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Kiewa Valley Historical Society
Typewriter Case Olivetti, Circa 1950
... protective carry bags/cases for mobile office equipment.... commercial protective carry bags/cases for mobile office equipment ...This typewriter case allowed the Olivetti typewriter to be securely and free from contaminants to be totally mobile. The Olivetti typewriter company was founded in Italy in 1908 and became a leader in portable dependable typewriters.This particular typewriter contained is a Olivetti Lettera 22, oblique front stroke and portable manufactured after 1950. During the 1950s and 1960s was a time when British and European manufactured goods were still purchased by many Australian consumers. After the 1970s however, there was a shift, mainly in the cities, to Japanese made goods. The invasion of Japanese manufactured goods was relatively slower, especially in rural areas. The demand for long lasting and dependable merchandise was in the rural area still the most important criteria. The ease of setting up this typewriter and its compact mobility was its major benefit to trades people and travelling professionals, e.g. rural doctors, other medical professionals, accountants, lawyers and educators. This item(carrying case) facilitated the growing numbers of professional nomads requiring a relatively light office stationery package e.g. travelling novelist, writer, businessman and academics. This typewriter needed no electrical or battery power to operate it therefore the inside compartment did not require additional storage pockets . Outback Australia, where at this point in time, good available electrical power reticulation and battery power, was a scarce and therefore could not be totally measured as a highly efficient office environment. The protective carrying bag provided the only mobile way to operate in some business and home locations.Although this typewriter cover and its typewriter was purchased from a business in Penrith, Sydney, N.S.W., it is significant that it travelled easily to the Kiewa Valley, demonstrating the mobility of certain sections of the community. This typewriter cover protected the expensive typewriter it contained which was designed by an Italian industrial designer, Marcello Nizzoli, in line with the art deco style of the 1930s and the colour and flexibility of the vibrant 1950s. The underlying theme of manufacturing in the 1950s was to produce equipment that was more efficient than what was inherited from the earlier period of 20th century. Improvements were made to this Olivetti typewriter by Giuseppe Beccio by reducing the number of parts made from 3,000 to 2,000. Protection of such a typewriter was of an utmost necessity. The need for mobile expensive typewriters waned as less expensive typewriters became available. This was the major principle of the Japanese manufacturing juggernauts of the post World War II. Efficiency and low cost material was becoming prime factors in the success of rural industries from the 1960s. Competition from overseas producers was starting to affect rural industries and the removal of the large range of tariff protection, especially rural products, required not only a shift of farm management but a more efficient cost savings modus operandi.This is a semi hard cover (cloth over cardboard on inside, plastic over cardboard on outside), camel coloured outside and tartan cloth covered pattern inside the typewriter case. the case can be opened up by "unzipping" the top from the bottom halves of the case. For carrying purposes the case has two plastic covering metal handles with brass fittings. There are two stitched on brown reinforcement straps encompassing both sides of the case. The two reinforcing straps are brown in colour and a securing strap with a press button at one end to allow an extra securing tongue to keep the cover secure. The top inside of the case has a three quarters long paper compartment (flap style). See KVHS 0455 for Olivetti Lettera typewriter.commercial, protective carry bags/cases for mobile office equipment, mechanical typewriter -
Kiewa Valley Historical Society
Typewriter Mechanical Portable, 1950s
... mobile office equipment... operandi. commercial mobile office equipment mechanical typewriter ...The Olivetti company was founded in Italy in 1908.This particular typewriter is a Olivetti Lettera 22, oblique front stroke and portable manufactured after 1950. The 1950s and 1960s was a time when British manufactured goods were still purchased by many Australian consumers. The later 1960s onwards, there was a shift, mainly in the cities, to European made goods. The invasion of Japanese manufactured goods was relatively slower, especially in rural areas. The demand for long lasted and dependable merchandise was in the rural area still the most important criteria. The ease of setting up this typewriter and its compact mobility was its major benefit to trades people and travelling professionals, e.g. rural doctors, other medical professionals, accountants, lawyers and educators. This item facilitated the growing numbers of professional nomads requiring a relatively light office stationery package e.g. travelling novelist, writer, businessman and academics. This typewriter needed no electrical or battery power to operate it. Outback Australia, where at this point in time, was still relatively isolated from a good available electrical power reticulation and battery power, and therefore could not be totally measured as a highly efficient office environment.Although this typewriter was purchased from a business in Penrith, Sydney, N.S.W., it is significant that it travelled easily to the Kiewa Valley, demonstrating the mobility of certain sections of the community. This typewriter was designed by an Italian industrial designer, Marcello Nizzoli, in line with the art deco style of the 1930s and the colour and flexibility of the vibrant 1950s. The underlying theme of manufacturing in the 1950s was to produce equipment that was more efficient than what was inherited from the earlier period of 20th century. Improvements were made to this Olivetti typewriter by Giuseppe Beccio by reducing the number of parts made from 3,000 to 2,000. This reduction of parts and therefore cost of production was the major principle of the Japanese manufacturing juggernauts of the post World War II era. Efficiency and low costs material was becoming prime factors in the success of rural industries from the 1960s. Competition from overseas producers was starting to affect rural industries and the removal of the large range of tariff protection, especially rural products, required not only a shift of farm management but a more efficient cost savings modus operandi. This Olivetti Lettera 22, oblique front stroke portable (weighs 4kg) mechanical typewriter has a coral coloured plastic casing. The keys are made of black hardened plastic with white lettering, numbers and symbols (imperial fractions, and pound). It has a QWERTY keyboard as opposed to the Italian QZERTY. It has a lever to move the ribbon between black, neutral (for mimeograph stencils)and red colours (a red key is provided for highlighting specific words,letters or symbols) . This machine is fitted with only a black ribbon. It has a black rubber paper rollers and chromed metal parts on the carriage way. It has four rubber feet underneath the main body. On the left side of the roller there is a lever to adjust the roller from fixed (when mobile) through 1,2 and 3 line space gradients. This model has a key for zero but not one for the number one (uppercase letter l is used) see KVHS 0459 for the carrying bag.On the cover over the ribbon wheels letter strikers has a plate marked "Lettera 22" and the back plate behind the paper roller and in front of the paper supports has a silver metal label marked "olivetti made in great britain".commercial, mobile office equipment, mechanical typewriter -
Kiewa Valley Historical Society
Calendar Stand - Desk, Office Equipment
ukv 257 Used to remind the user of the day and date. Pre dating computers and mobile phones.Used by residents of the Kiewa Valley especially in the office.Black tin ramp with two holes and an oval hole cut at the front to fit a steel frame for paper sheets.Embossed on the front 'Bunch of Dates'office equipment, calendar stand -
Melbourne Tram Museum
Photograph - Set of 6 Black & White Photograph/s, Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB), 1957
Set of six Black and White photographs of the MMTB Radio Centre (used in 1957 Annual Report?) .1 - Photo of the equipment and two people working in the room with multiple telephones, a map and a large book to record events possibly. .2 - as above but a close up of the main desk. .3 - ditto .4 - ditto but with another person at the desk .5 - Photo of one of the mobile cars - a Ford Zephyr - Mark II Saloon which was produced in Australia between 1956 and 1962 See - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Zephyr accessed 1/3/2021. .6 - internal view of the car with an Inspector on the radio handset and shows other equipment provided. MMTB Photostrams, tramways, radio centre, inspectors, mmtb, head office