Did you know? The name ‘Poppins’ echoes the word ‘poppy’ — the flower from which opium is derived. In Victorian times, opium-laced medicines were commonly given to children to soothe them. Mary Poppins’s mysterious ‘brown, bitter’ spoonful may subtly reference this historical practice, blending the story’s whimsical charm with an undercurrent of period-accurate pharmacology.