The Innovation of H.V. McKay

This resource has been designed to support the use of Museums Victoria’s Innovation Stories series, a digital project showcasing stories of Victorian innovation. This video resource focuses on the Hugh Victor McKay and his innovations, and provides guided discussion questions, prompts and extension activities for the classroom.

In this activity students will:

• Watch a video in which they hear from historians and experts about Hugh Victor McKay, his innovation and legacy.
•  Read about the significance, historical background and context of the Sunshine Harvester and McKay’s business.
• Start to investigate significant historical events, ideas and people.
• Explore the Museums Victoria online collection. 

Suggested questions to engage students:

• What is an industrialist? Can you think of any examples of people who could be described in this way?
• What makes someone an entrepreneur? Can you think of any contemporary entrepreneurs?  
  How would you describe innovation?
• What do you think innovation looked like in Australia in the early 1900s? How might it be different to innovation today? How might it be similar?

What to do

Watch the video and read the accompanying article:

 In small groups or as a class discuss the following questions: 

• Who invented the Combine Harvester and for what purpose?
• What was McKay’s role in this invention? What did he do differently from others at the time?
• What was unique and innovative about the Sunshine Combine Harvester?
• What challenges did Hugh Victor McKay face and how did he overcome them?
• What makes McKay an innovator?

The Sunshine brand and marketing

The experts and historians discuss McKay’s clever use of branding along with bright, colourful advertising. He is a considered a ‘pioneer’ in this space. Museums Victoria Collections has some of this advertising material, here is a selection to take a closer look at: 

• Publicity brochure: 'Sunshine' Stripper Harvesters, circa 1903-1904
• Publicity brochure: Sunshine "C" Harvester, circa 1905
• Cover of the 'General Implement Catalogue'
• Trade Literature

Choose one of the advertising materials and consider:

• When was it made?
• What was its purpose?
• Who was the audience?
• What do you see? Think about colours, objects, text. Anything unexpected? Anything interesting?
• What message is it sending? How?

If you were creating advertising material for the Sunshine Harvester today, what would it look like?

Create your own contemporary advertising for Sunshine Harvesters. 

“Sunshine” was H.V. McKay’s original and most enduring brandname. He was very clever in how he used branding. Read about it here and then consider:

• What do you think of the Sunshine brand name? 
• What makes an effective brand name?

What other iconic brand names do you know? What do these names share with “Sunshine”? (e.g. memorable names) 

The man and the legend

He was a remarkable man. It can't be denied, even if you're a sceptic, as I was about the legend. I think the legend, in fact, disguised his achievements … there was a great story there. And it was bigger than the legend.  — Dr John Lack, Historian

H.V. McKay is a significant figure in Australian history.

The following prompts and ideas could be used as starting points for an inquiry or investigation:

• What did McKay do and when did he do it? Create a chronological timeline of the moments and events outlined in the video.
• What attributes, skills and qualities can be seen in McKay? List the words in the video and article that have been used to describe him. How do these compare to the attributes we might associate with an entrepreneur?
• Write an article or profile about McKay for an early 1900s newspaper. What moment would you highlight? How would describe McKay?
• Consider the idea of the “Australian Battler”. When and why did McKay use this term to describe himself? Do you think it is a fair description? Why or why not?

Innovation in agriculture

Can one person’s innovation really define a worldwide revolution? Well, if you believe the legend of H.V. McKay, yes. — Dr Michelle Stevenson, Head of History & Technology, Museums Victoria

• Why “mechanise the world’s food production”?
• What made the Sunshine Combine Harvester a world revolution?
• What did agriculture in Australia look like before the Combine Harvester?
• What further innovations did McKay make with this Sunshine company, and how did they effect farming and agriculture?