Why This Iconic 1990s Gas Station Frozen Drink Basically Disappeared

Driving around the country, you'll find two big frozen drinks at convenience stores and gas stations: Icee and Slurpee. But as recently as the 1990s, there used to be a third. The kind of drinks that are more generically known as slushies are a symbol of roadside Americana — and a thoroughly modern product that was created by accident. While flavored ice drinks date back thousands of years, the first modern blended slushie (as we know it) was born in a Dairy Queen in 1958. A local franchise owner named Omar Knedlik was trying to save soda pop after his refrigerator broke, so he put it in a freezer, later discovering he could sell the frozen soda. The popularity of that drink led directly to the birth of the first ICEE machines, and an American tradition was born. It's a tradition that only a decade later caught the attention of a peanut salesman named Will Radcliff, who eagerly jumped into the market by creating the Slush Puppie in 1970.

Slush Puppie took off quickly and became a ubiquitous brand in convenience stores and local restaurants across the country. By the late '90s, the company was bringing in $30 million a year in revenue, and had sold 650,000 machines in over 60 countries. Unfortunately, Slush Puppie fell prey to a common outcome in the corporate food world: consolidation. Radcliff first sold the brand to U.K. giant Cadbury Schweppes in 2000, but he remained as a company leader as Slush Puppie continued. However, Radcliff retired not long after, and in 2006, Cadbury Schweppes sold Slush Puppie again to a company called J&J Snack Foods Corp. J&J happened to be the owner of another brand called ICEE.

Slush Puppie still exists today, but in the United States, it has largely been supplanted by the more common ICEE machines. That is a bit of a shame because while both are similar products, Slush Puppie is distinct and has its own fans. For example, unlike ICEE, Slush Puppie isn't carbonated. The smooth, sweet drink also started off with just four flavors — cherry, grape, orange, and lemon-lime — but expanded to dozens as the drink exploded in popularity. At one point, it had over 40 flavors, and its distinct texture — compared to the airier carbonated ICEE slushies — earned Slushie Puppies their own enduring fandom.

ICEE also controls a lot of the fast food slushie market, though these drinks don't always bear the ICEE name. In fact, ICEE and its seeming arch-rival Slurpee are the same product. The Slurpee name is owned by 7-Eleven, dating back to a deal with ICEE in the early days of the company, but the recipe for the drink itself is owned and made by ICEE.

Slush Puppie does still exist, however. There are approximately 50,000 locations where you can find one worldwide. While many of these are overseas, you can still find Slush Puppie machines in the United States, particularly in the Northeast. They are more common in smaller, local businesses, but are still found occasionally at gas stations. Some fans have tracked them down at Target, too. So while corporate overlord ICEE has largely overtaken them, Slush Puppie endures.