August 21, 1902. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



395 



an entrance fee of $15 each, besides the 

 rental. The exchange has paid 10 per 

 " cent dividends on the investment. 



In 1S91 the New Yoik Cut Flower Com- 

 pany was formed by a numljer of prom- 

 inent growers selling their own product 

 and some producers on commission at 

 the time of starting. This company was 

 claimed at the time to represent a year- 

 ly output of $750,000 worth of cut flow- 

 ers, and was the first to grade roses 

 as known now into fancy, special, extra 

 No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Both 

 these co-operative concerns in May, this 

 year, moved into the Coogan building, 

 corner of Twenty-sixth street and Sixth 

 avenue, and the memorable headquar- 

 ters so long known at the Thirty-fourth 

 street ferry is left to A. Herrmann and 

 a few others of the Long Island growers, 

 who still stick by the old stand. 



Chicago Starts. 



Chicago Comes next to New York in 

 the time of starling, and in the number 

 of wholesale firms doing business. To 

 J. C. Vaughan. the seedsman, must be 

 given the credit in starting. It had its 

 origin in some of Mr. Vaughan's cus- 

 tomers sending in some boxes of flow- 

 ers for him to try and sell. He. sending 

 one of his young men to the retail stores, 

 found it easy to do so. The news sprea'.l, 

 other consignments came and pretty 

 soon O. W. Frese, his young man, was 

 making regular daily visits, first with a 

 basket, then, as supplies increased, with 

 a horse and buggy, when regular rounds 

 were made by this carrier all o^■er the 

 city. In short order it was found that 

 these supplies were the very thing the 

 retail stores were after, that the retail- 

 ers would go to the stores for them, 

 and a wholesale flower department was 

 added to his business. This was run very 

 .successfully until the year 18S9. when 

 the late E. H. Hunt bought it out and 

 started on East Lake street. The busi- 

 ness is still in existence, with a large 

 supply department added. 



In 1S84 the Kennicott Brothers opened 

 the first wholesale flower store, in a space 

 eight feet square. This business grew 

 apace, and in 1892 a stock company 

 was formed, the name changed to Ken- 

 nicott Brothers Company. The Piesers 

 beCo.me interested, and the firm now has 

 7,000 feet of salesroom and is doing one 

 of the largest wholesale commission busi- 

 nesses in the city, if not in the country. 



Since Chicago's first start then, it, like 

 its sister cities, has seen lots of changes 

 in the men who essayed the way, as well 

 as the method under which the business 

 is now conducted. Some men and firms 

 in the fourteen years have dropped by 

 the wayside altogether, and some of the 

 men once in the swim are now managers 

 for others in the survival of the fittest. 

 The wholesale district has now centered 

 in and near the corner of Wabash ave- 

 nue and Randolph street, the Atlas block 

 having no less than eleven of the firms, 

 all with large, fine stores for doing busi- 

 ness. This is a great advantage in every 

 way, for both seller and buyer. 



Twelve years ago Chicago had four 

 wholesale florists. C. H. Fisk, Kennicott 

 Bros., E. H. Hunt and M. Olson; all 

 there were up to December. 1891. There 

 were noises in the air about this time, 

 and outcries against the commission man 

 by some growers, besides which some 

 of the latter day leviathans of the trade, 

 noted in this city, seemed to want to 

 handle their own flowers and money. It 

 resulted in a stock company called the 

 Chicago Florists' Exchange, which start- 

 ed and opened for business on Lake 

 street. November 15, 1892. It lasted but 

 two years, however, and had no success. 



The number of wholesalers at the pres- 

 ent day is somewhat smaller than a 

 couple of years ago, but these survivors 

 are stronger than ever and the business 

 harder for new ones to break into. Only 

 a part of the wholesalers are commis- 

 sion houses, pure and simple. They may 

 be divided thus: Bassett & Washburn, 

 Peter Reinberg. George Reinberg, Wietor 

 Bros, and Poehlmann Bros, are grower- 

 dealers, selling their own monster out- 

 put from at least 2,000,000 feet of glass. 

 J. A. Budlong sells his own and several 

 neighbors' stock. John Muno and Wei- 

 land & Risch operate on the same lines. 

 Benthey & Company sell their own cut 

 from New Castle, Indiana, and some on 

 commission. Frank Garland sells mainly 

 his own and the giowth of three broth- 

 ers, with but little on commission. E. C. 



Amling. E. H. Hunt. A. L. Randall, Ken- 

 nicott Bros. Co. and McKellar & Winter- 

 son are the only bona fide wholesale com- 

 mission florists among them. 



There is another peculiarity worth not- 

 ing in Chicago and the west. The fast- 

 growing trade in all kinds of florists' 

 supply goods is being handled almost ex- 

 clusively through these commission 

 houses. That, in eastern cities, we find 

 entirely separate. Tlie enormous amount 

 of wire work still used in the west is 

 almost exclusively made and sold by the 

 whole.sale florists. The amount of money 

 turned over by Chicago wholesale flor- 



and now does a general business. In 

 1884 W. J. Stewart, of Boston, opened a 

 branch store in Philadelphia, with N. 

