A Sunnyboy was a wedge of frozen sugar-water typically enjoyed by Australian schoolchildren during the summer months. Sold at corner stores, supermarkets and tuckshops, Sunnyboys came in three main flavours; orange, cola and raspberry.

For all their popularity, Sunnyboys were a curious beast. The tetrahedron-shaped snack was wrapped in packaging so thick that, often, a parent or a tuckshop lady had to cut it open for you with scissors.

Then, when you were finally able to eat the thing, you quickly discovered – you couldn’t. Frozen solid and too oddly shaped to fit in your mouth, you couldn’t bite a Sunnyboy, you had to, with great resolve, suck the flavour out of it. Something that could take ages.

Their shape also meant Sunnyboys were a messy treat best consumed outside, on the back steps or in the garden. That way, when you tilted the pack to drink the sticky-sweet “juice” that would pool at the bottom, you’d only spill it on your clothes or the grass, and not the carpet or the couch.

After you’d successfully leeched the sugar and colouring from your Sunnyboy, all that remained was a flavourless chunk of ice. At this point, you had two options: dump it in the kitchen sink, or chip away at it with your teeth until entirely consumed. I usually chose the latter. Much to my dentist’s displeasure.

Sadly, in 2016, after almost 4 decades of sticky fingers, stained tongues and brain freezes, the Sunnyboy was discontinued. Abandoned in favour of smaller, easier-to-eat frozen treats like Zooper Doopers, which had a wider range of flavours and simpler packaging.

Still, as cumbersome and impractical as they were, Sunnyboys were a lifesaver on hot summer days. If you were trying to cool down and you didn’t have air conditioning, or a garden sprinkler to run through, the handheld iceberg that was a Sunnyboy would usually do the trick.

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