Kool-Aid is a refreshing drink that has been around for longer than many people can remember.
In Part 2 of our Kool-Aid series we continue uncovering facts that might not be known to
many people about this granddaddy of all non-carbonated drinks. Some facts are fun while others are
on the dark side. We lay them all out right here. The Top 10 Untold Truths of Kool-Aid
- Part 2.
The Power of Powder
So what could go wrong when it’s the 1920s, and you’re marketing a concentrated syrup
that ships to customers in large unwieldy glass containers? Of course, a lot could go
wrong. And a lot did go wrong as the parcels burst in the mailman’s satchels, or along
the bumpy road. Sometimes the package would arrive safely to your front gate but couldn’t
quite make it to your front door. It is rumored that dogs played a major part in increasing
the Kool-Aid bottle casualties as they attacked their perennial nemesis, the mailman. Facing
an imminent disaster, Edwin Perkins, the man behind Kool-Aid, had to think fast to find
a way to deliver his lemon-, grape-, raspberry-, and cherry-flavored drink to the customers
without ruining the mailman’s uniform and dooming his nascent company’s prospects
in the process. Perkins came up with the idea of turning his syrup into powder. And
there you have it. The powder packets were born and reached the thirsty customers just
in time for a pitcher of refreshing fruit juice. Now to be fair, Perkins didn’t invent
the powder solution. He simply “borrowed” the idea from Jell-o. But that’s neither
here nor there in the larger scheme of things. History will always remember that moment Perkins
switched to powder as a decisive moment in the history of Kool-Aid as we know it.
Kool-Aid Man Flirted with Comic Books
We talked before about the Kool-Aid Man, the famous mascot who was so popular at one point
in time that he had his own video game or two. Here’s another fun fact about that
coolest of all mascots: he also made a few appearances in comic books, delighting or
scaring children everywhere. Now you might be asking yourself how on earth could a bulky
pitcher be saving the world from evildoers and villains who are by custom dashing and
athletic figures? And that would be a valid question. To answer it we’d have to go back
in time to the early 1980s when sci-fi films had cheesy plots and horrible visual effects.
They were simpler times then, and Marvel was still a struggling company trying to sell
dreams to kids, who were turning away from comics to the more appealing video games industry.
Marvel decided for no good reason at all to create a comic book starring our red pitcher.
His MO was crashing into people’s homes without breaking its delicate structure with
a small pitcher in its hand to save the thirsty multitudes. Hardly the kind of plot one would
expect from a comic book about superheroes and larger-than-life villains, right? And
you can say what you like about the ‘80s, but at least the people could tell when they
were being taken for a ride by a glass pitcher with cubes of ice dancing at its top. The
comic lasted three inglorious issues and then ceased to exist.
Nebraska Loves Kool-Aid
Nebraska is a great state. It’s home to... well, not much really. But that irrelevant
fact doesn’t stop Nebraskans from feeling proud of their state. So much so that they
clutch at straws when it comes to finding things to make them feel unique and special,
in a good way, among neighboring states. And one of those great achievements that don’t
get enough coverage by the news media or history books is the fact that Nebraska is the land
where Kool-Aid first made its appearance, announced itself to the world, and made a
really big splash all over the map. From Nebraska, thousands of pitchers of syrup made their
way to the homes of hard-working Americans everywhere, only to meet their demise just
a few yards from their final destination. Such a distinction should be celebrated, don’t
you think? Nebraskans certainly think so. And being the astute overachievers they are,
as soon as they make such an important decision, they spring into action right away. People
voted unanimously to make Kool-Aid the official drink of the state. There wasn’t really
a vote or anything. It’s just an idea that was floated around, and getting a lukewarm
response was embraced enthusiastically by the then-governor of the state, Ben Nelson,
who made it the law of the land.
There’s a Kool-Aid Day Festival
If Nebraska is proud of its stature among neighboring states as the birthplace of Kool-Aid,
that pride is nothing compared to the gushing passion the town where it all started feels.
That town is called Hastings, and the nice people of this charming town will go out of
their way to remind every stranger who strolls into town that it was here where Kool-Aid
was born and bred. But saying it to your face when you’re having a quiet drink by
yourself at the bar doesn’t seem to be enough for the local townsfolk. They insist on shouting
it over the rooftops. In a splash of color and pomp and ceremony the likes of which hasn’t
been seen in these remote parts before, Hastings devotes a whole day to celebrate Kool-Aid.
Why? I hear you ask. For no good reason, seems to be the logical answer. But, hey, where’s
the harm? If some folks want to spend a whole day drinking a sugary drink, who are we to
judge? And to be fair, the festival has more to offer its visitors than just the enlarged
figures of the belly pot pitcher and its spawn. There are beauty pageants, drinking contests,
and car shows. When we say drinking contests I mean contests to see who can chug down Kool-Aid
faster than the rest. Kool-Aid Day is an occasion to celebrate artificial flavors not alcohol.
There’s a Dark Side to the Story
This next fact is really dark. If you don’t like stories about cults and maniac leaders
who take their followers down a path of doom, then you should skip ahead a bit, to where
we tell you about mixing Kool-Aid and pickles. You’ve been warned. So our sordid story
starts at the end. The place is Guyana and the year is 1978. Cult leader Jim Jones is
at his rope’s end and everywhere he looks he sees threats to his cult and his utopia.
