In other states, referred to as fruit boxes: Can I have an orange and mango popper please?
Contributor's comments: The reason it is called a popper is, that when a young kid finished with the contents (or even if they were not) they would blow the popper up like a balloon and the stamp on it "popping" the "popper". This would perhaps spray others in juice. Usually after lunch hour there would be flat poppers spread across the schoolyard.
Contributor's comments: Popper is not restricted to Queensland it is the only description I have heard in NSW as well. Especially the Hunter Valley.
Contributor's comments: This term is also used on the far north coast of NSW, e.g. Lismore, Ballina, Alstonville.
Contributor's comments: My nieces in Darwin also use this term.
Contributor's comments: Popper is used in Sydney too for drinks in boxes for school kids ... u pop them into school lunch box.
Contributor's comments: This is also commonly used in S/E coastal NSW, being from Sydney town, however once you go 'over the mountain' you buy a fruit box.
Contributor's comments: I thought they were called 'poppers' because that was the brand name of one of the earliest small tetra pack juices - in the same way that vacuum cleaners became known as "Hoovers", or sandwich makers became known as "Brevilles" (and hence the delightful "Sunbeam Breville" for the sandwich maker made by Sunbeam ...).
Contributor's comments: As I recall, when this type of packaging first came out, there was a brand called "Popper", hence the generic name 'popper' for all fruit drinks of this type.
Contributor's comments: [Brisbane informant] Fruit juice in a small box which you drink out of via a straw. Called a Fruit box in other areas of Australia: "Do you want an apple or orange popper with your lunch?"
Contributor's comments: I can confirm that popper was the brand name of a fruit box that was available in Sydney in 1980. I think it was made by Pauls. Perhaps my comments about prima (used in Melbounre) apply here.
Contributor's comments: The word popper is also used in Townsville. A work colleague from Townsville says that he used the word Popper (when living in Townsville) to mean a juice box.
Contributor's comments: Popper has 2 other meanings while I lived in the NT 1. Popper - Slang for a crayfish and was often used in a unflattering way to describe someone, that is, a person with a small head and a big body full of crap. 2. Popper was a type of lure that consisted of a piece of dowel with a series of suicide hooks on the side and on the lower end that was attatched by a swivel and trolled along the surface of the water to catch fish that were in a feeding fenzy. Often used with Queen fish "skinnies".
Contributor's comments: My 12 year old grandaughter uses this term for boxed drinks and she learnt it at a Melbourne kindergaten where the teacher used this term.
Contributor's comments: If you've ever been at a national gathering of kids (eg a Jamboree) you will encounter any number of minor wars over terms such as "Fruit Box," or as they say in other states, "Poppers" or "Primas" (Victoria, if I recall correctly).
Contributor's comments: Little cardboard boxes of juice with straws which you insert into a foil hole in the box to drink out of - you used to find them in your lunchbox in grade 2: "Ohhh, you've got a Golden Circle popper - they're much better than my Mr Juicy popper!"
Contributor's comments: One of the first fruit juices to be put in a tetra pack was by Golden Circle and they were called 'Poppers'. These juice cartons were also dubbed poppers due to children blowing them up and jumping on them to make them explode. I used the term popper in Townsville during primary school and hear it used quite frequently in the NT. In SA, NSW and TAS I've heard them referred to as Fruit Boxes.
