Hats Off

Not every Harvard item is so difficult to trace. A crimson-colored hat in the Coop, made by University Square, says "Made in the USA."

According to University Square employee Beverly Pini, all of the company's manufacturing takes place at company headquarters in Bridgeville, Penn.

Pini says employees at the Bridgeville factory make $6.50 an hour at the very least. The minimum wage in Pennsylvania is $5.15.

Usually, she says, workers put in about 40 hours each week. In the "busy" season, from April through October, some work up to 15 hours overtime.

"The employees are well-maintained and well taken care of," Pini says. "It's not a case of a sweatshop under any circumstances."

The company is proud, Pini says, that it produces everything in the U.S. when it could take its business overseas and pay its workers less.

She acknowledges that this decision means that University Square can't compete in pricing. Whereas other companies can charge $3 wholesale for a hat, the wholesale price for a University Square hat runs for between $6 and $8, including an 8 percent licensing fee to the University.