32 



The Florists^ Review 



March 29, 1917. 



WHEN EASTER'S IN THE AIR. 



Hitching Sentiment to Flowers. 



No one can gainsay the fact that the 

 flower trade is attaining a higher form 

 of organization and that its members 

 are striving more as a unit than ever 

 before in furthering matters of com- 

 mon good. Undoubtedly the leading 

 evidence of progress in the retail divi- 

 sion during the last few years has been 

 the more extensive and more intelligent 

 use of the "dynamo of business," ad- 

 vertising. No longer may it be said 

 with impunity that retail florists as a 

 rule are, from long habit, non-advertis- 

 ers. A review of the business done on 

 any of the notable flower days seldom 

 fails to bring out the encouraging fact 

 that more florists Jiave been convinced 

 of the efficacy of printers ' ink as a 

 stimulant of flower sales. 



It is ])rincipally in connection with 

 the red-letter days — Easter, Mothers' 

 day. Memorial day and St. Valontiuc 's 

 day — when sentiment plays an imj)or- 

 tant part in the sale of flowers, tliat re- 

 tailers have employed advertising ex- 

 tensively, and in many cases with liighly 

 profitable results. The increase in the 

 quantity of publicity lias })een attend- 

 ed by an improvement in advertising 

 copy, indicating that many a retailer 

 through experience has learned to dis- 

 tinguisJi strong coj)y from weak cojiy. 



Periodic Ads Must Have "Pep." 



As the advertising done for the big 

 flower days must necessarily be of short 

 duration, appearing a few days only, 

 advertisers years ago found it expe- 

 dient to put a more concentrated punch 

 into their periodic publicity. It was 

 agreed that for short-time advertising 

 newspaper advertisements of large di- 

 mensions had a more telling effect and 

 gave the flower message for the day a 

 more conspicuous showing than did 

 small advertisements. To attain this 

 desirable feature, the cooperative plan 

 of advertising was adopted, as first sug- 

 gested by The Eeview for boosting 

 Mothers' day. Since then this meth- 

 od has become popular and has been 

 used by florists of nearly all the cities in 

 the country. 



The reproduction on page 33 shows 

 how six florists of Dallas, Tex., instead 

 of each doing his own advertising, coop- 

 erated in their sales promotion for East- 

 er last year and thereby strengthened 

 their representation. The collective 

 idea was unusually well handled by the 

 Texans. The cut is attractive, the ap- 

 peal to sentiment adroit and the flow- 

 ers are not forgotten. The advertise- 

 ment was a full newspaper page, and 

 apparently each participant in the plan 

 received the benefits of a full-page dis- 

 jilay, although he was required to pay 

 only his sixth of the expense. 



Copy Must Sell to Pay Space. 



Perhaps if the Texans had given 

 ranges of prices for roses, lilies, carna- 

 tions and other specific items plentiful 

 for the day, they would have answered 

 many questions of "How much?" on 

 the part of the readers. Prices are in- 

 teresting to the average reader. How- 

 ever, the talk in a cooperative ad for 

 obvious reasons must be somewhat 

 general, in this case to represent six in- 

 terests. 



The sentimental appeal on flower days 

 is a powerful factor in promoting sales, 

 but it is a difficult matter to mix senti- 

 ment and the merchandising of flowers 

 in the right proportion. The thing can 

 be overdone as easily as it can be un- 

 derdone. One should not forget the 

 goods advertised, nor that prices are 

 more important than some would have 

 us believe. As florists continue to de- 

 vote more study to their advertising 

 copy, the old adage that ' ' any advertis- 

 ing is better than no advertising" will 

 go by the boards. Perhaps some day the 

 slogan will be: "All advertising can 

 be good advertising — make the copy 

 sell!" 



THE CLOSE AT NEW YORK. 



The Rambler Roses Have Lost None of Their Popularity. 



A Splendid Success. 



The New York show, which opened 

 March 15, the awards up to the last 

 day appearing in last week's issue of 

 The Review, ran for eight days, closing 

 March 22. The show was an excellent 

 success from the public's every point 

 of view, with the result that the fi- 

 nancial returns insure the continuance 

 of the spring exliibitions. The trade 

 exhibitors, most of whom planned to do 

 business with the jmblic rather than 

 with florists, were well pleased with the 

 results obtained, so that their feature 

 of the show no doubt can be expanded 

 again another year. 



Closing Awards. 



Tlie following awards were not made 

 in time for last week's report: 



Grand swpppstakos cup for most artistically 

 arranged cxliibit — E. Fardell, gardener to Mrs. 

 A. M. Hooth, Groat Nock, L. I. 



Table <leooration of any flower except sweet 

 lieas, open to private growers only— P. W. Popp, 

 Kardener to Mrs, II. Darlington, Mamaroneck, 

 N. Y.. first: Mrs. N. Strauss, Mamaroneck, 

 N. Y.. second; U. M. Jolinson, gardener to 

 \V. It. 'I'liompson, Yonkers, N. Y., third. 



Carnations. 



In the telegraphed list of awards on 

 carnations, published March 22, the fol- 

 lowing were inaccurately reported: 



One hundred flesh pink — Charles Weber, I^yn- 

 brook, N. Y',, ttrst. 



One hundred white variegated — Emil F. Lieker. 

 Lansdowne, Pa., first. 



Fifty light pink — Herman Schwarz, Central 

 Park, L. I., first; Alfred Demeusy, Brooklyn. 

 N. Y., second. 



Special Awards. 



The following special awards were 

 announced: 



F. R. Plerson Co., Tarrytown, N. Y., gold 

 medal. 



Max Schling, New Y'ork, gold medal. 



George E. M. Stnmpp, New York, gold medal. 



Joseph Manda, West Orange, N. J., silver 

 medal. 



A. T. Boddlngton, New York, sliver medal. 



Bobbink & Atkins, Kutherford, N. J., silver 

 medal. 



Julius Roehrs Co., Rutherford, N. J., silver 

 medal. 



A. L. Randall Co., Chicago, 111., silver medal. 



Weeber & Don, NeW York, silver medal. 



Stumpp & Walter Co., New York, silver medal. 



Robt. Craig Co., Philadelphia, Pa., silver 

 medal. 



Alois Frey, Crown Point, Ind., silver medal. 



A. N. Plerson, Inc., Cromwell, Conn., silver 

 medal. 



J. R. Mossman, gardener to Clement Moore, 

 Hackensack, N. J., gold medal. 



