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TOIIIIIIIIM 



MEMORIAL DAY 



i^ A MONEY MAKER 



Wi/fe Memorial day little more than five weeks after Easter, and with 

 Mothers' day in the interim, this i3 a record season for the trade. And 

 of the three special flower days in five weeks, the one yet to come, with 

 many, is the mx)st important, hecause the most profitable. 



M 



1 



HERE are low spots, of 



^ I day cuts little figure with 



JL florists, but in that part 

 of the country where flo- 

 rists are most numerous 

 May 30 has come to be the 

 big day of the year — the 

 big day because it calls 

 for the use of more flow- 

 ers than are sold at Christmas or Eas- 

 ter; the big day because it marks the 

 culmination of the bedding season, the 

 season of cemetery work, the season 

 when the florist works from dewy dawn 

 to deepening dusk and does not then get 

 the day's duties done. 



Memorial Day's Many Merits. 



It will pay every, member of the trade 

 to think over the various aspects of the 

 business, the regular business and the 

 special features of each special flower 

 day. Nine chances out of ten a careful 

 consideration will show up places where 

 money is being lost instead of gained, 

 or where opportunities are being neg- 

 lected. But there's nothing to the dis- 

 advantage of Memorial day unless it 

 be that there is too 

 much to do, and even 

 this is more easily got 

 around than at any 

 other day of unusual 

 demand. 



Think it over and it 

 will appear to you that 

 Memorial day has many 

 strong claims on each 

 retail florist 's regard, 

 but that its best fea- 

 ture undoubtedly is 

 that the profits are 

 greater than they are 

 at any other big day. 

 The reason for this, 

 first, is that stock of 

 one kind or another is 

 plentiful, so that if one 

 flower is higher than 

 ordinary in the mar- 

 kets another can be 

 used instead; and, as 

 an important second 

 consideration, there is 

 the fact that most of 

 the Memorial day sales 

 are to people who take 

 the flowers with them, 

 thus saving much work 

 for the florist and quite 

 a little on the delivery 

 expense. 



Then, too, there is 

 that matter of get- 



ting ready. Many a man has been put- 

 ting in spare time for days, making up 

 magnolia wreaths against the expected 

 demand. If he overestimates the quan- 

 tity he can sell, they will go out for 

 funerals the next few days and there 

 will be no loss, which cannot be said by 

 all of those who overguessed their ca- 

 pacity on Easter plants. 



Yes, from every point of view Me- 

 morial day is specially worth our at- 

 tention. 



Everybody Interested Now. 



Of course the flags and the stacked 

 muskets still are the window symbols 

 of Memorial day, but if anyone looks 

 upon it as principally an old soldiers' 

 observance, why, either one of two 

 things is the matter: Either little at- 

 tention has been paid to what the public 

 does that day or else the florists in that 

 town have been neglectful of their op- 

 portunities. 



Memorial day dates back to 1868, 

 when it was established by the G. A. R., 

 but in recent years, as the ranks of the 

 veterans thinned, the general public be- 

 gan to observe the day in the same way. 



Dress up the Window with Flags, Guns and— Wreaths. 



by carrying flowers to the cemeteries. 

 There still are parts of the country to 

 which Memorial day has not yet pene- 

 trated, but in nearly all northern cities 

 and towns Memorial day in the ceme- 

 teries calls for the same general use of 

 flowers that marks All Saints' day in 

 the cemeteries of the south. 



So long as May 30 belonged specially 

 to the old soldiers it did not really count 

 in flower selling, but when the general 

 public began to take hold the trade 

 naturally got a big boost. 



Those who delight to argue have had 

 warm discussions over the question 

 whether florists' newspaper advertising 

 created the demand or whether florists 

 began to advertise because the public 

 had discovered it could share the fine 

 sentiment of Memorial day. 



But What's the Difference! 



We all know that the demand for 

 flowers has grown most rapidly as flo- 

 rists have made known their ability to 

 meet it. 



The first thing one runs up against in 

 studying the Memorial day demand is 

 that the public will not stand high 

 prices; people will not 

 buy expensive flowers 

 to leave in the ceme- 

 teries. However, the 

 man who is suitably lo- 

 cated to be reached by 

 the buyers can sell 

 large quantities of the 

 showier kinds of flow- 

 ers offered at moderate 

 prices. That's why the 

 peony is so preemi- 

 nently the flower of 

 the day — it makes a 

 big show for little 

 money. 



The greater part of 

 the cut flowers sold at 

 Memorial day go to 

 the cemeteries in the 

 form of large, low- 

 priced bouquets. This 

 is especially true in 

 the country towns and 

 small cities. In the 

 metropolitan stores 



that cater to a higher 

 class of trade wreaths 

 sell well and there are 

 possibilities in low- 

 priced sprays. One of 

 the curiosities of the 

 trade has been the 

 vogue of the magnolia 

 wreath trimmed with 

 artificial flowers. Noth- 



