(guitar music) [Justin] In 1900, David Perkins opened a general store in the village of Henley.

It became a central hub in the community.

And helping David run the store was his 11-year-old son, Edwin.

Edwin was a curious kid who spent his spare time doing science experiments.

Eventually, Edwin began creating products to sell in the family store.

In 1918, he invented Nix-O-Tine, a remedy he declared cured tobacco habits.

Edwin targeted advertising for Nix-O-Tine toward veterans, and it turned into a great success.

The profit from sales allowed Edwin to move to Hastings, where he spent more time developing new products.

One was a fruit-flavored concentrated drink Edwin called 'Fruit Smack.'

It was an instant hit, not only in Nebraska but in neighboring states too.

But as the popularity of his new drink grew, Edwin was confronted with a big problem.

Fruit Smack was packaged in glass bottles that often broke during shipping.

He struggled to find a solution.

And then in 1926, Edwin attended a food manufacturing convention.

There he learned about a new food preservation method.

Inspired by jello, he invented a powdered formula for Fruit Smack and gave it a new name, Kool-Aid.

(cheerful guitar music) Within three years, Kool-Aid was distributed across the United States.

Edwin was also innovative when it came to advertising.

He packaged Kool-Aid in vibrant colors with images of children on the envelopes which appealed to young consumers.

He also displayed Kool-Aid in colorful, eye-catching boxes and called this method of selling "The silent salesman," although not everything was smooth sailing.

In the middle of Kool-Aid success, Perkins did have to change the spelling of his famous product in order to meet new regulations.

But that didn't stop the momentum that was built.

By 1939, Kool-Aid was rated as the seventh most popular soft drink in the country.

This allowed for the General Food Corporation to buy Perkins Product Company.

And that's when Kool-Aid popped.

Oh, yeah.

(funky music) (funky music) Kool-Aid became the center of pop culture.

(vintage Kool-Aid ad song playing) (vintage Kool-Aid ad song playing) (vintage Kool-Aid ad song playing) -From the 60s, -(upbeat music) the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, and the 2000s, (funky music) the Kool-Aid brand was on everything and anything you could could think of.

From hats and children's toys to shirts and even action figures.

Kool-Aid even branches out to different food products such as ice cream and even cakes.

(funky music) Everyone across the country knew what Kool-Aid was and couldn't get enough of it.

(funky music) Nearly 100 years later, Kool-Aid remains a well-known brand available worldwide.

(upbeat music)