Edwin Perkins first created the popular kids drink known as Kool-Aid in Hastings Nebraska in 1921. Perkins was captivated with the study of chemistry and enjoyed devising innovative and astonishing things. As a youngster Perkins would experiment endlessly with various home made brews which he concocted within his mother's kitchen. These youthful adventures prepared him for his future role in the area of drink mixes. Since he experimented with various flavoring extracts you could say he was the first kitchen chemist.
Prior to the name of Kool-Aid becoming popular it was simply known as Fruit Smack; however Fruit Smack was sold strictly by mail order in 1920. Edwin at some later date re-named his drink to Kool-Ade and finally to its present form as Kool-Aid in 1927.
Edwin's father started a store in the town where he became familiar with new and different foods such as Jell-O. At the age of eleven he order by mail a mixer's guide which he saw advertised within a magazine. After he completed his high school he published a newspaper, completed various printing assignments, served as a postmaster and finally created a mail order company known as Perkins Products. This business marketed the many products which he invented.
He married a school friend in 1918 named Kitty and continued his business by mail order. One of his most successful products was his drink mix called Fruit Smack. This concentrated mix came in six different flavors. It was shipped in a 4 ounce size bottle however it made enough juice for a complete family to enjoy. Although he sold them at a reasonable price the shipping involved in the product was costly as well as the bottles breaking during shipment presented a problem. With these continual problems in 1927 he created a way to remove the liquid from his Fruit Smack drinks so that he could package the powder in envelopes. Perkins then decided to design and create envelopes for his new creation - Kool Ade.
Due to the fact that he could easily ship many envelopes as opposed to the drink mix bottles he experienced a drastic drop in shipping costs. The cost of Perkins Kool-Aid packet was one dime. It was produced in cherry, strawberry, grape, lemon-lime, raspberry and orange. It was in 1929 that Kool-Aid started being distributed nation-wide.
In 1931 Kool Ade was so popular that Perkins decided to drop the manufacture of all his other products and concentrate only upon Kool-Aid. He quickly relocated his business to Chicago to make for a better distribution system. During the America Depression, Perkins reduced the price of his product in half.
Perkins did well during the war and expanded his production where he hired an additional 300 workers. He sadly announced in 1953 that he was selling Kool-Ade to General Foods. That year General Foods introduced a completely new campaign for selling Kool-Ade and launched the Smiling Face Pitcher which remains their trademark to this day.
Although Perkins died in 1961 Kool-Aid will remain a valuable part of our childhood. I would now like to provide you with a recipe for Kool-Ade Jelly. I hope you enjoy it.
1 package of any flavor sugar free Kool-Aid
1 package of Sure-Jell
3 cups of granulated sugar
3 cups of water
Begin by mixing the water, the package of Sure-Jell and the Kool-Aid together. Bring this mixture to a boil being sure to stir it constantly. Add the sugar and stir again. Continue stirring and bring the mixture to a complete rolling boil. Boil for an additional minute and continue to stir constantly. At this time remove it from the heat. Quickly skim any foam off the mixture with a metal spoon. Pour carefully into small jelly jars and seal them.
Copyright @2008 Joseph Parish
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