Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

MEDICINE HAT POTTERIES

Date Range From

1937

Date Range To

1955

Materials

CLAY

No. Pieces

1

Height

11.2

Diameter

15.7

Description

CYLINDRICAL CROCK. LIP IS SLIGHTLY THICKER THANREST OF POT. ON FRONT IS A STAMP FEATURING A CHARACTER WITH A BLANKET WRAPPED AROUND HIS SHOULDERS AND IS ALMOST HIDDEN BY A LARGE SOMBRERO. ON BOTTOM OF CROCK IS "SECOND GRADE" IN LARGE BLACK LETTERS. BOTTOM OF POT IS STAINED DARK BROWN. THERE IS A CHIP OUT OF LIP. THERE IS A CRACK RUNNING FROM BOTTOM OF POT UP ONE SIDE.

Subjects

FOOD PROCESSING T&E

Historical Association

DOMESTIC

History

ITEM FOUND BY DONOR UNDER FRONT VERANDA FLOORING OF THEIR HOME (THE WHITNEY HOUSE). THE HOUSE WAS BUILT IN 1903 NEXT TO THE LEE'S CREEK ROAD (NOW 28 STREET SOUTH). DAVID J. WHITNEY, THE BUILDER AND OWNER OF THE HOME, ARRIVED IN THE NWT IN 1882 FROM PITTSBURGH COUNTY, ONTARIO. HE WAS BORN IN 1861, TO BENJAMIN AND ELIZABETH WHITNEY. RAISED ON ONTARIO FARMS, DAVID AND HIS WIFE NETTIE (HUTTON) RANCHED AND FARMED IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND BRITISH COLUMBIA, BEFORE CHOOSING TO LOCATE 3 MILES SOUTH OF LETHBRIDGE, ACROSS FROM THE FAIRFIELD'S MODEL FARM. THE HOUSE THEY BUILT WAS A TYPICAL ONTARIO-STYLE BRICK FARMHOUSE. THE HOUSE BECAME WELL KNOWN AND ITS IMAGE WAS USED BY THE ALBERTA RAILWAY AND IRRIGATION COMPANY IN A PROMOTIONAL BOOKLET, AND IN A SECTION OF THE MANITOBA FREE PRESS AS AN EXAMPLE OF A HOME THAT A NEW SETTLER TO SOUTHERN ALBERTA COULD SOON EXPECT TO OWN. WHITNEY WAS VERY PROUD OF HIS EXPERIMENTS IN TREE CULTURE, AND GREW ALL KINDS OF UNUSUAL FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. D.J. WHITNEY DIED IN MEDICINE HAT IN 1936. SOON AFTER, HIS "IDEAL FARM" PASSED TO A SECOND GENERATION OF THE WHITNEY FAMILY, HIS SON DAVID AND HIS WIFE FLORENCE. THEY CONTINUED TO OPERATE THE FARM WITH THEIR SON, GORDON, UNTIL THE EARLY 1950S. IN 1955 THE PROPERTY WAS SOLD TO JAMES NIELSON (BUS) MURDOCH WHOSE INTENTION WAS TO BUILD THE "FORT WHOOP-UP GUEST RANCH"; HE BUILT STRUCTURE NOW KNOWN AS LCC BARN & STOCK CAR TRACK. IN 1967 R.M. & CONSTANCE GOODALL PURCHASED PROPERTY. DR. GOODALL WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PROFESSORS AT THE U OF L; PASSING AWAY IN 1970, HIS WIDOW STAYED ON THE PROPERTY UNTIL 1991. AT THIS TIME DONOR'S PURCHASED PROPERTY. PROPERTY OFFICIALLY DESIGNATED AS A HISTORIC SITE IN 1993. (TAKEN FROM "AN IDEAL FARM AND AN IDEAL FARMER: A SHORT HISTORY OF THE WHITNEY HOUSE" BY CHERYL AND VAUGHN ATKINSON). IN 1937 AT THE HEIGHT OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION HARRY YUILL, OWNER OF THE GIANT ALBERTA CLAY PRODUCTS COMPANY, FOUNDED MEDICINE HAT POTTERIES TO MAKE CROCK WARE AND WHITE WARE. THE PLANT WAS EQUIPPED WITH THE LATEST IN TECHNOLOGY AND HAD THE LARGEST TUNNEL KILN IN CANADA. IT PROVED TO BE A FORMIDABLE AND LONG-LIVED MEDALTA POTTERIES COMPETITOR. YUILL ENTICED MEDALTA STAFF TO WORK AT THE NEW PLANT WITH BETTER WAGES AND WORKING CONDITIONS. 100 KEY MEDALTA EMPLOYEES INCLUDING JIGGERMEN, THE PLANT MANAGER, AND THE PLANT SUPERINTENDENT RESPONDED. MEDICINE HAT POTTERIES DESIGNED A TRADEMARK THAT THEY REFERRED TO AS THE "LITTLE CHIEF" THE TRADEMARK WAS TO BECOME AS WELL RECOGNIZED AS THE MEDALTA NAME. MEDICINE HAT POTTERIES MADE A HUGE ARRAY OF WARE INCLUDING CROCKS UP TO 50 GALLONS, JARS, JUGS, CHURNS, SPITTOONS, PITCHERS, POTS, BOWLS, PLATES, TEAPOTS, CASSEROLES, ARTWARE, PLANTERS, ETC. THE MEDICINE HAT POTTERIES BUILDING ULTIMATELY BECAME THE PRINCIPAL HOME OF THE CLAY PRODUCTS INTERPRETIVE CENTER WHICH NOW CELEBRATES IT AND ALL THE OTHER CERAMIC COMPANIES THAT HAVE MADE THEIR HOME IN MEDICINE HAT AND REDCLIFF. (TAKEN FROM WWW.MEDALTA.COM)

Catalogue Number

P20030011000

Acquisition Date

2003-07

Collection

Museum

Less detail