Not made in America any more

NotaSuv

I was surprised to find some of these on the list as I thought they were still made here in the US


Here are 19 Iconic Products That America Doesn't Make Anymore:

Rawlings baseballs

Last production date: 1969

Rawlings is the official supplier of baseballs to Major League Baseball. The St. Louis shop was founded in 1887 by George and Alfred Rawlings. In 1969 the brothers moved the baseball-manufacturing plant from Puerto Rico to Haiti and then later to Costa Rica.

Gerber baby food

Last production date: 1994

Gerber was founded in Michigan in 1927 by the owner of the Fremont Canning Company. The brand grew in popularity and in 1994 merged with Novartis, a Swiss pharmaceutical company. Then in 2007, Gerber was bought by Switzerland's Nestle, the world's largest food company. Today the brand has more than 80% of the American baby food market and the largest supplier of baby products in the world.

Ever since the merger with Novartis, all Gerber products have been manufactured overseas.

Etch a Sketch

Last production date: 2000

Etch A Sketch, an iconic American toy since the 1960s, used to be produced in Bryan, Ohio, a small town of 8,000. Then in Dec. 2000, toymaker Ohio Art decided to move production to Shenzhen, China.

Converse shoes

Last production date: 2001

Marquis M. Converse opened Converse Rubber Show Company in Massachusetts in 1908. Chuck Taylors– named after All American high school basketball player Chuck Taylor– began selling in 1918 as the show eventually produced an industry record of over 550 million pairs by 1997. But in 2001 sales were on the decline and the U.S. factory closed. Now Chuck Taylors are made in Indonesia.

Stainless steel rebar

Last production date: circa 2001

Many forms of this basic steel product are not available domestically. Multiple waivers to the Buy America Act have allowed purchase of rebar internationally.

Note: The Buy America Act requires government mass transportation spending to use American products.

Dress shirts*

Last production date: Oct. 2002

The last major shirt factory in America closed in October 2002, according to NYT. C.F. Hathaway's Maine factory had been producing shirts since 1837.

*We know there are other shirt manufacturers in America. They do not produce in large quantities or supply major brands.

Mattel toys

Last production date: 2002

The largest toy company in the world closed their last American factory in 2002. Mattel, headquartered in California, produces 65 percent of their products in China as of August 2007.

Minivans

Last production date: circa 2003

A waiver to the Buy America Act permitted an American producer of wheel-chair accessible minivans to purchase Canadian chassis for use in government contracts, because no chassis were available from the United States. The waiver specified: "General Motors and Chrysler minivan chassis, including those used on the Chevrolet Uplander, Pontiac Montana, Buick Terraza, Saturn Relay, Chrysler Town & Country, and Dodge Grand Caravan, are no longer manufactured in the United States."

Note: The Buy America Act requires government mass transportation spending to use American products.

Vending machines

Last production date: circa 2003

You know that thing you put bills into on a vending machine? It isn’t made in America, according to a waiver to the Buy America Act.

Neither is the coin dispenser, according to this federal waiver.

Note: The Buy America Act requires government mass transportation spending to use American products.

Levi jeans

Last production date: Dec. 2003

Levi Strauss & Co. shut down all its American operations and outsourced production to Latin America and Asia in Dec. 2003. The company's denim products have been an iconic American product for 150 years.

Radio Flyer's Red Wagon

Last production date: March 2004

The little red wagon has been an iconic image of America for years. But once Radio Flyer decided its Chicago plant was too expensive, it began producing most products, including the red wagon, in China.

Televisions

Last production date: Oct. 2004

Five Rivers Electronic Innovations was the last American owned TV color maker in the US. The Tennessee company used LCoS (liquid crystal on silicon) technology to produce televisions for Philips Electronics. But after Philips decided to stop selling TVs with LCoS, Five Rivers eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Oct. 2004. As part of its reorganization plan, the company stopped manufacturing TVs.

Now there are ZERO televisions made in America, according to Business Week.

Cell phones

Last production date: circa 2007

Of the 1.2 billion cell phones sold worldwide in 2008, NOT ONE was made in America, according to Manufacturing & Technology publisher Richard McCormick.

After studying the websites of cell phone companies, we could not identify a single phone that was not manufactured primarily overseas.

Railroads (parts including manganese turnout castings, U69 guard bars, LV braces and weld kits)

Last production date: circa 2008

Here's another standout from dozens of waivers to the Buy America Act: railroad turnouts and weld kits.

Manganese turnout castings are used to widen railroad tracks, and they were used to build our once-great railroad system. U69 guard bars, LV braces and Weld Kits, along with 22 mm Industrial steel chain are basic items that were certifiably not available in the US.

Note: The Buy America Act requires government mass transportation spending to use American products.

