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APRIL 22, 1920 



The Florists' Review 



23 



TATE^S TIPS 



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FUNEBAI. DESIGNS. 



Sliould Be Artistic. 



During the last five years no branch 

 of the retail florists' business has ad- 

 vanced as has funeral work. In times 

 when flowers were the scarcest the 

 florist was often at his wit's end to 

 secure sufficient stock to fill his orders 

 and this emergency was the test that 

 proved whether the one who dealt in 

 flowers was a florist or not. I have seen 

 floral offerings, especially during the 

 flu epidemic last year, which were 

 nothing short of a disgrace to the firms 

 that made them. Artificial flowers were 

 used and all sense of the artistic seemed 

 to be sacrificed for the dollar. I don't 

 mean by this statement that the dollar 

 is not a necessary thing, but I do say 

 that when there is a campaign of edu- 

 cation being carried on in the country 

 to teach the people to "Say It with 

 Flowers," they should be educated to 

 say it with natural flowers. Further- 

 more, the artistic element which has 

 lain dormant in the public should be 

 aroused. It is the duty of the florist 

 always to bear this in mind when he is 

 arranging a floral offering. During the 

 same epidemic it was my pleasure to 

 see some magnolia or galax leaves, with 

 a few fresh flowers, arranged into an 

 offering that was a credit to the florists ' 

 business. I will say that some of these 

 designs, from an artistic standpoint, 

 were finer and in better taste than if 

 stock had been used more profusely. 

 The fact that stock was scarce put 

 the designer on his mettle and in many 

 cases he turned out work for less money 

 than the artificial arrangements cost, 

 with which there was no comparison. 



Indivldaallty an Asset. 



Now, before we talk about the actual 

 arrangement of flowers for funeral pur- 

 poses, let us see what is required in the 

 designer. The first thing, in my estima- 

 tion, is individuality. Don't be afraid 

 to get away from beaten paths. I can 

 remember the time in the city in which 

 I live when if you showed me a funeral 

 design, nine times out of ten I could 

 tell you by whom it was made; the in- 

 dividuality of the designer would be 

 stamped on it. In some cases this was 

 artistic and in some it was otherwise. 

 We all know that some designers are 

 born; that is, they have a natural taste 

 for the arrangement of flowers. Never- 

 theless, I claim that this taste can be 

 cultivated. I have heard people say 

 'hat they could not make an artistic 

 arrangement of flowers; such people are 

 either lazy or lacking in courage. Did 

 anyone ever hear of the artist becoming 

 a painter of renown or the musician a 

 Jnaster of his instrument without hard 

 ^ork, long hours of practice and study t 

 ^'^'s is the only way to success in any 

 calling, J ^ J 



Study Others' Work. 



«Tust a word to the young designer. 

 fj'd you ever go to the cemetery after 

 tfie funeral of some prominent person, 

 alter everyone had left the grave, pick 

 out those offerings which struck you as 



being out of the ordinary, study their 

 construction and make notes for future 

 reference! Study the offerings and see 

 where it would be possible for you to 

 improve on them; remember that this 

 is the work of some designer whose 

 work in your estimation is superlative. 

 Don't let this deter you. Study his 

 work with the eye of a critic; find fault 

 with it, but let this fault be found only 

 by yourself and in the cemetery. Do 

 this as often as you have an opportunity 

 and you will soon find that none of us 

 is infallible and you will soon find that 

 you are gaining confidence in your 

 ability. 



Use Inlttative. 



I have written this advice for the 

 young designer and I am going to give 

 you a trade secret. I know some de- 

 signers today who have spent a life- 

 time in this calling, and who never let 

 such an opportunity slip by. They will 

 tell you there is always something to 

 learn in the florists' business. But the 

 important part of all this is, at the 

 first opportunity put any idea you may 

 havS gained from this study into execu- 

 tion. Bemember that this branch of 

 the business is not much over 50 

 years old and just such little things 

 as the foregoing have made it what it 



is today. To those who have never done 

 this, my advice is to give it a trial and 

 see if your ideas do not broaden. 



