American Made Toys

There are plenty of American made toys for both girls and boys available in stores and Online.

The Slinky is made in the U.S.A.

If you have children, you know that just about every toy seems to have a "Made in China" stamp on the bottom. It's unfortunate but true that it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find American made toys, but they can be found. Here are a few toy companies both big and small that proudly carry the "Made in America" seal:

• Little Tikes
• K'Nex
• Slinky
• Vermont Teddy Bear
• Willow Toys
• Marble King
• Binney and Smith Makers of Silly Putty
• American Plastic Toys
• Dolls by Jeri
• Duncan]
• Fleer

Here is a short list of popular toys and games made in the United States:

• Battleship
• Candyland
• Chutes and Ladders
• Clue
• Louisville Slugger
• Monopoly
• Operation
• Yahtzee
• Radio Flyer Wagon's
• Scrabble
• Sorry
• Trivial Pursuit

With the slew of toy recalls in the news lately and in an effort to support the American economy, many stores are creating a section of the store dedicated to toys made in the United States. FAO Schwartz, Target stores and Toys R Us are a few of the major retail chains that are pioneering the buy American toys crusade. These "American Made" sections offer a wide variety of toys from toy manufacturers big and small.

Everybody knows why manufacturing companies are moving outside the country's borders--cheaper labor. Cheaper labor is a double-edged-sword of sorts because when toy companies move their manufacturing plants overseas, they obviously take the jobs with them, leaving hundreds and sometimes thousands of employees out of work. On the other side, by moving these plants to other countries with cheaper labor, it allows the toy manufacturers to keep the prices of their products relatively low. The only recourse consumers have as a way to object to these companies leaving is to buy toys made in America only. By purchasing toys made only in the United States, consumers help the local economies in which the manufacturing plants are located, as well as the national economy.

One of the primary reasons (aside from keeping jobs in the United States) to buy American made toys is the strict laws that surround labor and consumer products. By purchasing these toys, you can be assured that they were not manufactured in sweat shops or by children or adults getting paid pennies a day. Foreign countries have much more relaxed laws regarding labor. It is, unfortunately, not uncommon to hear of a sweatshop in China, owned by a multi-national corporation like Nike, being closed down. These instances are relatively unheard of in the U.S. due to very stringent labor laws.

So, although it may not seem like you are doing much good by purchasing toys made in the United States for your children, you are. By refusing to purchase toys made in foreign countries with corrupt governments and few, if any labor laws, you are helping to keep these sweat shops closed as well as helping to prevent new ones from cropping up.

Purchasing toys made in America really has no downside. Yes, you will probably have to search a little longer, but with large companies like FAO Scwartz, Target and Toys R Us, offering entire sections of their stores dedicated to American made products, other toy companies will be sure to follow suit. Once that happens, the choice between buying American made or foreign made toys is completely left to the consumer.

As a final note, some toy companies claim to be made in American, but this is sometimes only partly true. Certain companies, like Crayola, make the majority of their products in the states, but some parts and/or the packaging for those products are made elsewhere. This practice almost defeats the purpose of buying American, but not completely. So, the next time you are out shopping for your favorite children's toys, take a little extra time to check where the toy was made before you plunk down your cash or swipe your credit card.

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