Fair Trade? How about American made!

Recently a customer entered the store asking if we had “fair trade cards.” Hmmm, I had to give that one some thought. I know about fair trade clothes, fair trade coffee, but cards, I hadn’t come across that one. After a moment of thought, I remarked that there really isn’t such a thing, rather, we make every attempt to buy American.

Buying American to us means many things. Among them, it can mean supporting a small business. It means supporting American jobs and moms and pops. It means being more ‘green,’ as it may be shipped from Chicago, Arkansas, or some other American city, rather than China. And it's often produced using cotton or recycled paper.

That’s not to say we don’t sell items made or printed in China. But we do seek out cards, stationery and gifts that are made in the USA. And we can proudly say that a huge amount of what we sell is American made!  Here are just a few (but there are way too many to credit them all!):

Crane & Co., an American standard, featuring custom wedding, stationery, birth announcements, boxed stationery and more.

The News LA, featuring recycled newspapers and magazines that are laminated, stitched and turned into totes and accessories.

BOBO gift wrapping scarves, Korean-inspired, American made.

Delphine Press, letterpressed stationery using a vintage press, on 100% cotton paper with soy ink

Green Paper Company, with imprintable invitations and notes made of 30-100% post-consumer recycled paper

Smock, featuring 100% post-consumer recycled wrapping paper and bamboo notecards printed with soy inks

Old Tom Foolery "Footnotes" birthday cards, letterpressed on 100% cotton paper

B Design notecards, with small, simple designs, letterpress printed on recycled paper

This is just a sampling of the many American-made products that we are so proud to sell, but there are so many more! Please stop in when you can and always keep in mind American artists and entrepreneurs when you make your purchases!