Summer. Brought to you by metal
stampers.
Ahhhh. June 21st through September 20th; the three months
that make up summer here in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a time when things
heat up and a brand new season of leisurely outdoor activities presents itself.
It’s also a time, though, when things tend to slow down a
bit in the metal stamping industry.
And that’s interesting because, well,
summer wouldn’t be summer without metal stampers.
Imagine the following scenario:
It’s a late warm August afternoon and your family has just
arrived at an RV site to begin your summer vacation. The kids are released from
the RV, tearing out into the woods like wild animals. You walk around to the
back of the RV to check on your aluminum fishing boat, knowing full well it
made the journey just fine. Like it always does.
Your kids are ready to hop in the boat and get right out onto
the lake to do some fishing. “Tomorrow,” you respond, then ask them to help
get things set up for dinner. They are cooperative at first, placing silverware
on the table in the RV and setting up your favorite kettle style charcoal grill
they make fun of you for continuing to use. But they are soon distracted again.
It isn’t long before a group of kids come rolling along in
a golf cart and lure your kids away to go play the washer toss game. It’s okay
though because it’s only the next site over and if you’re being really honest,
their particular brand of “help” has ceased being terribly helpful. Plus, you
need some down time to discuss things with the spouse and your brother Larry.
(Yep. Seems “Uncle Larry” comes on every trip.)
Once evening rolls in, you’ve all finished eating and are
sitting around the big fire your brother built. The kids are sleepy after their
long journey; which was facilitated by two hours of exhaustive play in the
above ground pool at home before you left. (While you mowed the lawn.) And now
you’re ready to settle in and start your vacation. You’ve got a tentative plan
in place. Four or five days out in the woods and on the lake to get back to
nature, finished off by two days at Cedar Point, like you promised the kids.
And Uncle Larry.
Sounds pretty nice, right?
But how would this same scenario look
without the metal stamping industry?
Here’s how it would go down.
• First
of all, the kids would have to exhaust themselves in a boggy pond because
without the metal structural frame or connectors, there could be no above
ground pool.
• And
forget about the silverware at dinner, you’ll have to use plastic. Yeah, you
could get by without the barbecue tools, but what about the barbecue? Without
metal stamping, there’s no barbecue. Kettle or otherwise. No burgers and franks
tonight. Unless you like them raw.
• So
how about some fish then? You better start gathering sticks to make spears
because no matter how killer your fishing poles are, without the reels made by
metal stampers, they’ll be more nothing more than glorified pool cues.
• Furthermore,
you’re going to have to spear those bottom-feeders in the boggy pond because
the lake is no longer a possibility. That’s right. The aluminum boat, its
seats, parts of its motor, the trailer it rode on and the trailer hitch to
which the trailer was connected are all made possible by the metal stamping
industry. So are the filleting knives, so even if you catch a fish, good luck
cleaning it.
• Actually,
while you’re gathering sticks, you might as well just plan to gather a whole
bunch more. Then get some tarps or canvas and get ready to call your backyard
the campsite because here’s the kicker. Without metal stamping, there’d be no
RV. There’d also be no golf carts, no riding lawn mowers and - worst of all -
no washer toss game.
• Oh,
and Cedar Point fails to exist.
Without the metal stamping industry, it’ll be just you and
your family, sitting on your far-too-long lawn, staring into Uncle Larry’s fire
near that mosquito ridden bog, waiting until the sun goes down so you can crawl
into your canvas tents, hungry and with nothing to look forward to.
Okay. It might not be that grim. But summer would
definitely be a whole lot different without all of the products made by the machines of the metal stamping industry.
Especially those made right here in the good ole U.S. of A.
So remember that sticking with “Made
in the U.S.A.” keeps American manufacturing alive and well during the slower
summer months.
And it keeps you cruising in your RV, fishing in your
aluminum fishing boat and, most importantly, a superstar at the washer toss
game.
Priorities.