s hard to tell when a tradition begins type private industry manufacturing collectibles christmas luxury goods founded 1984 headquarters sutton massachusetts usa area served north america and eastern europe key people gary vaillancourt judi vaillancourt luke m. vaillancourt number of employees 20 divisions 6 website valfa.com vaillancourt folk art at manchaug mills vaillancourt folk art vfa is a family owned and operated wholesale and retail company based in sutton massachusetts that manufactures highly detailed hand painted chalkware collectibles . judi vaillancourt is credited with having developed the process used to create the first contemporary use of chalkware incorporating a plaster like substance with confectionery moulds 1 since the 20th century version . 2 the company initially was created as a store that sold a wide variety of holiday and folk art items and operated as vaillancourt folk art & friends . the name was shortened to vaillancourt folk art in 2007 when their headquarters relocated and the company s emphasis re focused to their own chalkware and ornament line . the vaillancourt folk art lines have since been carried in stores within major cities across the united states and canada . beyond families holiday traditions vaillancourt folk art has become a staple in regional tourism . in 2009 vfa was chosen by the massachusetts office of travel and tourism as one of six behind the scenes places to visit 3 and by the great places in massachusetts commission as one of the top 1 000 great places in massachusetts to visit . 4 5 6 contents 1 history 2 expansion 3 distribution 4 divisions 5 philanthropy 6 community 7 in popular culture 8 references 9 external links history edit gary vaillancourt and wife judi vaillancourt founded vaillancourt folk art in 1984 after had gary given judi three antique chocolate molds for christmas . as a classical illustrator by trade judi first poured these molds with chocolate and later with beeswax 7 before developing her unique process to create a solid chalkware figures . 8 9 recognizing this as a 3 dimensional canvas judi began to use her oil painting skills to the new medium . during the first year gary and judi were asked to participate in a folk art show by chicago based promoter judy marks . judi vaillancourt discovered by marks from an article on historical house reproductions by early american life 10 decided to participate in the show with her original furniture scherensnites wooden noah s arks 11 oil paintings and figurines . for the first show judi had made several beeswax and one hand painted chalkware santa . the hand painted figural sold for 25 50 with 2007 inflation and the vaillancourts had taken 25 30 orders . 12 13 in 1985 gary left his position as president of mitchell management systems to join judi as they started what is now known as vaillancourt folk art . that year the vaillancourts brought hired 15 employees to work within their house pouring the products in their kitchen paint in their dining room and ship out of their bed room . by the end of 1985 they had converted their 18th century house s basement into a production studio and formed vaillancourt folk art & friends . 14 date significance 1984 vaillancourt folk art & friends was founded with judi being the sole designer and production artist . 1985 the basement of gary and judi s home where 10 workers would come and go as they pleased to paint judi s designs . 1986 vaillancourt folk art had 18 workers working two shifts at christmas time . 1987 vaillancourt folk art & friends moved their location in an 1820s farm house with their 20 person production team working on the second floor and a new retail space featuring folk artists resided on the first floor . 1989 vaillancourt folk art begins wholesale distribution . 1991 vaillancourt folk art starts their annual starlight santa with actors emma samms and tom bergeron making their first visit the vaillancourt store . 1992 nordstroms becomes the first department store to carry the vaillancourt chalkware and ornament line . 1994 vaillancourt folk art licensed to possible dreams making clothtique santas . 1995 judi vaillancourt designs classical christmas a line of english creamware dinnerware . the first annual collector s weekend is started . 15 1996 judi vaillancourt has her first figurines made into glass ornaments in lauscha germany . 1998 vaillancourt folk art launches its web site for ecommerce . 2007 vaillancourt folk art drops & friends and moves to a 10 000 sq ft location in a 19th century mill . son luke m. vaillancourt joins the family business as director of digital marketing . 2008 introduction of the et cetera line a line of vaillancourt designs on media like acrylic coasters wooden framed mirrors ceramic trivets and metal ornaments . 2009 vaillancourt chalkware is now available in 20 macy s stores along with locations in neiman marcus nordstrom lord & taylor frontgate museum of fine arts boston and williamsburg . the introduction of glimmer in both the chalkware and mouth blown glass ornament line . 2010 vaillancourt folk art is nominated to be the official christmas ornament and collectibles maker of the commonwealth of massachusetts . 16 17 awarded the central massachusetts family business award 18 by the worcester business journal . vaillancourt folk art is chosen by the great places in massachusetts commission as one of the top 1 000 great places in massachusetts to visit . 19 20 21 honoree of gifts & decorative accessories rea awards for 2010 internet retailer award . 22 2012 vaillancourt folk art named 15th in overall ranking of top tourist attractions according to the worcester business journal after having 18 500 visitors to their sutton ma studios . 23 2014 vaillancourt folk art introduces a new glass ornament line jingle balls . the jingle ball line uses the traditional glass ornament ball and blends it with the recognizable faces of christmas including santas snowmen and european father christmases . the detail of the faces is what vaillancourt folk art has been known for since the late 1980s . 