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How a US veteran who became a comedy legend invented Jell-O shots to get around the military's alcohol rules
Reuters/Seth Wenig
Before he became one of musical comedy's darkest satirists, musician Tom Lehrer served in the US Army. The brilliant mathematician was an enlisted draftee from 1955-1957, serving at the National Security Agency.
He stood out from all the other enlisted troops. Specialist Third Class Tom Lehrer had a Master's degree from Harvard at a time when his fellow enlisted troops barely had a high school education. He also had a hit record, one he self-published around Harvard but would become a nationwide hit.
Lehrer even wrote a submission for the Army song that talks about picking up cigarette butts, officers who can't spell, bad food, and junior enlisted shenanigans.
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What he did have in common with his brothers in arms was a fondness for having a few drinks at a party.
But the party in question was on a naval base in Washington, DC — and no alcoholic beverages were allowed.
So he and a friend went right to work before the big day.
"We wanted to have a little party, so this friend and I spent an evening experimenting with Jell-O. It wasn't a beverage ..." he told San Francisco Weekly, "... so we went over to her apartment and we made all these little cups ..."
After a few experiments with gin and vodka and number of different Jell-O flavors, they found that vodka and orange Jell-O worked best.
"I would bring them in, hoping that the Marine guard would say, 'OK, what's in there?' And we'd say, 'Jell-O.' and then he'd say, 'Oh, OK.' But no, he didn't even ask. So it worked. I recommend it. Orange Jell-O."
True genius.
I wonder what the now 89-year-old Lehrer would think about smuggling alcohol in with mouthwash bottles and food coloring.
Incidentally, Lehrer's record, a 10-inch LP titled "Songs by Tom Lehrer," was a dark comedy album, but is considered by many to be one of the most influential of all time. He wrote songs about a Russian mathematician, the periodic table, and Christmas commercialism just to name a few.
In all, Lehrer released 11 albums, with great titles like "An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer" and "The Remains of Tom Lehrer." He even wrote a song for the Air Force's Strategic Air Command for the 1963 film "A Gathering of Eagles."
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