Made in America

[46er]

Somethings happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear....

But it's all good

http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/index.php/kwidget/wid/0_04vzdsr5/uiconf_id/5590821

The details;

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/MadeInAmerica/

Gotta say, its been pretty tough finding Christmas gifts with the 'Made in the USA' label. Lots of China crap though.

 

[dogg57]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/MADE-IN-USA/161752793534

http://www.toysmadeinamerica.com/

 

[MarkBNJ]

That's very cool. Part of what may be going on here is that the Chinese cost advantage is beginning to evaporate. It was pretty steep fifteen years ago. Now the big sellers/builders have got all this infrastructure invested in moving goods across the pacific, and they don't want to retool. It's amazing that there are cost-equivalent U.S.-made parts and materials and yet if you visit Lowes or Home Depot damn near everything is imported. Someone ought to leverage off this report and put some pressure on the big-box sellers, Walmart included. Long past time we stopped shipping our wealth overseas.

 

[46er]

Ultimately, its up to the shoppers, and we all know price is king. It would be nice to see Home Depot, Lowes and the others have some Made in the USA promo's, but what are the odds of that happening.

 

[RednekF350]

Please allow me to jump on my soap box.

This is something very near and dear to me and the principle of buying American was strongly driven home by my father as I was growing up in the 60's and 70's. He was a very proud WWII veteran and worked 42 years for RCA as a union, industrial wireman.

First rule of the house: No foreign cars, ever.
This has been upheld by me and my sister who have only owned Fords and Chevys throughout our lives. My sons, however, would be giving my father much pain as they each have Toyota pickups.

His favorite saying, "I spent 4 years of my life trying to kill the bastards, I sure as hell ain't going to buy their cars."

Second rule: No foreign tools.
Every tool my father owned was industrial grade and American made by the best in the business, J.H Williams, Armstrong, Klein, Starrett, Greenlee and Proto were found in our garage when I was a kid. All of those can be found in my garage, some handed down and some bought by me. All of the companies mentioned are still in business and most, if not all, of their product line is still made here in the U.SA.. Klein and Armstrong remain 100% American made.
Simply check before you buy.
Quality hand tools really aren't hard to find. All you need to do is shop industrial hardware stores or trade supply houses instead of cruising the racks of Chinese crap at Home Depot. Wharton Hardware in Pennsauken is one example of an industrial supplier. Cooper Electric in Cherry Hill is where I bought a set of Klein pliers last year for my trap line. Graingers carries a lot of quality US made tools. All can be found online as well.

I go out of my way to buy American in everything I buy including the boots on my feet (Redwing), my long underwear, (Duofold) all of my hunting and fishing knives (Marbles, Northwoods, Buck , original Schrade, Dexter-Russell, Case and Leatherman) All of our our kitchen knives are U.S. made Dexter-Russells from their Connoisseur line of product and I even whack up my deer and ducks on an antique butcher block table made by the Quality Maple Block Co. from Kingston, N.Y.

It really does make a diffference and it makes me very happy to know my father had such an influence on me.

 

[bobpbx]

Well said Scott. Don't forget the Harley.

PS: I have this vision of starting a department store called...GoodsU.S.A. I only stock American made goods. Build it and they (manufactureres) will come.

 

[bobpbx]

Double PS: I worked hard as a young man in the mid-70's, and yet American made cars were crap....absolute crap! I refused to put my hard-earned money into one. The stench of poor quality lasts a long time. Now, I would consider a Ford today, but I still hear friends tell me of their Chrysler or Dodge minivan transmission crapping out at 100,000 miles. That is obscene sir! So, a caveat...I'll buy American made if the quality is decent, and if the Unions and corporate CEO's have not caused the price to go higher than warranted.

 

[Gibby]

"Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains."
Thomas Jefferson

 

[MuckSavage]

First rule of the house: No foreign cars, ever.
This has been upheld by me and my sister who have only owned Fords and Chevys throughout our lives. My sons, however, would be giving my father much pain as they each have Toyota pickups.

His favorite saying, "I spent 4 years of my life trying to kill the bastards, I sure as hell ain't going to buy their cars."

