View Full Version : Truly American Products
Roguish Lawyer
05-14-2005, 15:35
Remember the old commercial about baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet? There are products out there that are so American that buying them religiously verges on the patriotic. If you know what I'm talking about, name some products like this.
I'll start:
Jack Daniel's
:lifter
The Reaper
05-14-2005, 15:53
Smithfield Ham.
Craftsman hand tools.
TR
Harley-Davidson...Justin Workboots...Wrangler Jeans (13WMZ, Cowboy Cut)...
Team Sergeant
05-14-2005, 17:08
Browning
Colt
Remington
Smith & Wesson
Winchester
Ambush Master
05-14-2005, 17:19
Sure-Fire !!!
Bill Harsey Knives
Chris Reeve Knives
Roguish Lawyer
05-14-2005, 17:31
Browning
Colt
Remington
Smith & Wesson
Winchester
I was wondering how long that would take. LOL
Airbornelawyer
05-14-2005, 17:33
Browning
Colt
Remington
Smith & Wesson
WinchesterBrowning is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Herstal Group, a Belgian holding company for the operations of Browning, FN Herstal (Fabrique Nationale de Herstal, S.A.) and U.S. Repeating Arms Company, Inc.
U.S. Repeating Arms Company is another famous American brand - Winchester - now foreign-owned.
You could add Connecticut-based Sturm, Ruger & Company to the list of all-American gunsmiths, but Ruger is publicly traded. Its largest shareholder is Allianz Global Investors Of America L.P., the investment group subsidiary of Allianz AG, Germany's largest insurance company. The second-largest shareholder, Royce & Associates, is American, but #3 is Barclays Bank Plc, a British bank.
Browning
Colt
Remington
Smith & Wesson
Winchester
Freedom Arms...
Airbornelawyer
05-14-2005, 17:36
Harley-DavidsonBarclays Bank plc is also the largest shareholder of Harley-Davidson Inc.
Barclays Bank plc is also the largest shareholder of Harley-Davidson Inc.
well, ain't you busy pissing on everyone's parade... :D
Roguish Lawyer
05-14-2005, 17:39
Yeah folks, you'd better review the 10-K before posting in this thread or AL might get your ass. LMAO
Barclays Bank plc is also the largest shareholder of Harley-Davidson Inc.
a whopping 3.43%...
Airbornelawyer
05-14-2005, 17:44
Danner Boots
(Before you ask, I checked. Danner is owned by LaCrosse Footwear, Inc., which is a public company but whose major shareholders are mainly American)
Airbornelawyer
05-14-2005, 17:49
a whopping 3.43%...For a widely-held public company, that is a significant stake.
Harley's second-largest shareholder, at 3.21%, is Paris-based Axa, France's largest insurance company.
Roguish Lawyer
05-14-2005, 17:50
For a widely-held public company, that is a significant stake.
Harley's second-largest shareholder, at 3.21%, is Paris-based Axa, France's largest insurance company.
Do foreigners control the company? If not, you are a no go at this station . . .
ghuinness
05-14-2005, 18:25
Stetson
Ford Trucks ( I don't care about % ownership....nothing beats a Ford Truck).
Boots from Wyoming (http://www.stonesboots.com/index.htm)
New England furniture
John Deere
Airbornelawyer
05-14-2005, 18:30
Do foreigners control the company? If not, you are a no go at this station . . .What is "control"?
Generally, under the securities laws,The term control (including the terms controlling, controlled by and under common control with) means the possession, direct or indirect, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a person, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract, or otherwise.(Rule 405 under the Securities Act of 1933, Rule 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 1-02, Regulation S-X)
Under Section 2(a)(9) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, control is "the power to exercise a controlling influence over the management or policies of a company."
While in certain circumstances (i.e., being a 5% or 10% shareholder in certain situations), control is presumed, it is still a subjective determination. For a sufficiently widely-held company, though, no shareholder might be considered influential enough to be a control person. Perhaps Harley so qualifies.
In any event, this is immaterial. The issue is not whether a company is foreign-controlled. It is, as stated, whether they are "so American that buying them religiously verges on the patriotic."
And the point is, with the diverse holdings of so many modern corporations, it is hard to categorize many as specifically "American" as a branding exercise.
And of course, branding is more about products than companies. Which is more "American" - a Ford made in Mexico or Canada or a BMW made in South Carolina? The Federal Trade Commission has extensive rules on the circumstances whereby a company can call its products "made in the USA", which rules demonstrate how clear cut the issue no longer is in many respects, nostalgia for baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet notwithstanding (I actually prefer hamburgers and cherry pie, BTW).