Dell computers

Last production date: Jan. 2010

In January 2010, Dell closed its North Carolina PC factory, its last large U.S. plant. Analysts said Dell would be outsourcing work to Asian manufacturers in an attempt to catch up with the rest of the industry, said analyst Ashok Kumar.

Canned sardines

Last production date: April 2010

Stinson Seafood plant, the last sardine cannery in Maine and the U.S., shut down in April. The first U.S. sardine cannery opened in Maine in 1875, but since the demand for the small, oily fish declined, more canneries closed shop.

Pontiac cars

Last production date: May 2010

The last Pontiac was produced last May. The brand was formally killed on Halloween, as GM contracts Pontiac dealerships expired.

The 84-year-old GM brand was famous for muscle cars.

Forks, spoons, and knives

Last production date: June 2010

The last flatware factory in the US closed last summer. Sherrill Manufacturing bought Oneida Ltd. in 2005, but shut down its fork & knife operations due to the tough economy. CEO Greg Owens says his company may resume production "when the general economic climate improves and as Sherrill Manufacturing is able to put itself back on its feet and recapitalize and regroup."

Incandescent light bulb

Last production date: Sept. 2010

The incandescent light bulb (invented by Thomas Edison) has been phased out.

Our last major factory that made incandescent light bulbs closed in September 2010. In 2007, Congress passed a measure that will ban incandescents by 2014, prompting GE to close its domestic factory.

Note: A reader pointed out that the Osram/Sylvania Plant in St. Mary's, Penn. is still producing light bulbs to fill old and international contracts. However, the plant has announced plans to wind down incandescent production.

Rev. Hayes

:frown:

ben62670

Buy American. Said before and I will say it again!

messiah

I buy American any chance I get, but I think the point being made here is that for a lot of things there actually no made in USA version available :frown:

TroyD

This phenomenon has been going on for decades.....

The fact is, we consume WAY more than we can produce so do the math.


BDT

ben62670

Yep Troy money out without money in is killing US.

ESavinon

We are becoming a nation of Attorneys and Consultants.

billbillw

While most of what you listed is correct, most of the minivans sold in the US are still made in the US, but they just happen to under the Honda (built in Alabama) and Toyota (Indiana) brand names. The Chrysler is built in Winsdor, Ontario, which is a not much more than a stone's throw from Detroit. Windsor, and a few other cities in Ontario have been home to various assembly plants for US automakers for a very long time.

TroyD

ben62670 wrote: »

Yep Troy money out without money in is killing US.

No, that's not even close to the problem.

BDT

ben62670

So out sourcing tons of jobs and not buying American is not hurting us. Tell that to all the people that used to build things in the US.

cnh

I've watched most of this happen here and in China over the last decade. I own quite a few Hathaway shirts...some of the best ever made in the U.S.A. and got to see them close the plant down. A sad day for the community and the over 400+ workers who...well, what are they doing now?

That list is impressive and eye-opening, even for those of us who are very familiar with East Asia, its history, economy and politics and the strange entanglements that the U.S. and its corporations (no longer located in 'any' particular nation) have with it.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with Neoliberalism (our current political/economic approach)--it's hard to argue that we shouldn't make 'anything' in the U.S. Not everyone goes to college and probably half of those who do will be unemployed anyway. I know, because I teach them?

Well, I'm no economist. But the writing is on the wall. Some wall, somewhere.

cnh

tonyb

ben62670 wrote: »

So out sourcing tons of jobs and not buying American is not hurting us. Tell that to all the people that used to build things in the US.

It's not that simple Ben. You have to ask yourself some questions first. Why doesn't america make things anymore ? Costs ? If so, why are the costs so high ? Labor ? If so, are the unions part of that equation ? Or is the cost of living too high here to pay anyone a living wage to produce things ? How about trade agreements ? Are we taxing too little on imports ? Are taxes too high for buisnesses here ? If so,why ?

Get down to the nuts and bolts of the problem first. Just saying buy american doesn't fix anything. You have to make people want to buy american by logical conclusions,not simple patriotism. The only way to do that is to give us back our competive edge, get out of the way,stop throwing road blocks infront of buisness to prosper, and stop making trade agreements that do not benefit the USA. To me some of those trade agreements are a form of spreading the wealth around mentality that we've come to know better more recently. I'm not saying we have to pay people 2 bucks an hour to stay competitive, but we do have to start taxing some of these imports more to make our products more appealing. Unions too are going to have to suck it up if they want to survive instead of allways looking for the max they can get from the industry they serve.

ben62670

I understand that there needs to be changes but a lot of suits want to squeeze every dollar out of there companies with no regard to the workers that built the company they work for. I know the automotive industry(and many others) killed their own companies via the union, but there are a lot of companies that made good products and now we are getting sub par goods for a little cheaper.

nooshinjohn

This phenomenon has been going on for decades... In simplistic terms, there are those that think America has too much and the rest of the world too little. Rather than teach the world to be LIKE us, they would rather we appologise to the planet for our appearant greed, and "give them the wealth" instead. In their eye, we are an evil nation and what used to be America needs to be broken into little pieces and scattered to the winds...

Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime. Looks like it's has become time for us to learn how to stock our own ponds...

TroyD

ben62670 wrote: »

So out sourcing tons of jobs and not buying American is not hurting us. Tell that to all the people that used to build things in the US.

No, not in the way you think it does....which doesn't surprise me. Look this is basic economics. A little education goes a long way. Try engaging your brain instead of just reading bumper stickers.

I'm not saying that our economy doesn't have problems, but not producing rubber dogshit, computers and toaster ovens really ain't it.

BDT

nooshinjohn

TroyD wrote: »

No, not in the way you think it does....which doesn't surprise me. Look this is basic economics. A little education goes a long way. Try engaging your brain instead of just reading bumper stickers.

I'm not saying that our economy doesn't have problems, but not producing rubber dogshit, computers and toaster ovens really ain't it.

BDT

In order for our dolar to be worth something on the world stage, you need three things, and today we have nothing.

The first you need is security. The dollar used to be backed by gold. Not so today, as we came off the gold standard decades ago.
The second is products that people want to buy. because we no longer make things here, we have nothing to sell.
The third is confidence, and by spending like drunken sailors on a shore-leave, that has been undermined as well. Confidence could have been salvaged by the first two still being there, but without them, we have nothing left to stand on.

Can anyone say Titanic?

cnh

That's an interesting approach, TD. I happen to work with a number of well-respected and nationally known economists and as far as I can see, in, my discussions with them, they don't seem to have a handle on how this GLOBAL system can work or if it works? When push comes to shove....I just hear a lot of platitudes issue from them. Since we're colleagues and I've spent part of a lifetime studying Chinese language, culture, economics, politics, etc. It's not like I 'cannot' understand what their arguments are. I just keep waiting to see a convincing one.

On the other hand after a year of watching Hu Jintao and Wen Jiaobao operate. Well, it makes me wonder if they might have a better 'understanding' of what needs to be done, sometimes? But that's all for now because such discussions have their time and place.

cnh

TroyD

Here is pretty much my stance on economics:
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53938&highlight=manufacturing

This was a couple of years ago, but I still stand by it and a lot of what I said about the auto industry pretty much came to fruition.

Simply put, Isolationism doesn't work. We figured that out in the Great Depression....anyway, I don't have the energy nor interest to go through it again. Believe what you want to believe....it makes no difference to me.

BDT

obieone

There's plenty of blame to go around.

If you want MORE mfg. jobs, then tell the US govt. to piss off! One of the items listed in that story is an incandescent lightbulb, which OUR govt. is OUTLAWING in 2014.

Also, we do have plenty of mfg. jobs being done here, they're just not American branded.
3 of the biggest employers in SC are BMW, Honda, and Husqvarna.

And to anyone who is p.o.'d about all the textile industries leaving, then YOU need find enough people, who are willing to pay $15 for a single pair of socks.

BIZILL

ben62670 wrote: »

Buy American. Said before and I will say it again!

i remember this was once the only creed you'd hear when i was younger. too bad nobody heeded that advice.

nooshinjohn

BIZILL wrote: »

i remember this was once the only creed you'd hear when i was younger. too bad nobody heeded that advice.

I think most of us did... but when labor is pennies on the dollar elsewhere, that is where business tends to look. I could go into great detail about this, but it would get me banned for life....

Read Cloward and Piven and all becomes abundantly clear.

sucks2beme

Well, I don't have an answer. But I darn well know money going out with none coming in means sooner or later the check bounces. Then what, smart guys?

messiah

obieone wrote: »

There's plenty of blame to go around.

If you want MORE mfg. jobs, then tell the US govt. to piss off! One of the items listed in that story is an incandescent lightbulb, which OUR govt. is OUTLAWING in 2014.

Also, we do have plenty of mfg. jobs being done here, they're just not American branded.
3 of the biggest employers in SC are BMW, Honda, and Husqvarna.

And to anyone who is p.o.'d about all the textile industries leaving, then YOU need find enough people, who are willing to pay $15 for a single pair of socks.

