Trends for June 3, 2002

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, June 3, 2002 | 8:19 a.m.

Kool deal

Here's a tasty tidbit sure to make you long for your childhood: Kool-Aid has been around for 75 years.

To celebrate, the Hastings Museum in where else? Hastings, Neb., the birthplace of Kool-Aid, will open a permanent exhibit celebrating the product on June 21. Among the displays, an original Kool-Aid Man mascot's costume, a theater where vintage Kool-Aid commercials can be viewed and a fiber-optic "river of Kool-Aid."

Speaking of rivers, the makers of the sweet stuff have compiled a boatload of fun trivia about the beverage:

Kool-Aid originally came in six flavors: cherry, grape, lemon-lime, orange, raspberry and strawberry. Over the years, 52 flavors have been introduced. Today there are 22 of them, with tropical punch, lemonade and grape being the most popular of the bunch.

Kool-Aid sells approximately 800 million packages of the drink mix each year, which equates to 25 packages sold every second. More Kool-Aid is sold during the week of July 4 than any other week of the year.

During the summer months more than 225 million gallons of Kool-Aid are consumed, or 26 gallons per second.

The loveable Kool-Aid Man has been the drink's logo since 1954. He first crashed into America's living rooms via a TV commercial in 1975: A couple of thirsty kids shouted "Hey, Kool-Aid," prompting the giant red pitcher to barrel through a bowling-alley wall yelling, "Oh yeah!"

In honor of his 25th birthday, in 2000, the Kool-Aid Man's footprint was stamped in concrete at Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. (The footprint was later donated to the Convention and Visitor's Bureau in Hastings.)

Kool-Aid points, found on the back of packages, have been redeemable for a variety of items over the years, among them a Kool-Aid Barbie, a Kool-Aid Troll doll and a Kool-Aid Atari video game.

For more Kool-Aid facts, as well as recipes and games, check out kool-aid.com.

Can-do cats

If only kitty litter was as much fun to talk about as Kool-Aid.

Wait the people at Arm & Hammer are working on it.

The company recently kicked off its Coolest Cat Trick Contest, in an effort to award $10,000 to the country's most talented feline. Three finalists and their cats will compete in the national championships in New York City.

To enter send a VHS tape, featuring three minutes or less of footage of Fluffy shaking hands, opening the fridge, answering the phone whatever it is she does and a description (no more than 50 words) of Fluffy's talent by Aug. 31 in care of the contest, PMI Station, PO Box 3581, Southbury, CT 06488-3581. (For contest rules visit armhammercatlitter.com.)

In honor of the contest Arm & Hammer also (warning: bad pun ahead) scratched up some kitty-litter history:

Turns out the product was invented in 1947 when a man named Edward Lowe suggested that a neighbor absorb the neighbor's cat's waste with a granulated clay Lowe used to sop up grease spills.

U.S. cat owners spend about $1 million each year on kitty litters, and Arm & Hammer produces more than 718,000 pounds of litter every day. Meanwhile 71 percent of cat owners maintain only one litter box.

Ever wonder how cats know to bury their, um, little presents? Turns out mother cats teach their kittens to cover it up in an effort to hide their scent from predators.

If they could only teach them how not to deposit hair balls where humans are most likely to step on them in the middle of the night now, that would be a talent.