Get Kicking with Kickapoo Joy Juice!

During my teenage years I had a good fill of Kickapoo Joy Juice (KJJ) and got perked up each time. It has been quite a while now since I had a KJJ as I am now not so into fizzy drinks.

Back then, which was way before the advent of the internet, there was such a dearth of the proliferation of information that I had wandered for the longest time about the inspiration for KJJ and the two characters shown on the can with one of them looking distinctively like a native American Indian wielding a machete.

Now, from my desk, I have been able to suss out this bit of history from http://www.drinkkickapoo.com/ and shown here for your ease of reference:-

"The name, "Kickapoo Joy Juice", was originally coined as a "volatile brew" in Li'l Abner, an American comic strip. Al Capp, the cartoonist, described the drink 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". 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. Brewed by Hairless Joe and Lonesome Polecat, two of the comic strip's backwood poachers, the ingredients of the brew are both mysterious and all encompassing, (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 one (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.

Kickapoo Today

Kickapoo is the first brand Monarch introduced in international markets. It was launched in Southeast Asia in 1966 and has been delighting consumers ever since. Today Kickapoo has become the #1 heavy citrus brand in Malaysia and Singapore thanks to its superior taste. In those countries, the brand now challenges Sprite and 7Up for market leadership after colas. Kickapoo contains caffeine. The amount of caffeine will, in general, be superior to the amount present in leading cola brands."

Oh, okay, the superior amount of caffeine explains the 'kick' I have from KJJ. As for the name Kickapoo itself, my hunch is that Al Capp had in mind the Kickapoo tribe with Lonesome Polecat resembling one. Just take a look at this picture for good measure:-

Babe Shkit, Kickapoo Chief from Oklahoma

By the way, here is Wikipedia's take on Kickapoo for our enrichment and fuller enjoyment of KJJ (drink in a bit of history and reality):-

"The Kickapoo people (Kickapoo: Kiikaapoa or Kiikaapoi) are an Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe. Anishinaabeg say the name "Kickapoo" (Giiwigaabaw in the Anishinaabe language and its Kickapoo cognate Kiwikapawa) means "Stands here and there," which may have referred to the tribe's migratory patterns. The name can also mean "wanderer". This interpretation is contested and generally believed to be a folk etymology.

Today there are three federally recognized Kickapoo tribes in the United States: Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas, the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas." 

I suppose in this modern era of e-shopping you could well get hold of KJJ even if it ain't available in your home country. Or just grab hold of it when travelling overseas to the United States, Canada or Asian countries where this joy juice is distributed.

Get some Kickapoo Joy Juice today, spread some joy and experience the delightful 'intoxication' of Hairless Joe and Lonesome Polecat. It's simply out of this world!