Funny, While watching TV, the Lexus commercial came on where the couple get in the elevator & the "Lexus Jingle" starts playing. The guy gets a new car with a big bow.......

I said to my wife. "If you ever buy me a new car (fat chance) the song playing better be God Bless America or the Star Spangled Banner"

 

[Trailhead00]

I try to purchase made in America products but we all know how difficult it is. The one area I can comment on is the automobile industry. Detroit did this to themselves years ago and have suffered ever since. They truly built garbage in the shape of an automobile. Japan was very smart and came in with small cars that were good on gas and lasted forever. Funny how that simple recipe worked so well.

While the American cars have made great strides they are still sub par when compared to their Japanese counterparts IMHO. Way too many people have been burned by faulty American made cars to ever consider looking at one again, let alone buying one.

Lets not even get into motorcycles. Harley Davidson has managed to master the most putrid form of assembly with their bikes. Go back to 60's and 70's when there was a ton of junk out there in the motorcycle ranks, the Japanese did the same thing they did to the automotive industry. Even worse really, they have dominated that market for years. BTW Harley Davidson also received a nice bailout which was kept hush hush. If it wasn't for that they would have gone under.

The other argument is which cars are really made where? My Frontier was built in Tennessee, my last Ford was built in Mexico. I know the parent company is in Japan, but still, our good old American company isn't helping us out.

Someone once said this to me that made some sense. He stated, "The brightest minds in Japan build stereos or cars, in the US they build missiles or jets." It's easier for Japan to use their best to build cars when we are providing the defense of their country.

 

[RednekF350]

Well Trailhead, I am glad you added the caveat "IMHO" to your post.

In my humble opinion, after having owned flawless American made Ford trucks bought new and made in '82, '87, '96, '97, '99, '01, '02 and '07, I can say that their quality is far from "sub par".

For someone that needs a heavy truck to with which to work every day, tow heavy loads like I do, or carry a lot of permanent weight, the Ginsu trucks aren't in the running and are not even considered by serious heavy truck buyers.
I currently own two F-350's from '97 and '02 and they are the strongest, most reliable trucks ever put together.
That is, of course, IMHO.
I have 137,000 trouble free miles 0n the '02 6 speed 7.3 diesel and expect 400,000 miles before even a look-see under the hood.

As for Harley, I could be wrong but your post reads as if written by someone who might not have owend one.
After 1981, when Harley bought themselves back from bowling ball manufacturer AMF, quailty improved dramtically.
The paint quality on a current Harley is a sight to behold and my '08 runs like a fine clock.
Resale value on a Harley-Davidson speaks for itself.
Wait long enough and you will sell it for as much or more than you paid for it.
Wait a little too long to sell a Jap bike and you might as well push it out to the curb with the bagged dog shit. The problem is that the trashman will probably only take the dog shit.

BTW, what the hell is a "putrid form of assembly" ?

 

[bobpbx]

Wait a little too long to sell a Jap bike and you might as well push it out to the curb with the bagged dog shit. The problem is that the trashman will probably only take the dog shit.

In that case, you'll put that Honda dirt screamer you have out to the curb? Please let me know when, even if its 3AM.



Here's a bonus...some great adventure bike photos:

http://baldy.smugmug.com/popular/#307328142_m9wAy

 

[Boyd]

Well everybody is typing their thoughts on foreign made computers. When you're done reading this thread, you'll go watch your foreign made TV. Maybe you'll watch a movie made by Sony Pictures (which bought Columbia and MGM), or play a video game on the Sony Playstation. Maybe you'll call a friend with your cell phone that was made somewhere in Asia. After that, you might go for a drive in the Pines where you'll burn imported oil.

Maybe it's just another symptom of a bigger problem, that we want all this "stuff" today, and will worry about the consequences later, when it's too late.

 

[bobpbx]

Maybe it's just another symptom of a bigger problem, that we want all this "stuff" today, and will worry about the consequences later, when it's too late.

