LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - SEPTEMBER 23, 2018 Jell-O and Mar a Largo by Lynne Belluscio President Trump’s resort Mar a Largo is a National His- toric Landmark in Palm Beach, Florida. It was built between 1924 and 1927 by cereal-com- pany heiress and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post, who at the time was married to E.F.Hutton. The house has 58 bedrooms, 33 bathrooms, a 29- foot marble top dining table,12 fireplaces and three bomb shel- ters. Marion Sims Wyeth was the architect and Joseph Urban was the interior decorator. The palatial building cost $7 million ($90 million today.) Believe it or not I recently was told that there is a Jell-O connection to Mar A Largo. (This is not an April Fools Day story.) In 1925, Jell-O merged with the Postum Cereal Compa- ny for 570,000 shares of stock. Because the stock prices var- ied, the estimates varied great- ly. We tell visitors, it was about $66 million. What is known is that the Jell-O stock holders - - mostly family – controlled 41.6 percent of the total outstanding shares of the merger. And it was noted that the Postum Ce- real Company’s management was not too happy with the deal. And neither was the Jell-O Company’s management. In fact, when the Postum manage- ment showed up in LeRoy, they were given a cold shoulder... "they found that the merger had been sprung on the Jell-O organization.” Apparently, ac- cording to the book, “General Foods” by Hans Rolfes, the ice was broken with a poker game at Mr. Gilfillan’s house. So the question has been, who nego- tiated the Postum-Jell-O deal? Generally it has been told that Ernest Woodward negotiated the deal. Rolfes writes that Er- nest “after consulting his broth- ers and sisters, decided to visit New York for an exploratory discussion. He kept everything very confidential and exclud- ed his staff. All meetings were held in New York and nobody went to LeRoy, at least not in any official capacity.” Recently, while reading through some of the papers in a “Woodward family Misc.” file, I came across a story written by Jack Vietor. Jack was put- ting together notes for a book about his family “Instant Des- serts.” (As far as I can tell, the book was never published.) His mother was Eleanor, the old- est daughter of Cora and Ora- tor’s children. Jack wrote that Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1925 was married to E.F. Hut- ton. And that he was infatuated with Eleanor, who had a cabana across the highway from Mar A Largo. He even had a tunnel constructed beneath the high- way, so Hutton could visit her. And it was E.F. Hutton who ap- proached Eleanor about selling Jell-O to his wife’s company, Postum. And suggested that she talk with her brothers and sisters to make the deal. Who knows if it’s true or not, but it makes a good story. And ultimate- ly, Jell-O and Postum merged, and in 1929, they were the first subsidiaries of General Foods. Eventually General Foods would include Maxwell House Coffee, Birdseye Frozen Foods, and Baker’s Chocolate. Mar- jorie Merriweather Post, was known for throwing lavish par- ties and dinners at Mar A Largo, and she frequently served food from the General Foods family - - including Jell-O. Post died in 1973, and be- queathed the property to the National Park Service, hoping it would be used for state vis- its or as a Winter White House. However, because of the costs of maintaining the property, it was returned to the Post Foun- dation by an Act of Congress in 1981. In 1985, Donald Trump and his wife Ivana purchased Mar A Largo. Somehow, I can’t quite imagine Donald Trump - - for old times sake - - serving Jell-O. T-shirts • Hats • Visors • Tank Tops • Jackets • Towels GREAT GIFTS FOR YOUR FAMILY • FRIENDS • ETC. 1 Church St., Le Roy, NY • 585-768-2201 • Fax 585-768-6334 • Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8:00-5:00 E M B R O I D E R Y lpgraphics.net