Olive Leavister 19th Century Handmade Valentine Collection
name: label: Creator
content: Lazerowitz, Seymour (dealer)
label: Creator
content: Leavister, Olive Mae, 1913-1990
topic: label: Topic
content: Children
label: Topic
content: Holidays -- 1830-1880
label: Topic
content: Saint Valentine's Day -- 1830-1880
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, on July 11, 1990, by Seymour Lazerowitz.  Mr. Lazerowitz purchased the cards from Olive Leavister prior to her death.
creator: label: Creator
content: Lazerowitz, Seymour (dealer)
label: Creator
content: Leavister, Olive Mae, 1913-1990
setName: label: See more items in
content: Olive Leavister 19th Century Handmade Valentine Collection
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Olive Mae Leavister was born on December 16, 1913 in Kansas City, Missouri. She moved to the Washington, DC metropolitan area sometime in the 1930s where she met her husband Charles D. Leavister.  She was a charter member of the Maryland Doll Club and frequently gave lectures at doll and antique meetings. In addition, Mrs. Leavister also collected toys, children's books, holiday postcards, sewing objects, candy containers, Christmas ornaments, and valentines.  Olive Mae Leavister died on June 20, 1990.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.33 Cubic feet (1 box)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1830-1880
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Mr. Seymour A. Lazerowitz, a dealer, purchased the collection from Mrs. Leavister. He retained approximately fifteen items and donated the remainder to the Museum in Mrs. Leavister's memory.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0376
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Greeting cards
label: Type
content: Valentines
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, archivist, 1991.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Greeting cards -- 1830-1880
label: Genre/Form
content: Valentines -- 1830-1880 -- England
label: Genre/Form
content: Valentines -- 1830-1880 -- Germany
label: Genre/Form
content: Valentines -- 1830-1880 -- U.S.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Collection consists of one hundred and fifteen handmade valentine cards.  It contains examples of American, English, and German cards dating from the 1830s through the 1880s.  The cards are in excellent condition with many containing poems and signed by the sender.  In addition, there are a few envelopes found among these materials.