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Australiana is anything pertaining to Australian culture, society, geography and ecology, especially if it is endemic to Australia or has reached iconic status. It includes people, places, flora, fauna and events of Australian origins. Australiana objects can be highly collectable and comprise anything made in Australia or especially made for Australian use.[1] Australiana often borrows from Australian Aboriginal culture, or the stereotypical Australian culture of the early 1900s.
Collectable Australiania objects typically include furniture, pottery, glass, bottles, printed materials, metal and wooden objects, fabrics and aboriginal collectables. Objects can be Australiana in their own right, such as boomerangs, Akubra hats, and didgeridoos, or can be common objects with Australian cultural images displayed on them. Such items might include two-man saws, snow globes or tea towels with Australian scenery or icons imprinted on them in the national colours of Australia (green and gold).
Australiana can also refer to art with an Australian style or subject. Paintings, ceramics, crafts and coins that depict Australian imagery would fall also under this category. Australiana has also been called a style of kitsch art.[2]
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People are sometimes depicted in the artwork, such as Australian explorers, drovers, bushranger, swagmen, Aboriginal Australians, diggers, stockmen, and the like.
Being on the beach in summer is also generally made out to be part of Australiana, as well as Surf Life Savers, as Australia is a coastal culture, because of the nature of inland Australia (dry, harsh desert).
Some commercial brands have become part of Australiana due to their perceived "Australianness". Advertisements and posters depicting these brands often become part of Australiana as well. The following themes are examples of Australiana:[3]
Aboriginal culture
Animals
These images are often well-known Australian animals and birds, such as
- Australian feral camel
- Budgerigar
- Cassowary
- Saltwater crocodile
- Dingo
- Echidna
- Emu
- Frill-necked lizard
- Kangaroo
- Koala
- Kookaburra
- Numbat
- Platypus
- Quokka
- Rainbow lorikeet
- Tasmanian devil
- Tasmanian tiger Famous for being unique and hunted to extinction.[4] The movie film showing the last surviving Tasmanian tiger that died in the Hobart zoo in 1936 is often used as a reminder of how fragile the environment is.[5]
- Wallaby
- Wombat
Businesses
Clothing
- Akubra hats a staple of country people and most often seen in cities at election time on the heads of Australian politicians. Les Hiddins also known as The Bush Tucker Man was famous for the unique the shape of his akubra hat.[6]
- Driza-Bone coats were popularized in the movie The Man From Snowy River which showed groups of men on horseback wearing long Driza-Bone coats chasing after brumbies in the Snowy Mountains.
- RM Williams boots
- Speedos, colloquially known as Budgie smugglers, are swim briefs that have been brought to attention of the Australian public through images of surf life savers, Australian men and women swimmers at the Olympic Games and more recently the then prime minister Tony Abbott who was photographed wearing them.
- Ugg boots made simply from sheep skin and worn from the 1800's.[7] The most recent version created by Australian surfer Brian Smith to keep his feet warm, and worn all over the world by Australians in the 1970's. Brought to notice by the enforcement of trademark disputes to prevent the generic use of the term.
Food
- Anzac biscuits
- Arnott's Biscuits
- Chiko Roll
- Damper
- Dim sim Chinese-inspired dumpling
- Fairy bread
- Lamingtons
- Meat pie evokes memories of school tuck shops and football matches with the best known being Four'N Twenty Pies.[8]
- Milo- Australian invention.(beverage)
- Peters Ice Cream
- Rosella soup
- Sausage sizzle
- Bundaberg - Soda drink Aussie made.
- Tim Tam
- Vegemite
- Victoria Bitter
- Weet-Bix
- XXXX beer whose popularity is often attributed to the mythical joke "Why do Queenslanders call their beer XXXX? Because they can’t spell beer!"[9]
- Chicken Salt seasoning invented in Australia.
- Aussie Burger also known as Burger With The Lot Burger that has added pineapple, egg, bacon and beetroot alongside the traditional items used in a Burger; such as meat patty, Lettuce, tomato.
- Minties lollies created in Australia.
Music
- My Island Home by Warumpi Band
- Treaty by Yothu Yindi
- Solid Rock by Goanna
- Advance Australia Fair
- I Am Australian
- Pub rock (Australia)
- Waltzing Matilda
- I Still Call Australia Home
- Down Under
- Sounds of Then (This Is Australia)
- The Horses by Daryl Braithwaite
- You're the Voice by John Farnham
- Great Southern Land by ICEHOUSE
- Beds Are Burning by Midnight Oil
- Working Class Man by Jimmy Barnes
People
Places
- Anzac Cove located in the Gallipoli peninsula is associated with the World War I campaign known as Gallipoli. The place was the scene of large loss of life on both sides when Australian and New Zealand troops and allies stormed the beaches. The event lead to a culturally defining moment.[10] Current Anzac Day ceremonies have renewed interest with dawn ceremonies held at Anzac Cove accompanied with playing of the last post.
- Daintree Rainforest
- Great Barrier Reef
- Melbourne Cricket Ground
- Sydney Harbour Bridge
- Sydney Opera House
- Uluru
Products
Sport
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- Culture of Australia
- William Dixson — a collector of early Australiana
- David Scott Mitchell — a collector of early Australiana
- Canadiana — a similar concept in Canada
- Americana — a similar concept in the United States
- Kiwiana — a similar concept in New Zealand
- Africana — a similar concept in South Africa
- Floridiana — a similar concept in Florida
- Hawaiiana — a similar concept in Hawaii
- Yugo-nostalgia — a similar concept in the former Yugoslav states
- Soviet nostalgia — a similar concept in the former Soviet Union
- Ostalgie — a similar concept in East Germany
- PRL nostalgia — a similar concept in Poland
- Communist nostalgia — a similar concept in former or currently communist countries
- Rhodesiana — a similar concept in Zimbabwe relating to items made in its colonial (Rhodesia) era
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