Summary

Negative of Martin Phelan Snr and Martin Phelan Jnr at the time card racks at H.V McKay Massey Harris. Father and son worked for the company's Sheet Iron Department. Martin Snr began working for the company in October 1899 when the factory was based in Ballarat. By 1950, Martin Snr was the company's oldest employee with nearly 51 years' service.

Part of a collection of photographs, negatives, moving film, artefacts, documents and trade literature belonging to the H. V. McKay Sunshine Collection. The McKay collection is regarded as one of the most significant industrial heritage collections in Australia. The collection relates to the agricultural manufacturing firm, the Sunshine Harvester Works. The Australian operations of this company were originally founded by Hugh V. McKay in the 1890s in Ballarat. Between 1906 and 1907, McKay moved production to Sunshine where the firm became one of the largest industrial businesses in Australia. Change in ownership is a recurring theme in the company's history. In 1930, it merged with Massey-Harris to become H.V McKay Massey Harris. In the mid-1950s, the company was absorbed by Canadian agricultural firm Massey-Ferguson. Production in Sunshine ceased in the mid-1980s, following almost 100 years of manufacturing agricultural equipment.

Description of Content

Two men standing beside the time card racks in the Sunshine factory. The man on the left is holding a card in his right hand, while the other is inserting or retrieving his card from the card racks. The racks contain rows of slots, many of which are holding cards. Above each row is a number.

Physical Description

Black and white negative.

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