The Sporkful
The Sporkful
Dan Pashman
Are The Jell-O Heirs Cursed? (Reheat)
34 minutes Posted May 15, 2026 at 3:00 pm.
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Show notes
Allie Rowbottom’s great-great-great uncle bought the patent to Jell-O from its inventor in 1899 for $450, then sold it in the 1920s for $67 million — nearly a billion dollars in today’s money. Lately, Allie’s been obsessed with how all that Jell-O money shaped America, and her own family. It’s funded generations of Rowbottom women, including Allie, but it’s also been a shadow they can't escape.