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According to The Associated Press, traditional made-in-America toys are making a comeback. "As consumers look for alternatives to Chinese-made toys following a series of recalls this year, dozens of small toy companies are struggling to meet surging demand. Some owners report online sales up as much as fivefold from last year. They're hiring extra workers, expanding warehouses and adding extra assembly shifts."

Perhaps with Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) on the skids and Chinese-made toys under the microscope, we are looking at a return to the "Made in America" ideals that Sam Walton espoused, as evidenced by the title of his autobiography, which seems ironic given Wal-Mart's reputation today.

But I would argue that the shift toward American-made toys is good for more than just economic reasons. Shifting away from cheap imported electronic toys toward traditional wooden toys is good for kids' development -- playing with blocks builds a lot more creativity than Gameboy does.

If you're looking to profit from the recall madness as an investor, your options are pretty limited. 1-800-Flowers.com (NASDAQ: FLWS) owns HearthSong and Magic Cabin, but those are a relatively small portion of the company's business. But if you believe in the 1-800 Flowers business' growth story, the stock may be worth a look.

Some of the readers who commented on my Made in America post feel so strongly about buying products that are made here that I think they would be willing to pay more for them.

This got me to thinking about just how much more people would be willing to pay for a product that is actually made in America. So I am asking you to consider voting in a hypothetical poll. Imagine you could purchase one of three baskets from Longaberger:

• A $90 11" Round Keeping Basket made by American citizens working in an American factory made 100% of American materials (this is a hypothetical product and price).
• A $59 11" Round Keeping Basket made by American citizens working in an American factory whose basket shell was made in America but whose lining was made in China (many commentators said this is how Longaberger currently makes its baskets and this is a real price for a real product); or
• A $20 11" Round Keeping Basket made by Chinese citizens working in a Chinese factory made 100% of Chinese materials (another hypothetical price).

I would be happy to send the results of this poll to Longaberger's CEO. Maybe if enough of you are willing to pay a premium for an All-American basket, the company will start making them.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

If you're tired of poisoning your kids with lead-painted toys from China or killing your pets with melamine-laced Chinese pet food, you may be wondering what you can buy that's made in America.

To its credit, China is trying to fix its reputation. Last week, according to CBS News, China's product safety chief Li Changjiang offered assurances that toys made in China would be "safer, better and more appealing. Before Christmas, we will certainly provide children safer, better and more appealing toys. They will certainly like them." To bolster that claim, on September 11th, China signed an agreement to prohibit the use of lead paint on toys exported to the United States.

As I posted in July, I expect that there could be a business opportunity to sell products to U.S. consumers that are made anywhere but China. Then I cited examples of an upscale New York grocery with no Chinese seafood and a New Jersey-based natural producer of premium dog food blended from meat and vegetables. However, I have not seen much in the way of new developments in the last few months.

So what are the choices for those who want to buy products made in the U.S.A.?