August 4, 1917 



H R T I C U L T U H !•: 



127 



THE F. T. D. CLEARING 



HOUSE OF PAST DUE BILLS. 



It being an unfortunate fact that a 

 goodly number of retail florists are 

 absolutely unreliable and never in- 

 tend to pay a bill they can escape, why 

 cannot all the good reliable retail flor- 

 ists help weed out this detrimental 

 element in our profession? Do not 

 say: "It Can't Be Done," but help to 

 knock the T out of the can't and there 

 Is one way it can be accomplished and 

 bring results quickly, and that is noth- 

 ing more than sincere and earnest co- 

 operation with the Secretary of The 

 Florists' Telegraph Delivery. 



Hundreds of past due and old bills 

 have come through The F. T. D. Clear- 

 ing House, sent in by members, and 

 right today we could get up a list of 

 retailers around the country who are 

 well known and prominent florists but 

 who never pay their bills on time, and 

 some bills they do not intend to pay 

 for at all. Over the past period of 

 twelve months I have come across bills 

 of a few retailers almost daily, and 

 these bills were from F. T. D. members 

 from every part of the United States 

 and Canada. Some retailers I know 

 who have owed bills to at least fifty 

 F. T. D. members, in fifty different 

 localities, and have owed them for a 

 long time and only by threatening 

 them that all our membership would 

 be notified and warned not to fill any 

 more orders for them, have we been 

 able to get them to pay their bills. 



Our F. T, D. members are advised 

 not to fill orders for every retailer 

 around the country, unless such re- 

 tailers have established a credit with 

 them, or are F. T. D, members, as this 

 membership, through its guarantee 

 fund, which is now over $7,000.00 has 

 established a credit for every member, 

 and is, also, advising every member 

 to pay bills promptly to all florists 

 who are not members of the F. T. D., 

 in order to build up a strong reputation 

 for the entire membership. 



The poor, or non-paying florists can 

 only be eliminated by co-operating 

 with the Secretary of the F. T. D. 

 Send itemized bills to the F. T. D. 

 Clearing House of all bills you have 

 against other retailers, so they may be 

 recorded in this office, and the parties 

 owing it will be corresponded with. 



It has become absolutely necessary 

 to sift out the men that send out tele- 

 graph orders for others to fill, without 

 any intention of ever paying for same, 

 because a number of good retailers 

 have been stung a great deal of late 

 and are getting to a point where they 

 do not even care to fill orders for any 

 one, good or bad, which is bringing on 

 some very embarrassing conditions, 

 as the F. T. D. members are constantly 

 advertising the fact to their patrons 

 that they can make deliveries any- 

 where. For once and all the time, do 

 not put the F. T. D. members, or at 

 least the majority of them, on the 

 same scale as you would some retailer 

 who has owed you a bill for a long 

 time, as this is absolutely against the 



I 



■i 



HOTEL CUMBERLAND 



NEW YORK, Broadway at 54th Street 



Broadway cars 



from Grand 

 Central Depot 



7th Avenue Cars 



from Penn'a 



Station 



New and 



Fireproof 



Strictly First-Class 

 Rates Reasonable 

 Rooms with Adjoining Bath 



*l.SOup 



Rooms with Private Bath 



«2.00 up 



Suites $4.00 up 



10 Minutes Walk to 40 Theatres 

 Send for Booklet 



HARRY P. STIMSON 



Formerly with Hotel Imperial 

 On/y New York Hotel Window-Screened Throughout 



I 



F. T. D. Association's by-laws and con- 

 stitution, and if any F. T. D. members 

 owe you money long past due, do not 

 hesitate to send an itemized bill to the 

 F. T. D. Secretary who will at once do 

 his best to censure any such members. 

 Every F. T. D. member must do his 

 best to set an example, and is com- 

 pelled to do so, in order to hold his 

 membership. 



All these things must be put on more 

 of a business basis, and can be done 

 only by co-operation. Why do people 

 pay their gas, electric and -water bills 

 and taxes promptly? Because they lose 

 the discount if they don't. Why not 

 let the florists who do not pay their 

 bills for transfer orders promptly, lose 

 the discount? This would eoon cure 

 a good many slow payers. 



It is up to the retail florists to make 

 a better and more efl^cient retail flor- 

 ist trade, and make their profession 

 looked upon by the public from a dif- 

 ferent angle than it has been for a 

 good many years. Let the retail florists 

 of today be 50 per cent merchant and 

 .50 per cent floral artist. I am sure 

 that in many cases there is not 15 per 

 cent mercantile ability installed in 

 some retail floral shops. 



.My six years experience of being in 

 constant touch with retailers through- 

 out the entire country, both F. T. D. 

 members and non-members, has given 

 me the greatest and most interesting 

 study I have ever had in my life, and 

 with that a great deal of enjoyment. 

 In this work for a better and more 

 eflScient Retail Florist Trade. 



Albert Pochelon, Secy. F. T. D. 



DURING RECESS 



St. Louis Florists 

 The picnic was a success and everj'- 

 body who attended had an enjoyable 

 time. The ball game was a hot time. 

 Frank Gorly umpired and "kicks" were 

 frequent from the wholesalers that 

 he favored the retailers in the breaks. 

 This he resented and declared that 

 had he done so he would be charged 

 with having bought gladioli 25 per 

 cent, under value in the morning. C. 

 W. Wors had charge of the guessing 

 contest. W. J. Pitcher was busy get- 

 ting members for the S. A. F. 



The Events. 



Novelty rare for men, 50-var(I dash for 

 lioys, novelty rnce for single ladles, and 

 selcet draft fcir married ladies, a prize to 

 eacli one. Niccer l>al)y. boys: Ist, Fred 

 Vandover; 2iid, Donalil Wells. Flag con- 

 test. Birls: Ist, Celeia Weisser ; 2nd, Slar- 

 cuerite Wors. Ball tlirowiiiK, girls: Ist, 

 niiratba Cliadsey; 2nd. Violet Faerber. 

 (ines.sing: 1st. Silvia Kaerljer; 2nd, Tom 

 Klrlcwood. Tng-of-war. Growers vs. Ke- 

 tailers: Won by Growers. Ball game: 

 Wholesalers lieat Retailers, 14 — 13. 



Buffalo Florists' Club. 



The annual outing of the Buffalo 

 Florists' Club members and their fami- 

 lies was held at Smith's Grove on 

 Wednesday, .Tuly 25. The program in- 

 cluded a baseball game between the 

 storemen and the greenhouse workers 

 and other athletic contests and 

 dancing. All had a good time. 



New London, Conn. — Ell Fellman of 

 Boston has entered the employ of 

 Fisher, the florist. Mr. Fellman and 

 -Mr. Fisher were co-workers in a large 

 florist shop in Boston several years 

 ago. 



Toronto Retail Florists 



The picnic of the Retail Florists' 

 Club of Toronto took place on Wed- 

 nesday, .luly 11. Rain Interfered 

 somewhat wltji the full enjoyment of 

 the day, but all had a good time, 

 nevertheless. 



