L.G. BALFOUR EXHIBIT
What Will You See at the Exhibit?
If you’re a sports fan, you’ll love our Balfour exhibit. The World Series trophy, Super Bowl and World Series rings, and All-Star Game and World Series press badges were all created by the Balfour company—right here in Attleboro.
Our display cases feature plenty of sports ‘bling,’ including a Super Bowl ring designed by Joe Namath, a Dodgers National League Champions ring, a replica World Series trophy, and plenty of baseball press badges. In our exhibit, you’ll also find a reproduction of Balfour’s office, a large safe, high school rings, fraternity and sorority pins, a commemorative medallion for a visit by the pope, a large safe, and walrus hide (used in the production of jewelry.)
Exhibit Videos
L.G. Balfour was born in 1885. He was a native of Kentucky and was educated in the public schools of Louisville. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Louisville and an LL.B. degree from the University of Indiana.
For five years, he was a traveling sales representative for a manufacturer of fraternity jewelry. While performing this job, he saw firsthand the problems within this industry such as poor quality and poor service.
On June 13th of 1913, he founded the L.G. Balfour Company and set up shop in an old unused loft in Attleboro Massachusetts. This site was chosen because of the skilled jewelry craftsmen that lived in the area. Balfour hired four craftsmen, a production man, a tool maker, a die-cutter, and a stone setter. With a weekly payroll of ninety dollars, the new company began to take orders for fraternity jewelry.
As the first orders came in, the company established a reputation for creating a superior product at the right price and with on-time delivery. As increased orders flowed in the company expanded its operations and product line.
Medals, plaques, and sports trophies became a new part of the business. In 1922 Balfour began selling high school graduation rings and they quickly became a major part of its business.
There is much more.
See you at the Attleboro Area Industrial Museum.