Ohio creator of Slush Puppies dead at age 74

CINCINNATI (AP) — Will Radcliff, who built a multimillion-dollar global business from flavored, icy “Slush Puppie” drinks, has died in Cincinnati. He was 74.

Daughter DeeAnn Radcliff Harmon says Radcliff died Thursday in hospice care after his health declined in recent weeks after a fall.

A natural salesman who sold vacuum cleaners door-to-door and prospered from selling peanuts, Radcliff spotted a slush machine at a 1970 Chicago trade show and saw the possibilities of slushy sweet drinks that could be made for a few pennies. He, his mother and sister combined to come up with the name Slush Puppie, which would become represented by a toboggan-wearing, floppy-eared dog.

Sales boomed and business spread. London-based Cadbury Schweppes PLC bought Slush Puppie in 2001.

The Dayton, Ky., native owned a 4,000-acre ranch in Umatilla, Fla.