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Lilac Hedges Collection

2011-08-0

 Collection
Identifier: 2011-08-0

Scope and Contents

The Lilac Hedges Collection (2011-08-0) is a collection of greeting cards, original artwork, and other items pertaining to the former Lilac Hedges greeting card company of Litchfield, Connecticut. The card company was founded by Ralph P. Hinchman III, and was based in two buildings in Litchfield, a house and a barn, that originally belonged to the historic Echo Farms. The property was renamed “Lilac Hedges” by Ralph P. Hinchman III’s relatives, and the company was named after the property. The company appears to have done business in the 1950’s and 60’s. Hinchman started making greeting cards by making Christmas cards for neighbors, friends, and family which featured the person’s house on the card. The cards were created by various artists including Jac Venza, Hilary Knight, Donn Sheets, Henry Bowman, Hinchman himself, and various other artists including Andy Warhol who designed several cards. The collection is housed in 7 boxes. The first three boxes are large boxes which contain solely greeting cards for various occasions. The fourth box contains a portfolio of a series of Valentine’s Day cards. The fifth box houses two sample albums from 1964 and 1965, and the albums are of various Christmas cards. The sixth box contains four linoleum stamps that would have been used to create cards. The seventh box contains miscellaneous items which range from original artwork, packs of cards, and a Lilac Hedges order form. Please see the detailed descriptions below for more information on what is housed in each box.

Dates

  • Other: Date acquired: 02/06/2011

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright has been transferred to the Litchfield Historical Society for materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Extent

7.00 folders

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement Note

The collection is organized into several series and is contained in seven boxes. The series are named for the manner they are organized based on the numbering system used by the Lilac Hedges Company. For example, the “# samples” series refers to a series of greeting cards which were printed with a single number on the back. In contrast the “#-# samples” series refers to a series of cards whose numbers are two numbers, for example 1-1. The sample series are cards which are glued to sheets of colored paper often including prices.

Source of Acquisition

Elsa Hinchman-Clark

Method of Acquisition

Gift

Accruals and Additions

The Lilac Hedges Collection is composed of three separate donations all by Elsa Hinchman Clark as well as musuem purchases. The collection has been given the accession number of the largest donation, but the other donations are 2010-365-0 and 2010-271-0. The Museum purchases were given the numbers 2010-234-0; 2015-16-0;2015-17-0;2015-90-0;2016-56-0. The donations and the purchases have all been assimilated into this collection.

Existence and Location of Originals

multi-part note content

Related Materials

multi-part note content

Title
Lilac Hedges collection
Author
Benjamin Bradley
Date
10/07/2012
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Litchfield Historical Society Repository

Contact:
7 South Street
P.O. Box 385
Litchfield CT 06759
860-567-4501
860-567-3565 (Fax)