 McCarthy in charge, mostly used for ex- 

 change of stock between I'hiladelphia and 

 Boston; in operation two and a half 

 years. In 1S86 La Roche & Stahl started 

 a wholesale branch, confined to a few 

 growers; in 1900 succeeded by Chas. B. 

 Stahl. still in business. In 1889 Fred 

 Ehret opened a store in the up-town dis- 

 trict, and is still in business. In 1892 J. 

 De Forest Ely, seedsman, opened a 

 wholesale cut flower department, lasted 

 two years, managed by Edward Reid, 



House of Liberty at Bassett & Washburn's, Hinsdile, III. Planted April 27th. 

 Photographed Aug. 1st. 



ists in a year is probably near one and 

 a half million dollars. 



The Boston Story. 



p. Welch, about the year 1879, first 

 started, subsequently forming a partner- 

 ship with his brothers, David and Ed- 

 ward, as Welch Brothers. Shortly after 

 this the Waban Rose Conservatories 

 opened an office in Boston for the sale of 

 their own products and that of any other 

 grow'ers who might consign to them. W. 

 J. Stewart, then a retail florist disposed 

 of this to take charge of the Waban Rose 

 Conservatories' city business. After two 

 yeais Mr. Stewart purchased this, con- 

 tinuing the same for about ten years, 

 when he sold out to Peck & Sutherland, 

 employes of his. Mr. Peck dying a year 

 after, was succeeded by his partner. Geo. 

 A. Sutherland. Prior to Mr. Stewart's 

 retirement, another employe, N. J. Mc- 

 Carth>'. started into business as N. J. 

 McCarthy & Co., who, however, does not 

 claim now to be a commission man. His 

 usual method is to buy outright from 

 growers, taking his chances of selling 

 out at a profit, and he claims to make 

 more money that way than he could on 

 commission sales. 



The Boston Flower Growers* Co-op- 

 erative Association is composed of a 

 number of growers, who. in old times, 

 peddled their flowers from store to store, 

 instead of through commission men. 

 From congregating in a near-by saloon 

 on Tremont street, like the Thirty-fourth 

 street ferry case in New York, was 

 evolved the housing of themselves in a 

 sort of a market. They are now incor- 

 porated, grown considerably, pay good 

 dividends, and are an established feature 

 in the Boston trade. 



At Philadelphia. 



In 1878 W. E. Meehan started, and 

 closed out in 1880. In ISSl Chas. E. Pen- 

 nock started, was succeeded in 1887 by 

 Samuel S. Pennock, who still continues 

 and does the largest business in this line 

 in the city. His cold storage is very 

 complete and he does a very large ship- 

 ping business. In 1885 Wm. J. Baker 

 started, making a specialty of cai-nations. 



who afterward started for himself and 

 still continues. In later years Dumont cfe 

 Co., Leo Niessen (formerly with S. S. 

 Pennock) and W. J. Moore started in 

 the business. None handle supplies; a 

 few handle plants on commission at the 

 holidays. There is no flower market and 

 around this city all the large growers 

 still sell their own product direct to the 

 retailers, so that the commission man 

 gets very few near-by growers. 



At Cincinnati, Ohio. 



More than fifty years ago Cincinnati 

 had the proud distinction of being the 

 Queen City of the West, in the garden- 

 ing line as well as others. It had its 

 horticultural journal, a very vigorous hor- 

 ticultural society, a good horticultural 

 libi'ary and fine flower shows for the time. 

 It also had some first-class nurseryman- 

 florists, who did the bulk of the trade 

 in plants and flowers west of the Alle- 

 ghenies. If Chicago and other smaller 

 cities of the time had a call for fancy 

 floral work. Cincinnati supplied them, as 

 did New York east of the slope. 



As time will not allow me to give a 

 general history. I come at once to the 

 wholesale cut flower business, past and 

 present. The first to make the venture 

 was one Frank Church, a well-known fig- 

 ure now^ in Chicago, who started in 1887, 

 but the business had a short life. In 1887, 

 M. J. McCullough & Sons telegraphed 

 E. G. Gillett. then in Springfield Ohio to 

 come on and take charge of a wholesale 

 cut flower department the firm had opened 

 on a very small scale. At first the only 

 consignor was McFadden. then the larg- 

 est grower in the city. Afterwards the 

 cuts from C. C. Mitchell and others were 

 added. A few months after this the late 

 H. L. Sunderbruch opened to sell cut 

 flowers at wholesale. At his death the 

 business was sold to Albert, a brother, 

 William Mann and Frank Ball, who ran 

 it for about a year, when a stock com- 

 pany was formed imder the name of the 

 Cincinnati Cut Flow'er Co.. which still 

 does a good business on a regular com- 

 mission basis for consignors from Ohio 

 and nearby states. E. G. Gillett con- 

 tinued manager for McCullough for five 



