Made in the USA

Worksman Cycle

2010-03-15T01:10:00.000-07:00

Today's featured manufacturer is an American bicycle company that decided on it's own destiny. Unlike the majority of other American bicycle companies Worksman Cycle decided for themselves to continue on in it's long history as an American bicycle manufacturer. They wanted to be something more than just a Chinese made bicycle importation company and not be included with the shortsighted extinct and near extinct other American bicycle companies like Cannondale and Trek.

Worksman bikes are used in many industrial applications, small business operations and they also have a custom build shop so that you can chose what type of cool American made cruiser you want to be seen riding. I am a bicycle enthusiast and I own mostly vintage American made bicycles, namely Schwinn but some time in the near future I can see me cruising a Worksman custom cruiser on the boardwalk down the shore.

Be careful however, even though Worksman goes to all the trouble of telling us how great they are for making bikes here in the USA, they do sell a couple of China made cruisers called "Atlantic Coast Cruiser". To me it makes no sense and only perpetuates the problem of selling inferior imported Chinese made products. Schwinn tried that strategy many years ago and it cost them their business and thousands of jobs. The majority of Worksman bicycles are made in Ozone Park, New York.

Worksman Cycle

Here's the statement Worksman makes on their website "Buy American":

"Made in the USA…It Matters:

We all know how the US Economy is facing challenges that we have not known in our lifetime. But it would be a mistake to think that the poor economy is the result of any single factor or is not the result of long term trends and poor past decisions. However, we have no doubt that one of the primary factors in the current economic tsunami is the fact that we simply stopped manufacturing products in our own country.

Somehow it seemed to be acceptable to import the products we all consume or use…from cars to airplanes, steel to furniture, toys to TV’s, we simply allowed US manufacturing to dwindle to a fraction of what it once was. Those who argued “fair trade works” failed to see that the playing field was never “fair” at all. The USA took proper steps to make sure employee safety, employee welfare, environmental protection and product safety were mandatory of its manufacturers. Yet somehow the countries we imported from were not held to any of these standards. It seemed acceptable that we could import our products from countries where child labor, pollution, and slave wages were the norm. Were we all blinded by slightly lower prices?

It was only a matter of time until our steel industry went into bankruptcy, our consumer electronics manufacturing basically disappeared, our wooden furniture plants all but closed down, and the garments we can purchase are all made in places around the globe...anywhere but the USA it seems. Some might argue that a country that does not produce vehicles (Cars, trucks, etc) is most likely a third world country. Are we heading in this direction?

Worksman Cycles has witnessed this trend for the past 25 years, seeing so many of the largest, well known factories close and seeing the workers that worked there having to adapt to this new reality. Many of these factories, foundries, mills, etc were customers for our Worksman Industrial Cycles. We have witnessed the steady and unmistakable decline in the number of USA factories and the number of factory workers. Factories close down and get replaced at best by warehouses or shopping centers, producing absolutely nothing. Worksman Cycles has been able to find other customers for our industrial cycles, while many suppliers of these factories simply disappeared. The ripple effect is amazing when factories close. Anyone who has visited towns such as Bethlehem PA can see the results of a Bethlehem Steel going bankrupt and closing. The rusting infrastructure of a company that once employed tens of thousands of workers is a memorial to what has happened and is continuing to happen to our US manufacturing economy. Truthfully, this field trip should be mandatory for every US citizen.

We can speak specifically about the bicycle industry, where 20 years ago over 10 million bicycles per year were proudly produced in the USA (out of approximately 12 million sold here). Sadly today more than 88% of bicycles sold in the USA are imported from China, leaving the remaining 12% to all other countries, including the USA. To put it simply, the number of bicycles made in the USA is basically insignificant.

