Made In America....

[Mistress]

Since we are inundated with items "Made in China" i'd like to have people go around their homes and find things "Made in America." I'll start the list.
1. Clothing items (vintage)
2. Victoria's Secret garments (believe it or not).

[cscmc1]

Kinda depressing, huh? Much of it is indeed "vintage:" in my case, old HiFi gear (speakers, turntable, records, etc...). I have a few rifles and pistols that are American made, too.

[Angel]

The Original Mattress Factory

Wife and I sleep on one, highly recommended.

-John

[TX76513]

Originally Posted by Mistress

Since we are inundated with items "Made in China" i'd like to have people go around their homes and find things "Made in America." I'll start the list.
1. Clothing items (vintage)
2. Victoria's Secret garments (believe it or not).

Already Vietnam is the second-fastest-growing economy in Asia after China (8.4 percent last year), and the breakneck speed has been accompanied by enormous interest from global manufacturers looking for alternatives to China - from Intel (Charts), which is building a semiconductor test-and-assembly plant, to Victoria's Secret, which sources loungewear from the city formerly known as Saigon.

[Dee8go]

Me

[TimFreeh]

I picked up an old South Bend Heavy 10 lathe last winter, it was a "basket-case" in pieces and it took about 2 months to build/rebuild/replace all the parts needed to make it operational.

It is an amazing machine and every time I use it I become more sad and angry that we don't seem to be able to produce products like this anymore in the United States.

I don't know why this issues isn't the centerpiece in our discussions about what is needed in America today. We used to lead the world in many areas - machine tools, clothing, textiles, steel, shipbuilding, auto manufacturing, electronics, ect, ect, ect. These industries provided millions of good-paying jobs that built the middle class that have largely disappeared.

We need to have a frank discussion about what killed these jobs and what we need to do to restore our manufacturing base.

[The Swede]

New Balance running shoes, Select Comfort mattress (Utah iirc) furniture, some hi-fi gear and that's about it.

[pj67coll]

Originally Posted by TimFreeh

We need to have a frank discussion about what killed these jobs and what we need to do to restore our manufacturing base.

What killed these jobs? Simple really. America priced itself out of the market. When it becomes too expensive to manufacture in one location, factories will move.

As for my house. The only item I have in it that I know for sure is American made is my Ruger 22/45 MkIII that my wife bought me a couple of years ago. That and the ammo for it. Other than that I doubt there's a single thing from the USA. In our garage our cars are both yank. Wifes Saturn Vue and my GMC pickup.

Our nine year old water heater self destructed and had to be replace over the weekend. It was from Mexico. As are all the replacements I looked at in Home Depot. Our new GE one is from Mexico too.

- Peter.

[rscurtis]

We need to rein in the EPA. We're on our way to becoming the cleanest, safest, poorest country in the world.

[lorainfurniture]

Americans demand too much money for the work that they do..

I know a guy that works at ford. He pushes a broom and picks up garbage. By the time he racks up his overtime, he's making close to 95k a year.. He lives in a quarter-million dollar home. He should be making 25k a year.

This is not an isolated example.

Back in the 30's, americans were making ALL the furniture. During the depression, people were actually working for an honest wage. The average cabinet maker will spit in your face if you offer him 20 bucks an hour.

In china, a cabinet maker will work for 50 cents an hour. (or so)

Americans (most of them) don't put value on anything that is quality. I have been in the furniture business for almost 10 years and see it every day. They say "its too expensive"

I did an experiment one year to prove it:

I bought 2 different 6 PIECE bedroom sets, Bedroom set #1 was made of solid wood, dovetail drawers, etc etc.. good quality, my cost was 950.00 for the set. (yes, that cheap!) I priced it at 999.00 leaving my to profit a meager 50 bucks.

Bedroom set #2 was made of cardboard, (seriously) with a shiny paint finish. simply garbage. My cost was 275.00 for the whole set. I priced it at a ridiculous 775.00!! leaving me to make 500.00 PROFIT!

Result: In one year, I sold 15 of the cheapo bedroom sets, ended up giving the good bedroom set to my brother.... Mind you, the whole time, I was telling the customers that this set was good quality, and the other set was not good quality. They chose the cheaper set EVERY time....

[pj67coll]

Originally Posted by rscurtis

We need to rein in the EPA. We're on our way to becoming the cleanest, safest, poorest country in the world.

Damm right. They are costing us a fortune right now as we try to rebuild a school on a previous school site that they have suddenly decided is contaminated and not fit for the kiddies. This after the previous school served the community just fine for over thirty years.

Absolute parasitical idiots that are way out of control and costing the nation billions.

- Peter.

[Kpmurphy]

Originally Posted by pj67coll

In our garage our cars are both yank. Wifes Saturn Vue and my GMC pickup.
Peter.

Saturn & GMC pickup, are those made in USA or assembled in the USA?

[HuskyMan]

Originally Posted by lorainfurniture

Americans demand too much money for the work that they do..

I know a guy that works at ford. He pushes a broom and picks up garbage. By the time he racks up his overtime, he's making close to 95k a year.. He lives in a quarter-million dollar home. He should be making 25k a year.

This is not an isolated example.

Back in the 30's, americans were making ALL the furniture. During the depression, people were actually working for an honest wage. The average cabinet maker will spit in your face if you offer him 20 bucks an hour.

In china, a cabinet maker will work for 50 cents an hour. (or so)

Americans (most of them) don't put value on anything that is quality. I have been in the furniture business for almost 10 years and see it every day. They say "its too expensive"

I did an experiment one year to prove it:

I bought 2 different 6 PIECE bedroom sets, Bedroom set #1 was made of solid wood, dovetail drawers, etc etc.. good quality, my cost was 950.00 for the set. (yes, that cheap!) I priced it at 999.00 leaving my to profit a meager 50 bucks.

Bedroom set #2 was made of cardboard, (seriously) with a shiny paint finish. simply garbage. My cost was 275.00 for the whole set. I priced it at a ridiculous 775.00!! leaving me to make 500.00 PROFIT!

Result: In one year, I sold 15 of the cheapo bedroom sets, ended up giving the good bedroom set to my brother.... Mind you, the whole time, I was telling the customers that this set was good quality, and the other set was not good quality. They chose the cheaper set EVERY time....

what a great example of the idiotic mind set of most people. this is why cheap chinese made junk has made companies like Wally world RICH.

there was a time, in the not so distant past, when quality was valued. unfortunately, those days are LONG gone.

[HuskyMan]

there was a time when we were the top dog. the foreigners have taken over because we have allowed it. there should have been tarifs imposed or simply not allowed them in. especially when they wanted to sell their cars here but would not allow our car makers to sell cars in their country.

Home Depot recently took a survey that asked people if it made a difference in their purchasing decision whether a tool was made in China or not. the majority of people simply don't care if a tool is made on Mars as long as it does what they want it to do. we have subsidized our own demise.....

[Dee8go]

That's why places like Walmart do so well. People have shown a greater desire for cheap goods than they have for QUALITY goods. Plus, it is hard to compete with labor in countries whose standard of living is so far below ours. But don't worry, we'll catch up to them eventually.