Plainsman Clays - The Longest Surviving Company

A lot of ceramic manufacturing companies have come and gone in Medicine Hat since 1889. An amazing company of the time was Alberta Clay Products. They made vitrified clay pipe and had around 20 huge beehive kilns. But in 1962 something terrible happened: Their factory burned to the ground! But a year later something good happened: Luke Lindoe used one of their buildings to start Plainsman Clays. For fifty six years, as of 2021, operating longer than any of its predecessors, Plainsman Clays has manufactured clay bodies using the same clay resources that ACP and others in the area used. While it may appear that Plainsman is the only manufacturer left, that is not exactly true. Lots of potters produce stoneware and porcelain in this area, and across Canada, using products they manufacture and supplies they distribute.