Jello...It Has History !

It's interesting how a trip can evolve into something totally different. After Corning, I decided to surprise my friend with a detour to a place we'd heard about on a previous visit to Lucille Ball's Jamestown N.Y. home. Did I write about Lucille Ball? Oops...I see there's an unfinished/unpublished blog.

Anyhow, we had found a brochure at that time and decided it might be fun to go one day. I had hoped she'd forgotten about it when I planned to drive to the Jello Gallery in LeRoy N.Y. on our route home. 

We arrived at the lovely historic town of LeRoy just in time for the museum to open. We followed the path and climbed the stairs.

The woman inside was eager to teach us more about her town so she took us downstairs to view a small but well appointed transportation museum. Here, we learned a bit about the town's history and some of its former industry, including a salt mine, and of course, a jello factory.












Most interesting was the story of Henry Ford who received a speeding ticket in LeRoy in 1922. It cost him a whopping $30...a fortune in those days. It angered him so much that he posted signs outside town warning potential visitors of the "speed trap". 

We also found series of fun signs advertising the museum. Of course, I had to play, and show off my new reading glasses.

It was finally time to head upstairs and learn about the history of jello. I had no idea that it was so fascinating. Apparently, jello was not an instant hit. The inventor was a carpenter who sold the rights for $450 so that he might build himself a house back in the 1800s. The new owner tried to sell the jello concept but couldn't until he created some recipes, painted the side of a wagon, and drove door to door handing out samples and recipes. Jello is available in most countries under different names.

The famous Jello girl.

Jello molds

The museum contained jello molds, memoribilia, posters, and ads created by famous artists and musicians. What a treasure trove ! I loved it. It described the original four kinds and other flavours eg. coffee (yuck) which had been tried but were unsuccessful. They even had displays of some of the "extras" that were once available for use with this popular dessert. I was surprised to see spoons representing a Canadian olympic hockey team.

After checking out the gift shop...yes I made a purchase, we took a few more photos, and walked toward the river. I had read that they had a miniature Statue of Liberty near the water. They did. Don't ask me why. I forgot to inquire.

As if the day couldn't get any better, we had lunch at an old railway station called the D&R Depot Restaurant. I had found it on tripadvisor and decided it was worth a visit. It was family run and the food was outstanding. ***Note to self - Do a tripadvisor restaurant review.

Oh...and lest anyone be curious about what I bought, here it is...a welcome mat of sorts. I have a checkered history with our front doorway, mats, and doorbells. This too was going to be a blog that didn't get completed but still might. I seem to be on a roll again now.

Tilt head to left to read. Hmmm...could this be considered offensive?