Smithsonian’s ‘Made in America’ mandate not easy to achieve
Virginia craftsman Byron Whitehurst designs the polystone busts of American presidents that line the shelves of a gift shop at the National Museum of American History. Priced at $20 each, the trinkets are a favorite among tourists, who buy about 1,200 a year.
But that was before a visiting senator picked up one of Whitehurst’s busts and noticed a small tag proclaiming “Made in China.” His angry reaction touched off a firestorm that has forced the Smithsonian to clear its shelves of many souvenirs and rethink how it stocks its popular gift shops.
Come July, Whitehurst’s lower-priced products — designed in Virginia but made in China — will no longer be sold at the third-floor gift shop near the history museum’s American Presidents exhibit. The Smithsonian Institution is converting the shop to sell only American-made products, an experiment that may mean higher prices for consumers but could pave the way for similar “Buy American” efforts at other Smithsonian shops.
The change is far from easy. Foreign manufacturers produce many of the most popular items at Smithsonian shops, including American flag pins and coffee mugs bearing an image of the Washington Monument. Illustrated maps of Washington are designed in Britain, postcards of the Smithsonian Castle are from South Korea, and the tag on a tie-dyed Grateful Dead T-shirt says “Made in Honduras.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/smithsonians-made-in-america-mandate-not-easy-to-achieve/2011/04/13/AFFA2RqD_story.html?hpid=z2