These lovely Christmas card illustrations appealed immediately to my long-sustained love of works from the Golden Age of American Illustration, roughly 1880-1920, in which I have been steeped since 1992 when I entered the doctoral program in art history at the University of Delaware. It turned out, a complete coincidence, that the cradle of the movement was Wilmington, Delaware, the birthplace of Howard Pyle, a towering figure in that specialty. I had grown up reading Pyle’s illustrated versions of Robin Hood and King Arthur, little thinking that as an adult I would find myself an expert in American illustration and even have the excitement of owning a Howard Pyle original. Pyle was a peerless artist, writer, and teacher who had a soft spot for women artists. While Hills was not one of Pyle’s pupils, she was a highly-regarded miniature painter, illustrator, and painter of floral themes, centered in Boston. One of the ways in which women artists could earn a good living was through illustration and Hills was quite productive in this domain. I was not only thrilled to find these watercolors but to be able to sell them to the Delaware Art Museum, working with a fellow Ph.D. art history program graduate, Mary Holahan. Mary and I partnered on several purchases and donations, which was highly rewarding to me. This museum is founded on the basis of Howard Pyle’s estate and his studio and classrooms are just a stone’s throw from the museum’s campus.