Who would guess that three brothers trained in the art of blacksmithing would later be famous for creating lodge paraphernalia and regalia? The DeMoulin Bros. & Co. of Greenville, Ill., began on a whim and what started as a practical joke for lodge members is still operating as a band uniform company today.
According to the DeMoulin’s website, “DeMoulin Brothers was founded in 1892 by one of three brothers, all of whom eventually joined the company. The company has a diverse history … initially, manufacturing lodge furniture and fraternal regalia.

“The company also made military uniforms in World Wars I and II, and in the early 1900s started making band uniforms for town bands and later, high schools and colleges across the country.”
Today, John Goldsmith – whose mother, Norma Goldsmith, worked for the company for 50 years – has taken the amazing history of this unusual company and created a museum in downtown Greenville. The museum is advertised as featuring lodge initiation paraphernalia and regalia, band uniforms, lodge and church furniture and vintage photos and other artifacts.

The museum opened in March 2009 and is filled with an array of rare initiation items such as gag and trick devices, like a bucking goat and collapsible chairs. Goldsmith explained how some of these items worked.

“The Trick Chair would collapse on the floor when a candidate would sit down and a wire was pulled in the back. The Traitors Judgment Stand was a platform that would collapse and fire a cartridge when someone stood on it,” he described.

The gag gifts and lodge items began when former Illinois Lt. Gov. William Northcott became active in the Modern Woodman of America Lodge and wanted to recruit more members. To entertain the members he approached Edmund “Ed” DeMoulin, a talented inventor, and asked him to create some initiation gags.

One of the most memorable items was the bucking goat, originally created by Erastus “Ras” DeMoulin, who is heralded as a master blacksmith. Goldsmith said, “It was Erastus that made the factory’s first lodge goats at the family blacksmith shop in Sebastopol, and then transported them by wagon to Greenville (a trip of nearly 20 miles).”

The third brother of the trio was Ulysses, who is credited with being the business mind behind the company. Along with the lodge items, it expanded and also created church furniture and band uniforms. These are also on display at the museum.

From blacksmiths to pranksters, the DeMoulin brothers have left a handprint on Illinois manufacturing and are the subject of many books, including a new one due out soon with the entry written by famed illusionist David Copperfield.

Located at 110 W. Main in Greenville, the museum is open Friday from 1-3 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and Sunday 2-4 p.m. Call 618-664-4115 to schedule a tour or with questions. Visit www.demoulincollectors.com for more information.

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.