Making it in America : the almost impossible quest to manufacture in the U.S.A. (and how it got that way) / Rachel Slade.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Slade, Rachel, author.

Contributor:

Benjamin Franklin Library Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Textile industry--United States--History.

Textile industry.

Clothing trade--United States--History.

Clothing trade.

Free trade--History.

Free trade.

Labor unions--United States--History.

Labor unions.

United States.

Genre:

History

Informational works.

Physical Description:

xiii, 334 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Other Title:

Almost impossible quest to manufacture in the U.S.A. and how it got that way

Place of Publication:

New York : Pantheon Books, [2024]

Summary:

"Meet Ben and Whitney Waxman, two tireless idealists attempting to do the impossible: produce an American-made, union-made, all American-sourced sweatshirt-an American hoodie. Ben spent a decade organizing workers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin, fighting for Americans at a time when national support for unions had sunk to an all-time low. Struggling with depression and a drug dependency, Ben lands back in his hometown of Portland, Maine, desperate to prove that ethical manufacturing is possible. There, he meets Whitney, a bartender wrestling with her own complicated past. In each other they see a better future, a version of the American dream they can build together. Making It in America is a deeply personal account of one couple's quest to change the world. As they navigate private struggles, international trade wars, and a global pandemic, their story carries us across the nation and across time, from the cotton fields of Mississippi to New York City's hollowed-out garment district to a family-owned zipper company in Los Angeles to the enormous knit-and-dye factories in North Carolina. Throughout, we grapple with what "Made in the USA" really means to Americans in the twenty-first century." -- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Preamble: The traffic jam that never ends

Introduction: The high cost of cheap stuff

Maine roots

The kid is okay

Greed is a real thing

Witness

She's outta your league

Reboot

Let's make something

Game on

New Americans

a brief history of the hoodie

Just pull it and it's done

54 operations

Can you make 5000?

The fabric king of 38th Street

Follow the river

It takes Chutzpah

Pandemic panic along Route 66

We'll come back

We gotta shut up and listen

An omen

Cornering the cotton market

Labor pains

Your job is to produce

The never-ending quest for smart money

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Illustrated lining-papers.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 311-317) and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Beardwood Fund bookplate.

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Benjamin Franklin Library Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Slade, Rachel. American hoodie

ISBN:

9780593316887

0593316886

OCLC:

1368091511