Tom Sweetnam
Platinum Member
I just vacuumed my pigsty. It's all nice and clean now. The vacuum cleaner I used was made in America, in New Orleans, 33 years ago. It's an Oreck, a small 7 amp commercial model that worked nearly every day of its life in a big hotel chain. Then when it turned 30, having never needed repair except for replacement belts, it was auctioned off with dozens of others. The guy who runs our classic vacuum shop in Alamosa bought a bunch of these old work horses. He reconditioned them a bit then sold one to me for $118. He sells nothing but American-made vacuum cleaners, some of them dating back to the 1920’s, that still work like a champ.
Can you imagine in your wildest fantasies, any of the junk vacuum cleaners at Wal-Mart lasting 33 years? Are you laughing like I am right this minute?
Back in the early 70's, when I was in college, I worked part-time at an upscale San Francisco custom picture framing shop. Over the five years I did that, I learned the trade. The mat-cutter we used was called a "Keeton". It was a piece of art all by itself. It was machined and hand-made in a small Biloxi, Mississippi manufacturing facility for about 10 years. It was expensive for its day: $500. It has a solid oak varnished base and hard chromed mechanical components. It's very precise and beautifully made. Nothing made today comes close. It's all Chinese junk. I saw one on eBay last year. The guy wanted $40 for shipping. That's very reasonable since it weighs about 25 lbs. The auction got a lot of hits, but I don't think most people knew what it was. I was the high bidder: $7. It's sitting out in my shop. It was made in 1963, half a century ago. It works just as beautifully I remembered from long ago.
So what do you have sitting around the house that's American-made, from a day when we manufactured everything, and we did it better than anybody?
Can you imagine in your wildest fantasies, any of the junk vacuum cleaners at Wal-Mart lasting 33 years? Are you laughing like I am right this minute?
Back in the early 70's, when I was in college, I worked part-time at an upscale San Francisco custom picture framing shop. Over the five years I did that, I learned the trade. The mat-cutter we used was called a "Keeton". It was a piece of art all by itself. It was machined and hand-made in a small Biloxi, Mississippi manufacturing facility for about 10 years. It was expensive for its day: $500. It has a solid oak varnished base and hard chromed mechanical components. It's very precise and beautifully made. Nothing made today comes close. It's all Chinese junk. I saw one on eBay last year. The guy wanted $40 for shipping. That's very reasonable since it weighs about 25 lbs. The auction got a lot of hits, but I don't think most people knew what it was. I was the high bidder: $7. It's sitting out in my shop. It was made in 1963, half a century ago. It works just as beautifully I remembered from long ago.
So what do you have sitting around the house that's American-made, from a day when we manufactured everything, and we did it better than anybody?
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