Icee Bear: The Cool History of Icees, Slurpees and Slush Puppie

Happy accidents can lead to the coolest inventions. The Icee Bear first caught my eye in the 1970s comic books, and nothing says summer refreshment like reading a comic while sipping a slushy, icy drink in the heat of July. The story of the Icee actually begins in 1958 with Omar Knedlik, a Dairy Queen owner in Coffeyville, Kansas. When a soda machine broke, Knedlik started storing bottles of soda in the freezer, and when opened, they magically transformed into slush. This accidentally frozen drink quickly became a customer favorite and sparked a frosty revolution in cold beverages.

By chilling the soda bottles in the freezer, the liquid entered a state of extreme coldness, yet stubbornly refused to become ice. The inner glass surfaces were too smooth for tiny ice embryos to grab onto—what science calls a lack of nucleation points. This rebellious liquid is known as a supercooled state, colder than its normal freezing point but still liquid. When an unsuspecting customer popped the cap, the sudden air exposure triggered an instant freeze, like magic. Modern ICEE machines use a hypnotic spinning dial to keep the liquid in motion, teasing the ice crystals and stopping them from staging a frozen coup.

Enjoying icy drinks like Icees, Slurpees, slushies, and frozen sodas can sometimes trigger brain freeze, or sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia. This common but harmless sensation happens when the roof of the mouth, or palate, cools rapidly, causing blood vessels to constrict and then quickly dilate. The resulting pain signals travel along the trigeminal nerve, which also senses the face and forehead, creating a sharp headache known as referred pain. Although intense, the sensation is brief, usually lasting only seconds to a minute, and is a normal bodily response that occurs more often in migraine sufferers.

The Icee name and iconic logo were created by local artist Ruth E. Taylor, a friend of Knedlik. She added block letters with icicles for a frosty look that has remained unchanged for decades. Although she envisioned a Polar Bear mascot, the actual Icee Bear had already been created by the Norsworthy-Mercer ad agency. The snowy lettering on the cups was designed by Mitchell Company artist Lonnie Williams. Knedlik spent five years refining a machine that could freeze a mixture of water, flavor, and carbon dioxide using parts from a car air conditioner, turning automotive components into a frozen drink masterpiece.

In 1965, 7-Eleven licensed the Icee machine and rebranded the drink as the Slurpee. The name came from the satisfying slurping sound made when sipping through a straw. Fans of frozen beverages quickly embraced the icy treat, along with everyone’s favorite frosty dog mascot. Then, in 1970, Will Radcliff created the Slush Puppie, a non-carbonated version of the slushie after seeing a slush machine at a trade fair, adding another icy option for frozen drink lovers.

From a soda mishap in Kansas to iconic frozen drink mascots like the Icee Bear, Slurpee, and Slush Puppie, the history of slushies and frozen beverages shows that sometimes the coolest creations happen by accident, delivering brain-freezing refreshment one icy sip at a time.

Bonus: Who would have thought? Slurpee actually had its own dance track. I can picture Batman and Robin grooving to this funky beat as they spin through the streets of Gotham. And of course, Mr. Freeze had to cool things down, putting this frosty little tune on ice. It is the kind of quirky, unexpected groove that makes you grin while sipping a slushy. Brrr!