THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



103 



The Pillow, One of the Older Designs Capable of Many Variations. 



a number of friends are uniting together 

 to send a deceased friend a design, get 

 all you possibly can. They won t miss 

 it and it s a worthy way to distribute 

 wealth, and distributed it is, as is the 

 outlay for all luxuries as well as ne 

 cessities. 



No association or legislation or ad 

 vice or admonition from pastor or bishop 

 can stop or abolish the use of flowers 

 at funerals; for there is nothing else 

 you can do. In no other way can you 

 show your sympathy. With some peo 

 ple the use of flowers at the grave is as 

 old as history and will continue. But 

 fashion ! and a more refined taste will 

 modify and change the manner of their 

 use. 



We read constantly of the obsequies 

 of some illustrious personage in Europe 

 and the flowers used are invariably in 

 the shape of a wreath. You would think 

 they knew of nothing else but a wreath, 

 for it is a wreath from the emperor of 

 Germany, or Edward VII, or the &quot;Hon 

 orable Guild of Candlestick Makers of the 

 Ancient City of London.&quot; They never 

 rise above or below a wreath, and when 

 you read of carloads of wreaths, or that 

 it took 100 able-bodied men to carry the 

 wreaths, as it did at the funeral of the 

 late president of France, you feel 

 nauseated, as if you had sat down to 

 a dinner of fourteen courses, but every 

 course was the same old thing. I may 

 be mistaken, but I don t think they stick 

 to this very ancient but still most beau 

 tiful design because they haven t heard 



of any other; it is solely because it is 

 simple and chaste, and they don t want 

 any other. Yet it seems that a bunch 

 or loose arrangement of roses or carna 

 tions or orchids would be a relief and 

 change from the everlasting wreath. 



Our best people (by that I don t mean 

 necessarily the most virtuous, but the 

 people of wealth and refinement and the 

 taste and education which wealth af 

 fords) have almost entirely set their 

 faces against the elaborate designs that 

 were used by all classes twenty years 

 ago. Gates ajar and broken columns 

 and scrolls, and even crosses and anchors 

 are never seen or ordered by that class 

 who lead in fashion, and depend upon 

 it, the other strata of society will copy 

 and emulate the well-to-do as they do 

 in every particular where their means can 

 possibly reach. 



Floral arrangements for the more re 

 fined are almost entirely now limited to 

 loose arrangements. Cycas leaves, two 

 or three dozen roses, lily of the valley, 

 a bunch of Eoman hyacinths. A wreath 

 is often used, but it is usually some 

 distinct design. Ivy leaves with lily of 

 the valley or all valley, orchids, or all 

 roses, or valley and violets, or all vio 

 lets. And in many cases the above flow 

 ers are bought and sent to the house of 

 mourning simply with a card and loosely 

 in a box. 



It would be absurd for the florist to 

 discourage the use of large designs 

 where they are wanted, and in case of 

 societies who wish to send a design to 



a late brother or sister there is noth 

 ing but a large design to send, and the 

 catering to this class of&quot; business is quite 

 lucrative with many. Where the design 

 is a pillow, broken column, anchor or 

 scroll, there is room for a display of 

 skill and art, but where the design repre 

 sents the calling of the departed there 

 is no art, it is merely mechanical, bad 

 taste and bound to sink into disuse. It 

 is impossible to make beautiful such a 

 thing as a fireman s hat, a locomotive, 

 a safe, a gun, a desk; or in case of a 

 brewer, a quarter-barrel keg. There is 

 no skill in making those designs; the 

 wire worker is the only man who exer 

 cises any skill; putting the flowers into 

 the monstrosities is no more than putting 

 on an overcoat; the tailor is the man 

 who had the skill; if you depart from 

 the lines laid down by the frame you 

 spoil the imitation. 



There is a wonderful change in the 

 material used since the days of balsams 

 and hollyhocks, when a design resembled 

 a clipped sheep, with a Safrano bud 

 here and there raised above the surface 

 a fraction over the rest; and tuberoses 

 were a very important flower. Funeral 

 designs are now made with great taste. 

 Fine flowers are used and color is not 

 forbidden. Xo longer do we see the 

 solemn whiteness in bunches or designs, 

 or any arrangements. Why should we? 

 I think the fashion of white flowers is 

 as absurd as the cieep mourning assumed 

 by many. A long black veil only at 

 tracts notice and attention, and surely 



