A friend's grandfather
served our country in WWII, back when men joined the military out of patriotism
and not just because they wanted to blow things up. He was as patriotic as they
came. He was a proud American and would
let you know it any chance he got.
He also took pride in
frugality, but this was only second to his love for country. One of his
greatest discoveries was a line of tools that he would purchase at a lower cost
than Dewalt or Craftsman; and, of course, made in America with the stamp to
prove it - "made in usa". Unbeknownst to him, there was a
city....outside of the U.S.A....named Usa....
Although I could not
find a picture of a tool stamped with "Made in Usa", I did discover that
it may have just been a myth. There is a real place called Usa, it's in Japan
on the Island of Kyushu. The myth debunks the fact that the city was created
after WWII in order to sell items to the U.S.A. stamped with "made in
usa" as a guise for poorly produced Japanese products - apparently the
city of Usa was around long before WWII. I couldn't, however, find anything
about whether tools were ever made there or not.
I'm not sure if any of the above is true, or
whether my friend's grandfather ever found out about the misrepresentation. What I do know is that if you check your
labels and go in with the right intentions, you can honor those who came before
you by paying homage to their patriotism - no matter how non-existent you may
think it is in a global economy.
My blog is titled “Made in USA” (purposefully omitting
the periods) in honor of the good intentions of those who made our country
great by simply believing in it. I hope
to do the same.