Another point I wish to impress on 

 the designer is to get away as much as 

 possible from the set wire frame. Did 

 you ever stop to think, when you 

 have a design all mossed up and have 

 the flowers all stemmed for you, that 

 some foreigner is the true designer f Of 

 course, I know that there are oc- 

 casions when a design is absolutely 

 necessary, but there are many of our 

 florists today who will recommend a set 

 design because it is along the line of 

 least resistance. In other words, you 

 are willing to use the brains of your 

 wire worker rather than your own; you 

 are too indifferent or afraid to use ini- 

 tiative, just the thing that will gain for 

 you the reputation of being exclusive in 

 your work. This is one of the most 

 valuable assets you can possess. The 

 best taste of the country tabooed 

 designs long ago. In fact, the best stores 

 of the country have little use for them. 

 If they must have them they are or- 

 dered as they are required and, aside 

 from wreaths, are seldom carried in 

 stock. Tate. 



BRIEF ANSWERS. 



O. A. K., Penn. — It is lycopodium, 

 ground pine, bouquet green. 



J. R., Okla. — If we read you correctly, 

 it is dracsena; imported canes are rooted 

 in sand. 



Mrs. I, H., Tex. — Address Artmusic, 

 Inc., New York city. 



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CANADIANS PLAN OAMFAION. 



Big Meeting at Toronto. 



One of 'the most important florists ' 

 meetings ever held in Toronto took 

 place at the^ Toronto Retail Florists' 

 Club rooms April 19, when the growers 

 and retailers sat around the banquet 

 table and listened to well known men 

 in the trade tell of successful coopera- 

 tive plans for florists. 



Seated around- the head table were 

 H. G. Dillemuth, pycsident of the To- 

 ronto Retail Florists* Club, who was 

 toastmaster; Geo. Asmus, Chicago; Fred 

 C. W. Brown, Cleveland; E. B. Hamil- 

 ton, president of the C. H. A., London; 

 Wallace Eiss, Buffalo; W. E. Groves, 

 Hamilton; John H. Dunlop, Richmond 

 Hill; Orlando Ofield, Grimsby; Jas. S. 

 Wilson, Woodstock; Silas McFadden, 

 Geo. M. Geraghty, Walter Muston, Alex- 

 ander Simpson, Harry James and John 

 Mills, Toronto. 



Cooperation the Theme. 



The theme of the discussion was the 

 necessity of getting together for the 

 benefit of the trade. A standing vote 

 at the conclusion of the address showed 

 that all were in favor of the idea of co- 

 operation in the disposal of flowers. At 

 the conclusion several growers, includ- 

 ing John H. Dunlop, W. W. Gammage, 

 Orlando Ofield and Walter Muston, 

 called for immediate action along the 



lines outlined by the speakers and a 

 meeting will be called at an early date 

 to take action. 



Geo. Asmus pointed out that the flo- 

 rists have built their business on the 

 idea that people love flowers, but have 

 obtained the business in a haphazard 

 way. Many other lines of business have 

 advertised extensively, but florists have 

 not done so to any extent until recently. 

 Of 628 lines of goods shown at Atlantic 

 City recently, all were nationally adver- 

 tised. The raisin, prune, lemon, orange, 

 walnut and other growers advertise na- 

 tionally, with good results, said Mr. 

 Asmus, and when the Canadian florists 

 realize that the same good results can be 

 obtained with cooperative advertising 

 of flowers, they will no doubt get to- 

 gether, and he hoped that time would 

 not be long distant. 



S. A. F. Shows Way. 



The small campaign of the S. A. F. 

 last year showed what could be done if 

 all the growers and retailers united. 

 This campaign was supported on the 

 voluntary plan. This has been criti- 

 cised, but it got results. These were 

 due to the people 's love of flowers, the 

 wonderful slogan, "Say It with Flow- 

 ers," and the great prosperity of the 

 last two years. 



The other speakers appealed to the 

 large gathering along similar lines, and 

 it was decided to make a start in To- 

 ronto at an early date. J. J. H. 



