"Hey, Kool-Aid!"

In our large family of nine kids, soda was a luxury. The regular kid beverages were either milk or Wyler's or Kool-Aid drink mixes made in empty plastic gallon milk jugs.

There were two unofficial rules for the jugs of Kool-Aid: don't drink directly from the jug--use a glass, and whomever finishes the jug makes the next jug. Both of these rules were routinely abused by both boys and girls alike. I think all of us kids at one time or another took a quick chug of Kool-Aid when we were thirsty. Of course the trick was not to get caught in the act!

I don't know why but it always seemed to be such a big chore to make the Kool-Aid, so we became creative or maybe a better word is evasive. When the jug was full, no problem--big drinks. But as the liquid level began drop, smaller drinks, because as long as there was one glass of drink left in the jug it wasn't empty! So everyone became good at leaving "just enough" liquid in the jug. It started out that one glass meant regular 10-12 ounce drinking glass until one clever sibling upon being challenged about the jug amount, poured the jug contents into a 4 ounce juice glass. Thus demonstrating that indeed one glass of drink was left in the jug.

More often than not, the empty jug would be left on the counter where the next thirsty child would find it and yell out "Who emptied the Kool-Aid jug?!". The only answer ever received was dead air and the thirsty child was left to make the jug, or do the unthinkable--drink plain water!