Another Little Known Alberta Pottery Company

Provincial Industrial Enterprises (P.I.E.) 1939 is a pottery company from Medicine Hat that operated for a very short time, before Hop Yuill took over Wyatt's Alberta Potteries Limited the plant was occupied by P.I.E.

There is not much information available about this company as it appears no one has done much research to this point in time, perhaps because it was short lived there is not a whole lot of interest in the company or perhaps there is not much information to be found on the company.  What ever the reason there is very little information to be found.

P.I.E. starting operating in 1939 for a short time and produced a number of items including vases, jardinieres, bulb bowls, cream pitcher and sugar bowl and a mixing bowl just to name a few.  Some of the pieces were decorated with the Dutch Windmill scene, others a sailboat scene.

No one knows why the company was so short lived and if the records survived no one knows who has them or where they may be.  Either way the P.I.E. pieces are difficult to find and often will show up in the strangest of places and without research not many people know the significance of the pottery.

In the "Kilns of South Eastern Alberta" the author Ron Getty states:  "Whatever the reasons there is no doubt in my mind that this small factory could not effectively compete with the two larger ones in Medicine Hat.  Its product line was not different enough from Medalta's or Medicine Hat Potteries' to fill a niche in the market.  So after being open for less than a year, they closed."

It is interesting to note that many of the vase styles were made by Medalta,  Medicine Hat Potteries and P.I.E.  There have been vases found in collections that have had stamps from two different companies and decorated in a style usually found by a third company.  Medicine Hat, although a good sized city, had a closely knit pottery production occupying different factories and producing products similar to each other, often with the employees from one pottery moving to work in a different one.  Perhaps this is why the companies have similar  styles or perhaps it is molds left behind when one company closed and another one took over the factory, we may never know for certain.  It is these things that keep us interested and always looking to find pieces, talking to people and doing some traveling.

We only have two pieces of P.I.E. in our collection and in both cases we were very fortunate to find them in good condition, although the painting one on is quite faded.  It has been fun looking for other pieces to add.

Here is a webpage with more information:   https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/MCR/article/view/17156/22857

Once again the photos are pieces in our collection, I have also included photos of the stamps on each piece.

And the Search Continues.....

Fishing and Pottery

Another adventure is in the memory bank for this year!


We had a "bucket list" vacation this year and can not wait to go back and do it again.

Our road trip started with us watching the highways to make sure they did not get closed because of forest fires before we got to where we wanted to be at the end of the day.  We took our time and drove down through southern Alberta and British Columbia all the way to the end of this great country we call Canada. 

Of course we made some stops along the way to look for pottery and we did find a few pieces that we brought home.  We stopped and visited some friends along the way and shared some stories, poked around in little places that caught our eye to see what we could find and talked with lots of friendly folks along the way.

We took the ferry across to Vancouver Island and explored a little bit.  It is sad to see that all the little antique stores are closing.  Three years ago we were on Vancouver Island and in one small town there were 3 antique stores and this summer the last one was closing so there will be none.  Technology and the internet have been hard on some of those small businesses, the world is at our finger tips and I don't think anyone realized how hard it would be on some of the small businesses like the antique stores. 

Our next stop was the west coast of Vancouver Island in the community of Ucluelet where we spent a couple days on the ocean fishing.  What amazing days those were!  The scenery was breathtaking, the fishing was awesome, the company was the best  and we can't wait to do it again.

 So on this trip I think the fishing adventure was the highlight, we added a few more really nice pieces to our collection but it was definitely the days on the ocean that we will remember forever!


And the Search Continues....

Another Adventure is in the Memory Bank....

We are home from another adventure........

He had a "bucket list" adventure checked off the list and I am not sure who had more fun him or her!!!

We drove out to Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island in search of a mighty Chinook Salmon and we found them!  




We had a leisurely drive to get to Vancouver with frequent stops to treasure hunt along the way.  We saw mountains, rivers, lakes, streams, orchards, vineyards and a whole lot of very dry landscape along the way. 

We had a short visit with some friends in the Okanogan and a quick visit with a special auntie and uncle before heading to the ferry.  We had a visit with another friend on the island did a little treasure hunting and then we followed the windy road to Ucluelet to find the treasure at the end of the trail.
















The real treasure hunt on this road trip was found in the time spent together in the deep blue sea on a big boat with some sharp hooks and the gentle sway of the ocean.

 There will be another blog with photos of some of treasures we came home with but for now the long fast drive home has us sitting and relaxing for a few days before returning to real life.




The search continues......