By Dave Fulton
With the colder weather of winter approaching, I went through one of my annual rituals this afternoon, adding a blanket to our bed in the master suite. As I unfolded this favorite lightweight thermal blanket that we have used for almost 30 winters, I noticed a little tag in the corner. It read "Crafted With Pride in America By Ruby A."
The tag on my blanket
Now I don't know Ruby or whether she is still in the work force or even still living. I do know how much we have enjoyed the old frayed American made blanket with Ruby's name on the tag. I immediately recognized the Crafted With Pride logo, because it was the same one we started running on the Wrangler Jeans sponsored Winston Cup cars driven by Dale Earnhardt and Ricky Rudd for Bud Moore and Richard Childress beginning in 1983.
A very quick bit of research revealed something unknown to me. The Crafted With Pride in USA/America campaign was designed by the famous textile magnate Roger Milliken of Spartanburg, SC, not far from the Bud Moore race shops. Maybe that's why we were so quick to put it on the Bud Moore cars... afterall, 70,000 Americans were manufacturing Wrangler Jeans at the time. None (ZERO) do today.
