Things Sold Only in America...?

[Kioshi]

Here's the scoop, i will most likely be visiting my host family overseas and its common courtesy to give gifts from where you live/are from.

Whats sold 'only' in America, that you can't in other countries?

It can be any price range....I would just like to get an idea and see whats out there....for me to get for my host family...

Thank You,

:smile:

[CtrlAltDefeat]

err.. Scions? lol hotdogs? American footballs? Chevy trucks, with gun rack option? lol

[SeaYa]

Try getting something only made in your local area. You can get wine anywhere, but are there any local wineries that do not export their product? Or souvenirs from a nearby national park?

Even though you can buy them online, as far as MADE in the US, what about a collectors set of mint US coins/bills...pretty sure we haven't outsourced that yet. Good luck!

[Ichimaru]

Dominos oreo pizza jaja

[zachryboles]

http://www.prsguitars.com/

one of the coolest gifts american made that you can give
http://www.prsguitars.com/starlastoptail/img/main1.jpg

[Slick]

Meh, I kinda like the gun rack equipped chevy lol

[zachryboles]

Meh, I kinda like the gun rack equipped chevy lol

all i can say is.... you would give that to a foreigner... lol id like to see the look on that persons face as the general lee rolls up with a g-rack

[tomato]

When I go out of the country, I usually take with me small stuff people can identify with as being representative of here, even if they're not manufactured in the US.

San Francisco souvenirs are always a big hit (there is a good shop on Grant for good quality souvenir T-shirts at a good price), little cable cars, stuff like that. There are many actually, but this one has good quality stuff at a fair price.

You're gonna want light stuff because they weigh everything nowadays, so when you stuff your suitcase, keep that in mind.

Ghirardelli chocolate should make it through custom just fine and should please just about anybody. Some people like stuff with the US flag on it (I once bought pens with the us flag on it, and they were fighting over them, if you can believe that).

Others prefer goofy stuff (you should find funny stuff in the Haight District, San Francisco) but make sure whatever you get is legal in your destination country and OK to transport w. the airline (You'd be surprised how the rules can be tight when you travel and bring stuff abroad, for example, it's illegal to import vegetables, plants or certain food stuff into California and there are weights limits on alcohol and tobacco per person).

California wine is great, but it's heavy and you can only take so much with you (I think it's either 1 or 2 litters). But it's a great idea.

[tomato]

Also:

peanut butter (typically US)
cd's or MP3's of local Bay Area bands (iTunes does not sell the same music depending on what country you live in) or maybe country music (big demand abroad for that, believe it or not)
small ketchup bottles (you can find at Cost Plus)
Fake (chocolate) US mint coins?
American made tobacco products?


It helps if you know the ages and interests of the members of the host family otherwise, try to think more generic, hope that helps.

[tomato]

How could I forget!!

- Native American crafts (that's still made in the US as far as I know).
Can be expensive, though, so be prepared.

I have a catalog of Navajo made stuff at home somewhere. Great art and stuff.
There are some reputable sellers on ebay who sell stuff out of Arizona (silver jewelry, etc)

:thumbsup:

[tomato]

how about this?

http://www.amazon.com/Barack-Obama-Bobblehead/dp/B001J9LKIW

OK, j/k but Americana usually is a big hit abroad.

Also be sure to check out local museum stores for unique stuff, the SFMOMA airport store for instance, is great for unique stuff and I'm sure they have an online version - here it is:

http://sfmoma.stores.yahoo.net/

[tomato]

How about this one as a piece of history?

http://www.amazon.com/Barack-Shepard-Fairey-Campaign-Poster/dp/B001KNW0K4/ref=pd_sim_t_5

might be a successful gift or a controversial one.

how well do you know the host family, Kioshi?

[zachryboles]

wow tomato........... wow

[Black Yaris]

What country are you going too? When we went to Germany my friends there wanted products with Floride in them (Gum, floss and toothpaste), since their water is not florinated there.
they also requested oatmeal cookies

we have found that just about anything you buy on a regular basis is good

there are many things that we enjoyed from Germany that we can not get here, so we mail each other things everyonce in a while

[sex]

Are you going to Japan? Bring a huge cooler of Haagen Dazs.

[tomato]

How about an original iPad (they release pretty soon) invented (???) by people right here in Cupertino :biggrin:

Some Levi's jeans (born right here in San Francisco at the turn of the century)

a Timbuk2 messenger bag!!

http://www.timbuk2.com/tb2/products/home

you know they still have a factory right here in SF (although they 've outsourced some of the manufacture out to Asia). You can visit it, too.

[tomato]

Jelly Beans (factory is right here in Vallejo, you can order straight from there and visit the factory, too)

http://www.amazon.com/Jelly-Belly-Assorted-Flavors-10-Pound/dp/B000IKCOKQ

[tomato]

yeah, it would really help if we knew:

where you're going (that's the most important because we don't want cultural mistakes)
an age range for the members of the family
conservative or not?
religious? (some gifts like booze and tobacco products may be a no-no)


Gifts do not have to be expensive. Remember, Obama gave the Queen of England an iPod as a diplomatic gift when clearly he could have bought something far more expensive.

