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MEMORIAL DAY and 



i^ THE FLORISTS 



With Memorial day only forty days after Easter, and with Mothers' 

 day in the interval, this is a record season for the 'irade. And of the three 

 special flower days in less than six weeks, the one now at hand, with many 

 florists, is the most important because it brings the most sales. 



T is obvious why Memorial 

 day has been slow to de- 

 velop in the south: It 

 had its origin in a gen- 

 eral order of John A. 

 Logan, then commander- 

 in-chief of the G. A. E., 

 issued May 5, 1868, desig- 

 nating May 30 of that 

 year "for the purpose of 

 strewing with flowers or otherwise 

 decorating the graves of comrades who 

 died in defense of their country in the 

 late rebellion," and expressing the 

 "hope that it will be kept up from 

 year to year." But why should a lead- 

 ing Cleveland florist have said, a week 

 or two ago, * ' Memorial day never meant 

 much in my store"? It was significant, 

 though, that he added: "We intend to 

 try to develop it." 



There are many places, particularly in 

 New England but including large sec- 

 tions of the middle west, where Memo- 

 rial day has become the big day of the 

 florists' year; not so 

 large, perhaps, as Christ- 

 mas and Easter in the 

 money total of sales, but 

 exceeding either of those 

 days in the quantity of 

 stock sold and the num- 

 ber of individual sales. 

 That it is otherwise else- 

 where is due only to the 

 failure of the florists 

 there to take advantage 

 of their opportunity. 



Everybody's Day. r 



Of course the flags and 

 stacked muskets still are 

 the window symbols of 

 Memorial day, but if 

 anyone looks upon it as 

 principally an old sol- 

 diers ' observance he 

 must have paid little at- 

 tention to what the pub- 

 lic does that day. In 

 recent years, as the 

 ranks of the veterans 

 thinned, the general pub- 

 lic began to observe the 

 day in the same way, by 

 carrying flowers to the 

 cemeteries. There still 

 are parts of the country 

 to which Memorial day 

 has not penetrated, but 

 in nearly all northern 

 cities and towns Memo- 

 rial day in the ceme- 

 teries calls for the same 

 general use of flowers 

 that marks All Saints' 



SENTIMENT SELLS FLOWEKS 



Every advertisement of flowers 

 should contain an appeal to senti- 

 ment. Here are two suggestions 

 for Memorial day ads: 



There Is a beautiful sentiment In 

 connection with the remembrance of 

 loved ones departed, by placing 

 tokens of respect or affection on their 

 graves for Memorial day. 



The sentiment of Memorial day 

 finds Its best expression In the use 

 of flowers arranged by skillful hands. 



day in the cemeteries of the sunny 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 



Simplicity and Dignity in the Memorial Day Window Decoration. 



naturally got a big boost, and any 

 florists who did not share in the good 

 business probably will find the reason 

 in something they failed to do. 



Whether or not this is the season to 

 look for a record Memorial day and to 

 repair any omissions of other years de- 

 pends on the supply of stock available 

 for each individual florist. One of the 

 first things learned by the pioneers who 

 developed the sale of flowers for this 

 special occasion was that the Memorial 

 day demand was largely from people 

 who are not frequent flower buyers and 

 that they would not pay high prices. 

 Probably they will expect to pay more 

 this year than heretofore, but what 

 effect it will have on the demand is 

 problematical. 



Memorial day is essentially a day of 

 cemetery decoration. The greater part 

 of the cut flowers usually are sent to 

 the cemeteries in the form of large, 

 low-priced bouquets. This is especially 

 true in the country towns and small 

 cities. In the metropol- 

 itan stores that cater to 

 a higher class of trade, 

 wreaths sell well and 

 there are possibilities in 

 low-priced sprays. 



Trade Onriosity. 



One of the curiosities 

 of the trade has been 

 the vogue of the magno- 

 lia wreath trimmed with 

 artificial flowers. Noth- 

 ing can be said in its 

 favor except that certain 

 florists, more particular- 

 ly in New England, have 

 built up a big business 

 in them. Metal and wax 

 flower wreaths sell weU 

 in certain localities, be- 

 ing preferred because of 

 a custom which probably 

 resulted from the diffi- 

 culty of obtaining natu- 

 ral flowers. We all 

 should realize that the 

 demand for flowers has 

 grown most rapidly as 

 florists have made known 

 their ability to meet it. 



Undoubtedly many of 

 us have been devoting 

 every spare moment dur- 

 ing the last few weeks 

 to making up wreaths 

 for the demand that is 

 sure to come; others 

 have ordered them 

 ready-made from the 

 supply houses. If we 



