Made anywhere but here..

I used to think it was silly when the WalMart Sam's Choice brand placed "Made in the U.S.A." on pop cans and cookies. How could these products be made anywhere else? Well, I guess you never know nowadays. Low and behold last week on a return trip from Maryville MO I noticed a package of Mini Chips Ahoy labeled as being made in Mexico. Also, a few months ago I needed to find some non-latex bandages for my wife. Out of curiosity I first checked out the Band-Aid brand - made in China. Another brand, Curad was also made in China, but I felt relieved and happy when I found out that Nexcare bandages were still made in the U.S.A. Hopefully these will continue to be.

I thought that food and drink, and health and beauty aids might be the last bastions of made in the U.S.A. but apparently this isn't even the case anymore...

P.S. My purpose with this post isn't to encourage isolationist type thinking, but that many things we take for granted may not necessarily be so. As a society we need to become more aware of the status quo of many products formerly made in this country now being made elsewhere.

Comments

Review: Flowers for Algernon

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes My rating: 5 of 5 stars A very immersive and thought-provoking story Why did I give this book 5 stars? What can I write about it? Well, I floated between 4 and 5 stars. What made me tip the scale was my immediate feeling that I was an observer in the story, not solely a reader. I found the transformation of the protagonist, Charlie Gordon - as illustrated by his writing in his progress reports - to be an especially effective narrative device. The story was so organic and straight-forward, that I felt transported to another time and place. Perhaps that result was also due to my empathy with the protagonist Charlie Gordon and my identification with the academic environment, where most of the narrative took place. Some members of my extended family are mentally challenged. I couldn't help but think of them when I read about Charlie. Also, my dad worked with mentally challenged young adults at a clinic when he was...

(The Two Towers of?) Eureka Springs Arkansas

A few weeks ago my wife and I took a trip to Eureka Springs Arkansas. I hadn't visited there in approximately 30 years, but it still seemed the same, at least according to my mind's eye. I'm sure that the city being placed on the National Register of Historic Places is a big reason for the sameness over the past four decades. We stayed at the Oak Crest Cottages in a pleasant Monet's Garden themed cabin . There is a uniqueness and authenticity to Eureka Springs that I haven't experienced at very many other locations in the States. Much of Eureka Springs feels like being transported to a time past, especially at turn-of-the-century landmarks such as the Crescent Hotel, the Carnegie Public Library , and the former Roxy Theater. My wife thought that a visit to Eureka Springs wouldn't be complete without taking one of the advertised "ghost tours" at one of the local haunts (I know, very bad pun), and I was game to visit one of the old hotels. Anyway, w...

Plastic models going the way of BETA?

The other day my family and I were at Toys R Us and I happened to notice one model kit in the entire store. The model was a snap together Tie Fighter . I asked one of the associates where the rest of their model section was and he responded that the Tie Fighter was all that remained. Over the past three years or so I noticed that WalMart and Target were seriously reducing their inventory of plastic model kits, but I had no idea that they would disappear from their shelves altogether! I can't even find model glue or paint at WalMart! My son told me that models have been replaced by Legos (at least for children). I'm only an occasional modeler, and I know that models are still available at hobby stores, but this strikes me as a very sad pattern.

Random musings of a measured overachiever

Search This Blog