It's the 81st birthday of the Slurpee and for the eighth year running Winnipeg has won the coveted title of 'Slurpee Capital of the World.'

For the past few years Winnipeggers have been guzzling about 400,000 of them a month.

History of the Slurpee

Long before smoothies and Frappuccinos there was the Slurpee.

The slushy, colourful 7-Eleven brand might have turned 40 but it shows no signs of growing up. It's still popular today for the same reasons it caught on back then: fun, variety, "brain freeze" and coloured tongues.

Slurpee was born in Kansas at a drive-in hamburger restaurant where owner Omar Knedlik served semi-frozen soft drinks from his freezer after his soda fountain machine broke down.

When they were a hit, Knedlik worked with a Dallas company to develop the "Icee" machine that replicated that consistency in slushy soft drinks served at -2�C.

When a 7-Eleven manager happened upon an Icee machine in a rival's store, he saw potential and got them into three stores in 1965. Within two years they were in almost every 7-Eleven and were renamed Slurpees for the noise they made through a straw.

According to 7-Eleven market manager Dale Shaw, when you are not from Manitoba you may find some of these "normal occurrences" unusual...when you live in Winnipeg, you don't even notice:

  • Instead of giving flowers, people meet and greet friends and family at the airport by giving them Slurpees
  • When it's -40 degrees outside, people are seen waiting for the bus, biking and skating with a Slurpee in hand
  • Slurpee is the choice drink for fans watching outdoor football games when it's -20 degrees
  • Slurpee is often served at summer weddings
  • People drink Slurpees for breakfast year round
  • Slurpee is often delivered by visitors at hospitals, especially the maternity wards
  • Winnipeg is famous for its "Slurpee Runs" - for example: a local factory requested 67 Slurpees and had them delivered to everyone at work back at the factory

On Friday July 11 (7/11), every 7-Eleven store in Canada will give Slurpees to their first 1,000 customers of the day.