Worksman Cycles made a conscious decision many years ago to maintain our tradition of manufacturing our bicycles and tricycles right here in the USA. Most of our competitors thought we were just foolish and old fashioned believing we could remain viable in the USA, let alone New York City. It would have been far easier to do what most of our competitors did….close the US factory and simply become an importer. Think of it, you can cut labor costs, cut overhead and just make life easier. But we thought differently….we could control quality, offer greater diversification of product, maintain our integrity, while also allowing hard working American citizens the chance to do a good job and live the American Dream. It may seem an old fashioned concept, but we actually respect our factory workers and believe in our own abilities. As it turns out, Worksman Cycles outlasted most of the household brand names in the bicycle industry, most of which are simply out of business.

Now consider the current state of our country and the economy including rising rate of unemployment, wage deflation, record numbers of home foreclosures, and bankruptcies. This does not even take into consideration the human emotion that goes with this, such as hopelessness, depression and decrease self worth.

Having said this, the exodus of the bicycle manufacturing industry in the USA means that we too have to source many of our parts from overseas to make Worksman Cycles. We have little choice here as there are simply no US suppliers for many bicycle related components, including tires, tubes, spokes, saddles and other key parts. Even so, we continue to do our machining operations, welding, painting, wheel building and final assembly right here in the USA, even it if means that there is foreign content in our finished product. We simply have no choice. Our factory staff is committed to welding, building and assembling the best cycles we can for your ultimate satisfaction.

So the next time you make a purchase, ask yourself if “Made in the USA” means something. At Worksman Cycles we have always known that “Made in America Matters!” We’ve known this since 1898. We have not lost our way."

A Little Tongue in Cheek

2010-02-17T01:44:00.001-08:00

New Balance - Still Made in the USA

2009-06-25T23:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a video from New Balance that tells their story. I hope New Balance is able to fend off the multinational corporations and our own government from taking these these jobs away from honest, decent and hardworking Americans.

A Christmas Card

2008-12-15T03:38:00.000-08:00

Newell Rubbermaid moves Vice Grip to China

2008-09-02T23:01:00.000-07:00

The venerable American icon- Vise-Grip

Well, one by one American manufacturers are selling the American manufacturing base to a communist owned and run society. Vise-Grip, an icon to every mechanic, homeowner, farmer and American repairman that ever worked on anything is closing it's doors in Dewitt, Nebraska where they have manufactured these amazing locking grip wonderments since 1938.

A man named Bill Peterson invented this handy tool and patented it in 1924. There have been many impostors along the way. Craftsman tried their best to have someone else manufacture a line of locking jaw pliers but they just didn't measure up to the real thing.

Newell Rubbermaid purchased Irwin tool in 2003 and it was probably already decided at that time when they would draw out the dagger and put it in the backs of the American workers and consumers. Newell Rubbermaid acquired Irwin tools so they could put another factory on their long list of acquisitions and closings in the mistaken notion of increasing their bottom line.

This is the what is known as "Branding". A company like Newell Rubbermaid buys up a famous brand product like Vice-Grip, shuts the down the American factory, lays off hundreds of people and moves the manufacturing to China. There the product is produced with inferior raw materials and a streamlined manufacturing process that produces and inferior product. They ship it back from China in a new fancy bubble package and sell the product as if nothing has changed until customers realize that this is not the quality product they were accustomed to. A few years later after diminishing sales because of an inferior product and customer backlash, the company then sells the name off to someone else but the product is still made in China with inferior materials and customers eventually stop purchasing the product. After a short time they sell the name off to another holding company looking for a quick profit but by then Vise-Grip is only a memory talked about at coffee breaks at the repair shop or the barn where farmer Joe talks with the neighbor about the price of corn and that old tractor still sitting there.

The plant closing in Dewitt, Nebraska will be just in time for elections. I'm sure the townspeople that have worked there for so many years will now be voting for globalization and handing China our manufacturing base. That's a security plan that is sure to win. Corporate bean counters have no idea about America and the Americans that built it. One day we will have the last laugh on them and we will be standing over them with our feet across their throats.

Here are the "Brands" that Newell Rubbermaid now sell.

