Best Gifts Made In America for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's

This Hub presents a number of gift suggestion from group of high quality American Made items form companies that produce and handle American Made products. A few of these businesses handle some high-quality imports as well. Look for a number of free coloring pages for kids at the end of this Hub, Enjoy your holidays and gift giving this Autumn and Winter!

It's fun to shop for imported goods as special presents at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's, but it's also a good idea to buy American Made goods to support our own labor force and business climate. By this I mean small businesses in America and each US State. These include artisan's shops, local high-quality crafters, Native American/First Nations, Amish, Appalachian, Shaker, and other regional and American-ethic handcrafted goods. For instance, Amish quilts and furniture are study, attractive, long-lasting and retain their value. They become heirlooms with sentimental and cash value.

In addition to the Amish craft culture, the Applachian and Great Smokies culture is admirable as well. This is not the world of Lil' Abner and moonshine stills in filmdom or Tobacco Road, but of crafting communities that produce fine arts, quilts, furniture (often without using nails), primitive artistry, and a variety of culinary gifts. The latter includes jams, jellies, preserves, chutneys, pickles of just about any fruit and vegetable, and varied relishes.

A mountain dulcimer is an enchanting gift - I purchased a CD of original dulcimer music at a Renaissance Festival and sat in the drizzle to hear the artist play for half an hour. I never noticed the rain. A dulcimer itself is an uplifting gift and many community centers often dulcimer lessons. In fact, some recreation or art centers offer a moderately priced course in which one can build and learn to play a dulcimer - what a great gift that would be for someone that could use a bit of music in life. Native Americans in Appalachian and other American regions create their own style of wooden flute, available in speciality shops and online. CDs of this music are also available as much-appreciated gift items. In the American Southwest and California, Native American and Tex-Mex pottery is offered. In the Pacific Northwest, First Nations carving and paintings are exquisite. Texas also offers jarred chili seasonings that I have seen given at Christmas and I can testify that they are delicious.

All over America, we have gift items made in this nation. Small business owners are everywhere and we may pass them by in a frenetic life, but we can look for them. We can find furniture, paintings, wines, and handcrafted items of all sorts. Within the different cultures of our communities, we can find treasures with which to treat our friends and family members.

The link immediitely below lists over 50 small businesses that produce American made items, and the Comments thread includes new businesses as they add themselves.

One of the finest Polynesian restaurants in the US and a National Historic Landmark in Ohio was nevertheless demolished. However, it's foods are still available from the manufacturer online and Tiki and Kahiki memorabilia are still available.

The frozen foods are so good and in such high demand, that the owners are too busy to open a new restaurant! They are created right in Gahanna, Ohio; a suburb of Columbus.

...and now I know why. Stumbling upon the fact that friends have been outstanding Elvis Tribute Artists in the past led me to begin listening to The King's music and learning about Elvis Fests in Michigan and the American South. A purely uncountable number of types of Elvis merchandise is sold in the widest price range that can be offered. Every day I hear of more Elvis fans and additional memorabilia.

While not obsessed with the phenomenon, I do have a few Elvis items myself. One is Elvis's Ultimate Gospel album on CD, featuring a cover of the Blind Boys of Alabama's number called Run On. Elvis recorded this number with his backup group of many famous artists and if I listen to it once, I'm hooked in for 10 repetitions. Its an engaging energetic number that is worth the price of the album alone. I also have the recording of the 1968 Comeback Show. Another item of mine is a Doug Church Elvis Tribute performance album that includes La Vida Loca and covers of other popular songs first performed after Elvis's death in 1977. This album startles listeners.

You might want to present your Elvis fan - man, woman, child, or pet - with any of the gifts in the following links. Tickets to hear Doug Church or to attend the Ypsilanti Elvis Fest would be fun for fans as well. Reported to me by another tribute artist, Doug Church's voice print when performing as Elvis matched The King's fully, except for one spike during the recording.