Photo Phinish: NOT Made In America?
This weekend as I was working on computer, I found a flag pin and looked on the back to see where it was made. Recently, I’ve been doing that a lot because I’ve noticed that very few products in my household are actually NOT Made in America. I remember the big Made in America ad campaign when I was a kid and there was a lot of pride in the products we produced. What’s happened to us? I’m guilty myself because a brotha likes to save money, but come on! The American flag pin?!
Now, I’m always down for a good deal, but where are all the American products? So far my search around the home isn’t going too well. I thought I’d post a few of my findings on the blog.
- Black & Decker Toaster Oven (Made in China)
- All TVs (Made in Japan)
- Pair of jeans (Made in Indonesia)
- Hanes T-Shirts (Made in Honduras)
- Dell Laptop for Work (Made in Malaysia)
- Kids Toys (Made in China/Taiwan)
- Dishwashing Liquid (Made in America)
So what do you have that’s NOT Made in America?
P.S. Just so everyone knows, I threw this pin in the trash after photgraphing it. I just can’t bring myself to wear an outsourced flag pin. It’s not right.
February 27th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Bully Tools are made in America….nice tools for gardeners as well as landscape, roofing and flooring contractors. There are many websites that only carry items made in America…seek them out. Also, insist that your local stores; hardware, grocery, etc. carry products made in the U.S. The more you ask for it, the quicker the jobs will return to America.
March 2nd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Liz, thanks for the advice. But it’s sooo much easier to go to Wally World (Walmart) and buy stuff. And they’re so cheap. I think that’s the hang up for most of us. Convenience.
I hope things will change. I’d be willing to pay a little more for certain products made in the U.S. But in today’s economy, the cheap, less quality items win out. That’s capitalism for you.
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Listen people….Just because Wally World is “right there” that’s no reason to exchange your values as a good American for laziness. Hard working Americans are losing their jobs by the thousands every day because we’ve gone the easy way over the last 20 years. It’s time to focus on what’s best for us…not build China. China is growing it’s steel industry….our’s is all but gone. Redirect your efforts to self-preservation. That includes automobiles. If you buy what your friends and family manufacture, you keep them working, your local businesses open and your future and economy secure.
July 4th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
You know Liz, I agree with you 100%. But that’s what capitalism is all about. As people get laid off and money gets tight it’s great Americans like Sam Walton that provide us with cheap overseas alternatives to buy. Made in the USA is a lost concept and unfortunately the country suffers because of it.
August 16th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Shame on you Theo…and on the 4th of July. Was Sam Walton a great American or did he sell his Americans down the river by encouraging them to buy garbage and believe it’s ok? People are laid off and the economy is getting tougher because they’ve been “advertised to” over the years to believe that what they were buying from China was a good product. We’ve learned that we can’t hand our children a toy and be secure in the knowledge that it’s not going to make them sick. Meanwhile companies like Marx toys, once made in West Virginia are gone due to cheap imports. I’m sure you had toys from them when you were a kid….if you’re old enough to remember well-made toys. Companies like that stopped production of toys to produce guns during wartime needed by our troops. Let see something like that happen today. Brings to mind the point as well that if America suffered a need for it’s manufacturers to pitch in and produce for a common effort, such as war time, it wouldn’t be possible. We’d have to call on China or Mexico and “Rosita the Riveter” to save our own butts.
August 17th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Liz,
I’ve never thought of it from a wartime perspective.