Where Holland Bowl Mill bowls are made
120 James Street, Holland, Michigan. That is not an inference from a head office listing. It is what the company publishes about where its bowls are turned.
| What | Recorded as | In the company's own words |
|---|---|---|
| The company, about itself | Made in USA, as claimed | Built in Holland, Michigan Still right where we started. 120 James Street, Holland, Michigan. Every bowl is turned by hand, finished in our facility, and shipped from the same building where it was made. Not as a point of pride. Just as a matter of fact. The hardwoods we use are grown and harvested in the United States: primarily sugar maple, cherry, and walnut.. We care about what goes into these products and what gets left behind. Every piece ships with Bee's Oil, an all-natural wood conditioner made from beeswax and natural oils. |
| 17 inch harvest bowl | Made in USA, as claimed | Handcrafted in Holland, Michigan and finished with Bee's Oil. |
A street address is a harder claim than a country
"Made in the USA" is a claim about a country, and a country is difficult for a reader to check. An address is a claim about a building, and a building can be looked at.
Holland Bowl Mill goes further than the address. It says every bowl is turned by hand, finished in its facility, and shipped from the same building where it was made, which closes the gap that most origin claims leave open: a company can truthfully say made in the USA while the finishing or the packing happens somewhere else.
It names the trees
The hardwoods are named as sugar maple, cherry and walnut, and named as grown and harvested in the United States.
Almost nothing in this directory does that. A wooden product is mostly wood, so naming the species and where it grew covers nearly the whole object, which is the same reason the yarn matters more than the sewing on a sock. Most makers of wooden goods name the workshop and say nothing at all about the timber.
The tone is worth keeping
The page ends its origin statement with "Not as a point of pride. Just as a matter of fact."
That sentence is doing something the rest of this site spends a lot of effort on. A claim offered as a fact invites checking. A claim offered as a boast invites agreement, and those are different transactions.