If Sellers Noted "American-Made"...

 Look, I'm trying really hard to buy American-made stuff these days. Maybe I should be totally honest and say that I'm actually trying hard not to buy China-made stuff. But, as I've said more than once, that's tricky.

If sellers of non-China-made products wanted to rack up more sales, they'd be smart to make sure that the country of origin is prominently marked. I know for sure that if Amazon sellers displayed the country of origin more boldly, they'd get more sales.

Right now, when I'm browsing for something (the latest thing was a bowl scraper), I have to play detective to find out where the item is made. Often, I have to contact the seller or put in a question for other shoppers to tell me. 

A few weeks ago, after I got my Christmas present (another stand mixer, y'all, to replace the one that I killed), I wanted to get an Anchor Hocking measuring cup. My mother always used A.H. cups and cookware (along with Corningware and another brand I can't remember right now). I remember that the measuring cups were really accurate and sturdy. You could throw that glass across the room and it wouldn't break. (I won't tell you how I know that!)

Let's take a moment to talk about prices, shall we?

I went to Amazon (of course) but the prices were outrageous! One 4-cup measuring cup was priced anywhere from $18 to $35. I'm not kidding. Well, that's a big old Not For Me. A couple of days after I saw those prices, I was ordering groceries from Walmart and happened to see the very same Anchor Hocking cup - for $5.17. I almost broke a finger putting in the order. To make it better, for $3.90, there was a 2-cup size. Yep. Got it.

My insurance covers certain OTC items ordered through Walmart. So the other day, I was getting some vitamins and... happened (yes, happened) to see an Anchor Hocking 5-ounce measuring cup. For under $2.50,

Just because I was curious, I tabbed over to Amazon to price the same cup. The prices were all over the place. Some were as low as 9 dollars (the same as the non-sale price at Walmart) and a couple of them were as high as $25. A couple of the cheaper ones were not Prime so the shipping was crazy high.I snagged the one from Walmart.

Okay. Back to the country of origin thing...

Now, here is my gripe about the beloved Anchor Hocking brand...

When I did a quick "where is it made" search, this kind of thing came up more than once:

Anchor Glass Container has manufacturing facilities in China; Tampa, Florida; Jacksonville, Florida; Warner Robins, Georgia; Lawrenceburg, Indiana; Henryetta, Oklahoma; Shakopee, Minnesota; and Elmira, New York.

Huh?

I checked the Anchor Hocking  website and saw this:

LET’S SUPPORT AMERICAN JOBS

CRAFTED IN THE USA SINCE 1905

We’ve been making Anchor Hocking glassware right here in the USA for more than a century. For all that time, our products have remained a staple in kitchens around the world by staying on the edge of craftsmanship and in the center of American-made quality. 

Supporting American jobs is a source of great pride for us, and it’s important to our customers too. They appreciate our dedication to the workforce here at home. And abroad, “made in the USA” means something else – quality.

Well, that... reassuring???

Anyway, I love the Anchor Hocking brand for the same reason I love Lodge and the original-made-in- New York Corningware, and hot grits with butter: my mama did. (By the way, I think modern Corningware items are made in France.)

So I've got my set of Anchor Hocking cups and I've got the beautiful uh, made-in-China Cuisinart mixer the kids got me for Christmas so I'm good. (I'm still mad that I thought Cuisinart was made in the USA and that they put the c/o in the smallest font possible on the bottom of the box!)

Apparently, I can't afford any more measuring cups, no matter where they are made so it's a good thing my set is now complete... Hopefully, my glass cups will last as long as Mama's did. Hers never did break but I have no idea who I gave them to when we were moving house. I do still have a couple of the good old glass bread pans from her ❤.

Anyway. I wish there was a way that I could get word to a lot of sellers. If they could help the customer out by letting us know that their items are NOT made in China, that would be a big help to us and a boost for them.

In the meantime, I literally have "Is this made in China?" pinned to my PC clipboard. That way I can just plug it into the question box for Amazon products. Yeah. It's like that.

Peace

--Free