Cleaning and organizing- Rubbermaid, Levelor, Kirch

Home and Family- Calphalon, Goody, Graco

Tools and hardware- Irwin, Irwin Vice-Grip, Lenox, Bernzomatic, Bulldog Hardware, Shurline, Amerock

Office Supplies- Sharpie, Parker, Papermate, Waterman, Rolodex, Dymo, Expo

From the cover of the Newell Rubbermaid 2007 shareholder report:

Our transformation is accelerating
We will generate sustainable growth
by building a consumer-driven branding company;
increase productivity and efficiency by
optimizing our supply chain and leveraging One
Newell Rubbermaid; and change our culture
to foster a globally collaborative organization
that produces best-in-class results.

Watch what happens next...

Yeah, what happens next is American manufacturing is further reduced and the people and traditions that made this country great are ignored and their jobs are sent to communist China for 30 pieces of silver.

Look, no one ever said that we must buy everything we own from American manufacturers. It has never been possible to do. I'm saying that we need to send the message to corporate bean counters that we aren't going to take this lying down anymore. Companies that just take good paying jobs with benefits and ship them overseas to make pennies on their stock is self defeating, dishonest and despicable. I have no problem with buying products from countries that are our allies and treat their workers like human beings but for goodness sakes they're handing our manufacturing base over to people that would destroy and enslave us. What's wrong with this picture?

You should not buy any products from this company and you should write to them to voice your opposition and disgust with their corporate irresponsibility.

Newell Rubbermaid
10B Glenlake Parkway,
Suite 300Atlanta, GA 30328
(770) 407-3800

or at their website

Newell Rubbermaid feedback

American Made Hand Tools

2008-07-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

Snap-on USA

Over the last few weeks I have found new friends over at My Tractor Forum. It's a forum that discusses everything that has to do with tractors. I myself own three tractors and I have been a mechanic for most of my life. I don't work on tractors for a living so I ask advise from some of the more experienced fellows and ladies over at the Tractor forum.

Now when I do have to use tools to make make repairs or do maintenance I use my Made in the USA hand tools. I have a collection of tools from different manufacturers but they are all Made in the USA. I have Snap-on, Craftsman, S-K and Mac tools some Willams wrenches I inherited from my Father who taught me to be a mechanic. The Craftsman hand tools are made by the Danaher Tool Group as long as it says Craftsman and not Sears on the tool itself. Most Craftsman power tools are imported. It would be hard to determine which ones are Made in the USA so just look the tool over before you buy to see if it's a cheap Chinese import.

I have a roll around Snap-on tool box that I bought when I was an auto mechanic. I worked in a Cadillac/Rolls Royce dealer for a number of years after I got off active duty from the Navy. After that I went on to work for the railroad repairing and maintaining locomotives and passenger coaches so I know the feel of a wrench or socket that's going to do the job or not. I've owned some Japanese tools over the years but they didn't last. I advise my trainees not to waste their time and money buying tools made in China.

There are other American made tools that are of very high quality so let's hear some stories and suggestions from my friends at My Tractor Forum.com and anyone else.

Mixed Message

2008-06-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

Recently I bought a pair of Red Wings ladies boots. I thought to myself, OK Red Wings, they are a little more money but they are Made in the USA so they are better quality. So I purchased the boots from Shoebuy.com and waited a few days and presto there they were sitting on my front step. I was pretty excited to have finally found a pair of women's boots that were Made in the USA. I proceeded to unwrap the package and remove the boots from the box but something was amiss. There were no big tags on it with an American flag saying Proudly Made in the USA or anything like that. I then pulled out the tissue they stuff inside the boot to look at the imprinted label and to my shock and amazement these Red Wing boots were made in China of all places. I was shocked and very dismayed. When did this iconic American shoe company like Red Wings shoes sellout to the Wal-Mart set?

