Directories Books

Can you buy American? Which of these products, for each choice, is American and which is foreign?: Pond's Cold Cream or Vaseline? Bic Pens or Parker Pens? One-A-Day Vitamins or Flintstones Vitamins? Burger King or Roy Rogers Restaurants? Firestone Tires or Uniroyal Tires? Alka Seltzer or Tums? Aqua-Fresh Toothpaste of Pepsodent? Motel 6 or TraveLodge? 7-Eleven or Tiffany's? Lifebouy or Lux? Country Crock or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter? Coleman's Mustard or French's Mustard? Lean Cuisine or Stouffer's? (The answers are on the back cover of the book. I won't give it away here.)

This book is a great resource and insightful time capsule, even though it was first put together in the 1991-1992 timeframe. For the business (or political) minded, this material will cause you to consider a lot of things in American economic history of recent decades.

Hundreds of products and companies are listed, in all categories, as either AMERICAN OWNED or FOREIGN OWNED. Quite a few will surprise or shock the average reader, who never made that link before for the common products on the store shelves.

It is acknowledged in the book that company ownerships can change every day, but this snapshot in time is still fascinating. This was just prior to the great flood of China-made imports, so it is interesting to see all the product names where Japan had those markets at that time. There are many, many more listed common products from England, France, and Netherlands (ownership) than most Americans would guess.

The very brief comments between sections is extremely educational on this subject: "Nine major studios control most of America's movie and TV production, but only four are American-owned. Of the top ten companies that dominate America's music business, only three are American." "The VCR was invented by an American, yet none are manuafactured in America." "Since the trade assault on the domestic television industry began more than two decades ago, all but one U.S.-owned TV maker was either driven out of business or acquired by foreigners." "In 1955, America manufactured 96% of all radios sold, but by the late 80s, almost none." "Nearly half of the high-tech weaponry used in Desert Storm in Iraq was not made in the United States."

The short section on former U.S. government officers going to work as lobbyists for foreign corporations and governments is a real eye-opener! The mention and reference to the book _Agents of Influence_ is one of the most valuable nuggets I found in this book.

Thought-provoking and highly recommended!

Unless you like spending more for the EXACT same, you should check out this book as a household resource.

I saved over $400 on two airline tickets to Europe this summer by contacting a source cited in this book.

An excellent resource for genealogical research. Also, a fascinating and intriguing history of one of America's greatest cities, DETROIT.

A pleasure to read in that there is just enough educational information that you will stay interested and remember some of what you learn. There are some very nice photos too. Perfect for giving to the kids for a car trip to California.

If you like wine and wine tasting, take this book along. Just read through the entire book and found wineries I didn't even know existed. Great book. Job Well Done.

A good guide for those who need a reference to plan the perfect romantic weekend get away. All you romantic gentleman could use it as a handy guide to woo that special someone and take her to a place which she will definitely enjoy.

This book is so easy to use. The layout is logical and the photos are great. You can look up the cal, fat, vit., salt content and other facts of most common foods in a blink. I keep going back to peek at all this easy to read info. It has a section that tells what is good and not so good in each food group-and why. For example,in "Breads", whole grains are good, but Wonderbread-not so much

In 1995, a friend and I threw a tent in the back of my car, and armed with the Eastern States volume, started a four and a half month camping trip. Camp the US was such an invaluable resource that we searched the state of Arizona for the Western & Midwestern states. I only hope these books return to print!

This is truly a must have for anyone who camps in New York State. I am writing this review after purchasing my 4th copy. I have had 2 copies of my own, one of which a family member made off with, and I have bought 2 as gifts. It is the one thing we are never without from planning a trip to sitting at the campsite. We use the individual campground maps to choose our favorite sites and we use the tons of empty page space to make notes about the different campgrounds. We always have it in the car, even when we're not camping, so that if we ever pass a campground we can go through and make notes of some nice sites for planning future camping trips.

This is not a "wordy" book... it is simply maps and contact information for campsites - but the maps include all campsites, fishing, swimming, restrooms, etc etc. If you want a book that does some real chatting about the campgrounds or the region, this is NOT the book for you. However, if you want a book that clearly and accurately shows you the layout of any campground in the state before you blindly reserve a site, then buy this book.
I sit down, go to reserveamerica.com, open my Campgrounds of NY book - and choose the best site for my camping trip. The guesswork is gone, and I have had nothing but good luck if I trusted my book. I'm sure a lot of work went into putting this book together in such a clear and helpful way - and it paid off!

I love it!