Alberta Pottery Industry 1912 1990

This study focuses on the economic and social impact of the pottery industry, both locally and nationally. Drawing on the rich primary sources of company records and catalogues, existing factory buildings and equipment, photographs and newspaper accounts, this book tells a fascinating story enriched by the memories of the people who worked in the plants.

Medicine Hat, Alberta, emerged as a centre for clay products & pottery based on the availability of cheap natural gas and local deposits of suitable clay. This book covers the history of pottery production in Medicine Hat from 1912 to 1990, emphasizing the height of the industry's development & success from 1915 to 1960 and the economic & social impact of the industry both locally & nationally. As a study of material history, it examines the pottery industry's output, plant processes, and the people who made & used these products. The book traces the factors that affected the emergence, success, tribulations, and demise of pottery production in Alberta in the context of the province's economic history. It also portrays the human side of the industry: rivalry & espionage among its founders, the scientists who tried to perfect pottery materials & manufacturing processes, and the daily lives of the industry's workers & entrepreneurs.

Situating Design in Alberta makes the case that design has the potential to drive economic growth, improve quality of life, and promote sustainability in the province and across the country. Contributors bring both scholarly and practice-based perspectives and come from diverse disciplines including architecture, interior design, industrial design, and visual communications. The collection is organized around four main topics—history, education, business, and sustainability—within which the authors explore a wide range of issues. This synergy of different design approaches lends a sense of forward momentum to the field, stimulates reflection about opportunities and challenges for both practitioners and policy makers, and provides a model for future studies in other regions. Contributors: Tim Antoniuk, Ken Bautista, Carlos Fiorentino, Maria Goncharova, Andrea Hirji, Mark Iantkow, Barry Johns, Lyubava Kroll, Courtenay McKay, Skye Oleson-Cormack, Isabel Prochner, Janice Rieger, Elizabeth Schowalter, Megan Strickfaden, Tyler Vreeling, Ron Wickman

The traditional mythology of the West is dominated by male images: the fur trader, the Mountie, the missionary, the miner, the cowboy, the politician, the Chief. Unsettled Pasts: Reconceiving the West claims to re-examine the West through women's eyes. It draws together contributions from researchers, scholars, and academic and community activists, and seeks to create dialogue across geographic, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries. Ranging from scholarly essays to poetry, these pieces offer the reader a sample of some of today's most innovative approaches to western Canadian women's history; several of the themes that run throughout the volume have only recently been critically addressed. By rewriting the West from the perspective of women, the contributors complicate traditional narratives of the region's past by contesting historical generalizations, thus transcending the myths and "frontier" legacies that emerged out of imperial and masculine priorities and perspectives. With Contributions by: Kristin Burnett Cristine Georgina Bye Sarah Carter Mary Leah De Zwart Lesley A. Erickson Cheryl Foggo Nadine I. Kozak Siri Louie Graham A. Macdonald Florence Melchior Patricia A. Roome Eliane Leslau Silverman Olive Stickney Aritha Van Herk Muriel Stanley Venne Cora J. Voyageur

A history of the pottery industry in Alberta, which began around the turn of the century in Medicine Hat, where clay deposits and natural gas were abundant. This is a dramatic story of temperamental entrepreneurs who were fierce rivals and who had fires, world wars, a depression, high freight rates and cheap imports to contend with.