But wait Boyd, maybe we are just starting to come around. I remember the first time I realized China was in the game. I was into working on my house quite a bit; I think it was in the mid-80's. I bought a roll of 12/3 house wire for $12 that used to cost $25. I was estatic about it. Saw China on the box, but did not phase me a bit. Now it does bother me when I realize what is has done to the country. It is not totally the fault of business either. You could probably write a whole book on whose fault it is and why it came to be.

 

[dragoncjo]

I'm on the same page with you Boyd, but Scott your going into my list of role models your a good dude and I like the way you think, your kids should be glad they got a dad like you that instills old school principals like those.

I would buy American all day if it was in fact made here by Americans at a high quality or comprable. Its a global economy and the bottom line is we have gotten real lazy with each generation. My dad wakes up at 430 every morning and works in his shop till 7 pm, he is a 63. On the other hand I work with kids who whine about working one hour of OT to get their work done, mind you they are making about 40 an hour in OT and spend 50% of their day on twitter, youtube or facebook, but God forbid they have to work 41 hours one week.

 

[MarkBNJ]

The F-350 and other super duty pickups are in a class the U.S. manufacturers own. Japan doesn't produce anything like it, so it's pretty hard to compare. I think you almost have to separate the auto industry out when thinking about U.S. industrial competitiveness. It's such a uniquely farked up business. A combination of short-sighted management, greedy unions, and corrupt government put them where they are. Japan produces great vehicles, but that's not really the problem. We're capable of producing great vehicles too. Right now, when you buy an American-built car, something like $1,600 - $1,800 goes to fund existing pension obligations. That's money that is in the car itself when you buy a similarly-priced Japanese vehicle, not paying the medical bills of a retired assembly line guy. The Japanese treat their workers pretty well, but they aren't saddled with the kind of idiocy the U.S. manufacturers are.

We've added costs to the manufacture of products, in the form of environmental regulations, workplace safety rules, executive compensation and bonuses, health care, minimum and overtime wage laws, workers compensation, disability, and, in the case of the auto manufacturers, economically unsustainable compensation deals with unions. Not all this stuff falls into the same moral bucket, but they're all costs. When we compete with Japan the playing field is more or less level except for those stupid union contracts. But when we compete with China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Central and South America, or Eastern Europe the playing field isn't anywhere near level. As a former free-trade Republican I think I really screwed the pooch on this one. Now I'm for a combination of reviewing the level of regulation and government interference in business, and raising tariffs to compensate us for the extent to which our trading partners are often still operating with a 19th century mindset towards workers, society, and the environment.

Unfortunately, the power of money in our politics pretty much ensures nothing is going to be done to change the status quo. Until we have another Teddy Roosevelt, who can take on corporations the way he did the trusts, we're going to keep shipping our wealth and our children's futures overseas.

 

[Trailhead00]

Americans have done very well with their full size trucks, I won't argue with you on that. That is one area the Japanese have struggled to gain ground and I believe the pride of owning American runs very strong and long with people who purchase those trucks. I really love full size Ford trucks and will agree that they are the best at what they do but they certainly have their faults.

Of course any American car defender will argue with the well I have had x amount of Chevy's that all ran for 500,000 miles with zero problems. That isn't reality, the numbers don't lie. I have been in and around the industry for years and there is a reason why people were turned off from American cars, they sucked. JD Powers, Consumer Reports etc all say the same thing.

I don't like saying it, I grew up with families that only drove Fords and I worked for Ford for a number of years and I saw their problems first hand. I couldn't keep up with the amount of transmissions that were replaced in Fords from AOD's, to A4LD's to E4OD's, they were wretched. The 6.0 and 6.4 Power Strokes were horrible, so bad in fact Ford sued Navistar/International over them and then decided to build their own. How many 4.6, 5.4 and 6.8 V10's have blown sparks out or have been stripped? How many studs on the exhaust manifolds have busted or cracked on the very same engines? That's a ton of fun to fix. Plus those motors are dogs when it comes to power. How many Ford trucks have caught on fire because of faulty cruise control switches?

Not be disrespectful towards Harley owners because if you ride one and enjoy it then so be it, at least you're having fun. I also sold motorcycles and learned first hand that the reason why Harley's cost so much is because they have branded their name well. Harley makes more money off of their apparel and accessories than they do their motorcycles. They have become a brand, not a motorcycle manufacturer.