I looked the boots over and took note that these boots that cost me nearly a $150 could have been easily purchased at Payless shoes for a fraction of that price. I then proceeded to start the return process with Shoebuy.com. They are easy to work with so it was a no hassle return, you fill out a form and they give you a return label to print. Then you take the box to the nearest UPS store or give it to your UPS delivery person and they're gone and you get your money back. Shipping is paid for both ways.

I wrote to Red Wings shoes to tell them that I was extremely unhappy they have decided to sell out the American worker and sell poorly made shoes at Red Wings prices when the same product could be purchased at Payless shoes for one third of what I just paid for these cheap boots. I added that at least Payless is honest about their products, they fully admit that their shoes are cheaply made Chinese products. The advertising for ladies Red Wings both on the Red Wings website and Shoebuy.com said nothing about them being imported much less that they were manufactured under the brutal iron fist of a communist ruled dictatorship.

There was no reply from Red Wings shoes as I expected. They are ashamed of their behavior as they should be. They try to keep this ethical lapse as quiet as possible so standard business practice is do not reply to such questions or comments. We have to shame these companies to stop being lazy and trying to do underhanded sleazy things to make a buck. It is up to us to hold these companies to the American values and standards that we were taught by our families. It has always been up to us because this isn't the first or last time an American company will be run by people that have limited ethical standards.

I wrote to Shoebuy.com to explain my position and I must not have been the only one to do so because Shoebuy.com now provides a search option on their website that allows you to narrow your search for products that are Made in the USA. I do have a problem with companies selling communist made shoes but I can't change that and it's their business if they choose to do such a thing. I just want to know which shoes they are so I can choose not to give my money to a communist government or buy from companies that are less than honest about where their shoes are manufactured.

Red Wings shoes still make shoes here in the USA. They make high quality motorcycle and work shoes for men and have limited offerings for women. Red Wings comfort and fashion shoes and boots are all made in China. Other American shoe and boot manufacturers have opted to have the Chinese put American shoe company names on poorly made Chinese shoes and then make an attempt to pass them off as Made in the USA by using American name recognition. They do not advertise or specify where the shoes are made unless they are Made in the USA. Even though Chippewa, Double H, Danner and Justin still make shoes and boots in the USA they have been putting their names on inferior Chinese made products too while making little or no mention of it. I believe this practice is extremely dishonest and downright despicable.I own Chippewa and Justin American made boots. I also own Danner Chinese made work shoes that I didn't bother to check immediately and I was unable to return them because they had been worn before I thought about checking them. So I have been burned and I check everything before I buy now.

If the American shoe makers are proud enough to charge any of us the prices they ask for shoes bearing these iconic American names then they should be proud and honest enough to let us know where those shoes are made and let us choose which ones to buy based on truthful information. Being underhanded and dishonest is a short term business practice that leads only to contempt and eventually to failure as it should. If you sell a shoe or any other product that is made in China then clearly state it and tell us how proud you are of that product. The phrase for American shoe manufacturers should be "Proudly Made and honestly sold in the USA".

UPDATE*** This is from a 2007 Red Wing shoes Newsletter that insructs retailers about signage.

Made In USA Signage Reminder

Due to some Red Wing branded products now being sourced off-shore, Red Wing retailers can no longer use Red Wing Shoes brand signage that carries the Made in the USA reference. As you know, all Red Wing footwear is clearly labeled as to its country of origin. We ask that you help in this effort to make sure your customers are not confused about this issue. We would ask that you review all of your interior and exterior signs and make sure you are in compliance.Signs that carry the reference must be removed.Only those Red Wing products that are labeled as Made in the USA can be displayed on slat wall shelving carrying this description.Please look carefully at all Red Wing branded materials(floor mats, clocks, etc…) to make sure you are in compliance. Your Red Wing sales representative has been instructed to help you with this task. New slat wall shelves, clocks, floor mats, etc.are in stock and eligible for 100% co-op reimbursement. Please contact Red Wing Customer Service to order your replacement signage.

