Edwin perkins biography

 Kool-Aid—a name simple but catchy, a product unprepossessing but salable. Today, a household word for millions.

Edwin perkins family tree

The Kool-Aid story is the American dream come true, the classic tale of a young man with brains, imagination, a strong work ethic and merchandising ability who was able to parlay a few simple chemicals into a multi-million dollar business—rising from sodhouse to mansion in one lifetime.

Kool-Aid itself was born in Hastings and reached maturity in Chicago.

The Kool-Aid story is also the story of Edwin E. Perkins and his family. Born in Lewis, Iowa, on January 8, , Edwin was the oldest son of David and Kizandra Perkins, whose families had migrated from eastern states in an earlier day.

Kizzie’s father had once been a station agent at the Julesburg stage station on the Oregon Trail, and in , the Perkins family sold their general store in Iowa and moved to a farm in Furnas County, Nebraska. There they lived in a three-room sodhouse which was distinguished fr