Sunday, December 18, 2011

Can I buy Christmas Lights Made in the U.S.A.? The answer may surprise you.


I have been searching for Christmas lights made in the U.S.A. After researching the subject, there's good information on this and other websites:

http://www.holidayleds.com/articles/Christmas

In a nutshell, here's what I found out: Christmas lights were invented in the U.S.A. in the 1920's, and were manufactured in the U.S.A. for decades, however, they can be made much cheaper in China. Over-all the American people want inexpensive items and because of choosing the cheaper lights more times than not, eventually the U.S.A. light manufacturing companies went out of business... ALL OF THEM! I would love to find out that this is not so, please let me know if you have other information. You can buy the plastic clips for hanging your lights that are made in the U.S.A. (Oh boy!).
Legislation like NAFTA opened U.S.A. doors to more imports, which has had a huge effect on U.S. business. U.S.A. government regulations, taxes, environmental laws etc. have taken their toll too.
As far as I can find, every U.S.A. manufacturer of Christmas lights have closed.
There seems to be some U.S.A. companies that buy Christmas light components from China and do some assembly, and label them "Made in U.S.A.".
Everyone can name a number of companies that have gone out business, or will.
I wonder what industry will be next?
On a LIGHTER note, the photo in this post is of the sign that John's Uncle Delbert (his dad's brother) made in the 1950's. John remembers it from his childhood. It's now a part of our holiday tradition, we bring it out of the shop every year and position it in a place of honor in our yard, just like Uncle Delbert used to do.

1 comment:

  1. Years after Uncle Delbert passed away,my Aunt Sigrid gave me the sign. She was getting rid of many of her belongings prior to moving into a rest home.

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