Jonestown is no longer the paradise he had envisioned it to be. His followers are deserting
him and at any moment the local authorities will move in and arrest him. As drugs and
delusions take over, Jones becomes more erratic in his thinking as well as his behavior. He
sees there’s only one way out and since he’s a coward, he doesn’t want to go alone.
In a horrific endgame twist, he offers his 900-strong followers a poisoned punch, promising
them it will deliver them to the pearly gates where Saint Peter will usher them in, no questions
asked. The contents of the punch that killed the men, women, and children of Jonestown
is in dispute to this day. Some say it was made from Kool-Aid while others insist it
was really Flavor Aid. However, this tragic event led to the unfortunate phrase that invaded
our pop culture: “drinking the Kool-Aid.”
Try Mixing Kool-Aid with Pickles
You’d think Kool-Aid and pickles don’t mix. One is a sugary drink and the other is
a salted preserved vegetable. But it’s also true that both have a lot in common. They’re
bad for your health since they pump sugar and sodium into your bloodstream and make
your heart work overtime. So imagine when you combine them into one weird-looking side
dish that you can share with your neighbors at BBQs and get-togethers. It’s not clear
who came up with the idea first. But in the Southern states, pickles aren’t pickles
until you’ve soaked them in Kool-Aid. Steeped in the colors and flavors of the sugary drink,
the pickles become something truly unique. And, no, the salt doesn’t neutralize the
sugar nor the other way round. It’s one heck of a concoction where the syrupy fruit
oozes both brine and glucose in your mouth. Together. At the same time. It’s a wild
experience, and definitely worth giving a try. If some folks enjoy their pickles flavored
with sugar, all the more power to them. As long as they don’t try to deep fry it. Wait,
that’s actually a thing, too. And supposedly it’s good!
Kool-Aid had an Original, Whacky Name
The story of Edwin Perkins, the man behind Kool-Aid, is not a well-known one. At least
to previous generations that didn’t have social media and the internet. So for the
sake of those who don’t know it, we’ll cover it here quickly. Edwin Perkins was an
outstanding chemist who spent much of his time outside the lab. There was no white coat
for Mr Perkins. He had no use for one, as he went door to door selling medicines and
household products. He even went one step further and started filling orders through
the mail. This crucial move would help him later when he creates Kool-Aid. But for now,
he was happy selling a liquid concentrate which he called Fruit Smack. Why that name?
That’s anyone’s guess. Perkins, it seems, had a knack for exotic names that would leave
people scratching their heads. Fruit Smack was the precursor to Kool-Aid. In fact, many
people would go as far as to say that both products were identical. So why did Fruit
Smack fail and Kool-Aid make it? That too is another mystery. Maybe the market wasn’t
ready for Fruit Smack. Maybe Kool-Aid needed the Depression to boost its sales. I guess
we’ll never know.
The Kool-Aid Man is a Creepy Mascot
We’ve already seen the Kool-Aid Man make it into the video game business and comic
books. He even had some small TV roles every now and then. And to be fair none of those
appearances were flattering nor impressive. We’ve seen how his comic book didn’t make
it past issue three. The video game wasn’t the smashing success one would expect even
at a time when video games were taking the world by storm. So it was perhaps no surprise
when Time magazine called the Kool-Aid Man the creepiest mascot in 2011. One thing that
put people off the mascot was that every time he made an appearance, he had a nasty habit
of bursting through infrastructure. And there was always juice splashing, and the mascot
seemed to relish in making a mess wherever he went. All while being a pitcher wearing
tights. It doesn’t take much imagination to connect the dots. Tights and mess. If that’s
not creepy, I don’t know what is.
Kurt Cobain had Kool-Aid but not the Way you Think
We talked before about people using Kool-Aid to dye their hair. The colors are vivid and
when they fade it will only cost you the price of a packet or two to get your lovely hair
color back. Perhaps this is why it became a fad in the nineties. Despite the absence
of Instagram and Twitter, the fad caught on. And even today you’ll find Youtube videos
showing you how to use fruit-flavored powder to give your hair hues that one wouldn’t
dream of getting at the hair salon. That’s all fine and to be expected, really. Dying
one’s hair like the CMYK color model version of a rainbow is pretty cool - unlike other
fads, such as eating detergent products like candy. But when the famous Nirvana frontman
Kurt Cobain revealed that he too used Kool-Aid to dye his hair, that came as a shock to many
people. It’s not like Cobain didn’t have the money to go to a hair salon and have his
hair dyed with liquid gold if wanted. So why was the rockstar resorting to these cheap
hairstyles? It turned out, one color took Cobain’s fancy. It’s the truly vibrant
red color. He saw it in the glass and thought, I want my blonde hair to look like that.
There’s an Invisible Kool-Aid
Speaking of the vibrant colors of Kool-Aid that made it a staple of the artistic palettes
of clay artists, watercolor painters, and even Easter egg dye - did you know that there’s
a flavor of Kool-Aid that has no color? It’s called the Invisible Kool-Aid, and if you’ve
never heard of it, that probably tells you something about why people still buy Kool-Aid
in the first place. Part of the reason why such a flavor exists has to do with the complaints
of many customers that the drink tends to stain their upper lips and anything it spills
on. On the other hand, part of the fun is having your tongue turn purple or red or orange.
We’re pretty sure if the choice were between Kool-Aid with its bright colors or the no
color version - the regular Kool-Aid that we all love would win out every time. I mean
imagine the Kool-Aid Man as a giant pitcher of clear liquid? He would practically be invisible
and where is the fun in that.
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