Veterans Day, originally celebrated as Armistice Day, was first issued on November 11, 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson a year after the end of World War I. The purpose of Armistice day was to honor the fallen soldiers of The Great War for their sacrifice and bravery. 7 years later in 1926, Congress adopted a resolution requesting President Coolidge issue annual proclamations on November 11, making Armistice Day a legal holiday.

 In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans rather than just the ones who died in World War I. He led a delegation to General Dwight Eisenhower, who was all for the idea. Weeks then conducted the first Veterans Day celebration in 1945 in Alabama and every year until his death in 1985. In 1982, he was honored by President Reagan with the Presidential Citizenship Medal. Weeks was also named the “Father of Veterans Day” by Elizabeth Dole.

Give military-themed gifts

Most veterans prize the time spent serving their country and one of the best ways to honor that service is to present military-themed gifts like T-shirts (apparently a “thing” among vets,) American Mutt Knife U.S. flags or specially-designed zippo lighter to the veterans in your life.

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The September 11 attacks struck the nation on a clear, late summer morning on the East Coast. Hijackers used jet airliners as weapons and rammed them into New York City’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon. One hijacked plane crashed in a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania. In all, 2,977 were killed.

The 9/11 attacks not only became the single deadliest terrorist attack in human history, they were also the deadliest incident ever for firefighters, as well as for law enforcement officers in the United States.

As in years past, six moments of silence will be observed — to mark the times (8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m.) that each hijacked plane struck the North Tower and South Tower, to mark the times when each tower fell (9:59 a.m. and 10:28 a.m.), and to mark the moments of the attack on the Pentagon (9:37 a.m.) and the crash of hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pa. (10:03 a.m.).

President Trump is scheduled to join an observance at the Pentagon, while Vice President Mike Pence is slated to speak at the annual remembrance ceremony at the Flight 93 National Memorial.

To celebrate the Labor Day, we are attending the Raleigh Downtown Home Show!

Check us out and stay tuned for more new product updates!

“No Human masterpiece has been created without great labor”

– Andre Gide

Thank you to all who served, today and everyday.

According to a statement from the Oklahoma Department of Veteran Affairs, Wednesday, Aug. 7 is National Purple Heart Day.

The purple heart is awarded to military members wounded or killed while serving.

A Navy veteran lawmaker says more than 1,300 Oklahomans have received this award.

In April 2019, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed into law Senate Bill 232 designating Oklahoma as a “Purple Heart State.”

This new law takes affect November 1, 2019.

Wednesday, officials say The Military Order of the Purple Heart Ch. 902 will be holding a ceremony to commemorate National Purple Heart Day, Aug. 7.

Officials say the event begins at 1 p.m. and will be held at the Norman Veterans Center located at 1776 East Robinson Street in Norman, Oklahoma.

Officials say there will be 18 Purple Heart recipients, who currently live at the Norman Center, both in attendance and honored at the event.

Don’t be alarmed if your order arrives in another company’s box or in a used box along with used packaging material.  We are a small company and we try to reduce our operating costs and carbon footprint where it makes sense. We reuse boxes and packaging material daily.  

Reuse As Much As Possible, Then Recycle.

Offsetting your unavoidable CO2 emissions is a practical and immediate way to take ownership of your personal contribution to climate change. With American Mutt USA, you’re addressing global economic inequality too. Offsetting also reveals both the need for cleaner energy sources and opportunities for reducing your carbon footprint.

You can further reduce your carbon footprint by:

1. Stop Eating (or Eat Less) Meat
The single most effective action you can take to combat climate change is to stop eating meat. Just limiting your meat consumption can make a huge difference. Greenhouse gas emissions from agribusiness are an even bigger problem than fossil fuels. So while we often talk about cutting our reliance on fossil fuels – and this is still critically important – we rarely discuss the worst culprit. Red meat is particularly to blame, consuming 11 times more water and producing 5 times more emissions than its poultry counterparts.

2. Unplug Your Devices
You might be surprised to learn that all electronics suck energy when they’re plugged in, EVEN IF they’re powered down. In the U.S. alone, “vampire power” is responsible for draining up to $19 billion in energy every year. Anytime a cord is plugged into a socket, it’s drawing energy – so although your device isn’t charging, you’re still contributing to your carbon footprint.

3. Don’t Buy “Fast Fashion”
Many major clothing retailers practice what is known as “fast fashion” – selling an endless cycle of must-have trends at extremely low prices. Have you ever wondered how it’s possible to pay only $4 for that t-shirt? In this consumer society, we think of fashion as disposable – after all, if I only pay $4 I might not think twice about throwing it away. Heaps and heaps of clothing ends up in the landfill, often to justify buying the latest styles. We’re talking over 15 million tons of textile waste – with quantity over quality, fast fashion retailers can charge next to nothing for items that are mass-produced. They push these garments to sell by creating more fashion “cycles” or “seasons” – where there used to be 4 per year, there’s now often 12 to 15. There’s also the issue of contamination: almost half of our clothing is made with cotton, and unless it’s labeled as “organic” cotton, there’s a high chance that it’s genetically modified cotton sprayed with lots of pesticides (including known carcinogens). This can be damaging to neighboring non-GMO crops, cause water contamination, reduce biodiversity, and have negative impacts on human health.

4. Plant a Garden
Whether you live in a house or an apartment, planting some greens is a quick and easy way to reduce your carbon footprint. We all know plants absorb carbon dioxide – a beneficial relationship for humans, that we should all be seeking to nurture. Plant some bee-friendly flowers, a few trees, or a vegetable garden.

5. Eat Local (and Organic)
Whenever possible, try to eat local, in-season produce. Sticking to foods that are grown locally, in your own city or surrounding area, helps to reduce the carbon footprint created by shipping foods from elsewhere. A general rule for where something is grown? The closer to you, the better. When a fruit or vegetable can be grown in your own backyard, or a local farm, the environmental cost is significantly reduced. Just imagine the journey that food from a distant country has to take – by plane, ship, train, or truck, the produce must stay cooled, so it doesn’t spoil, and has usually been picked way too early (resulting in not-so-great quality, and fewer nutrients).

6. Line-Dry Your Clothes
New is not always better – the traditional method of line-drying your clothing is much better for the environment. One dryer load uses 5 times more electricity than washing – by simply line-drying your clothes, you can save 1/3 of their carbon footprint. Unfortunately, line-drying seems to be America’s least favorite way to save energy – despite the fact that running a clothes dryer is equivalent to turning on 225 light bulbs for an hour.