25 Legendary American Manufacturers Our Grandfathers Swore Would Never Die — Then Vanished

In 1901, U.S. Steel became the first billion-dollar company on Earth. In the summer of 2025, it was sold to Japan. In between, your grandfather built a whole life on the belief that the great American names would never die. From the vacuum tubes of Sylvania and the bubbling Wurlitzer jukebox to the Singer on grandma's kitchen table, the lonely Maytag repairman, Zenith — the very last American television maker — Pontiac's GTO, Oldsmobile after 107 years, International Harvester's red tractors, the Sears wish book, Kodak's buried digital camera and the sale of U.S. Steel itself — this documentary counts down 25 legendary American manufacturers our grandfathers trusted for a lifetime, the towns and the paychecks they built, and how each one was closed, sold or carved up for parts. Which one hit you the hardest — and which one did your family work for? Tell us in the comments. Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:34 #25 Sylvania 2:21 #24 Admiral 4:15 #23 Hamilton Watch Company 6:12 #22 Wurlitzer 8:06 #21 Hoover 9:50 #20 Singer 11:42 #19 Schwinn 13:35 What Your Grandfather Believed 15:05 #18 Maytag 16:52 #17 Frigidaire 18:37 #16 Motorola 21:00 #15 RCA 22:53 #14 Zenith 24:48 How America Stopped Making TVs 26:21 #13 Pontiac 28:11 #12 Oldsmobile 30:03 #11 Plymouth 31:56 #10 American Motors 33:46 #9 Packard 35:45 #8 Studebaker 37:39 When a Car Meant Home 39:18 #7 International Harvester 41:23 #6 Winchester 43:16 #5 Sears, Craftsman, Kenmore, DieHard 45:47 #4 Bethlehem Steel 47:51 They Were Making Americans 49:25 #3 Firestone 51:21 #2 Kodak 53:27 #1 United States Steel 55:32 Final Thoughts: The Promise He Believed In Archival footage: public domain (Prelinger Archives, U.S. National Archives via the Internet Archive). Photos: Wikimedia Commons. #MadeInUSA #AmericanHistory #Nostalgia