May the Fourth of July be with you in deed

The woman clearly was enamored with our Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful Hat, trying one on at Harrisburg Artsfest over Memorial Day weekend.

But her male partner, already moving on to the next vendor, dismissed her interest without really noticing our product.

“I can’t tell you the last time I paid for a hat,” he said. The woman put the hat back and walked away.

I don’t recall whether the man was wearing a hat, and I have no idea what his hat collection looks like. But take it from this hat snob: the kind you get as a giveaway usually look the part, and they’re likely not Made in the USA.

Of course, consumers have every right not to buy from us or ever purchase American-made products. But there’s a price to be paid when cost is the primary determinant of a purchase or when country of origin isn’t considered.

‘What we obtain too cheap’

“These are the times that try men’s souls,” Founding Father Thomas Paine famously wrote during the American Revolution. He noted that British tyranny wouldn’t be easily conquered, but “that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.”

I’m not equating the heroic battle for American independence with selling ball caps, but Paine’s sentiment applies.

It crystalizes the net effect of Americans’ pursuit of ever-lower prices. Everyone likes a good deal, but it seems that we’ve become a nation of accumulators without enough regard for the real cost of things.

Everyone likes a good deal, but there’s a price to be paid when we expect ball caps to be giveaways (or we don’t look at country-of-origin labels).

Of necessity, someone giving away hats will look for as inexpensive an option as possible. Usually that means an import, often of lower quality and from a less-developed country where wages and working conditions are not held to the standards of the United States.

That’s a tough environment in which to compete, which helps explain why only a small number of American hat makers remain.

This is true across apparel and many other consumer industries. And when price (unless, of course, one holds out for free) is the primary or even sole consideration, American manufacturers, the communities where they operate and the people who live there often suffer.

My advice on this Fourth of July, when we celebrate America’s birthday: Buy a hat, but not just any hat.

Buy one Made in the USA. It’s a great gift for the country you love and good for your American soul.