Kool-Aid

Look up the history of Kool-Aid which got its start right in Hastings, Nebraska. This internationally known soft-drink mix, now owned by Kraft Foods, actually started out as a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack. Edwin Perkins, who later married Kitty Shoemaker, was the inventor. Shipping the liquid in bottles proved to be costly and breakage was a problem as well. In 1927, Perkins developed a method of removing the liquid from Fruit Smack so the remaining powder could be re-packaged in envelopes (which Perkins designed and printed) under a new name to be called Kool-Ade. (He later changed the spelling to Kool-Aid.)


Ann Olsen wrote: Very interesting!  My little brother & I used to love licking the Kool-Aid power and of course making a mess with it!  Funny how some of the little things we did as children that brought us "happiness"  are now very special memories (most likely because since David passed away in the fall, I often have melancholy and happy moments when I think of him).

Is spring "springing" yet in Nephi?

Best, Ann

Myrna wrote: We are having a snow storm. A big and cold snow storm. It looks like December outside.
I miss my cousin who died with cancer a couple of years ago. His brother is fighting cancer now. There were three boy cousins that were more like brothers than cousins. We made a mess with the Kool-Aid powder also. Wasn't that fun? Maybe we should try it again. I wonder if my mouth would still be orange on the outside for days? Remember how it wouldn't wash off?


Myrna wrote: Wow, you have had a long, cold winter!  The thought of it makes me shiver! 

That is sad about your cousins.  Hope he is getting tender, loving care with his medical professionals and that he is surrounded by his loving family to comfort him. 

Oh, the good ole days -- what fun we had!  Yes, I remember the stained skin!  Of course, I loved cherry, grape, and orange-- the brighter, the better-- and harder to wear off! 

I think we should try it again!  Until then, stay snug and warm and make lots of hot chocolate with marshmallows floating on top!

     Ann


Myrna wrote: When I was in high school one of the popular things to say, during a lull in conversation was:"That's life. What's life?Life is a magazine.Where do you get it?At the corner drug store.How much does it cost?Fifty cents.I don't have that much.That's life.What's life."This smart ditty was repeated ad nauseaum or until someone said: "That's enough of life." I wonder if that is why the magazine went out of print in my lifetime?

Another neat thing we used to do was buy packages of Kool-Aid for a nickel. We would then lick the dry Kool-Aid from our hands, a bit at a time. It made a wonderful mess of our faces and we couldn't wash it off very easily (Who am I kidding? We couldn't wash it off for days.) but it was really, really good. Jell-O was also good for eating from the package. You had to be careful of that one, however. One time Frankie Ruzzuto and his siblings brought out a permanent wave of their mother's. We all thought, including them, that it was orange Jell-O. We ate it and had to go to the doctor--Garth, David and I. Great fun--eat poison administered by a friend. The only saving grace was that they had to go to the doctor also--there were three of them also. I understand that Frankie ended up being a brain and making a name for himself. I looked him up on white pages once but there were three Frank Ruzzutos. One was in Nebraska, one in New Jersey and one in New York. So much for that. I had no intention of contacting him, at any rate, but I was curious.

We talked about the Kool-Aid but do you relate to some of the rest?

Ann wrote: Yes -- but thankfully no ingestion of permanent wave mix!