Manufacturing leapt forward at Medalta Potteries in 1935 with the arrival of a new flowerpot spinning machine. Production doubled—but even so, the Medicine Hat factory soon added further engineering improvements.

One of them was an automated assembly line. If it worked for automobiles, why not for teapots?

Improved efficiencies saved the company from ruin. For a time, the revolutionary equipment even helped Medalta expand its dominant position in the pottery industry.

Photo courtesy of Medalta in the Historic Clay District, Medicine Hat, Alberta