Made In America

Below is a collection of current and past American Profile articles. Don't forget you can also submit your own story and read others submitted by the American Profile community.

Knitting Novelty Socks

by Diana Lambdin Meyer

As a fifth-grade teacher in Helmsburg, Ind., Sharon Rivenbark was determined to create ways to help her students learn, feel good about themselves and become successful.

first appeared: 4/27/2008

Crafting Classic Watercraft

by Virginia Wright

Workers pour buckets of red thermoplastic powder into kayak-shaped molds, preparing them for the 20-foot-long cylindrical oven at Old Town Canoe Co. in Old Town, Maine (pop. 8,130).

first appeared: 3/16/2008

Animating Time, Inspiring Smiles

by Marti Attoun

When the Kit-Cat Klock debuted in 1932, its wide grin, rolling eyes and wagging tail brought a moment of joy to Depression-weary Americans.

first appeared: 3/9/2008

Preserving Pinball

by Marti Attoun

Lonnie Ropp pulls back the spring-loaded plunger on a pinball machine parked beside his desk at Stern Pinball in Melrose Park, Ill.

first appeared: 3/2/2008

Customizing Billiard Tables

by Margaret Schroeder

Today, the A.E. Schmidt Billiard Co. is the oldest family-owned billiard table manufacturer in the nation.

first appeared: 2/24/2008

Making MoonPies

by Nancy Henderson

Inside Chattanooga (Tenn.) Bakery, a legendary snack comes to life as thin circles of dough enter an oversized oven and leave three and a half minutes later as cookies.

first appeared: 1/13/2008

Ringing for Generations

by Lori B. Murray

The thunderous sound of ringing bells echoes through the Verdin Co.'s 130,000-square-foot factory in Cincinnati, Ohio.

first appeared: 12/9/2007

Juicing Apples for Generations

by Marti Attoun

Clyde's is the oldest producer of hard cider in the United States and operates the nation's last steam-powered cider mill.

first appeared: 9/16/2007

Fashioning Seed into Bird Feed

by Cynthia Elyce Rubin

From a perch in bushes surrounding her farmhouse, Ann Hoffert watches a flock of warblers as they fly across the open prairie against a clear, blue sky.

first appeared: 9/9/2007

Perfecting Pipe Organs

by Vivian Wagner

Stephen Leslie, 55, drills a small hole in the end of a slender metal pipe at Schantz Organ Co. in Orrville, Ohio (pop. 8,485).

first appeared: 9/9/2007

The Write Stuff

by Nancy Henderson

The sweet aroma of cedar fills the Sanford pencil factory in Lewisburg, Tenn., as a machine etches tiny grooves in pamphlet-size cedar slats.

first appeared: 8/12/2007

Shaping Legendary Surfboards

by Elisabeth Deffner

Ankle deep in foam planed from the surface of a 7-foot plank at the Becker Surf factory in Hermosa Beach, Calif. , Jose Barahona, 41, pulls a dust mask from his face

first appeared: 7/1/2007

Producing Locks Since Lincoln

by Vivian Wagner

Using a machine that slices through metal, workers cut long brass bars into lock-shaped pieces at the Wilson Bohannan Padlock Co. factory in Marion, Ohio (pop. 36,494)

first appeared: 4/8/2007

Making Easter Sweeter

by Marti Attoun

At 10, Devon Flesor felt like a big shot when her parents let her skip school and make chocolate Easter bunnies at Flesor’s Candy Kitchen in Tuscola, Ill. (pop. 4,448).

first appeared: 4/1/2007

Hats off to Stormy Kromer

by Steve Lange

In 2001, Bob Jacquart was drinking his morning coffee at a restaurant in Ironwood, Mich. (pop. 6,293), when he heard that the Kromer Cap Co., after more than a century, had stopped producing its classic winter hat.

first appeared: 2/18/2007

A Sweet Legacy

by Diana Lambdin Meyer

Tom Ward respectfully disagrees with Forrest Gump’s mother, who offered up the famous advice: “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.”

first appeared: 2/4/2007

Hooking with Heart

by Barbara Elmore

Carrying on a handiwork tradition that almost died out with her grandmothers, Quicksall had to learn the skill from books because she couldn’t find anyone around to show her how to turn bags of rags into beautiful, handmade floor coverings.

first appeared: 1/7/2007

Auto Dreams

by Richard McVey

The auctioneer barks out escalating bids, pointing at the rare prize—a one-of-a-kind 1970 Plymouth ’Cuda convertible—parked center stage with television cameras focused on its radiant orange, polished-to-perfection paint job.

first appeared: 1/7/2007

Making Baking a Jiffy

by Marti Attoun

When Mabel White Holmes saw the hard-as-rock biscuits that a single father had baked for his sons in 1928, she set about finding a fix.

first appeared: 12/24/2006

Poinsettia Ranch

by Marta W. Aldrich

Paul Ecke III drives his pickup truck north on Interstate 5 in southern California, recalling the sea of poinsettias that once covered thousands of sun-splashed acres farmed by his family when he was growing up in San Diego County in the 1960s.

first appeared: 12/17/2006

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