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Discover the Dream
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Discover the Dream
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Discover the Dream
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Discover the Dream
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Discover the Dream
Location: Lower Level
Did you know Hastings is the birthplace of Kool-Aid? That wonderfully sweet flavored soft drink that kids (of all ages!) enjoy was the brain child of Hastings native Edwin Perkins.
You see, Perkins had a dream to become a self-employed business success – and he discovered his dream through hard work and a little ingenious marketing. Perkins created and sold many products, but in 1927 while in Hastings he developed Kool-Aid, and the rest is history!
Hastings Museum’s Kool-Aid: Discover the Dream exhibit explores the life of Perkins and how Kool-Aid became an international cultural icon that’s still relevant today.
Fruit Smack
Edwin Perkins was always fascinated by chemistry and enjoyed inventing things. When his family moved to southwest Nebraska around 1900, a young Perkins experimented with home made concoctions in his mother’s kitchen. One of the products Perkins found success with was Fruit Smack. It came in came in six delicious flavors and the four-ounce bottle made enough for a family to enjoy at an affordable price.
However, shipping the bottles proved to be costly and breakage was also a problem. 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.)
Kool-Aid is a registered trademark of KF Holdings.
