July 10, 19LMI 



H K T 1 C I' L T V K K 



33 



WEEK END BOUQUETS. 



How an Active Young Woman In- 

 creased the Business of a Neigh- 

 boring Florist. 



It pays to read the magazinps. Some- 

 times a florist can find hints even 

 from a woman's magazine. In a re- 

 cent number of the Designer, for ex- 

 ample, Is an article by ii young 

 woman in wlilch she told how she In- 

 creased the business of a greenlio'ise 

 ni;in and added to her own income at 

 the same time. It seems probable that 

 other florists can get suggestions from 

 this woman's experience. Accordingly 

 a part of the article is reprinted here- 

 with. 



My mother was a semi invalid. She 

 and I lived alone, and although we had 

 some income, it was not enough for 

 many pleasures or luxuries. 



Next door to us lived a florist, and 

 each Saturday he brought my mother 

 a bouquet of some kind at the same 

 lime that he brought his wife flowers 

 for their own table. This little kind- 

 ness was so unfailing that my mother 

 and I began to regard it as part of 

 our lives, and our anticipation and 

 appreciation were always sincere. So 

 accustomed did we become to plan- 

 ning for this little courtesy that I 

 began to wonder why more people did 

 not buy flowers for the week-end and 

 special family days, and after reflec- 

 tion I decided that they thought it 

 was too expensive. Then I came to 

 a further conclusion: it is only flowers 

 by the box or the dozen that are be- 

 yond the purse of the average family 

 for every week. But why not buy one 

 pretty rose or a tiny spray of sweet 

 peas or violets or just two or three 

 carnations? Any of these in a pretty 

 vase or bowl suited to them would add 

 a touch of festive sweetness to a 

 family table without overstepping 

 finances. I kept thinking along this 

 line for several weeks until I had a 

 definite plan of action in mind. Then 

 1 said to the florist: "If you will let 

 me have a chance. I believe I can in- 

 crease your business." 



"Go ahead," he replied, "for that's 

 what we're after." 



The next day I visited one of the 

 large oflice buildings in our city, and 

 talked with the doctors, dentists, real 

 estate men and attorneys who had 

 headquarters in the building. I offered 

 for one dollar a month, or twenty-five 

 cents a week, to send their wives a 

 small decoration of flower? for the 



nq BulbiT 



IMPOltTED. DOMESTIC. 

 COLD STORAGE. 



^or py'erif monih in ific year Me hath iTome - 

 ihmcj to oi(or the yrowVr . Prompt j^upmentj- on 

 liea^fonuhle >rtock. Jnforrnafion and priceis on Tuture 

 cropo- ntatuT-iriif. WRITE Uo = — 



CHICAGO yffliSsVeedVtore newyork 



'"~*-^WRITE V^/OR Vy CALL 



THIS SEASON'S NEW ROSES 



PILGRIM CRUSADER PREMIIR RUSSELL HADLEY 



W* ar* reoelvlDc dally ahlpmenU ot thcM n«w KoMt, 1b Imvc qoAotltlM, amd 

 mok tmnlMb 9tkm*t on short notioe. 



W* bAv* > larse atoek >t aU UmM ot cholo* CAUfATIOKI, OHSTSAjrrKB- 

 irUlIS, ORCmSB, \A1AJEY and AMSBICAJ4 BEtADTTES. 



T.U. Main j^ WELCH BROS. CO. "« °^;SXl^.^i**8l''*" 



house. I made a guarantee that it 

 would always be full value, although 

 at different seasons it would be of dis- 

 tinctive variety. Under these condi- 

 tions I offered to write a contract for 

 a year, payments monthly. 



The little surprise idea and the mod- 

 erate amount to be expended carried 

 an appeal, and I secured contracts 

 from nearly every one whom I so- 

 licited. 



Of course my florist was delighted 

 with the success of the scheme, and he 

 offered me 25 per cent on all orders 

 that 1 might take thereafter, either by 

 contract or other method. 



One of my new customers said his 

 wife was out of town for six weeks, 

 hut that 1 might date his contract at 

 once and send the flowers to a hos- 

 pital ward until she returned. This 

 gave me another idea, so I went to one 

 of our local philanthropists and asked 

 him if he would not like to make a 

 contract, under special inducements, 

 to supply over-Sunday i;owers to the 

 hospital. He agreed to think the mat- 

 ter over, and inside of a month he 

 called me up and gave me his order. 



A YEAR OF ROSES. 



I could not work every day. as in- 

 terruptions at home prevented, but I 

 thought and planned when I couldn't 

 go out. and was prepared for action 

 when 1 did. 



I visited the meetings of the various 

 aid societies and church guilds, to 

 offer ray plan for providing flower" 

 for the Sunday church services. In 



these cases I was able to make very' 

 iiood terms to them because the 

 flowers only needed to last the one 

 day and I could send a large bouquet 

 (if full-blown flowers. 



Then I started a "buiHness birthday- 

 book." Whenever I heard an excep- 

 tional woman remark that she was 

 having a birthday. I put her name in 

 my business birthday-book, and hied 

 myself to her husband as a gentle re- 

 minder of his duty on this occasion. 

 Gradually these busy husbands have 

 come to leave this question of birth- 

 day and anniversary remembrances of 

 flowers to me. 



I have found that the holiday season 

 is quite a harvest-time for my busi- 

 ness. Many a wife has been presented 

 with "a year of roses" at Christmas. 

 :ind like a magazine subscription, the 

 !.'ift is appreciated more every time it 

 arrives. 



I also found in connection with the 

 holiday season that very often sons 

 and daughters who are away from 

 their parents a good part of the time, 

 are glad to subscribe to this contract 

 plan of mine and thus provide a bit of 

 cheer for the home that they leave 

 behind. 



Incidentally I have acquired consid- 

 erable business through people who 

 live distant from our city and have in- 

 terests in our local cemetery. These 

 friends are glad to have a personal 

 agent who will agree for a reasonable 

 sum to provide floral decorations at 

 stated times. 



R.\(HEI. Wav. 