Harley's could be the most overpriced piece of machinery on the road today. Five or six years ago they were getting ridiculous money as the baby boomers decided Harley's were cool again. As the rest of the economy tanked so did Harley and their prices have dropped, you no longer have to wait for one and their resale value is nowhere near it once was. They have always been decades behind in technology, last to get fuel injection, last to use overhead cams (with help from Porsche) and still mounting one tiny brake rotor to haul down a grossly overweight bike.

You can dog Jap bikes all you want but if you want to have a contest in performance let me know. I'll get any Yamaha or Honda that will run circles around any Harley, will out corner it, out accelerate it, out brake it and get better gas mileage to boot. Take care of a Honda and it will take care of you. People trust the name Honda and for good reason, they run forever.

By the way I've been in, around and under cars and motorcycles by entire life. I've ridden bikes and have ridden Harley's. I have friends that own Harley's, it sucks because we always have to wait for him to catch up.

 

[Trailhead00]

Excellent post MarkBNJ

 

[Boyd]

In addition to manufacturing so many things overseas, US corporations are also keeping their money offshore.: http://online.barrons.com/article/S...128.html?mod=BOL_twm_fs#articleTabs_article=1

Microsoft (ticker: MSFT), for example, has $6.4 billion of cash and investments in the U.S. and $51 billion in other countries. Cisco Systems (CSCO) is holding $3.8 billion in the U.S. and $40.6 billion elsewhere. At Oracle (ORCL), the breakdown is similar, if not as extreme: $8.5 billion held in the U.S., and $23 billion invested internationally.

 

[RednekF350]

Not be disrespectful towards Harley owners because if you ride one and enjoy it then so be it, at least you're having fun. I also sold motorcycles and learned first hand that the reason why Harley's cost so much is because they have branded their name well. Harley makes more money off of their apparel and accessories than they do their motorcycles. They have become a brand, not a motorcycle manufacturer.
You can dog Jap bikes all you want but if you want to have a contest in performance let me know. I'll get any Yamaha or Honda that will run circles around any Harley, will out corner it, out accelerate it, out brake it and get better gas mileage to boot. Take care of a Honda and it will take care of you. People trust the name Honda and for good reason, they run forever.

By the way I've been in, around and under cars and motorcycles by entire life. I've ridden bikes and have ridden Harley's. I have friends that own Harley's, it sucks because we always have to wait for him to catch up.

First of all, group hug everybody. You too Trailhead, get over here ! Ahhhhh, that's better.

Trailhead, Harley certainly has managed the brand name very well but your statement about more of their revenues coming from apparel, parts and accessories is off base.
In 2011's third quarter Harley's revenues from motorcycle sales alone was $922.3 million dollars. Parts and accessories were at $235.7 million and apparrel $69.3 million.
So, we can see that selling motorcycles really is at the center of their 108 years of doing business here in the good old US of A.

I cheerfully decline the challenge aganst a ricer that would most certainly run rings around me.
Heavyweight bikes like the Harley, as you should be well aware, aren't intended to be the fastest, sleekest, most maneuverable or most technologically advanced motorcycle on the road. Harley owners such as myself are very content with an antiquated, air cooled 45 degree V-twin thumping out gobs of torque, a nice exhaust note and the feeling of a little ride through American history every time I leave the garage.

I am a nostalgic person and often wished I grew up in the 40's and 50's instead of the 60's and 70's. In the 50's, American manufacturing was screaming along and and in 1958, Harley produced their most beautiful bike (IMHO), the panhead Duo-Glide.
I always wanted a pan as I got older but a lot of life got in the way and I had to wait until the kids were grown a little and situated with their career paths before getting the Harley.
I bought a 96 c.i. FLSTN (the N actually stands for nostalgic) and its like having the Duo-Glide with a little bit of technology like fuel injection and electric start thrown in.
I stripped off all the reflectors and the stock tank emblem and installled 1962 replica tank emblems from the Duo-Glide.

When I tool this bike down a road through Chatsworth or out in rural Salem or Cumberland County its like going back in time.

Here she is, all paid for now and Made In America !