Make Your Labor Day Getaway an American-made Adventure

If you’ve got an end-of-summer excursion planned, please appreciate the country that workers built for us by buying American while you travel!

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, but the holiday is about more than a three-day weekend. Celebrated this year on Sept. 7, it honors the contributions of American workers, a tradition rooted in the labor movement of the late 19th century and made a federal holiday in 1894.

Whether you’re planning a road trip, a hike through a national park, a beach day or time spent somewhere new entirely, here’s how to make it an American-made adventure – from the gear you pack to the places you visit and the souvenirs you bring home.

Pack American-made for the Road

We got you covered for this. Start with a cozy blanket from Vermont Flannel Company, hand cut and sewn in the U.S. Bring a deck of Bicycle playing cards from the United States Playing Card Company and let Audeze headphones, made at its California factory, settle any playlist disputes.

Pack Purell for rest stop visits. It’s made primarily in Akron, Ohio, though some is manufactured in France, so check the label. For snacks, Purely Elizabeth granola, RXBARs and Jackson’s Sweet Potato Chips are all solid American-made picks with a variety to satisfy many.

Don’t Forget Fido

If the dog has claimed the back seat, bring the Made in America fun along too. Atlas Pet Company makes leashes, harnesses and collars, West Paw makes toys, and Pooch Paper offers sustainable dog waste sheets, all part of AAM’s favorite American-made pet gear.

It’s a Perfect Time to Visit a National Park

Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion may come to mind first, but the National Park System includes 433 units (“parks”) across more than 85 million acres in all 50 states, D.C. and U.S. territories, from monuments and battlefields to historic sites.

Some are tied directly to America’s labor history. Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California, honors the workers who powered wartime production. Pullman National Historical Park in Chicago traces a story woven into American industry and the labor movement, and Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park marks the start of the Industrial Revolution. Add in Thomas Edison National Historical Park in New Jersey, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site in Arkansas, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and Waco Mammoth National Monument in Texas, and it’s clear a Labor Day adventure doesn’t require hiking boots!

Also worth noting: While all buildings inside our national parks are subject to procurement rules set out in federal Buy America laws, some of the more iconic structures – specifically, those built during NPS’ “parkitecture” period – incorporated locally sourced building materials (like whole logs) in order to emphasize the rustic design aesthetic. As such, these structures are very much American-made.

Bring Home an American-made Souvenir

Once you’re at the gift shop, keep the theme going. The National Park Service has backed American-made merchandise in its concession shops for years. New concession contracts include language encouraging these sales, and concessioner performance reviews take them into account. Federal rules even offer concessioners a financial incentive to sell authentic Native handicrafts and bid proposals for retail services typically ask how a company plans to promote these items.

Concessioners have leaned into this! Many now stock American-made merchandise, label it clearly, and set aside entire sections for “Made in America” products. The National Park Hospitality Association has gone a step further, forming a Retail Operations Task Force so concessioners can pool resources, including a shared database of American made vendors.

Finding purely domestic products isn’t always simple. Some items visitors want just aren’t manufactured in the U.S. anymore, so many concessioners buy from American-owned wholesalers who finish imported goods domestically through embroidery, silk screening, printing, engraving and similar work. So remember: Always check labels, even in NPS gift shop.

Still, a few parks go out of their way to promote Made in USA. At Mount Rushmore, visitor feedback led Xanterra Parks & Resorts to retrofit part of the gift shop into a dedicated “Made in USA” section, complete with signage pointing people toward it. At the Statue of Liberty, concessioner Evelyn Hill has carved out “Made in America” areas in both the small shop at the statue’s base and the larger shop on Liberty Island, stocked with American made T-shirts, figurines, flags and coffee mugs. Death Valley’s Nugget Gift Shop, run by Ortega Family Enterprises, carries Native American jewelry, weavings and pottery made by local tribal artisans alongside other U.S. made souvenirs. At Bryce Canyon, Forever Resorts buys directly from local and Native American artists for its handicrafts and highlights the connection with signage throughout the shop, and Delaware North Companies has gotten nearly all of the merchandise at Shenandoah’s Big Meadows Lodge gift shop down to American-made, including postcards for which it spent years tracking down a U.S. printer.

Before grabbing the first magnet you see, flip it over and check the label. Your souvenir spending can support American workers too.

Celebrate American Workers, Wherever You End Up

Labor Day is ultimately about the people whose work keeps the country running. Pack something made here, visit a factory, walk through a park, or visit a monument that tells a piece of America’s labor story, and check the label before you buy that souvenir.

Wherever the road takes you this weekend, it’s worth remembering the workers who helped make the journey possible.