Kickapoo Joy Juice Explained

Kickapoo Joy Juice
Type:Soft drink
Distributor:Monarch Beverage Company
Origin:United States
Introduced:1965
Color:Green
Flavor:Citrus
Variants:Kickapoo Fruit Shine
Kickapoo Fuzzy Navel
Kickapoo Malibu
Related:Mountain Dew
Website:DrinkKickapoo.com

Kickapoo Joy Juice is a citrus-flavored soft drink brand owned by the Monarch Beverage Company.[1] [2] The name was introduced in Li'l Abner, a comic strip that ran from 1934 through 1977.[3] [4] Although Li'l Abner's Kickapoo Joy Juice was an alcoholic drink, the real-life beverage is a lightly carbonated soft drink .[5]

Li'l Abner

"Kickapoo Joy Juice" was a fictional beverage coined in the American comic strip Li'l Abner.[6] Al Capp, the cartoonist, described the beverage as "a liquor of such stupefying potency that the hardiest citizens of Dogpatch, after the first burning sip, rose into the air, stiff as frozen codfish".[7] [8] It was said to be an elixir of such power that the fumes alone have been known to melt the rivets off battleships.

Capp asserted in 1965 that the cartoon "never has suggested that the drink is moonshine", in response to claims that the Kickapoo Joy Juice of Li'l Abner was an illicitly distilled liquor.[9] [10] [11] Brewed by Hairless Joe and Lonesome Polecat, two of the comic strip's backwoods poachers, the ingredients of the brew are both mysterious and all-encompassing,[12] (much like the contents of their cave, which has been known to harbor prehistoric monsters.) When a batch "needs more body", the formidable pair simply goes out and clubs "a body" (often a moose), and tosses it in. Over the years, the "recipe" has called for live grizzly bears, panthers, kerosene, horseshoes and anvils, among other ingredients.

Product

The real-life drink was introduced in 1965 under NuGrape, a former brand of the Monarch Beverage Company. That year, Nugrape worked out a deal with Al Capp, the owner of the "Kickapoo Joy Juice" rights, to produce the beverage as a carbonated soft drink. Capp, however, would have the last word on all advertising and promotion. Kickapoo Joy Juice's early advertising campaign was very similar to Mountain Dew's of the time – using characters from Li'l Abner to create and market a hillbilly feeling.[13] Although the product is distributed largely in Asian markets (Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia and Bangladesh), the can still comes decorated with a vintage Li'l Abner drawing.[14]

The Wall Street Journal had a regular feature on mixed drinks, and once published in it a recipe for Kickapoo Joy Juice. The backstory is that it had been illicit hooch ginned up by soldiers during World War II, often starting from alcohol intended for fuel for torpedoes and the like.

Variants

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Use of unauthorized beverage bases infringes KICKAPOO marks . Quek . Regina . 17 April 2009 . . 12 August 2010 . Singapore . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120310112143/http://www.onelegal.sg/pdf/World%20Trademark%20Review%20-%20Kickapoo.pdf . 10 March 2012 .
  2. Web site: Kickapoo Joy Juice . 2005 . Capp Enterprises . 12 August 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101102043610/http://www.lil-abner.com/kickapoo.html . 2 November 2010 .
  3. News: Press: Mr. Dogpatch. https://web.archive.org/web/20090809053521/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,948819,00.html. dead. 9 August 2009. 19 November 1979. Time. 13 August 2010.
  4. News: Kickapoo Indians Pay High Price for Tradition. Bartimum. Tad. 7 December 1980. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. 13 August 2010.
  5. News: Li'l Abner was subject of toys. Kovell. 22 January 1983. The Free Lance–Star. 13 August 2010.
  6. News: Advertising: Kickapoo Mellows With Age. Carlson. Walter. 8 February 1965. The New York Times. 35. 12 August 2010.
  7. Web site: Kickapoo Joy Juice. 2009. Monarch Beverages. 12 August 2010. 29 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180829212038/https://monarchbeverages.com/brands/kickapoo/. dead.
  8. News: The Press: Die Monstersinger. https://web.archive.org/web/20121105214941/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,813720-2,00.html. dead. 5 November 2012. 6 November 1950. Time. 12 August 2010.
  9. News: 'Kickapoo Joy Juice' aims at a younger set. Conway. Patrick. 12 February 1965. Gasden Times. 7. 12 August 2010.
  10. News: Hillbilly Names Help 'Moonshine' Soda Pop Grab Teen-Age Sales. https://archive.today/20130131145344/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/djreprints/access/109871947.html?dids=109871947:109871947&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+19,+1965&author=&pub=Wall+Street+Journal&desc=Hillbilly+Names+Help+'Moonshine'+Soda+Pop+Grab+Teen-Age+Sales&pqatl=google. dead. 31 January 2013. Leger. Richard R.. 19 April 1965. The Wall Street Journal. 12 August 2010.
  11. Book: Hiley H. Ward. Ferdinand C. Teubner. Media History Digest. 5. 1985. Media History Digest Corp. 46.
  12. http://deniskitchen.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=bios.joyjuice Kickapoo Joy Juice page at deniskitchen.com
  13. Book: Hollis, Tim. Ain't that a knee-slapper: rural comedy in the twentieth century. 13 August 2010. May 2008. Univ. Press of Mississippi. 978-1-934110-73-7. 217.
  14. News: Malaysian Snack Attack . DiStefano . Joe . 19 April 2008 . . 13 August 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100411143826/http://www.gourmet.com/food/2008/04/malayjunkfood . 11 April 2010 .