During the Great Depression, demand for Kool-Aid actually escalated and the Hastings location was not large enough. In 1931 the Perkins Products Company moved from Hastings to Chicago and the demand continued as Perkins' workforce grew from his family in Hastings to 350 workers in Chicago by 1950.

Perkins Products Company factory in Chicago. Source - Hastings Museum.

In 1953 Perkins was 64 years old and sold his company to General Foods Corporation. After their retirement Edwin and Kitty Perkins still considered Hastings home and were buried there when they died, Edwin in 1961 and Kitty in 1977. They gave a great deal back to the community through donations to Hastings College, Lanning Hospital and other favorite institutions.

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