Craig Scutt is the author of The Little Book of Big Aussie Icons.

From the Big Pineapple to the Big Gumboot, our nation has taken some of our favourite things and super-sized them – along freeways, beside fruit stores and in small country towns.

Craig Scutt is an author and freelance writer. Long ago, a visit to Swan Hill, home of the Big Murray Cod, gave him his first big experience.

He was totally blown away by the colossal cod’s outstanding unnatural beauty, not to mention the hot tourist posing beside it.

What he loves most about Big Things is that each one represents a bunch of visionaries crazy enough to make them in the first place.

‘Australia’s landmass is 7,692,030 square kilometers. That is the same as thirty two Great Britains laid out side by side, neatly, in a row. To fill up a country that size, you’re going to need a few Big Things,’ explains Scutt.

‘Stick a super-sized Scotsman on the side of a motel, or a colossal Crab on a restaurant rooftop, and voila, you’re on the tourist map.’

In 1964, the Big Banana started an avalanche of models that today make up Australia’s kitsch cultural heritage in the form of Big Aussie icons.

It was an enormous leap of faith taken by the owner, engineer, builder and the local banana growers’ federation to produce the Big Banana, but it sure has worked.

The aim was to attract motorists to buy Landy’s bananas from his roadside stall. But the Big Banana did much more than that. It attracted our imaginations, aroused our childish curiosity, and most importantly, it made us laugh out loud.

As we speedily approach the 50th anniversary of the Big Banana, there are now more than 150 Big Things scattered across the country.

The Little Book of Big Aussie Icons is a fun, light-hearted Australiana title perfect for the whole family.

Visit his website: www.craigscutt.com

Click on the cover image below for more information or to purchase The Little Book of Big Aussie Icons.















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