

||llintW' J jrW MII III | | | | | | || || | | | |i n iiii m | 





ficmiSTS' 



? 



1 17^ 



SHOULD A MOURNER 



^ SEND A BASKET? 



Should we encourage the use of baskets for floivers at the sad affairs? 

 Will the frequent use of baskets at funerals have the effect of destroying 

 their popularity for presentation purposes f Would it be well to hold this 

 style of arrangement in reserve for joyous occasions? 



OBODY -will dispute that 

 "^|k ^ a man gets to be known 

 R^j^L I by the company he keeps. 

 1^^ What, then, is the status 

 "^ of the basket found fre- 



^ ^ quently in association 

 -^— ' with the calla, the tube- 



rose, or that taxidermists', 

 pot-boiler, the snow white 

 dove with outstretched 

 wings and beady eyes? What, it is 

 repeated, will be the fate of the basket 

 if it comes to be associated with the 

 men with the white cotton gloves? 



But, you say, the basket is not known 

 as a receptacle for funeral flowers, that, 

 on the contrary, it is not seen often 

 amid the sad surroundings. True, but 

 -listen. 



Its Use Increasing. 



Florists have got so into the habit 

 of using baskets, a basket for this, 

 a basket for that, a basket for every- 

 thing, that they are recommending bas- 

 kets for funerals — one sees them there 

 much more frequently than in the quite 

 recent past. If it isn't custom, it's 

 growing. 



The day was when a wire frame was 

 the first thing that flashed to mind when 

 funeral flowers were mentioned. If it 

 is not so today it is 

 because of the creation 

 of the spray. But who 

 would think of sending 

 a spray to any affair 

 but a funeral? Do we 

 want it to be like that 

 with the basket? 



Take the case of the 

 calla. Why do the 

 callas go to waste if 

 there is not enough 

 funeral work to use 

 them up? Do you 

 know any finer flower 

 than the calla? No, 

 but it's white, you 

 say. Sure, and in the 

 early days there were 

 so few suitable white 

 flowers that, no matter 

 what else there was at 

 a funeral, there always 

 were some callas. So 

 people got to associat- 

 ing callas with funer- 

 als, until today callas 

 can be used for no 

 other purpose. 



To get the basket 

 into the same class as 

 the calla we have only 

 to fill one with the 

 other and perch a dove 

 on the handle. Do it 



often enough and the result is certain. 

 This is not an argument against it; 

 it is merely a statement of fact. 



A Wonderful Popularity. 



It is fair to say that no accessory 

 ever placed in flower stores has had 

 the wonderful popularity of the basket. 

 The trade was slow to take it up and 

 the brainy men in the supply business 

 met many obstacles in their efforts to 

 get retailers to try to sell baskets as 

 well as flowers, but, once fairly started, 

 the vogue of the basket quickly be- 

 came general. It is really marvelous 

 what great quantities of baskets some 

 of the stores now use and in practically 

 all of them there is a good stock, with 

 glass or tin liners to hold water. Some 

 large retail stores even have their own 

 decorating departments, with air 

 brushes for staining in any desired color 

 baskets bought in the natural. In many 

 a store the dollar basket of flowers has 

 run a dead heat with the dollar box. 



The great increase in the sale for 

 baskets has been coincident with the 

 fall in prices; realizing that the earlier 

 costs were too high for the average 

 store, the supply men sought materials 

 and manufacturing processes that would 

 permit the pricing of baskets "within 



Callas and Doves Suggest the Men wHh White Cotton Gloves. 



the reach of all," until today baskets 

 are to be had in exchange for pennies 

 as well as for dimes and dollars, a 

 "price for every pjirse." 



But the best part of the big sales of - 

 baskets has not been the profit thereby 

 made, but has been found in the oppor- . 

 tunity afforded to diversify the re- 

 tailer's offerings to the public. 



Try as we will, flowers are much 

 alike from year to year, but there is in- 

 finite variety in baskets. 



Variety the Spice of Sales. 



Prior to 1915 practically all the bas- 

 kets used by florists were of foreign 

 manufacture, principally the product of 

 German hearthstone industry. When it 

 was seen that the war had shut off this 

 supply there was consternation and a 

 scramble, but the alarm was needless — 

 American ingenuity has met the emer- 

 gency and today American supply 

 houses are manufacturing all the bas- 

 kets American florists need. As a fur- 

 ther gain, besides keeping the money at 

 home, American baskets are better than 

 imported baskets; they are as well 

 made, are only slightly more costly and 

 are more "classy" in appearance. 

 Then, too, there is a distinct gain in 

 the way ideas can be worked out. The 

 Europeans never 

 changed a style — as 

 long as a basket could 

 be sold, they made it. 

 The new styles almost 

 all were originated by 

 th6 buyers, who in the 

 ease of American sup- ^_. 

 ply houses, after they 

 had written describing 

 the basket they had in 

 mind, had to wait 

 months for a sample 

 and then other months 

 for stock, if the sample 

 had embodied the idea. 

 Now all this is 

 changed. The supply 

 man gets an idea; he 

 goes to his factory 

 foreman; the foreman 

 calls in a workman; in 

 an hour or two the 

 sample is ready; there 

 is a conference; a sec- 

 ond sample is made; 

 next day the new num- 

 ber is on sale; it is a 

 hit. 



The retailer who has 



ifj/^jk & happy thought goes 



^SHP to his supply man, tells 



what he wants and in 



a few days has a nifty 



novelty all hia own. 