Airbornelawyer
05-14-2005, 19:09
Oh, as for Jack Daniel's:
Old No. 7 is owned by Brown-Forman Corporation, based in Louisville, Kentucky. Brown-Forman is publicly-traded and has two classes of common stock. National City Corporation owns 46.75% of the company's Class A common stock and 27.95% of its Class B common (but according to Brown-Forman's Restated Certificate of Incorporation, the Class B common shares are non-voting). National City Corporation's stake in the Class A is effectively a controlling stake (the next-largest shareholder holds 2.37% of the Class A).
National City is a Cleveland-based financial holding company and one of the dominant banks in the Midwest. Like many financial holding companies, it is fairly widely held, mainly by other companies in the financial and related services industries. Its largest shareholders are Axa, the French insurance giant; itself; and Barclays Bank plc, the British bank. Other shareholders include large bankers State Street Corporation and Deutsche Bank AG and insurer Cincinnati Insurance Company.
So when it comes to profits, the money percolates upward and outward throughout the world.
But a better test of American products is where the value goes, especially where they are made. The bulk of Brown-Forman's revenues go into Tennessee and Kentucky, paying the salaries of the distillery employees and the costs of materials, and whatever else.
So Jack Daniels probably qualifies as a true-blue American product that it is your patriotic duty to consume in great quantities, even if indirectly you are putting money in the pockets of some French, British and German investors.
But the same can be said for other products, like those South Carolina BMWs, who don't have the branding of a "true-blue American product". Conversely, the same might not be said of a famous American brand no longer made in America.
AL,
As long as we're nitpicking, your info is a bit off. For example, Axa is not one of the top three holders of Harley-Davidson stock. Those are Barclay's (3.52%, not 3.43%), State Street (3.46%) and Capital Research & Management (3.09%). Also, Allianz is not one of the top three holders of Sturm, Ruger. Those are William B. Ruger (18.85%), Royce & Associates (11.38%) and Barclay's (4.22%).
Better check those 13D, 13F and 13G filings again. ;)
BTW, my vote is for Budweiser.
The Reaper
05-14-2005, 20:59
BTW, my vote is for Budweiser.
Hate the beer, love the company. :D
AB has class.
TR
NousDefionsDoc
05-14-2005, 21:43
Amway
Chevy can kiss my arse, their build quality is shithouse.
Manstein
05-14-2005, 21:49
Hershey's Chocolate
The town is decent, has a nice little amusement park.
Jack Moroney (RIP)
05-15-2005, 05:25
While the resouces and raw material to develop this product may come from virtually anywhere on the globe, and while you don't buy but rather buy into this product my submission of a truly American product is the US Army Special Forces Soldier.
Jack Moroney-product of Norway, Germany and Scotland with a whole lot of tweaking by a lot of great NCOs paid for by the US taxpayer and the blood of many that have gone before me.
Roguish Lawyer
05-15-2005, 14:54
Coca-Cola.
Marlboro.
Copenhagen. And Skoal too. :p
Coca-Cola.
Nah. They've got plants all over the place. They're Multi now.
The Reaper
05-15-2005, 20:51
Nah. They've got plants all over the place. They're Multi now.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, May 8, 1886.
Locally bottled, U.S. owned and syrup supplier to the universe.
TR
Fair enough.
That's twice today, I think I might stop posting for the day :D
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, May 8, 1886.
where were they getting the Coca, back in the day? :confused:
The Reaper
05-16-2005, 06:31
where were they getting the Coca, back in the day? :confused:
Leaves off the coca plant, same as today.
TR
Achilles
05-16-2005, 06:44
Keystone Light (that free beer in the community ice chest 9.99 / 24)
Shiner Bock (the beer in your fridge (6 / 6.99)
Barbeque on the grill (5$ a head)
Jim Beam (25$) in a large plastic flask (3.99) stuck in your Red Wing Boots (150$)
Tailgating before the big game: priceless
:D
Keystone Light (that free beer in the community ice chest 9.99 / 24)
COORS.....ahhhhhh......"afterbirth".
aricbcool
05-16-2005, 20:27
Wal Mart.
er... wait. Nevermind. ;)
--Aric
Leaves off the coca plant, same as today.
okay, i had that coming, i guess...
Bill Harsey
05-16-2005, 22:11
While the resouces and raw material to develop this product may come from virtually anywhere on the globe, and while you don't buy but rather buy into this product my submission of a truly American product is the US Army Special Forces Soldier.
Jack Moroney-product of Norway, Germany and Scotland with a whole lot of tweaking by a lot of great NCOs paid for by the US taxpayer and the blood of many that have gone before me.
Can't top that one Col. Moroney. Thankyou.
Thanks AM, all our materials are made in USA too.
I know the raw alloys in our steels come from other places but they warm it all up and make the steel in Syracuse New York.