When still in her 20s, the future art collector Elaine Dannheisser, with dreams of becoming an illustrator, took a job with an engraving company in Queens, New York. One day, her boss, Werner Dannheisser, a refugee from Nazi Germany, asked her what she wanted for Christmas. "I want," she replied "to marry you."

Dannheisser instructed his future bride to go and plan their wedding.