Edwin Elijah Perkins born in Lewis

Lewis, Iowa

Lewis is a city in Cass County, Iowa, United States, along the East Nishnabotna River. The population was 438 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lewis is located at ....

, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, invented the powder drink mix Kool-Aid

Kool-Aid

Kool-Aid is a brand of flavored drink mix owned by the Kraft Foods Company.-History:Kool-Aid was invented by Edwin Perkins in Hastings, Nebraska, United States. All of his experiments took place in his mother's kitchen. Its predecessor was a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack...

 in 1927 in Hastings, Nebraska

Hastings, Nebraska

Hastings is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, United States. It is the principal city of the Hastings, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Adams and Clay counties. The population was 24,907 at the 2010 census...

 after his family had moved there from Iowa in 1893.

As a young man he worked with products like Jell-O

Jell-O

Jell-O is a brand name belonging to U.S.-based Kraft Foods for a number of gelatin desserts, including fruit gels, puddings and no-bake cream pies. The brand's popularity has led to it being used as a generic term for gelatin dessert across the U.S. and Canada....

, which was sold in his father's general store in Hendley

Hendley, Nebraska

Hendley is a village in Furnas County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 38 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Hendley is located at ....

. When Perkins came to Hastings

Hastings, Nebraska

Hastings is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, United States. It is the principal city of the Hastings, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Adams and Clay counties. The population was 24,907 at the 2010 census...

 at age thirty-one in 1920, his principal interests were patent

Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....

 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.