How about an original iPhone (not made here, but invented here?). Wait, that's stupid, they may not be able to use it with the carriers over there. How about an iPod touch instead? I don't know what else screams "california" more than an Apple product ;) (<------------- oooooooooooooooooh, I might get my @ss kicked for that one :redface:)

[tomato]

wow tomato........... wow

too much? :redface:

@kioshi

http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/shopping/

[sbergman27]

Whats sold 'only' in America, that you can't in other countries?
Political influence.

[JumpmanYaris]

Political influence.

Boooo LOL

[MadMax]

Yeah, it's funny how things work in the world. I have friends in the UK whose son is addicted to Froot Loops, but they can't get them there. When I was living in Bratislava, we found the US Embassy commissary in neighboring Vienna and loaded up on Coke and peanut butter. We let the young ladies who worked the reception desk in the hotel we lived in try it, and they were disgusted by it! Considering some of the foods we ate there, that was surprising!

I agree with tomato, find something unique to your area and it will be well received. Being in Texas, and especially San Antonio, it's easy to find something that represents the local culture and/or history...even if it's made in China!

Cheers! M2

[Kioshi]

Wow @ everyone's responses. You guy's really out did yourselves, i GREATLY appreciate each one of your ideas...thank you!

Sorry for leaving you guys/gals in the dark..."member, sex" guessed it...I will be planning to go to Japan...i think~~ :-/

Even though you can buy them online, as far as MADE in the US, what about a collectors set of mint US coins/bills...pretty sure we haven't outsourced that yet. Good luck!

I dont live near any national parks...But the US mint coin collection sounds tempting, something my host father would like/love. Thank you for that suggestion. People liked the suggestion at Micro Image too...

tomato - My host family is Japanese..4 members total, 3 this time because I dont know if their daughter will be there this summer~ I stayed for about a week at their house...They treated me like their own, i kept calling them Father and Mother....i dont know their personality nor their age whatsoever, the language barrier doesn't help. I couldn't decipher them, only communicated in little bit of japanese haha. But they are around age 50 or so...or more~They are somewhat conservative though, if that answers your questions.

err.. Scions? lol hotdogs? American footballs? Chevy trucks, with gun rack option? lol American football is good..the rest i can't take, I'm traveling light this time:wink:

What country are you going too? When we went to Germany my friends there wanted products with Floride in them (Gum, floss and toothpaste), since their water is not florinated there.
they also requested oatmeal cookies

we have found that just about anything you buy on a regular basis is good

there are many things that we enjoyed from Germany that we can not get here, so we mail each other things everyonce in a whileI'm going to Japan. My host family gave me stuff before I left, on the last day. I felt bad I could not get them something. But them hosting me was totally unexpected, thus i was not prepared... :(
I have found that they dont have Coffee Mate there..i could buy that, since they drink coffee there a lot.

Dominos oreo pizza jajaThats so cool, I will consider that for their son. Didn't know we had those! I hope they dont break in the luggage~

http://www.prsguitars.com/

one of the coolest gifts american made that you can give
http://www.prsguitars.com/starlastoptail/img/main1.jpg

I wish they hadn't put a charge on overweight luggage. I paid $50 for a few extra pounds in 2006, when i went overseas... :frown:

Are you going to Japan? Bring a huge cooler of Haagen Dazs. Do they have small enough coolers to fit in a 20-24" luggage?


religious? (some gifts like booze and tobacco products may be a no-no)


Gifts do not have to be expensive. Remember, Obama gave the Queen of England an iPod as a diplomatic gift when clearly he could have bought something far more expensive.

How about an original iPhone (not made here, but invented here?). Wait, that's stupid, they may not be able to use it with the carriers over there. How about an iPod touch instead? I don't know what else screams "california" more than an Apple product ;) (<------------- oooooooooooooooooh, I might get my @ss kicked for that one :redface:)

I hear you on the religion aspect, but they are atheist, most are in Japan anyways...so no problem w/ alcohol mwuahaha.
I did not know that Obama gave an Ipod to Queen of England, good fact. I'm trying to budget wisely on this trip as I need the saved money to take trains to places...

LOL tomato..parents won't be interested in that, but may be their son? Hmm...I love you're responses:clap:

And thank you for the SFGate link :)
When I go out of the country, I usually take with me small stuff people can identify with as being representative of here, even if they're not manufactured in the US.

San Francisco souvenirs are always a big hit (there is a good shop on Grant for good quality souvenir T-shirts at a good price), little cable cars, stuff like that. There are many actually, but this one has good quality stuff at a fair price.

You're gonna want light stuff because they weigh everything nowadays, so when you stuff your suitcase, keep that in mind.

