Category: USA

Whistling for Kool-Aid

Edwin Elijah Perkins (January 8, 1889 – July 3, 1961), born in Lewis, Iowa, United States, invented the powdered drink mix Kool-Aid in 1927 in Hastings, Nebraska, after his family had moved to Hendley, Nebraska from Iowa in 1893. By 1927 he had developed a powdered soft drink mix called Kool-Ade, which he packaged in envelopes and sold in grocery stores, promising 10 glasses of beverage for 10 cents.

Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food.

Kool-aid dies protein (animal) fibers such as wool, silk, and fur (hair). It is popular with knitters for dyeing wool yarn. As it’s food-safe, it doesn’t require special utensils reserved for this purpose as other dyes do. Tamarindo (brown), Switchin’ Secret (light green/tan), and Grape (purple) are popular flavors, because they can be used to tone down the otherwise day-glo colors. A typical formula is one packet of Kool-aid per ounce of fiber, combined with 1/2 cup of water and optionally, a tablespoon of vinegar. Heat is used to set the color, usually by steaming or boiling.

The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC), commonly known as Kraft Heinz, is an American multinational food company formed by the merger of Kraft Foods and Heinz co-headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Billy Dee Williams talks about Colt 45

Colt 45 is a brand of beer (or malt liquor) introduced by National Bohemian and currently brewed by Pabst Brewing Company and G. Heileman Brewing Company in Texas. The alcohol by volume is not listed on the container but is reported in the 5.6% to 6.1% range. In Canada, it is listed at 8%.

According to a study by Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in California, malt liquor is the alcohol of choice of the homeless and unemployed.

Billy Dee Williams (born William December Williams Jr. on April 6, 1937 in New York City) is an American actor who for a period in the 1970s rivaled Sidney Poitier as the most popular African-American actor in American film. Williams graduated from Manhattan’s School of Performing Arts.

Where’s The Beef?

After successful early growth of the [Wendy’s] chain, sales flattened as the company struggled to achieve brand differentiation in the highly competitive fast-food market. This situation would turn around in the mid-1980s. Starting on January 9, 1984, elderly actress Clara Peller was featured in the successful “Where’s the Beef?” North American commercial campaign for Wendy’s. Her famous line quickly entered the American pop culture (it was even used by Walter Mondale in a debate with Gary Hart in the Democratic primary election) and served to promote Wendy’s hamburgers. Peller, age 84, was dropped from the campaign in 1985 because she performed in a commercial for Prego spaghetti sauce, saying she “finally found” the beef. Peller was soon after replaced by Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas himself.

The Flintstones smoke Winstons

The Flintstones is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions [and] was one of the most successful sitcoms of all time. Inspired by the 1950s live-action sitcom The Honeymooners, The Flintstones was about a working class caveman’s life with his family and his next door neighbor / best friend. The first prime time cartoon geared for adults, the show originally aired from 1960 to 1966, on the ABC network.

The series was initially aimed at adult audiences; the first season was sponsored by Winston cigarettes and the characters appeared in several commercials for Winstons.

Winston cigarettes are manufactured for or by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. They are named for Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the city where RJR was founded and headquartered.

The brand was introduced in 1954, and became the best-selling brand of cigarettes in the United States. It held the #1 spot from 1966 to 1972, thanks to the successful marketing slogan “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.” In the last national survey in 2001, Winston ranks sixth in market value. It is also known for their claim of being “additive free” although a secondary warning label on their advertisements states that “no additives in our tobacco does NOT mean a safer cigarette.”

Smoking, particularly of cigarettes, is by far the main contributor to lung cancer, which at least in theory makes it one of the easiest diseases to prevent. In the United States, smoking is estimated to account for 87% of lung cancer cases (90% in men and 79% in women), and in the UK for 90%.

Overweight? Try the Ayds Reducing Plan

Ayds was an appetite-suppressant candy which enjoyed strong sales in the 1970s and early 1980s. It was available in chocolate, chocolate mint, butterscotch or caramel flavors, and later a peanut butter flavor was introduced. The original packaging used the phrase “Ayds Reducing Plan vitamin and mineral Candy”; a later version used the phrase “appetite suppressant candy”. The active ingredient in the candy was 5.5 mg benzocaine, presumably to reduce the sense of taste to reduce eating.

Benzocaine, sold under the brand name Orajel amongst others, is an ester local anesthetic commonly used as a topical pain reliever or in cough drops.

A homonym is one of a group of words that share the same spelling or pronunciation (or both) but have different meanings. Examples are stalk (which can mean either part of a plant or to follow (someone) around), and the trio of words to, too and two.

McDLT or Whopper?

The McDLT (McDonald’s Lettuce and Tomato) was a hamburger product based on a novel form of packaging. The meat portion was prepared separately from the other toppings, such as lettuce and tomato, and then both were packaged into a specially designed two-sided container. The consumer was then expected to finalize preparation of the sandwich by combining the hot and cool sides just prior to eating. The company discontinued the sandwich in 1990 due to the move away from the environmentally unsound styrofoam packaging which was integral to the McDLT “experience”.

The Original Whopper sandwich is a hamburger, consisting of a quarter-pound fire-grilled beef patty, sesame seed bun, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and sliced onion. Optional ingredients such as American cheese, bacon, mustard or jalapeño peppers may be added upon request. Regional and international condiments include BBQ sauce, Salsa and Guacamole. BK will also add any condiment it sells, including Tartar sauce, honey mustard, Steak sauce and hot sauce.

Although some people diagnosed with schizophrenia may hear voices and may experience the voices as distinct personalities, schizophrenia does not involve a person changing among distinct multiple personalities. The confusion perhaps arises in part due to the meaning of [Eugene] Bleuler’s term ‘schizophrenia’ (literally ‘split’ or ‘shattered mind’).