Inventor. Born in Lewis, Iowa, he is credited for being the co-inventor and promoter of the powdered soft drink Kool-Aid. As a young man, he was working at his father's store in the village of Hendley, Nebraska, where he met his future wife, Kitty Shoemaker. At first, his interest was in medicines and house food products which were sold door-to-door and by mail. Kitty introduced him to a powder product called Jell-O which made him want to make pre-packaged food. His first endeavor was a popular fruit-flavored liquid concentrate called "Fruit-Smack". In 1927, he developed a powdered water drink mix then called "Kool-Ade", which he packaged in envelopes and sold in grocery stores. The product became such a great hit, that it soon had sales demands and he formed the Perkins Products Company in 1931. Perkins relocated to Chicago, Illinois and the product name was changed to "Kool-Aid" in 1934. Kool-Aid went on to become a household name and Perkins sold his company to General Foods in 1953. He died in Minnesota at the age of 72.
Inventor. Born in Lewis, Iowa, he is credited for being the co-inventor and promoter of the powdered soft drink Kool-Aid. As a young man, he was working at his father's store in the village of Hendley, Nebraska, where he met his future wife, Kitty Shoemaker. At first, his interest was in medicines and house food products which were sold door-to-door and by mail. Kitty introduced him to a powder product called Jell-O which made him want to make pre-packaged food. His first endeavor was a popular fruit-flavored liquid concentrate called "Fruit-Smack". In 1927, he developed a powdered water drink mix then called "Kool-Ade", which he packaged in envelopes and sold in grocery stores. The product became such a great hit, that it soon had sales demands and he formed the Perkins Products Company in 1931. Perkins relocated to Chicago, Illinois and the product name was changed to "Kool-Aid" in 1934. Kool-Aid went on to become a household name and Perkins sold his company to General Foods in 1953. He died in Minnesota at the age of 72.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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