# Which came first the popsicle or the stick?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-popsicle-or-the-stick/301674
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 29, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-popsicle-or-the-stick/301674 "2005-04-29T04:31:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@wwxd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wwxd)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-popsicle-or-the-stick/301674/1 "2005-04-29T04:31:56Z")
This seems trivial but it has plagued me for a while now and so straightdope seemed the place to come. I was wondering what paddle pop/ popsicle sticks were called before the advent of that actual ice cream. I am from Australia you guys may call them something different, I’m referring to the sticks in which ice creams come on that are commonly used in arts and crafts. Which came first the sticks or the ice cream?
Many Thanks
Damien
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2005, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-popsicle-or-the-stick/301674/2 "2005-04-29T06:01:32Z")
Long before the Popsicle® was invented in the 1920s, wood tongue depressors existed. I don’t know if they were used in arts and crafts back then.
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2005, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-popsicle-or-the-stick/301674/3 "2005-04-29T06:34:12Z")
What were paddle-pop sticks called before icecream?
At a guess, “sticks.”
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-popsicle-or-the-stick/301674/4 "2005-04-29T13:17:50Z")
What, you think popsicles grow on trees? 😉
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-popsicle-or-the-stick/301674/5 "2005-04-29T13:29:03Z")
What makes you think they existed before there was a need for them, as if somebody invented those plastic non-bird-killing six-ring beer can holders before people started putting beer in cans? How far in advance of the need for them do you suppose they started making little tiny tongue depressers, and how big of a warehouse did they need to store them in? Did people stand around the warehouse, look at the mountains of popsicle sticks, and think, “Man, somebody better invent the popsicle pretty darn quick; these things are a fire hazard.”
:dubious:
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-came-first-the-popsicle-or-the-stick/301674/6 "2005-04-29T13:56:04Z")
Wood tongue depressors come in pediatric and adult sizes. The pediatric size (5/8 in. x 5.5 in., or 1.6 cm x 14 cm) is similar to the birch sticks used in Popsicles and other frozen treats.