Walter Lampl
Walter was born in the 1890s in New York. He began in jewelry by, as a kid, first selling newspapers in the street before selling watch chains as a teenage. He created the watch chains from long lengths of chain that he had purchased. In 1921 he founded the Lampl Company NY and began designing and creating jewelry and vanity items such as cigarette cases and make-up compacts. Lampl began making charms and the charms sold well so the collection was expanded to include novelty charms, charms with mechanisms and moving parts, as well as concealed messages. In the late 1930s Lampl was granted exclusive rights to produce the souvenir charms for the New York World’s Fair Corporation expanded his distribution greatly. This helped Lampl design more intricate and interesting charms. The company continued to grow and on Christmas eve 1945 at the company Christmas party the Walter passed away at 50 years old leaving his wife Sylvia and their son Walter Jr to run the company. To keep up with their growing popularity, the company increased production of its miniatures and soon became the country’s leading producer of charms and charm bracelets. In 1959 the company closed its doors as Sylvia and family did not want to sell the business to an outsider.
