Action Item: Help American Arts & Crafts Toymakers

by FishOutofWater, former Kauai body surfer now living near a pond in central North Carolina, who enjoys watching the blue herons in the early morning and is the father of Shaker SamanthaB.


Handcrafted, safe, traditional American toys need your help. Send a letter. Sign the petition. Congress' response to lead contaminated Chinese toys may inadvertently ban safe handcrafted toys made in America and Europe.

The law (CPSIA) to protect American children from lead- and pthalate-tainted mass-produced Chinese toys is being used as a bludgeon by the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) to force toy stores to take all untested toys off shelves by February 10. The CPSIA goes into effect in February, but the CPSC has not exempted handcrafted American and European toys made from natural materials and safe coatings. Individual toymakers cannot afford to pay for thousands of dollars of product testing designed by Congress for mass-produced Chinese toys. Small shop owners cannot afford to test their inventory. Owners are threatened with $100,000 fines.

Makers of small, handmade toys have formed an alliance to fight for their right to make safe traditional American toys, but they are caught in a catch-22. Safe handcrafted American toys should be exempted by law but the CPSC must conduct a rulemaking to exempt them. The law goes into effect February 10 while the rulemaking process, which can take years, is just getting started.

Retailers could also be hurt by the new law. Julie Vallese, a spokeswoman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, said stores would not be allowed to sell inventory after Feb. 10 that had not been tested for lead content. That means if the products are made out of natural materials but have not been tested, they'll have to be pulled from the shelves.

My daughter, SamanthaB., opened a toy store in North Carolina last year. Here's her story in her own words:

I started a toy store last Spring partly in reaction to the lead toys from China controversy. I wanted to carry safe, special, and lasting toys. Very quickly I came across a wonderful local treasure, an 85 year old former test pilot who began making beautiful wooden toys after his retirement twenty years ago. Gradually I learned a little more of his story.

He made all of his toys from scrap wood, mostly wood that local furniture makers would otherwise discard. When someone in the neighborhood needed to rid their yard of a cumbersome cedar tree, he was there to fell it. Out of it would come gorgeous bark-encased puzzles and children's stools. And he was a World War II veteran with not one, but two Purple Hearts.

As time went on I found more people. Nine local craftspeople, to be exact. There's the retired couple who carefully research the history of toys to develop each design.


When a couple wanted them to develop a handmade beading set, they went to the drawing board and came up with something especially for them. You can do that when there are local crafts people around. Of course, the results are so beautiful that I will now carry them in my shop.


And there's the woman who hand makes stuffed animals out of vintage chenille, no two alike.

(Fish's note: See picture on top of diary. Note also that one-of-a-kind toys like these are the only ones that appear to be specifically exempted by the CPSC.

There are exceptions to the testing rule for crafters making only one unique copy of each item, said Julie Vallese, spokeswoman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

"It's sticky and it's tricky, but if we can't see that the products are truly one-of-a-kind, they have to be tested," she said. "This is not a time where a manufacturer should be rolling the dice on compliance with the law."

People come into my shop every day and ask me, "Are these locally made?" One woman told me she lived in a single-wide trailer because she couldn't afford a double-wide, and she was so grateful that I could offer her a handmade wooden rattle treated with organic, food-grade linseed oil, at a reasonable price because it was made locally. It isn't a conservative or liberal, rich or poor issue to value community and craftsmanship.

It's deeply ironic that toys made in China could come to threaten the livelihood of these people who take so much pride in their work. And, of course, my business will no longer stand out from the big boxes. I can't ever have their selection, so how can I compete if I can't carry something those guys don't have?

Please, help save traditional American arts and crafts toys that have educated and entertained American children for generations. Write or e-mail your congressional representative. Write or e-mail your senator.

Communicate your concerns to the CPSC.

The handmade toy alliance has written a sample letter to make responding easy. They have written a petition that you can sign on-line. Please help.

Tell your congressman, your senator and the CPSC that toys made in America and Europe from natural wooden, cloth and fiber materials and safe, tested lead-free paints and coatings should be exempted from the third party testing requirements because toys made from those materials have proven to be safe.

(Cross-posted Also see Etsy for more.)