The Kool-Aid Generation

According to Wikipedia, "Kool-Aid was invented by Edwin Perkins in Hastings, Nebraska. All of his experiments took place in his mother's kitchen. Its predecessor was a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack. To reduce shipping costs, in 1927, Perkins discovered a way to remove the liquid from Fruit Smack, leaving only a powder." And, as they say, the rest is history

My generation grew up with Kool-Aid. Oh, we were expected to drink milk at mealtime, both at school and at home. But, Kool-Aid was the party drink of choice for kids all over the country. Every birthday party served Kool-Aid, usually red. Every church potluck and Vacation Bible School, every Girl Scout or Boy Scout event, wherever kids were gathered, there was a pitcher of Kool-Aid, along with some inevitable Kool-Aid mustaches.

In the hot summer months, every family's refrigerator contained an ice-cold pitcher of Kool-Aid, just waiting to quench our thirst. And, if the pitcher was sitting, empty, on the kitchen counter, even the kids knew how to make another pitcher of Kool-Aid: just empty one packet of Kool-Aid mix into a two-quart pitcher, add one cup of sugar, water, and some ice, stir vigorously, and pour into a glass. Nothing satisfied thirsty kids like a tall glass of Kool-Aid.

Sometimes, people who needed to make large quantities of Kool-Aid took the dreaded short cut, and served pre-sweetened (just add water!) Kool-Aid. We drank it when there were no other options, but we didn't really like its tinny off-taste. I grimace just thinking about it. Eww!

These days, Kool-Aid comes in a variety of new and improved flavors. But, years ago, we savored those few original flavors--cherry, strawberry, lemon-lime, orange, grape and, my favorite, black cherry. (You'll notice that half of those flavors were red, and that's just the way we liked it.) Pink lemonade was also an option, but we didn't consider it to be real Kool-Aid; with its cousin, regular yellow lemonade, it was in a separate "lemonade" category.

Nowadays, thirsty kids have an abundance of choices: CapriSun drink pouches and boxes of juice, Gatorade and its relatives, and, of course, the ubiquitous soft drinks. It seems like most people's refrigerators contain several varieties of pop, as we call it here in Nebraska.
Not our refrigerator, though. In our house, ice-cold water seems to be the favorite summertime drink. But, if you look carefully, you will find a few packets of Kool-Aid in the kitchen cupboard next to the refrigerator. And, it wasn't too long ago that I came home to find that Victoria had mixed up a pitcher of red Kool-Aid.

It didn't last long.
"Kool-Aid, Kool-Aid tastes great! Wish I had some--can't wait!"




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