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Alberta Clay Products owed its origins to American capital, and to the experience and confidence of the Iowa group represented by Warren Overpack. Left to its own devices, it is unlikely that the community of Medicine Hat would have initiated an industrial enterprise on the scale of the Alberta Clay Products. As the Medicine Hat News pointed out after the fact, "there were hundreds of croakers who could not foresee success and... made dismal prophecies" regarding the venture. The principal exception to this characterization was Harry C. Yuill, whose motto was "Put Medicine Hat-made money back to work in Medicine Hat." Yuill came to Medicine Hat in 1884 from Nova Scotia, and built his wealth during the real estate and construction boom before 1914. One of the principal stock holders in the Alberta Clay Products, he purchased control of the company in 1919.

Over the next decade, the company capitalized on unprecedented demand and prosperity in the Canadian clay products industry. The need for brick and tile in the developing western provinces continued to grow, and 1928 saw a record season for the Alberta Clay Products. The largest staff in the company~ s history was fully engaged in production, and still the company had trouble staying ahead of the demand: a report for that year stated so many orders were received that the plant had trouble keeping up with them.

Alberta Clay Products continued under Yuill’s leadership until his death in 1944. The company fared relatively well throughout the Depression years, and survived the building restrictions imposed by the federal government during World War II. The post-war period saw steady growth for manufacturers of brick, tile and sewer pipe. Yuill’s two Sons maintained the business after his death: Harlan became President, and Bill remained a Vice President. However, it appears that rivalry between the brothers in the end undermined their ability to continue. In 1955, Alberta Clay Products was sold to a Vancouver-based construction company. In 1960, Medicine Hat Brick & Tile bought the company, operating it until 1961 when it was consumed by a devastating fire. Of the enormous factory complex, only two beehive kilns now survive.

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