Made In America: Smithsonian Promises To Sell More American-Made Souvenirs
From the Capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial to the White House and the Washington Monument, Washington D.C. is home to iconic American landmarks. However, the souvenirs sold there so visitors can take a small piece of the nation’s capital home with them are anything but American.
It’s difficult to find a D.C. keepsake that’s not foreign-made. The busiest gift shops in the city are at the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, where everything from presidential busts to Elvis bobbleheads are made in China.
Today, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called the Smithsonian’s top officials into his office to demand they sell “Made in the USA” products. Previously the Smithsonian suggested that it was just too expensive, but any tourist can find domestically-produced gifts at a thriving shop called Appalachian Spring a few blocks away.
Proprietor David Brooks has been in business for 43 years. He sells only American-made products and his goods help employ some 400 crafts people.
Brooks says that if the Smithsonian museums sold work by American craftsmen, they could create work for thousands of people. People like Loren Lukens, a pottery maker in Seattle.
