Demand Grows For Toys Made In The U.S.A.

Recalls Of Chinese-Made Toys Send Parents Shopping For Domestic, Safe Alternatives





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U.S.-Made Toys In High Demand

With time running short until Christmas, parents who've sworn off toys from China are facing a dilemma: where to find toys they can trust to be safe for their kids. Joie Chen reports. | Share/Embed


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(CBS) These workers aren't elves, and their workshop isn't that far north. But Vermont's "Maple Landmark" toymakers are working overtime in a holiday season unlike any they've seen before.

They're hammering parts in place late into the night. The staff's doubled, and they're still hiring. But, as CBS News correspondent Joie Chen reports, it may not be enough.

"Um, we don't, we hope we don't run out," says Michael Rainville. "But there clearly are limits to what we can produce."

He can pinpoint the moment when his orders suddenly hit overdrive: When parents learned foreign-made toys might be dangerous.

"It was like a dam broke or something. It was clear, it was obvious," Rainville says. "It's all about the recalls."

Shopkeepers, too, find themselves facing a question parents rarely posed before the recalls:

"They ask specifically now, 'are your toys made in this country?'" says Polly Brooks of Appalachian Spring.

Toymakers and retailers are playing up the 'made in the USA' label. But analysts warn it could be a tough holiday season.

One of every three Americans polled will buy fewer toys because of safety worries and 45 percent will avoid buying toys from Chinese factories, a Harris Interactive poll found.

Parents who go looking for made in the U.S.A discover it can be hard to find. Even some American classics are among the 85 percent of toys sold in this country made in China.

Chen asks Dennis Smyth, a father shopping in Washington, if he ever thinks about where toys come from?

"I think not as much," he says. "You know when you talk to like, older, or like my parents' generation, they say, 'who knows? Back then maybe everything had lead.'"

Not at Maple Landmark where everything from lumber to lacquer comes from Vermont suppliers. Which is what parents and grandparents want, says Rainville.

"Right now they just want safe toys," he says. "Suddenly this has become aware to them that there are some that aren't safe. People are frightened."

But after years of being passed over for cheap imports, U.S. toymakers doubt their reversal of fortune will last.

They fear that, like so many Christmas playthings, the fun and safety they have to offer will quickly be forgotten.





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