Ice Cream, Jell-O, Soda & Other Delights … reviewed by Vanessa

‘Tis the (warm, hopefully) season for cold treats. And what’s more, you can learn about as well as enjoy them.

Cool: The Story of Ice Cream by writer and CBC broadcaster Marilyn Powell takes you on a long, cool trip through the history of this frozen dessert and its relatives (sherbet, granita, ice milk and gelato). Along the way, we read about the time-honoured tradition of ice harvesting, the alcoholic origins of sherbet (originally called sharab in the Middle East, then, sharbat), the invention of eaux glacées in eighteenth-century France and kulfi in Moghul India, the first patents for the ice cream maker, the creation of the Baked Alaska and the founding of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream parlour in Burlington, Vermont.

For those wanting to know about the story of flavoured gelatin, but too afraid to ask, there is Jell-O: A Biography: The History and Mystery of “America’s Most Famous Dessert”. Written by Carolyn Wyman (also author of SPAM: A Biography), Jell-O is a nostalgic collection of recipes, vintage ads, company memorabilia and other related trivia. The book’s all-star cast includes Norman Rockwell who illustrated the first Jell-O cookbook and inventor/illustrator Rose O’Neill whose Kewpie dolls graced many of the early ads. Oddball trivia includes a list of phrases called “How to Speak Jell-O” (eg. “a red Jell-O event” meaning an old fashioned potluck and “Jell-O for brains” meaning stupid) and the Jell-O Mold Building in Seattle.

Ever wonder about the Forefather of Fizz? The King of Colas? Or why 7-Up was called 7-Up? Look no further than Soda Pop! From Miracle Medicine to Pop Culture [pun intended] by memorabilia collectors Gyvel Young-Witzel and Michael Karl Witzel. In-depth, lavishly illustrated and, well, light and bubbly, Soda Pop! is as fascinating as it is entertaining. Find out how eighteenth-century physicians Hermann Boerhaave and Joseph Priestley invented carbonated water (it involved chalk) and how Thomas Henry and Jacob Schweppe commercialized it. Learn about more soda brands (Fowler’s Cherry Smash, Vin Fiz Sparkling Grape Drink and White Rock Ginger Ale) than you ever knew existed.

Pop open this book, hear the fizz, then pour yourself a glass of effervescent information!

Marshall McLuhan Centennial … reviewed by Jason

Flashback to the summer of ’92 … I was about to enter the second half of my undergraduate studies in Montreal as a Communication Studies student (I had just finished a major in Creative Writing). I was devouring every media and cultural studies book I could get my hands on and ingesting copious amounts of Marshall McLuhan to boot. Then, I came across Douglas Coupland’s debut, Generation X (written a few years earlier when he lived in a tiny apartment in Montreal), and the two post-modern Canadian icons were permanently fused in my mind. Hence, it is only fitting that Coupland would, as part of the Extraordinary Canadians series, contribute a biography of McLuhan himself.

McLuhan, who was born on July 21, 1911, was a devout Catholic and an English professor at the University of Toronto whose background was in medieval history; he also provided the framework for contemporary communication theory via canonical works such as The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man (1962) and Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964).

Coupland, BC author and mixed media artist, offers up a very McLuhan-esque experience by including random quotes from McLuhan and others. There are found tidbits like the six-page anagram of “Marshall McLuhan” near the beginning of the book, and the list resulting from the media guru’s name being entered into various internet name generators. There are also excerpts from Coupland’s own 2009 sequel Generation A as well as more tradition biographical narrative. Fans of McLuhan’s spliced together booklets The Medium is The Massage (1967) and War and Peace in The Global Village (1968) will find this book interesting; needless to say, these ideas about humanity’s relationship with media are, albeit more ominously today, very timely.

Think McLuhan’s still happening? Do you grok the global village? Dig our comments section.