Call Number:

MSS 0145

Repository:

University of Delaware Library Special Collections

Extent:

1.5 linear foot (3 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

MSS 0145, Grace Lloyd Walsh papers, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

Date:

1910-1992 (inclusive), 1913-1935 (bulk), and 1957-1970 (bulk)

Creator:

Walsh, Grace Lloyd Collins

Form:

Photographs, Ephemera (general), Advertisements, Manuscripts (document genre), and Works of art

Abstract:

The Grace Lloyd Walsh papers consist of approximately 1.5 linear feet of personal and business papers, a scrapbook, photographs, and ephemera documenting the personal and professional life of prominent Wilmington businesswoman and freelance artist Grace Lloyd Collins Walsh (1896?–1992).

Grace Lloyd Collins Walsh (1896?-1992) was a prominent Wilmington businesswoman specializing in the sale of fine gifts. She was also a freelance artist, designing advertisements for area groups as well as holiday and greeting cards for local residents.

Grace T. Lloyd was born in 1896 or 1897, a native of Wilmington. Her artwork brought her early acclaim and was featured in a Wilmington newspaper article in 1910. She graduated from Wilmington High School in 1913, and afterwards attended the Wilmington Training School to train as a teacher, graduating in 1915. She taught briefly and also worked for the DuPont Company in the early 1920s. She was engaged to Paul Hackett Collins of Salem, New Jersey, in October 1919 and married him sometime later.

She opened the Green Lantern Studio at 216 West 9th Street in Wilmington in 1925 but moved to 220 West 9th in 1928. At that time, she changed the shop's name to "Grace Lloyd Collins." The shop specialized in fine gifts, such as silver, crystal and china. Part of its success came from exclusive area distribution rights to a number of fine china lines. In 1938, she was the sole distributor of the Wilmington Tercentenary commemorative plates made by Spode of England. Grace Walsh proved to be an effective businesswoman with a keen appreciation for advertising and promotional strategies. She used social registers for contacts, newsletters to reach customers, and the store was one of the first shops in Wilmington to feature a bridal registry.

In May 1951, Grace Lloyd Collins married her second husband, Robert Walsh. He was active in the management of a new suburban store which opened in 1957 in Fairfax. Both stores operated as "Lloyd-Walsh" and continued the tradition of offering fine merchandise. The downtown Wilmington store closed in 1963 and the remaining store was sold to Ann Morris in 1986 when Mrs. Walsh retired.

During World War II, she served as a chauffeur with the American Women's Voluntary Service Motor Transport Service. Walsh was interested in dogs, owning and showing Airedales throughout much of her life. Other lifelong interests included fishing, yachting, travel, and writing. Grace Lloyd Collins Walsh died in 1992.

Biographical information derived from materials in the collection.

The Grace Lloyd Walsh Papers consist of approximately 1.5 linear feet of personal and business papers, a scrapbook, photographs, and ephemera received in several gifts during 1991 and 1992. The collection spans the dates 1910–1992, with bulk dates between 1913–1935 and 1957–1970. The collection is divided into two series: Series I focuses on Mrs. Walsh's private life; Series II focuses on her professional life.

Series I is arranged both chronologically and topically. Series I.1 covers Grace Lloyd Walsh's life chronologically. The collection has several examples of her early artwork, ca. 1910. There is a great variety of material from Mrs. Walsh's 1913 graduation from Wilmington High School, including her diploma and a class picture. A scrapbook she assembled highlights the variety of academic and social events surrounding graduation, and includes photographs and autographs from classmates. Materials from her 1915 graduation from Wilmington Training School include her diploma, a program, and her contract with the Wilmington Board of Education. She also completed a teacher training course with the Methodist Episcopal Church and the International Sunday School Association in 1915, represented by her certificate of completion.

During World War II, Grace Lloyd Collins served in the American Women's Voluntary Service as a chauffeur. Her service is recorded with photographs, training certificates, and official identification. The majority of materials documenting personal activities of Mrs. Walsh's later life are photographs. A 1953 photo album includes some of her earlier photographs but primarily illustrates her mid-life and varied interests, especially fishing.

Series I.2 contains memorabilia documenting the wide range of Mrs. Walsh's hobbies and interests. Autographed photos of Jessica Dragonette and Harold Hevia's Orpheum Players show her early interest in theatre. Her lifelong love of dogs is represented by dog show ribbons, photographs, pedigrees, and Wilmington Kennel Club books. There are also several miscellaneous items relating to fishing, yachting, travel, and Delaware.

Several typed manuscripts of Mrs. Walsh's autobiographical short story, "Mrs. Trowbridge Marshall," as well as several short published pieces, document her interest in writing. The short story, which follows the thoughts of a shop-owner throughout one day as she surveys her shop and interacts with her society customers, also gives insight into the philosophy of the Lloyd- Walsh store. Correspondence with author Hortense Calisher about the Mrs. Trowbridge story and numerous Calisher clippings are included.

Grace Lloyd Walsh's gift shop business, established in 1925, is documented in Series II. Advertisements and publicity for the business, first as the Green Lantern Studio, then as Grace Lloyd-Collins, and finally as Lloyd-Walsh reflect her focus on specialty and fine gifts. The advertisements, especially those in a scrapbook of ads for 1966–1970, are useful to students of both advertising and cultural history. Ten small china plates, promotional samples given to select customers each Christmas, demonstrate Mrs. Walsh's emphasis on customer relations. Her business interest in Wilmington society is documented through printed materials such as the Wilmington Blue Book for 1939–1940, and membership guides for the Wilmington Country Club. Sales literature for sterling silver reflects trends in social etiquette.

Mrs. Walsh's intersecting artistic and business interests are represented in selected advertisements and illustrations which she designed. She received a diploma in advertising in 1933 from the Charles Morris Price School of Advertising and Journalism of the Poor Richard Club in Philadelphia. Her clients ranged from the Service Citizens of Delaware to the Wilmington Drama League and Robin Hood Theatre in Arden. She also designed Christmas and New Year cards, including some for Philip and Lydia Laird of New Castle.

The Grace Lloyd Walsh Papers document not only her life and business, but offer glimpses of Wilmington society from the 1910s through the 1970s. Advertising history, silver sales, and bridal gifts are other topics represented.