Another Account
When the Medicine Hat Pottery went under in 1914, it attracted the attention
of another group of investors: Charles Pratt, Ulysses Sherman Grant, and William
Creer. They acquired the pottery in the name of the Medalta Stoneware
Company in December of 1915. As the name suggests, it was designed to
manufacture wares from stoneware clays, primarily household items such as
crocks, jugs and churns. By the spring of 1916 Medalta was in full production
with seventeen staff on the payroll. William Clark, former superintendent of the
Medicine Hat Pottery Company, oversaw the factory’s operations. Carloads of
stoneware were already being shipped to Regina and Vancouver. prompting the
Medicine Hat News to proclaim that Medalta’s wares were "undoubtedly one
of the best advertisers for Medicine Hat as the product goes all over the
country."
Medalta’s quick rise to success attracted many famous visitors to the
company’s huge factory buildings. The Prince of Wales toured Medalta, as did
the Duke of Devonshire and Lord Byng, Governor General of Canada. The company
adopted the patriotic slogan, "Canadian made Stoneware from Canadian Clay,
made by Canadian Workmen and financed by Canadian Capital." Its markets
steadily extended eastward across the prairies, and in 1921, Medalta became the
first western company to ship manufactured goods to points east of the Lakehead.
