new, wider set of canal locks opened in 1919. To view a fascinating history and images of the construction, click here.

When I think of Lockport, I think of its significance for shipping on the Erie Canal. I don't immediately think of the author, Joyce Carol Oates, but that's where she's from. I just finished reading her novel, Wonderland, which is set in Lockport and surrounding areas of New York. The blue tinting on the postcard would be totally appropriate for mood of this novel.The Smithsonian magazine recently featured an article by Oates about Lockport, which I highly recommend. The article gave me an entirely different perspective of the town, along with a sense of indebtedness.