Why we’re American made.
I grew up in the Midwest, near Chicago. When I moved down South about five years ago, I began seeing the remnants of what used to be a thriving industry of clothing & textile manufacturing. It’s truly sad to see how this shift to overseas manufacturing has dramatically effected the economy of our country of the years.
Americans, historically speaking, have always been thing makers. We’ve always been good at making quality products and delivering them to the global market. It’s effect on the world has been unmatched. It turned the tide in WWII and helped lead to the defeat of Nazi Germany; it then helped rebuild Europe and Japan; it enabled the United States to outlast the Soviet Union in the Cold War. At the same time, it continued to meet all the material needs of the American people.
Over the past century, many American icons were born. Companies like General Motors, Ford, Boeing, Maytag and Levi’s became household names. American manufacturing became synonymous with quality and ingenuity. On the back of this industrial output rose America’s middle class. High-paying manufacturing jobs, in turn, helped develop a robust and growing economy that depended little on foreign nations for manufactured goods and armaments.
As time passed, we found it was incredibly more cost effective to pay workers overseas to do the same job. The lower the manufacturing cost, the more money to pocket. This trend continued in a nationwide decline in American manufacturing. In 1965, manufacturing accounted for 53 percent of the economy. By 1988 it only accounted for 39 percent, and in 2004, it accounted for just 9 percent. Call it what you want. Greed. Ignorance of the repercussions? Maybe a little of both.
Fast forward to present day where the clothes we buy are cheaper than ever. Low cost and low quality. Two years ago I walked into an Old Navy (not something I recommend doing) and bought a chambray button up shirt for $8 dollars (originally around $25). I was traveling and needed a change of clothes. Not five minutes after I slapped the shirt on, two buttons just fell of the front of the shirt. Could I honestly complain when I paid $8? I didn’t bother to take it back.
I think general we’ve just become so used to buying garbage. We’ve accepted it. No one actually thinks about what that shirt they’re buying might look like in four years. We’ve become accustomed to just replacing clothing rather than buying something that will last. Throw it away and buy a new one, right? We, as Americans, have lost the understanding of value in the things we buy.
Am I suggesting that foreigners can’t make a quality product? Not at all. Is every garment made outside U.S. borders made in horrible life threatening work conditions by abused workers? No. However quality manufacturing can only occur where the standard for such is raised to what it should be and workers are paid right and fair wages for their labor.
Some would say that the nail is in the coffin but I beg to differ.
Over the past several years, we’ve seen a resurgence in domestic clothing manufacturing. Whether small up and coming brands like Hill-side and Raleigh Denim choosing to keep their garments made within our borders or heritage brands such as Levi’s, Filson and Carhartt releasing premium lines of U.S. made items.
When the idea of Lincoln Supply birthed back in 2009, I knew without exception everything we made would be made right here in the U.S. of A. By no means was this the easy route either. Just finding a company besides everyone’s favorite American Apparel that could knit, cut and sew our blanks was a task in itself. To this day I get emails from Dubai to Hong Kong offering to manufacture our shirts for a small fraction of what they cost now. The prices are shamefully low.
It’s not just the clothing itself, it’s a mentality we’ve adopted as a brand. There’s so many tools, chemicals and equipment that go into doing what we do. All of which we buy strictly American and as close to home as possible. Do I think we’re single handedly going to turn around an economy that’s in the toilet? No way. What are going to do is just continue to do our part to fix what’s been broken.
As long as we continue to sell products to our customers you can be sure they’re 100% American made.
Jeremy Paul Beasley, Owner - Lincoln Supply Co.
The Tree of Life
Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. Visually stunning and such a great story told.
