August 16, 1917. 



The Florists' Review 



19 



Monday, August 20, at 8 p. m. All 

 S. A. F. members are welcome. 



Chairman W. F. TJierkildson, of the 

 committee on publicity, announces a 

 meeting of that committee in the Grand 

 Central Palace, Wednesday, August 22, 

 at 9 a, m. John Young, Sec'y. 



WIND AND HAIL. 



The matter of the wind storm insur- 

 ance will be up for discussion Sunday, 

 August 19, on an express train from In- 

 dianapolis to New York. The committee 

 appointed by the president of the S. A. 

 r. has not yet had the opportunity to 

 meet and prepare the report to be pre- 

 sented at the New York convention. 

 The committee consists of Anders Ras- 

 mussen, New Albany, Ind.; E. G. Hill, 

 Eichmond, Ind., and J. F. Ammann, Ed- 

 wardsville. 111. They will get together 

 at Indianapolis for the trip to the con- 

 vention and will prepare their report on 

 the train. 



Mr. Hill is president of the Florists' 

 Hail Association, J. F. Ammann is vice- 

 president and Mr. Rasmussen is a direc- 

 tor. Mr. Rasmussen also is the prime 

 mover in the Florists' Mutual Casualty 

 Association, which is being organized 

 under the auspices of the State Flo- 

 rists' Association of Indiana. 



The Florists' Hail Association will 

 hold its annual meeting at the Robert 

 Treat hotel, Newark, N. J., at 10 a. m., 

 August 20. The special business will 

 consist of the consideration and adop- 

 tion of a new constitution and by-laws 

 drafted by J. A. Valentine and the legal 

 steps necessary to a renewal of the 

 charter of the organization. 



PENN'S PRODUCERS. 



The thermometer registered 100 de- 

 grees in the shade at Boston August 1, 

 but that fact did not bother the men of 

 the force at the store of Penn, the Flo- 

 rist. Business was unusually heavy 

 that day, there being orders for a num- 

 ber of funeral pieces that kept the de- 

 signers on the jump. After the work 

 was finished and ready for delivery, a 

 man with a camera happened in and 

 the force posed for him. The accom- 

 panying illustration is the result. 



TATE'S TIPS. 



The Telegraphic Delivery. 



The telegraphic delivery of flowers is 

 a feature of the business that has al- 

 ways appealed to me. It is the ideal 

 way to deliver flowers when distance 

 is a factor to be reckoned with, as it 

 does away with the trouble and ex- 

 pense of packing and the danger of in- 

 jury in transportation, to say nothing 

 of weather conditions, extreme heat or 

 cold. Then another feature that every 

 florist should remember is the amount 

 of business that is absolutely lost, sim- 

 ply because the public is not familiar 

 with the system. To cite a case: A 

 friend of mine died in Baltimore who 

 had an only brother living in San Fran- 

 cisco. These brothers were devoted to 

 each other and the first thing the fam- 

 ily did was to telegraph to San Fran- 

 cisco. Of course it was impossible for 

 his brother to get there in time for 

 the funeral and I am sure he knew noth- 

 ing of the F. T. D. service or he would 

 have been represented at the funeral 

 by a floral offering. Many such cases 

 are happening every day. This is busi- 

 ness entirely lost to the trade, the profit 



Part of Staff of Penn, Bostont After Finisliing Large Funeral Order, 



of which the florists of each city might 

 have shared. 



A National Business. 



I fail to see how any florist can be 

 satisfied with the narrow confines of his 

 home town, when, by investing capital 

 that is absolutely trifling in compari- 

 son with the results obtained, he can be- 

 come a member of an organization that 

 will make his business national in 

 scope. To illustrate what I mean, take 

 W. F. Gude, for instance. Everyone 

 knows that Gude Bros. Co. is located at 

 1214 F street, N. W., Washington, D. C. 

 Say a customer who has just been ad- 

 vised of the death of a loved one or 

 friend in Denver walks into the store; 

 they are in a position to take the order 

 and assure the customer that it will be 

 delivered in good condition almost as 

 soon as they could deliver it in Wash- 

 ington. In this way Gude Bros. Co. and 

 the florist in Denver divide the profit 

 on business that would otherwise be 

 lost to both. But I can hear the skep- 

 tics say that at such a distance no one 

 knows what y6u are getting for your 

 money! Everyone knows that the first 

 thing some member of the bereaved 

 family will do after the funeral is to 

 write to the one who sent the offering, 

 acknowledging its receipt and describ- 

 ing it to them, and no doubt marveling 

 at the system that made it possible for 

 a token of sympathy to be sent, bear- 

 ing the card of the sender, thousands of 

 miles away. 



This feature of the F. T. D. carries 

 out another idea of the association, the 

 fostering of fellowship and good will 

 among the florists themselves, for will 

 it not be natural for a pleased customer 

 to tell the florist from whom he ordered 

 that he has heard from his friends or 

 relatives and that a handsome offering 

 had been sent? 



Branch Stores Eversrwhere! 



Now, both of the florists figuring in 

 this transaction know that because of 

 their memberships in the F. T. D. the 

 whole transaction is guaranteed. The 

 sender knows his order will be taken 



care of by reliable people and the other 

 that there will be no question about the 

 pay for his work — the association 

 stands back of both. In fact, every 

 member of the F. T. D. is in the same • 

 position as if he had a branch store in 

 almost every city in the United States. 



I have spent some time in investigat- 

 ing this organization, in talking to its 

 members, and they are all loud in its 

 praises. Every place that I ask about 

 the F. T. D. there is the same reply, 

 that business done through this medium 

 is most satisfactory. 



William F. Gude, of Washington, sent 

 me a copy of the constitution and by- 

 laws. In his letter he told me that these 

 tell the whole story — I agree they do. 

 They are as near perfect as it is pos- 

 sible for human agency to make them. 

 How any florist can read this and not 

 become a member is more than I can 

 understand. The trustee fund is a fea- 

 ture that, as far as the interchange of 

 business between members is concerned, 

 makes Bradstreet's and Dun's useless. 

 Another fine feature of the by-laws is 

 the pledge each member must make be- 

 fore he can become a member. This 

 binds him to faithfully observe and be 

 bound by each article of the constitu- 

 tion and by-laws and report to the 

 board of directors any irregularity or 

 fraud that may come to his notice on 

 the part of any member of the associa- 

 tion. 



In conclusion let me say that in The 

 Review of July 19, page 14, there is an 

 invitation to every florist in the United 

 States to attend a meeting of this 

 organization on the first day of the 

 New York convention. Mr. Gude, its 

 president, and Albert Pochelon, its sec- 

 retary, will be there to explain its ben- 

 efits. My advice to every retail florist 

 who is not a member is — don 't miss this 

 meeting, for it will be an opportunity 

 for you to derive more practical good 

 for your business than any other fea- 

 ture of the convention that I know of. 

 Tate. 



Galveston, Tex. — Mrs. J. Maurer, who 

 had a flower store at 1814 Thirty-first 

 street, is dead. 



