Edwin Elijah Perkins (January 8, 1889 – July 3, 1961), born in

Lewis, Iowa Lewis is a city in Cass County, Iowa, Cass County, Iowa, United States, along the Nishnabotna River, East Nishnabotna River. The population was 357 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Geography Lewis is located at (41.30527 ...

, United States, invented the powdered drink mix

Kool-Aid Kool-Aid is an American brand of flavored drink mix owned by Kraft Heinz based in Chicago, Illinois. The powder form was created by Edwin Perkins in 1927 based upon a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack. History Kool-Aid was invented by E ...

in 1927 in

Hastings, Nebraska Hastings is a List of cities in Nebraska, city and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, Adams County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 25,152 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is known as the town where Kool-Aid ...

, after his family had moved to Hendley, Nebraska from Iowa in 1893. As a young man he worked with products like

Jell-O Jell-O is an American brand offering a variety of powdered gelatin dessert (fruit-flavored gels/jellies), pudding, and no-bake cream pie mixes. The original gelatin dessert (genericized as jello) is the signature of the brand. "Jell-O" is a reg ...

, which was sold in his father's general store in

Hendley Hendley is both an English surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname: *Bob Hendley (born 1939), American baseball player * Charles J. Hendley (1881-1962), American teacher and union leader * Daisy Hendley (1893–1975) ...

. When Perkins came to

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

at age 31 in 1920, his principal interests were

patent medicine A patent medicine, sometimes called a proprietary medicine, is an over-the-counter (nonprescription) medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name (and sometimes a patent) and claimed ...

s and household products. He began producing a line of over 125 "Onor-Maid" items which were sold door-to-door and by mail. One of the most popular was "Fruit-Smack", a fruit-flavored liquid concentrate. By 1927 he had developed a powdered soft drink mix called Kool-Ade, which he packaged in

envelopes An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card. Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one of three shapes: a rhombus, a shor ...

and sold in

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

s, promising 10 glasses of beverage for 10 cents. Demand for this product was so great that it soon had international sales. Soon the Perkins Products Company focused entirely on Kool-Aid. In 1931 Perkins relocated to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. By 1934 the name was changed to

. The company was sold to

General Foods General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, after several corporate ...

in 1953. Kool-Aid later became a household name and made Edwin Perkins a wealthy man. The Perkins family remembered its

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

roots, donating generously to philanthropies in Adams County and elsewhere in the state. Among local gifts were Perkins Recital Hall and Perkins Library at

Hastings College Hastings College is a private Presbyterian college in Hastings, Nebraska. History The college was founded in 1882 by a group of men and women seeking to establish a Presbyterian college dedicated to high academic and cultural standards. Ha ...

and Perkins Pavilion at Good Samaritan Village. A recreation of his father's general store, family artifacts and Kool-Aid memorabilia are housed at the

Hastings Museum The Hastings Museum of Natural and Cultural History is located in Hastings, Nebraska. It claims to be the largest municipal museum between Chicago and Denver. It is housed in a building funded by the Works Progress Administration and dedicated o ...

in Hastings, Nebraska.

References

The Kool-Aid Story
Adams County Historical Society
(alternate)
-a learning resource

External links

* 1889 births 1961 deaths American drink industry businesspeople People from Hastings, Nebraska People from Cass County, Iowa 20th-century American inventors Inventors from Iowa {{US-chemist-stub