I have lots of 15 dollar a pair socks. Smartwool, great stuff and made right here in the USA :biggrin:

zarrdoss

I think one of the main problems is everybody wants to do as little work for the most amount of money possible these days. Were getting lazy and second rate with the rest of the world, time to wake up America, we used to be a proud nation with a strong work ethic, what ever happened to American know how?

sucks2beme

Our management took the easy way out. Why manage a business when you
can write a check? The big guys decided running a factory was too
involved. They sold the assets, went with cheap labor and put their name
on it. Look around. Even those hard working Japanese guys have found
themselves undercut by other markets. You can't work hard enough
to overcome CHEAP and EASY. SO who's the new big gun? CHINA.
They have the money, the industrial base, and their well finaced
military will soon be on top. AS one guy put it, a isolated communist
China isn't anywhere as dangerous to us as the free wheeling
capitalist based one is.

zarrdoss

I agree the outsourcing is a big part of the problem, How are American workers, most of which are unionized, supposed to compete with a country that has no minimum wage, unions, safety or environmental standards or regulations?

renowilliams

The business world truly is a global villiage. More and more well run smaller chains and inovative businesses are being purchased by large corperations. It seems that all that matters anymore,is to maximize profits for the shareholders and if this means moving production to places like China and India,then thats what they do. The people who are most likely to be calling the shots in most of these large corperations are Hardvard MBA graduate types who never invented a product or ever had an original idea.
The type of men who were captains of industry 100 years ago, had an emotional investment in their companies and communities where they lived, and tended to be people of vision.This is where, I think everything is falling apart. Today, the people calling the shots could care less if whole communities are devistated by the closing or relocating of a company, "its just business".

obieone

messiah wrote: »

I have lots of 15 dollar a pair socks. Smartwool, great stuff and made right here in the USA :biggrin:

HUNTING socks are not what I meant:biggrin:
Would you pay $90 for 6 pairs of regular tube socks, that right now, you can get for $5 @ Wallyworld?

And for those that don't know, whats left of the textile industry, is in the SE U.S. All the carpeting is still made here. The labor force has been drastically reduced, thanks to automation. They have robots that go around and pick up the 3,000+ lb. spools of yarn. The plant that I used to service, had 4 of these machines, which probably replaced 8-20 people. Then you have the automated knitting machines. In the old days, one person per machine. Now, one person can run 4+ machines simultaneously, with less chance of injury. Then you have all the automated conveyor systems, that take those spools of yarn, and move them from station to station.
The evolution of mfg. has taken this same plant from 40 years ago, where it would have employed 1,000 people per shift, down to <250.
Good luck finding anyone stupid enough to want to go back in time, and bust their balls for $7.25 an hour

fatchowmein

Brooks Brothers? I know some of their pants are now made in China.

Allen Edmond and Alden are the last two American shoe manufacture left in the US I think.

I'm counting down the days when Craftsman goes to China completely which will be a sad day for me. Some of their lower end lines are made in China.

BlueFox

zarrdoss wrote: »

I agree the outsourcing is a big part of the problem, How are American workers, most of which are unionized, supposed to compete with a country that has no minimum wage, unions, safety or environmental standards or regulations?

While you ask a good question, the part about most American workers are unionized is wrong. Very few workers are in a union.

"...with 36% of public workers being represented by unions while private sector union density had plummeted to around 7%. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics most recent survey indicates that union membership in the US has risen to 12.4% of all workers, from 12.1% in 2007. For a short period, private sector union membership rebounded, increasing from 7.5% in 2007 to 7.6% in 2008. [8] However, that trend has since reversed. In 2009, the union density for private sector stood at 7.2%"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_unions_in_the_United_States

mrbigbluelight

sucks2beme wrote: »

Even those hard working Japanese guys have found themselves undercut by other markets. You can't work hard enough to overcome CHEAP and EASY.

Excellent point.
While unions did NOT, IMO, become involved enough in providing solutions to internal problems, this country will never be able to compete with the $2.00 a day labor available overseas. Nor should it want to.

sucks2beme wrote: »

SO who's the new big gun? CHINA.
They have the money, the industrial base, and their well finaced
military will soon be on top. AS one guy put it, a isolated communist
China isn't anywhere as dangerous to us as the free wheeling
capitalist based one is.

Excellent points, again.
They do have the money, and they control the value of their currency, despite the open criticism of their currency manipulation by leading governments worldwide.
China ignores this criticism. Why ? Because they can.
They own so much of our debt (treasury bonds) that they can say "Jump" and we say "How High ?".
Our currency situation is feeble, IMO. This is evident, IMO, by the fact that the Federal Reserve is buying its own bank notes ?!?!
I'm a financial illiterate, but even I know that's FUBAR.

Can't remember where I read or saw this, but a point was made last week comparing our military situation with that of England.
Remember the slogan, "Hail Britannia, Brittania rules the waves" ?
Not any more. We act as their .... surrogate (?) now.
Sure they have a powerful Navy, but nothing like it was.
Why ? Because they can't afford what they really need.

Which is where we're at. Within 2 decades, the Chinese will be docking in Norfolk and San Diego, et al, because we couldn't afford what we needed.
They already have the Panama Canal.

Just my opinion.