Nan Hutton
Nan Hutton
Nan Hutton
BornNancy Estelle Charlholmes
1917
Australia
DiedMay 2, 1984(1984-05-02) (aged 66–67)
Melbourne, Australia
Resting placeSpringvale, Victoria
Occupationjournalist, columnist, writer
NationalityAustralian
Years active1940s–1970s
Notable worksFounding member of Melbourne Press Club, 'Nan Hutton on Thursdays column in The Age
SpouseGeoffrey
ChildrenKristin, Barbara

Nan Hutton (1917[1] – 2 May 1984) was a feminist Australian journalist for several magazines, for three Melbourne metropolitan newspapers, and was a book editor for Australian publishers.

Biography

Born Nancy Estelle Charlholmes, Nan''s debut into journalism was at nine years old in her collaboration with her sister on a news sheet which they sold to neighbours for lollies. During the Second World War she wrote for United States forces based in Melbourne and Brisbane, then postwar in Europe for Radio Australia she was a scriptwriter and broadcaster,[2] and compered 'Mainly for Women' on ABC television in the 1960s.[3] She married Henry Nicholls,[4] son of the editor of the Hobart Mercury, in 1946, but they divorced.[1]

Professional journalism

Returning to Australia, Nan married Geoffrey Hutton, a fellow journalist, on 17 March 1952 at South Yarra Presbyterian Church.[1] She was appointed as a feature writer and columnist for The Argus then from 1952 to 1958 produced a personal advice column under the name 'Mary Friend' for Woman's Day[5] In other journalism,[6] she continued freelancing for other magazines including Vogue, and Walkabout.[7][8]

Feminism

In a 1953 issue of Women's Day Hutton protests the housewife's burden; "the homemaker's complaint"; "the heroine of [her] housekeeping manual"; a creature of "grim perfection."[9] Of the Royal Tour of 1954 she commented that "the Queen possibly heard before she came here that Australia is considered a "man's country." If she did not, I should think that when she is going home on the Gothic, thinking back to her days in Australia, she will come to that conclusion herself."[10] Hutton was interviewed on her ideas on ABC radio in 1956.[11]

In the 1960s she was assigned an eponymous column in Walkabout,[7][8] then in 1967 she commenced her column ‘Nan Hutton on Thursdays' in The Age[12] which continued for a run of 13 years. A women's activist,[13] she advocated in her column for equal pay and in 1954 wrote that:

"today's woman can often support herself as well as a man, and divorce carries little stigma. She faces her husband on an equal footing, and if he is too unreasonable, she can pack up and leave"[14]

She critiqued the 'expert' advice pronouncing on women's issues of the time, suggesting that experience instead was the best teacher:

"What with the cookery experts and the beauty specialists and the child psychologists and the panels sitting in judgement on television, I’m afraid we are the most thoroughly advised community that ever existed [...] There are lots of people telling you how to keep your man ... “Never let him see you in curlers”, “Take an interest in his work”, “Relax and be yourself”, “Don’t become a doormat”. It all sounds plausible, but unless you’re a mental acrobat you can’t do all of these things. Take your pick."[5]

In an obituary, Age editor Creighton Burns, described her as a talented and distinguished journalist. [Her] influential column in this newspaper of years […] was both perceptive and compassionate."[2]

Professional associations

Hutton and her family lived in Kew and she was a council member of the National Gallery of Victoria Women's Association, a member of the Lyceum Club, and served on the Women's Advisory Committee of the Australian Broadcasting Commission[15] She was a founding member, one of only two women, of the Melbourne Press Club.[16]

Hutton died of cancer on 2 May 1984 aged 67, and was cremated at Springvale. She was survived by her husband Geoffrey,[1] then 74 but who died in December the following year, and their daughters Kristin and Barbara. Geoffrey and Barbara Hutton were both writers for The Age.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Heenan, Tom, "Hutton, Geoffrey William (Geoff) (1909–1985)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2022-05-31
  2. 1 2 3 "Nan Hutton, a talented writer, dies". The Age. 3 May 1984. p. 15.
  3. ↑ "TV and Radio". Canberra Times. 1963-12-04. p. 35. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  4. ↑ "The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) - 13 Feb 1946 - p12". Trove. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  5. 1 2 Hutchings, Karen (2000). "Beauty begins at 7am: Cosmetics, fashion, consumer goods and beauty mythology in 1950s and 1960s Australia". Journal of Australian Studies. 24 (64): 43–52. doi:10.1080/14443050009387554. ISSN 1444-3058. OCLC 4902292881. S2CID 143608410.
  6. ↑ Hutton, Nan (4 August 1958). "Pink sheets or white?". Woman's Day: 65.
  7. 1 2 Hutton, Nan (December 1963). "The Pleasures of Shopping". Walkabout: 54–57.
  8. 1 2 Hutton, Nan (1 February 1965). "Nan Hutton's Column : Back to school". Walkabout. Australian National Travel Association. 31 (2). ISSN 0043-0064.
  9. ↑ Le Masurier, Megan (2007). Fair go: Cleo magazine as popular feminism in 1970s Australia (Thesis). OCLC 1091879381.
  10. ↑ "Men Come First In Royal Tour". Herald. 1954-02-22. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  11. ↑ "Women's Session : Monday October 1". ABC Weekly. 18 (39). 29 September 1956.
  12. ↑ Matthews, Iola (2019-06-21). "On the Age's river of gold". Inside Story. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  13. ↑ Bell, Johnny (2013). "Putting Dad in the Picture: fatherhood in the popular women's magazines of 1950s Australia". Women's History Review. 22 (6): 904–929. doi:10.1080/09612025.2013.780843. S2CID 145553560.
  14. ↑ Murphy, John (2000). Imagining the fifties: private sentiment and political culture in Menzies' Australia. Sydney: UNSW Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-86840-690-9. OCLC 237560146.
  15. ↑ Australian Broadcasting Commission (1966). Annual report of the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Sydney: Ambassador Pr. OCLC 660846241.
  16. ↑ "Chapter 1: The search for a well". www.melbournepressclub.com. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
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