Edwin Perkins (inventor), Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Edwin Perkins (inventor)

American inventor

Date of Birth: 08-Jan-1889

Place of Birth: Lewis, Iowa, United States

Date of Death: 03-Jul-1961

Profession: engineer, inventor

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn


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About Edwin Perkins (inventor)

  • Edwin Elijah Perkins (January 8, 1889 – July 3, 1961), born in Lewis, Iowa, United States, invented the powdered drink mix Kool-Aid in 1927 in Hastings, Nebraska, after his family had moved to Hendley, Nebraska from Iowa in 1893. As a young man he worked with products like Jell-O, which was sold in his father's general store in Hendley.
  • When Perkins came to Hastings at age thirty-one in 1920, his principal interests were patent medicines and household products.
  • With that background, 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 and sold in grocery stores, promising 10 glasses of beverage for 10 cents.
  • The demand for this product was so great that it soon had international sales.
  • Before long, the Perkins Products Company was focusing entirely on Kool-Ade, and in 1931 Mr.
  • Perkins relocated to Chicago.
  • By 1934 the name was changed to Kool-Aid.
  • The company was sold to General Foods in 1953. Kool-Aid went on to become a household name and made Edwin Perkins a wealthy man.
  • But the Perkins family remembered its Nebraska 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.

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