﻿"V^-T"- 



--J-jr^ ~~ isS ^^f"^ 



^>jr|i"' 'y.i\M~f^^' 



Apbil 29, 1020 



The Florists^ Review 



23 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



// ^ /Sb. WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



W' 



FUNERAL PIECES. 



Searcli far Novelty. 



The progressive florist will always 

 be on the alert to give his patrons 

 something new and different in funeral 

 offerings. The public becomes just as 

 tired of the same wreaths, crosses, stars 

 and anchors as you would of sitting 

 down to the same dighes for your meals 

 on a given day each week. There are 

 some florists who go on from year to 

 year arranging the same old designs 

 in exactly the same old way. It may 

 be a bit far-fet/Bhed to say that the 

 public likes a change of style in funeral 

 offerings as they d© in everything else. 

 You may say that when people are in 

 bereavement they are not thinking much 

 about style. This is just the time when 

 they are most sensitive and quickest to 

 notice anything that may be unique or 

 out of the ordinary, and they are just 

 as quick to note any shortcoming or 

 defect. 



Even if you are obliged to use some 

 of the old and oft-used designs, don't 

 be afraid to arrange them differently. 

 Some of the best florists of the country 

 are today using baskets for funeral of- 

 ferings, made in such a manner that the 

 only thing that distinguishes them from 

 use for some festive occasion is the sur- 

 roundings and the word "Sympathy" 

 instead of "Congratulations" on the 

 card. 



Family Offerings. 



Always remember that in every fu- 

 neral design, and, in fact, every ar- 

 rangement of flowers you may make for 

 any purpose, you are giving someone a 

 lesson in how to ' ' Say It with Flowers. ' ' 

 Let us see for a moment what this edu- 



cation amounts to. I will cite just one 

 instance, how one woman in Philadel- 

 phia impressed on the mind of the public 

 that the proper thing to wear on 

 Mothers' day was white carnations. It 

 is impossible to tell the time, money and 

 effort that have been spent to counter- 

 act this impression and it has not been 

 entirely eradicated yet. 



But let us get down to the actual 

 offerings themselves. In this article 

 I am only going to speak of the larger, 

 or perhaps the more expensive, ones, 

 those that would come from the im- 

 mediate family or close friends. Smaller 

 designs and those that can be arranged 

 in times of scarcity and high prices, at 

 a comparatively low price, will be taken 

 up in a later article. 



Making the Pall. 



The pall is perhaps the first thing 

 mentioned in a family conference when 

 it meets to talk flowers. Often the 

 entire family will pool their contribu- 

 tions in order to have something fine. 

 I know of nothing in which the florist 

 has a better opportunity to display his 

 artistic ability than in one of these. At 

 the same time there is nothing that 

 show* more clearly how slow some 

 florists are to learn. Only last winter 

 I heard of one being made for a 

 prominent man on wire chicken netting. 

 In these days it is possible to get net- 

 ting in the regular sizes from any supply 

 house. The size I like best is 4%x7 

 feet; this does not interfere too much 

 with the pallbearers' handling the cas- 

 ket. I can remember the time when it 

 was necessary to go around the docks 

 and buy enough seine to make one. 



Have a frame much like one of the 

 old quilting frames our mothers used. 

 Run a row of smilax, or whatever 



green you are going to use for a bed, 

 around the edges. Fill the center well, 

 having it well wired. You are now 

 ready for the flowers. These will only 

 be limited by the price you are receiv- 

 ing for the pall. 



A description of what I considered 

 the finest piece of floral art I ever 

 saw will perhaps be as good as any- 

 thing I could say on this subject. While 

 this was an expensive piece of work, 

 the principle can be worked out at al- 

 most any price. In the center wa& 

 worked out a cross of orchids; remem- 

 ber, no frame was used. The orchids 

 were tied to the netting just as the 

 smilax was. This was about thirty or 

 thirty-five inches long. Then a border 

 about four inches wide, of valley, wa& 

 run around the entire pall, about twelve 

 inches from the edge, giving it the ap- 

 pearance of a blanket, which the pall is 

 often called. Inside each corner of thi» 

 border an orchid wreath about twelve 

 inches in diameter was worked; these 

 hung over corner posts of a specially 

 constructed casket. Then the entire 

 green bed was dotted over with maiden- 

 hair fern. When it was in place the four 

 wreaths hung on each corner of the 

 casket, with the cross in the center, and 

 the border of valley came just about 

 to the handlebars. There was nothing 

 gaudy about it; its very simplicity made 

 one feel that it was the work of a true 

 artist. The most careful measurements 

 had to be observed in this particular 

 pall. This should be done in every case; 

 access to the casket can always be had 

 from the undertaker. 



Casket Cover. 



Then there is the casket cover. Most 

 florists use a wire design for this. Often 

 it is in two parts; the foot can be placed 



Funeral Work Affords the Florist Uallmited Opportuaity to Show His Artistry. 