2015 vaillancourt folk art introduces the first dickens themed glass ornament line a christmas carol collection which features the icons inspired by arthur rackham s interpretation of charles dickens immortal words . 24 2016 luke m. vaillancourt assumes the position of vice president of operations . 25 expansion edit vaillancourt folk art underwent a period of expansion in the late 1980s . vaillancourt folk art acquired an 1820 farm house in 1987 and moved production to the second floor within the first month of acquisition . within the same year the first floor of the building was turned into a retail store featuring vaillancourt folk art chalkware and work of american folk artists that the vaillancourt family had met while doing art and craft shows around the country . known as being dedicated workers the vaillancourt home was featured in yankee magazine 26 showing how gary and judi always took the time even in the midst of a busy season to celebrate their passion for christmas and historical collections . while vaillancourt chalkware was widely sold over the first 15 years of business they received a large boom in business in the post 9 11 era because they were made in america and focused on quality . their patriotic line and their american christmas series collection having partnered with american christmas companies byers s choice and lynn haney collection became an instant success . 27 much of this success is attributed to the fact that vaillancourt is one of the last remaining crafters still designing by hand in the united states . 28 vaillancourt has always been focused on creating pieces that could be passed on from generation to generation creating an heirloom piece . 29 30 in 2007 vaillancourt folk art moved its operations into a 10 000 sq ft space within the manchaug mills 31 accommodating the extensive collection of designs and antique confectionery molds vaillancourt folk art has over 3 000 antique moulds from as early as 1850 32 which is one of the largest known private collections in the united states . 33 the us postal service modified its zip codes to ensure that vaillancourt folk art could still be considered made in sutton rather than the village of manchaug s unique zip code . 34 within this new sutton location vaillancourt folk art dropped & friends from its name and stopped selling other manufactures products and instead focused on displaying its own brands within their gallery . this new location allowed for the opening a christmas museum to display their antique moulds some paired with judi s original castings and they have collected original european catalogues showing the moulds available at the time . 35 the expansion also streamlined its studios for guided tours . 36 in winter of 2009 vaillancourt folk art completed the construction of blaxton hall named after william blaxton the first european settler in boston and rhode island . 37 the hall was created to host gerald charles dickens the great great grandson of charles dickens for his american tour of a christmas carol first in 2009 . 38 dickens made a special trip from london to perform his great great grandfather s classic tale a christmas carol . dickens adopted different voices expressions and mannerisms to portray each of the story s twenty six characters in this acclaimed one man show . 39 40 dickens visit to worcester county is notable as charles dickens himself had toured the region first in 1842 in which gerald performs at blaxton hall in a similar manner . 41 continuing the 2008 success of combining family owned domestic businesses of the american christmas series vaillancourt folk art and byers choice teamed up again in 2012 with the creative power of joyce byers and judi vaillancourt to introduce the first ever 42 byers choice caroler designed in collaboration with another company . 43 the piece custom christmas artist caroler was introduced during the 17th annual collector s weekend at the vaillancourt studio by bob byers jr. president of byers choice . 44 45 today vaillancourt goes beyond the traditional idea of christmas as judi designs more than 100 chalkware santas a year which include non christmas santas such as an easter santa and the popular nantucket santa which is introduced each summer . 46 distribution edit vaillancourt folk art began its wholesale distribution in 1989 . several years late in 1992 nordstrom west was the first department store to approach vaillancourt folk art to sell their product nationally . today vaillancourt folk art sells to 300 stores nationwide including rogers s garden nordstrom neiman marcus lord and taylor macy s bloomingdales frontgate catalog and hundreds of small mom and pop stores 47 vaillancourt folk art launched its web site in 1998 and has focused on marketing to individuals along with companies . in 2007 its on line distribution started to slowly match the company s in store sales especially in an economy that was suffering from a yearlong fuel surcharge through various on line shopping promotions . 48 even in a down economy vaillancourt folk art has remained hopeful in the american consumer choosing american made high quality products . 49 in fact their partnership with xerox corporation helped keep them ahead of the curb in terms of marketing technology 50 enabling their studios to be popular tourist stops for new england 51 and being chosen by the massachusetts office of travel and tourism as one of six behind the scenes places to visit alongside cape cod potato chips cisco brewers fenway park boston beer company and harbor sweets . 52 divisions edit chalkware was a victorian art form where plaster was molded and painted with watercolors . these pieces considered the poor man s porcelain was often given as prizes at carnivals . vaillancourt folk art s main product