Typewriter #2005-0024

Remington Travel-Riter Deluxe portable manual typewriter in leather carrying case, previously owned and used by Peter Bowers. Typewriter in grey/green metal housing with buff keys; ribbon intact. Two-tone grey leather case with zipper closure and plastic handle, metal locking mechanism to attach typewriter; three luggage labels attached to handle.

History

This portable Remington Travel-Riter Deluxe typewriter was owned and used by political journalist Peter Bowers (1930 - 2010). Bowers worked for The Sydney Morning Herald for over thirty years, as political correspondent, London correspondent, editor and feature writer, and had a long career reporting from the Press Gallery. In 1992 he won a Gold Walkley Award for outstanding contribution to journalism.

The period of Bowers’ Press Gallery reporting is caught between the fluctuating dominance of print to television and the emergence of the influence of talkback radio. Bowers experienced the rapid growth of the size of the Gallery and the move from the provisional to the new Parliament House, during a period of technological change and the introduction of the televising of Parliament. Bowers’ political reporting began in the era of Prime Minister Robert Menzies, and covered the seesawing politics of the 1970s and the long period of Labor government from 1983.

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Statement of values

This typewriter is significant because of its relationship to distinguished political journalist Peter Bowers and for its association with the Press Offices and Gallery. The Press Offices have outstanding historic significance because of their association with the evolving nature and composition of the Press Gallery, the press coverage of Parliamentary debates, and, increasingly, of broader party political and executive developments, from 1927 to 1988. The Press Offices and the stories and personalities associated with them, reflect the changing nature of the relationship between newspapers and the electronic media organisations, and the Parliament and executive government. They also reflect the growth and evolution of the electronic media in Australia during the critical period of the advent of national news broadcasting, and of the introduction of television.

This typewriter is part of the Associated Parliamentary and Political Collection, which comprises those objects which are relevant to the democratic, parliamentary and political history of Australia. This collection includes items of material culture which are acquired for exhibition, interpretation and research.

Details

Width 345mm
Height 150mm
Depth 360mm
Medium Metal; rubber; plastic; textile; leather
Creator’s name Remington
Date created Unknown