I'm really big on stuff being made in the USA. To me, it is a sense of pride to have an American brand/product or anything in that sense be made in America. Nowadays money, quantity and profit seem to overlook quality and pride. I know shipping overseas is both more productive in quantity and inexpensive in labor. Double whammy, but why would you sacrifice your brands' integrity for the sake of the almighty buck? (that's a rhetorical Q). I don't want to get into the economical aspect of this because quite frankly I'm not an economist.
The term "They don't make em like they used to" really hits hard with me. I don't know how it was everywhere else in the states and I don't know if this matter really matters to anyone else but it does to me.
Here are some of the things that I grew up with that are disappointingly no longer made in the USA.
In the early 90's Vans Shoes decided to globalize and start mass producing vulcanized shoes in China. I remember how disappointed I was when all of a sudden my shoes that used to be made down the street in Orange were stamped made in China. Now every Vans shoe on the market is made in China.
I wish: To have one freakin' production plant here in the States and produce a subdivision of the company that makes shoes in the USA. Maybe just have all the classics be made here.
Growing up in the BMX circuit, my favorite bicycle factory, GT, decided to pack up and move from beautiful Huntington Beach, CA to China. What a sketchy confusing time that was. The aspect of the product that they were so proud of and famous for (as seen by the made in Huntington Beach USA decal that was stock on all GT BMX models from the start of the company to the mid 90's. The end of an Era. Not to mention their sister company Robinson. Why? If it's an American brand made in China, it's now a Chinese product. Yes, all shoes are Asian.
The first athletic cap manufacturer that I was introduced to was Starter, then American Needle, then New Era Cap. I first new about about New Era because they produced the official on-field caps used by the players in the MLB. Fitted 100% wool caps with cotton trim sweatband and under-brim made here in the USA. At the time New Era did not do hats for anybody else except the the MLB and it wasn't until the late 90's did we see them globalize the market with their popular onfield 59/50 cap design for other brands all over the world, not including New Era's own subdivision of fitted caps (Too many). I wonder who buys all the wack ones? because you know there are a lot of wack ones out there.
I realize that all the on-field MLB caps are still produced here in the USA but everything else is made in China. Of course there are a few exceptions here and there of US made New Eras, such as this New Era Cap with Long Beach Shoe boutique Proper that produced a line of the ever so popular 59/50 cap made in USA. Props for Proper on that one.
These are just a few notables that I've included in this post. From now on I will start a post on products/things that I'm hyped on labeled "Props in Amerrrca". My first props go out to the Proper crew in Long Beach, CA. Good job guys. Now if only everybody else would follow in your footsteps because I would rather pay the extra cash any day knowing and having a sense of pride in the "originality" of the products I have. Out.
