Not just an Australian phenomenon?

This extract of an interview by Tim Milfull with Adam Elliot (Max & Mary film) sheds a little mysterious light on the history of the tyre swan.

TM: It’s quite extraordinary watching the opening sequences—you chose a lot of iconic images of Australian suburbia that are so beautifully rendered.

AE: Look, I really wanted to get all that stuff in, and there was the danger of it becoming a big cliché, which is why we didn’t have kangaroos jumping down the street. But there was a koala letterbox, and a tyre swan, and I thought they were very Australian. But I actually found out showing the film at Sundance and in Germany that they all said, “Ah, yes, very German suburbia.” I said, “Really?” And the Americans said, “Oh, yes. We have tyre swans too, and totem tennis poles .”

Tyre Swan in art, Victor Gordon 2005

Hope you don't mind Victor. Check link for more images.

Precious Tyre Swan

Victoria Mason has made a beautiful necklace based on a tyre swan.

Tyre Swan, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, 1990

Tyre Swan in the collection of the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney NSW. Formerly of a lawn in St Marys, Sydney. I can't get a picture for this blog, so you'll have to follow the link. It's very beautiful. Thank you Mr & Mrs Johnson.