During the Holiday Season, small town retailers are trying their best to find some kind of niche market where their products will stand out from all of the other products that are being sold in the box stores or in the national chain stores. As I walked the streets of Canandaigua, I noted one of the village’s newer stores – American Made – which features products that are made in America. I didn’t go in but many of the products featured in the window were flags or products which would appeal to American servicemen or women.
I market my greeting and note cards as being made in the Finger Lakes and I hope that they will appeal to others who appreciate and enjoy the beauty of the Finger Lakes. Certainly the definition of “niche” which is a situation or activity specifically suited to one’s interests or abilities fits my selling greeting cards as I like to wonder around and take photographs. American Made! Is it an appeal for products that are made here in the United States? Or is it perhaps a nostalgic appeal to a time when almost everything that we bought was American made? In my mind it’s an inner appeal to become more self sufficient like our society was a hundred years ago.
As I continue my walk, other scenes in Canandaigua reminded me that there are many things still uniquely “Made in American”. You take Patty’s Place along the railroad tracks. It’s a place where you can get a cup of coffee and breakfast, visit with your neighbors and friends, and catch up on the local news. Now that’s American Made!
Take a look at Ontario Country’s Courthouse and its gleaming stature of justice on top of the building. We are reminded daily of all of the fighting and strife going on in the world today but Americans have surely found a better way to settle differences. Now that’s American Made!
And at this time of the year, what could be more American made than Santa’s House on the Commons? It represents a collection place for children to bring their Christmas lists but it also represents in a secular way, the hopes and dreams that Americans have for themselves to make their future better too. Now that’s American Made!