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

Lewis, Iowa Lewis is a city in Cass County, Iowa, United States, along the East Nishnabotna River. The population was 357 at the time of the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. De ...

, United States, invented the powdered drink mix Kool-Aid in 1927 in

Hastings, Nebraska Hastings is a List of cities in Nebraska, city in 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, making it the List of cities in Neb ...

, 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 (stylized in all caps) 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 ...

, which was sold in his father's

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

in Hendley. When Perkins came to

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

at age 31 in 1920, his principal interests were

patent medicine A patent medicine (sometimes called a proprietary medicine) is a non-prescription medicine or medicinal preparation that is typically protected and advertised by a trademark and trade name, and claimed to be effective against minor disorders a ...

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 sho ...

and sold in

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...

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 Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. By 1934 the name was changed to Kool-Aid. The company was sold to

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

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 landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

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 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 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 20th-century American chemists {{US-chemist-stub