Jell-O is just a trademarked gelatin-dessert product. Before gelatin was widely available (as a product), most gelatin desserts were what is called "calf's-foot jelly." This was popular in the 19th-century Midwest until it was replaced with commercial Jell-O. http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Calf%27s%20foot%20jelly
I always assumed calf's foot jelly was a savoury thing (especially for invalids). Just goes to show you should look things up. (Well, it sounds mildly disgusting - just the sort of thing invalids were given, possibly on the principle that they'd get better in order to avoid them...) So it looks like (calf's foot) jelly was the answer. Ta.
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