Summary
Summary of the Russell Street gates belonging to the Sunshine Harvester Works.
The main entrance into the Sunshine Harvester Works' factory was through a wrought iron gate located on Russell Street. The gate was positioned between the Factory Administrative Offices and the Engine Works. The gate was constructed in the company's Gate Shop in 1922 by Scottish migrant and blacksmith Charlie Pippett. Pippett migrated to Australia from Glasgow in 1912. Within a fortnight of his arrival in Melbourne, Pippett obtained employment in the Sunshine Harvester Works' Gate Shop where he remained until his retirement in 1947. The Russell Street gate still stands in its original location.
Hundreds of employees would exit through this gate either on their way to Sunshine Station or to their nearby homes. Mary Danaher, who worked in the company's finance section, recalls the large number of workers leaving the site through the gate: 'When the whistle would blow, coming out of Russell Street you'd just get out of the way and even at lunch time there was this great horde of people all in their uniforms' (Mary Danaher, oral history interview).
Pippett's fine work could be seen elsewhere around Sunshine. He designed and fabricated ornamental gates for the H.V McKay Memorial Gardens, the bowling green and the company's Head Office.
Another feature of the Russell Street Gate was paper boys waiting outside the entrance. Up to ten boys would line up outside the gate selling newspapers to workers leaving the site at the end of the day. Fresh snow balls, fish and other food was sold outside the gates to workers on a Thursday night, which was pay day for employees.- References
- Sunshine Review 1950, 'A Craftsman's Monument', No. 9, pp.3.
- 'Passing of Mr Charles Pippett', 1953, Sunshine Advocate, 23 January, p.2.
- Interview with Ern Nicholls by Liza Dale-Hallett, 21 November 2005 (part 1), held at Museum Victoria, registration no. HT 33611.
- Interview with Peter Chettle by Liza Dale-Hallett, 31 March 2006. Held in H.V McKay Sunshine Collection, Museum Victoria, registration no. HT 33613.1.
- Ray Browne (former employee at Sunshine Harvester Works), personal recollections held at Museum Victoria, March 2000 and 2002.
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