Stimulus Check

2008-06-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

B F Goodrich Long Trail T/A,

OK, what did you do with your stimulus check. Did you buy something made in America? I bought something made in America by American craftsman. I bought 4 new tires for my American made GMC pickup truck. The tires were made in the USA but the company that owns the plant is Michelin and they are French.

I bought 4 BF Goodrich tires. BF Goodrich used to be American owned but in the 1980's Michelin bought them out. I did a lot of research of who owns what and there are two major American owned and American made automobile tire companies left in America. They are Goodyear and Cooper tires. Goodyear is the world's largest tire manufacturer, they manufacture the best and near worst tires. Cooper tires have a few plants but the ones in Texarkana Arkansas and Tupelo Mississippi have seen nothing but problems over the past few years with process, management, quality control and material. They have had quite a few recalls. The last ones just occured in March of 2008. Check here to see if your tires or vehicle are under a recall. Recalls.Gov

I ended up buying BF Goodrich tires for a few reasons. The first reason is they are made in America by Americans. The plant they were made at according to the DOT code is Tuscaloosa Alabama. The whole process of choosing the right tire for the right price was made much easier by a website called The Tire Rack. I found the right size tires, I read the customer reviews and then compared the prices. The whole time I was doing this I kept in mind that for me the tires had to be made in the USA and they had to be of recent manufacture (tires are good for 6 years).

The DOT code on the tire tells the story of where it's made and when it's made. The first two digits after the initials DOT are the codes for the manufacturer. The last three or four digits tell when the tires are made according to the week and year. Here's an example, my new tires had the DOT code that looked like this: DOT BE ---- 4207. The "BE" indicates the BF Goodrich plant in Tuscaloosa Alabama. The dashes represent the manufacturers size and style codes. The "4207" at the end indicates they were manufactured in the 42nd week of 2007 (the week of October 21st 2007).

Anyway, my new tires look nice, they ride nice and they were manufactured here in the good old USA even though the company that owns the plant is based in France. That was an acceptable compromise to me.

Now tell us how you spent your stimulus check or we can talk about tires if you like.

Here's some links to check out your own tires.

NHTSA Manufacturer's information
(uncheck all the boxes at the left except for tires and enter the first two digits of your DOT code at the very bottom box marked DOT ID)

Autopedia a comprehensive list of tire manufacturers.

All the DOT Tire Plant Codes

Sidewall Markings at Tire Rack Tech Center

The Boat has a Leak

2008-04-27T22:50:00.000-07:00

The Boating Party Lunch_Pierre-Auguste Renoir

(OK, there were two rowers so sue me, see below)

Someone sent me this in an email the other day and I thought this to be appropriate for discussion here. This is exactly what needs to be discussed.

MODERN PARABLE . . . . .

A Japanese company ( Toyota ) and an American company (Ford) decided to
have a canoe race on the Missouri River . Both teams practiced long and
hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate
the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior
management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person
steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a
consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second
opinion. They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat,
while not enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent
another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was
totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering
superintendents, and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1
person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the
'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners, and free pens
for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes, and
other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor
performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and
canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was
distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year's racing
team was out-sourced to India .

Sadly, The End.

Here's something else to think about:
Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the
US , claiming they can't make money paying American wages.

TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants
inside the US . The last quarter's results:

TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in
losses.

Ford folks are still scratching their heads.

Finding Products that are Made in the USA

2008-04-24T21:55:00.001-07:00

This can be a bit of tricky procedure. It really isn't that hard to do though. As I continue to post up my links I will try and explain how it works. The regular retail stores are heavily invested in the Chinese and other foreign inferior products. They send their buyers out to find the newest styles for least amount of money. That's normal for any business to want to do, buy low, sell high. All the while they are purchasing products made in foreign countries that have no standards, no safeguards for their workers ands use inferior materials. They still sell their products at huge profits but the American consumer is cheated because they never know what they are going to end up with when they buy slave labor made goods from China and other countries.

