Summary

Description of the Sunshine Harvester Works' in-house newsletter, the Sunshine Review

'Let's meet one another informally through the medium of "Sunshine Review"'
(Sunshine Review, vol. 1, no.1, July 1948, n.p)

The Sunshine Harvester Works' Printing Press produced many marketing materials including the Sunshine Review, a newsletter distributed to staff, and later also agents, suppliers and customers. The first edition of the newsletter appeared in 1944. The publication's original purpose was to 'acquaint the employees of the doings of their fellows, and to inform them of the interesting facts about the industry in which they work'. Staff contributed to the newsletter's content, while Don McKay served as its editor.

The Sunshine Review offered a highly illustrative and celebratory look at working life at the company. The publication featured lively accounts of social, charitable and sporting events organised by staff, short vignettes on employees' work contributions and new staff appointments. These stories fed into the company's perception of itself as a 'Sunshine family'. This concept projected the firm's staff as a harmonious and united workplace family which worked and played together; where the barrier between management and staff was minimal. The 'Sunshine family' was heavily promoted by the company in the Sunshine Review and official promotional films.

The most noticeable change in the publication came after the Canadian-based company Massey-Harris-Ferguson Ltd, of Toronto, assumed full control of the Sunshine-based Australian business originally established by H.V. McKay, which had been operating as H.V. McKay Massey Harris Pty Ltd following a partial merger in November 1930. The magazine was retitled as the Sunshine Massey Harris Review, from issue no.33, published in April 1956, then in April 1958 the publication was transformed into a broadsheet newspaper style format under the title Massey-Ferguson Review with the new M-F triple triangle (or 3-point) logo, following the renaming of the Canadian parent company as Massey Ferguson Limited.

Under the new format and title Ben Kerville replaced Don McKay as editor and content of the publication focused more on the firm's new product releases with additional articles on general developments in the agricultural sector. More community based news stories about staff and social events moved to a separate publication, the Sunshine Outlook. Production of both publications ceased in 1970-1971 when the company experienced a financial downturn due to a serious drought.

References
Sunshine Review 1945, 'Notice to Contributors', vol.2, no.3, p.4.
Sunshine Review 1945, 'Editorial', vol.2, no.5, p.3.
Sunshine Review 1948, 'An Invitation from Your Editor', vol.1, no.1, n.p.

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