Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection
name: label: Creator
content: Booth, Virginia
label: Names
content: Lord & Taylor
label: Names
content: Davies, Donald
label: Names
content: McCardell, Claire
label: Names
content: Potter, Clare
topic: label: Topic
content: Costume design
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated by Virginia "Jimmie" Booth, in May 2000.
creator: label: Creator
content: Booth, Virginia
setName: label: See more items in
content: Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: Papers relating to Virginia "Jimmie" Booth's career as a buyer for Lord and Taylor, where she worked for Dorothy Shaver. Papers include correspondence; photographs; original drawings by designer Clare Potter; printed material including articles, magazine advertising and catalogs; a scrapbook of clippings and memorabilia.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Virginia Wagoner Booth, known as Jimmie Booth, was born June 20, 1922 in Bronxville, New York, the daughter of John and Josephine Wagoner. She studied printing and engineering at Syracuse University. An engineer with Pratt & Whitney during World War II, she entered the fashion world as a bridal consultant at G. Fox in Hartford in 1945. 

In 1952 Dorothy Shaver, of Lord & Taylor, hired Booth for the Hartford store and asked her to develop and manage The Country Clothes Shop in the 5th Avenue store in New York. There, Booth collaborated with and promoted such American designers as Clare Potter, Bonnie Cashin, and Claire McCardell. Booth also worked extensively with European designers. 

Married to H. Robert Booth (Bob) Booth of Hillandale Handweavers, Jimmie promoted the use of both American and European hand-loomed fabrics by her designers. She frequently modeled the fashions herself. Her casual, yet elegant, style is the epitome of "the American Look" still popular today. 

In 1998, Jimmie Booth, Dorothy Shaver, and other creators of The American Look were saluted in the exhibition, "Designing Women: American Style 1940-1960" at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. 

In addition to her design work, Booth was a violinist with the Hartford Symphony in the 1940s, and later became the chef at the Brooklyn, Connecticut, Golden Lamb Buttery, which she and her husband, H. Robert Booth (Bob), owned and operated. She died January 2011 at the age of eighty-nine in Hartford, Connecticut.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3 Cubic feet (6 boxes, 3 map folders)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1936-1999, undated
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0729
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Design drawings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Collection is organized into seven series.


Series 1: Personal Papers, 1936-1999, undated


Series 2: Hillandale Handweavers, 1948-1949, 1972, undated 


Series 3: Lord & Taylor Country Clothes Shop, 1950s-1960s, undated 


Series 4: Irish Materials, 1958-1999, undated 


Series 5: American Designers, 1944-2000, undated 


Series 6: European Designers and Textile Manufacturers, 1955-1997, undated

Series 7: Miscellaneous, 1962
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Anne Jones, volunteer, 2003; supervised by Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, archivist.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 1940-1970
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Design drawings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Collection primarily documents Booth's career as a buyer for Lord & Taylor. It includes correspondence, photographs, drawings, clippings, and a scrapbook. There are materials relating to American born designers Claire McCardell (May 24, 1905- March 22, 1958) and Clare Potter (July 7, 1903- January 5, 1999). There is also information relating to European designers including Irish born Sybil Connolly (January 24, 1921- May 6, 1998) and Swedish born Countess Ebba Von Eckermann (April 19, 1921-February 2, 2018). In addition, materials relating to textile manufacturing and weaving, particularily in Ireland, can also be found among the materials. The collection is arranged in seven series:  Series 1, Personal Papers, 1936-1999, undated; Series 2, Hillandale Handweavers, 1948-1949, 1972, undated; Series 3, Lord & Taylor Country Clothes Shop, 1950s-1960s, undated; Series 4, Irish Materials, 1958-1999, undated; Series 5, American Designers, 1944-2000, undated; Series 6, European Designers and Textile Manufacturers, 1955-1997, undated; and Series 7, Miscellaneous, 1962.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials in the Archives Center

Dorothy Shaver Papers NMAH.AC0631


Carolyn and Donald Grepke Paper Doll Collection NMAH.AC0752


Estelle Ellis Collection NMAH.AC0423


Joseph Magnin Poster Collection NMAH.AC0355


Ming-Ju Sun Garfinckel's Fashion Drawings NMAH.AC0897


Henry Booth Collection, NMAH.AC0726


Priscilla of Boston Collection NMAH.AC0557


California Shop Records NMAH.AC0572


National Cotton Council of America Photographs and Films NMAH.AC01177


Division of Costume Audiovisual Collection NMAH.AC0801

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana NMAH.AC0060