You will see in my links columns that there are names of websites or stores and not just the name of the manufacturers themselves. These links take you to the stores where American made products are sold. There will also be links to the companies that do the manufacturing and sell from their website. In the links that go to stores, I'll use Shoebuy.com because they are very organized and have a good search engine, to find Shoes Made in the USA.

OK click here and open a window in a new tab Shoebuy.com". Go to the Search engine window and just to the right click on "advanced search". In the advanced search, choose men or women, casual or dress or whatever combination you are looking for. Then (I love this part) and in the category selector "Country" (second from the bottom) click to open the drop down menu and click USA! and then click search. Bingo, everything they carry that is Made in the USA in your selection will magically appear. Shoebuy is a very reliable website, take it from me. I own about 50+ pairs of shoes and I'd say about 15-20 pair came from Shoebuy. They have free shipping too! This is not an advertisement for Shoebuy.com, it is an endorsement by a satisfied customer. Gosh, I discovered they are now carrying Abilene boots! I tell you, Shoebuy.com wants your business because they aren't shy about carrying Made in the USA products. When I do my post on Hats made in the USA Shoebuy will be mentioned again.

OK, now you see a pattern developing here. You can go to virtually any site and check to see what they have that is Made in the USA by using their store search engine just by entering Made in the USA in the search engine box. I will post more links for sites that make or carry Made in the USA products and everyone is free to email me or leave links in the comments section when they find something or know of something.

We really can do something if we can just get people to examine what they are purchasing and maybe take that extra step to buy something that is made by fellow Americans. I'd like to see brick and mortar retailers get back to the point where they stock quality American made goods instead of always reverting to Chinese made inferiority.

My New Blog

2008-04-23T00:57:00.000-07:00

Valley Forge Flag Company

Well, here's the new blog I've been talking about. My goal here is to show people that they can buy products that are Made in the USA and to encourage people to do so. It seems so easy to walk into a Wal-Mart or even an upscale Department store and pick out something you like only to find the tag says Made in China. You know the quality is inferior but everything else on the racks and shelves are Made in China too. It is quite frustrating because you know if you buy that inferior quality coat, skirt or shirt that's Made in China you're putting fellow Americans out of work. In most cases you aren't saving that much anyway and sometimes you're not saving anything at all and still getting an inferior product.

I will try and feature as many products as I can and keeps links to places where you can find American made products. Don't get me wrong though. You aren't going to be able to buy everything that you may want and need with a tag that says Made in the USA, that has never been possible. I am trying to increase the percentage of things you buy that's Made in the USA. If you buy products that are made in China you're putting yourself and family at risk because the Chinese have no intention of making safe products or using any kind of standards because they don't care one wit about their own people why would they care about you or your family? Lead paint, formaldehyde, insecticides and a whole host of other nasties that were banned years ago in American made products. The Chinese were even nice enough to send us some of their poisonous toothpaste and dog food. These are just a few of the reasons why products that bear the Made in the USA tag or label are far superior to those that say Made in China or one of the other slave labor communist countries like Vietnam. When is the last time you saw a pair of shoes or jeans that had a one of those hanging tags with their country's flag on it that says "proudly made in China? Never!

There are other countries that do make products that are high quality and pay their employees a good wage and have high standards. I will point them out too as I go along. My main objective though is try and do my part to help people to find alternatives to buying cheaply made and dangerous products that are currently being dumped on our docks and stocked in our stores.

I will also point out that it's OK for people to belong to unions and fight for fair pay and safe working conditions. Americans have always agreed with those principles. Union members have to let their leadership know they have to be responsible about negotiating and consider all things while sitting at the negotiating table. Many companies want to keep jobs in the US but unions and environmentalists can become very extreme and unbending and force companies to close or move their operations elsewhere. We are all Americans and it's in our best interest to keep our jobs here and make products that are both safe and affordable.

I will be posting links as I go along but if you have any questions or can't find something feel free to ask me and we'll work on it together. I hope this endeavor will be educational and helpful for everyone. God Bless America.