Harlan Yuill was one of the most influential men in Medicine Hat's clay products and pottery industries from 1918 to 1955. In 1918 the Yuill's took over Alberta Clay Products and transformed the company from brick to manufacture of stoneware pipe, tile, and chimney flues. The company thrived right through the 1930s. At the height of the depression the company still  provided them with the capital to build the huge Medicine Hat Potteries Ltd. in 1937. It was equipped with the most modern technology of the time and had the largest circular tunnel kiln in Canada. In a bold move for the time The Yuill's built in features to improve the environment for workers