19th century America had a rep for producing junk. This is where the concept of old world craftsmanship came in. We got over it. BTW, as with American cars during the late 70's, we still occasionally produce junk. It take something like Japanese quality to shake us out of apathy sometimes.
20th century post war Japan had a rep for producing junk. My Dad commented on many of the exports still having the beer can logos on the inside of the cheap toys they were cranking out. They got over it, and are known for quality.