Craftsmen Provide Quality and Local Trade

Reader Contribution by Linda Holliday

This winter, I broke a snow shovel, feather duster, leaf rake and stainless steel measuring cup. Not since childhood have I been violent with my tools. In fact, I treat them with the utmost respect. So, I had to ask, what is going on here?

Admittedly, we had some bizarre snowfall this year, sort of a snow cone/slushy mixture. However, the hard plastic shovel was not inexpensive or very old. In my opinion, it should not have cracked and split so easily. I never broke a shovel as a Wisconsin youngster, even when using them as sleds in the cow pasture, sometimes standing on them like downhill surfboards barreling over frozen cow patties and rocks.

The plastic feather duster handle broke away about an inch at a time. All I have left now is the cluster of feathers. The wooden rake handle, just three years old, snapped in half during ordinary use. And, the spot weld gave way on the measuring cup handle while scooping oatmeal. These are just a few examples of the poor quality we now accept as normal.

A popular commercial slogan when I was growing up in the 1960s was Zenith’s “quality goes in before the name goes on.” Incidentally, we had only one TV all the years of my childhood, a tubeless black-and-white Zenith.

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