Ghirardelli chocolate should make it through custom just fine and should please just about anybody. Some people like stuff with the US flag on it (I once bought pens with the us flag on it, and they were fighting over them, if you can believe that).

Others prefer goofy stuff (you should find funny stuff in the Haight District, San Francisco)

I know, i learned my lesson from last time. I had a backpack and two luggage with me...HORRIBLE dragging those two around up 6 floors and from Tokyo to Kyoto!! I am taking one backpack and one luggage w/ me..20-24" i believe~

Hmm Ghirardelli...would work for my host mother.
LOL thats funny about the pen w/ US flag on it:biggrin:

Would you happen to know the shops name on Grant and the one on Haight St by any chance?

Political influence.
Hehe too massive to fit in 1 luggage.

Yeah, it's funny how things work in the world. I have friends in the UK whose son is addicted to Froot Loops, but they can't get them there. When I was living in Bratislava, we found the US Embassy commissary in neighboring Vienna and loaded up on Coke and peanut butter. We let the young ladies who worked the reception desk in the hotel we lived in try it, and they were disgusted by it! Considering some of the foods we ate there, that was surprising!

I agree with tomato, find something unique to your area and it will be well received. Being in Texas, and especially San Antonio, it's easy to find something that represents the local culture and/or history...even if it's made in China!

Cheers! M2

MadMax, thank you for your response, appreciate it and I agree w/ you. They don't really eat cereal in the morning in Japan. Usually leftovers or rice or straight up coffee..
I will try to do that, although nothing comes to mind of what makes "Fremont" so unique and popular...LOL...maybe i can try San Francisco~

Everyone, you're all awesome, thanks for the ideas/suggestions...keep them coming. I will refer back to this thread during the coming months!

[Altitude]

Political influence.

LOL.

A cowboy hat or two?

Sadly there isn't much I can think of that is uniquely American save for some of tomato's more regional suggestions.

[silver_echo]

i can't remember if it is Lee brand or Levi brand jeans, but if you take a bag full of them overseas, you can make a pretty penny selling them, so those would be a good idea... american jeans are made in other countries, but seem to only be sold in the u.s. another thing that i have heard is american marlboro cigarettes... just a note... take with grain of salt...

[Kongo-Otto]

Jelly Beans (factory is right here in Vallejo, you can order straight from there and visit the factory, too)

http://www.amazon.com/Jelly-Belly-Assorted-Flavors-10-Pound/dp/B000IKCOKQ

These beans made it to ALDI in Germany, one of the biggest supermarkets here. They are on sale whenever they´ve got their "American Weeks" beside other things.

i can't remember if it is Lee brand or Levi brand jeans,

It is Levi's. They are expensive here, atleast some models.

[MadMax]

Yeah, when I was stationed in Germany we would meet with the German Air Force on a regular basis. When we went to their base in Trier, we bought wine; and when they came to visit us at Ramstein, they bought Levis!

As a matter of fact, I used to buy Levis for my German BMW mechanic in appreciation for all the great work he did on my cars.

Kongo, we actually have ALDI stores in the US (http://www.aldifoods.com/index_ENU_HTML.htm). Not down here in south Texas, but they are starting to show up in the northern part of the Lone Star State (http://alditexas.com/) as well as up in Pennsylvania where my wife's family lives.

Cheers! M2

[Kongo-Otto]

That is interesting, i did not know ALDI is already in the US.

Well i know another brand which is popular here. Abercrombie & Fitch shirts are not that easy to get because they have no stores in Germany. As far as i know the got some in the UK. I bought mine via eBay but you never know if you get a rip-off.

[specialeducator]

err.. Scions? lol hotdogs? American footballs? Chevy trucks, with gun rack option? lol

Most footballs are made in China. Are there any Made in USA left?

[specialeducator]

Here's the scoop, i will most likely be visiting my host family overseas and its common courtesy to give gifts from where you live/are from.

Whats sold 'only' in America, that you can't in other countries?

It can be any price range....I would just like to get an idea and see whats out there....for me to get for my host family...

Thank You,

:smile:

How about Hershey bars? That's what I bring when I go to Ireland.

[CtrlAltDefeat]

Most footballs are made in China. Are there any Made in USA left?

Well, made in is one thing, but American football is pretty much only played in America. I know of no other sport in any other country that uses an egg shaped ball like that.

[Yaris Hilton]

Rugby's "ball" is rather similar.

[CtrlAltDefeat]

Rugby's "ball" is rather similar.

ahh so it is. a little less pointed though. hmmm it should be called rugby then. its closer to rugby than soccer...

[Black Yaris]

If they like Coffee, get them some Jamaican Blue Mountain. It is about $40 a pound here and is even more in Japan $60-80 a pound. I have a lot of coffee from around the world, and Blue Mountain is the best!

[katte]

Its nothing special that you will get only in America.Except the price variation.But to visit America will be really very good and great gift for your family members.