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BRINGING BACK BIRDS 

 BRINGS BUSINESS "®^ 



The 2)opi(l(ir propofjanda for the preservation of hirds is prodnciiifi 

 a demand for a class of merchandise that is pcculiarhj suitable as a sidf 

 line for florists. Aviaries are being featured by agrprssivc florists, who 

 have been quick to cash in on a movement that bids fair to become national 

 in scope. 



T MAY be said that the 

 Soocl people of this coun- 

 try are hijjhly susceptible 

 to fads, whether the fads 

 or popular hobbies be of 

 the indoors or outdoors, 

 %Yhether sensible or non- 

 sensical. John Smith and 

 Henry Jones, for instance, 

 their wives, daughters and 

 sons, for reasons sufficient to thoni- 

 selvos, but also to have the satisfac- 

 tion of knowing that they are in the 

 running socially and not occupying back 

 seats, are liable to surrender to any 

 worth-while fad tliat hai)pcns along, tlie 

 only essential being that the fad ar- 

 rive at a psychological moment and that 

 the Smiths' and the Joneses' pocket- 

 books be sufficiently lined. 



Fortunately, most fads and hol)bies 

 live and die in the districts in which 

 they originate and never become na- 

 tional in scope; but sometimes a capital 

 idea starts rolling and docs not stop un- 

 til it has the entire 

 couutrj' in its clutcli, 

 and then continues in 

 vogue and is followed 

 with more or less ex- 

 aggerated zeal until it 

 has lost its novelty. 

 Most of us remember 

 the years when bicy- 

 cling was ' ' the thing. ' ' 

 and recently we Avere 

 at the tail end of what 

 once was the great tan- 

 go dance craze. 



Fads Sell. 



Now, while fads 

 may provide interest- 

 ing subjects for soci- 

 ologists, they are of 

 greater importance to 

 business men. The 

 commercial aspect is 

 that a widespread pro- 

 paganda of any sort 

 creates a large demand 

 for the class of mer- 

 chandise required in 

 its fulfillment. It has 

 been said, by those 

 qualified to speak, tiiat 

 a fad of national pro- 

 portions, as a selling 

 factor for the given 

 merchandise, is greater 

 than any other form of 

 sales promotion, save 

 advertising. Further, 

 it is intimated that the 

 commercial effects of 

 such a fad are on a 



par with those engendered by a nation- 

 ally conducted advertising campaign, 

 the only difference being tiiat tlic for- 

 mer is free of charge. 



Two Well Known Fads. 



That a popular movement of any kind 

 has a latent selling power is tlemon- 

 strated by an incident some years ago, 

 when certain manufacturers of a nov- 

 elty tried to devise a fa<l that would 

 produce a quick distribution for their 

 goods. Their idea, however, was not 

 novel enough to catch the fancy of the 

 fickle public and, therefore, failed. The 

 comic statuette commonly known as 

 " liillilxin " ' is said to haxc found a 

 quick sale, because it became a fad 

 througli efforts on the part of the mak- 

 ers. 



From the lousiness axioms established 

 in this direction it would be reasonable 

 to assume that the tango surely accel- 

 ci'atod the sale of dancing jtumps, 

 gowns, iloor wax, graplioi)hones, etc. 



♦Bring Back the Birds" Window of Holm & Olson, St. Paul. 



The sum total of business created by 

 that fad, if it could be computed in 

 dollars and cents, certainly would be 

 astonishing. 



Heretofore there does not seem to 

 have been any fad or country-widt' hob- 

 by that directly benefited florists com- 

 mercially, not considering in this con- 

 nection the customary heavy spring 

 buying on the part of the ]ieople. Moth- 

 ers' and Memorial day business and 

 other plant or cut flower holidays. Now, 

 liowever, there is under way a propa- 

 ganda that florists, by jueans of a side 

 line, can cash in on. During the late 

 winter there has been and at i)resent 

 is in oiieration a so-called "liring Hack 

 the Birds" movement. Each spring 

 there has been an alarming decrease in 

 the number of birds, a condition that 

 of late has been the subject of frequent 

 editorials in the [lublic press. As a re- 

 sult, many people have .'ifliliated them- 

 selves with societies for the protection 

 and care of birils. Of course, there al- 

 ways lia\e been Audu- 

 bon clulis and ornitho- 

 logical societies, but 

 this year the efforts of 

 tlu' bird lovers are tak- 

 ing the form and force 

 of a propaganda, and 

 it is likely that next 

 y.-nr and the year after 

 the thing will become 

 wider in scope. 



Bird Homes. 



The argument of tlie 

 bird lovers is that the 

 birds must be provided 

 Avitli specially made 

 houses for nesting pur- 

 poses, that they must 

 be fed and shielded 

 from all agencies of 

 destruction. This nat- 

 urally creates a de- 

 mand for bird houses, 

 bird baths and bird 

 foods and, as these are 

 more or less associated 

 with gardens and flow- 

 ers, it is fitting that 

 florists should reap the 

 ju'ofits from their sale. 

 Here is a side line for 

 florists that a fad or 

 propaganda will hel[) 

 to sell. 



Window box manu- 

 facturers and a well 

 known Detroit florist, 

 in anticipation of the 

 boost given the sale of 

 bird houses, etc., by 



