Jun. 09, 2010 - Issue #764: Hot Summer Guide 2010
Provenance
History of the Slurpee
Though the Slurpee name has come to be synonymous with the flavoured slush beverage that provides sweet relief on a hot summer's day, 7-Eleven—the brand's parent—did not invent the concoction. Instead, Slurpees were first developed by Omar Knedlik who was raised a poor farm boy in Barnes, Kansas and moved to the nearby town of Coffeyville in the mid-1950s. Soon after, he became the owner of a Dairy Queen and, lacking a proper soda fountain, stored bottled soft drinks in his freezer. These bottles of pop would partially freeze and their slushy consistency proved a hit with Knedlik's customers.Because of the serendipitous popularity of his half-frozen sodas, Knedlik set out to find a way to replicate their slushy consistency on a regular basis, enlisting the help of a Dallas-based industrial machinery manufacturer who, luckily enough, was working on new technology to create air conditioning for automobiles. Adapting this technology for his purposes, Knedlik created what he called an "ICEE" machine after five years of hard work. By the mid-1960s, the first ICEE machines were being sold in the United States.
In 1965, the 7-Eleven company bought three of the machines as a trial, soon after placing them in all the company's stores. A 1967 marketing brainstorm session produced the name "Slurpee" when in-house ad agency director Bob Stanford mentioned the drink made a slurping sound when being consumed. According to 7-Eleven's website, other names in the running included "Slurpish" and "Sippity."
Originally, Slurpee machines were kept behind the counter and the attendant would have to pour the treat, but they were eventually made into self-serve units. The carbonated and partially-frozen beverages continue to be a hit; enough Slurpees are sold each year at 7-Elevens worldwide to fill 12 Olympic-sized swimming pools, with more than 40 percent of all sales happening in June, July and August. Winnipeg, MB is considered the Slurpee capital of the world due to Winnipeggers' seemingly insatiable thirst for the slushy drinks, and each year on July 11, in that city and in others, Slurpee Day is celebrated. Traditional celebrations include Slurpee consumption and little else.
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