16 



The Florists^ Review 



October 2, 1919. 



!^*IUiM2JI4LyilLyilSl'IRi¥iJllLyiiLyiiL3l5Lyiiy{IMiy^^ 



WWWI«yt«!^liS:y(^IJSa 



SUNDAY CLOSING 



HOW KNOXVILLE DID IT. 



In Effect Since July, 1915. 



I have been reading with a great deal 

 of jjloasiire the articles appearing in 

 The Review regarding Sunday closing. 

 Sunday closing is nothing new with the 

 Knoxville florists, as all flower stores 

 in Knoxville have observed Sunday 

 closing since July 1, 1915. 



I cert^iinly think that it is high time 

 florists waked up to a realization of 

 the standard of their business. We 

 should be on the high plane of busi- 

 ness ethics where our business belongs. 

 Why should we be classed with the 

 sal<MHi business of bygone days, of long 

 hours and Sunday selling? Why should 

 we be classed with the present-day shoe- 

 shine parlor, street faker or shyster 

 business, which keep open early, late 

 and Sunday, chasing the almighty 

 dollar. 



Bearing on Labor Problem. 



I noticed in some of the articles re- 

 cently the question, where are florists 

 going to get employees that will work 

 from twelve to sixteen hours and Sun- 

 day too? My prediction is this, if the 

 florists themselves are not broad-minded 

 and big enough business men to give 

 their employees the proper hours and 

 working conditions, it will be only a 

 short time until their employees will 

 organize, demanding more pay and bet- 

 ter working conditions than the aver- 

 age florist can meet. 



It has been my policy to keep em- 

 ployees satisfied at all times. If you 

 do this they will always work to your 

 interest. Never ask your employees to 

 do anything that you would not do 

 yourself. 



Church Cooperation Big Factor. 



Getting back to Sunday closing, to 

 indicate a few things that will have to 

 be accomplished before Sunday closing 

 can be put into effect successfully, I 

 will relate how the Knoxville florists 

 successfully inaugurated Sunday clos- 

 ing. 



First, all the florists agreed to close 

 all day on Sunday, except when holi- 

 days came on Sunday. Then came the 

 real question, how were we to inform 

 the public and get their cooperation? 

 This was discussed from all angles. 

 Finally we decided on the following 

 plan: A committee of the Knoxville 

 Florists' Society was appointed to call 

 on the ministers of our local churches. 

 We found that they had a strong organ- 

 ization and approved our Sunday clos- 

 ing, and they readily consented to make 

 tlie announcement from every pulpit in 

 our city for several Sundays that all 

 florists in Knoxville would be closed on 

 Sunday after July 1, 191;"), and all de- 

 liveries would be made Saturday night, 

 asking their congregations to cooperate 

 in every way. This accomplished our 

 purpose, besides giving us advertise- 

 ment and publicity that the florists 

 could not buy. 



Notice on Stationery. 



In addition, we used advertising in' 



the newspapers, which gave us several 

 write-ups, commending the florists ' 

 progress. We exhibited slides in the 

 moving picture shows and on all our 

 stationery the following was printed: 

 "All Knoxville florists close on Sunday 

 by agreement." The same statement 

 was rubber-stamped on every letter, 

 statement and package going out of our 

 stores for several weeks. 



One of our leading undertakers a few 

 days ago said that Sunday funerals had 

 fallen off at least fifty per cent in the 

 last three or four years. 



I really feel that the best results can 

 be obtained by getting in cooperation 

 with the ministers of your city after 

 you first agree among yourselves that 

 you will close on Sunday and stick to 

 it, as Sunday is always their busiest 

 day and a great many of the ministers 

 dislike Sunday funerals. It will not be 

 hard to enlist their efforts. 



I noticed from President Ammann 's 

 address at the S. A. F. convention that 

 he approves of Sunday closing and the 

 stand the S. A. F. took on this matter 

 is highly commendable. I hope that 

 the members attending the F. T. D. 

 convention in Buffalo October 14 and 15 

 will make this timely subject one of 

 the important discussions. 



Lost Business Poor Argument. 



The first argument made by a great 

 many narrow-minded florists will be 

 the loss of fifty days' business in the 



year. Tlie only argument that we can 

 put up is from our own personal experi- 

 ence. Tlie first year we were closed on 

 Sunday we lost the business of fifty 

 Sundays, being open on Mothers' day 

 and Easter Sunday, "yet we had an in- 

 crease in business that year of twenty- 

 five per cent. We have had good in- 

 creases each year following. We can't 

 help^feeling that this increase in busi- 

 ness was in part brought about by put- 

 ting the florists' business of our city on 

 a higher plane and by the cooperation 

 and publicity given the florists by the 

 ministers and churches of our city. 

 ■^ Karl P. Baum. 



SUNDAY CLOSING IN WICHITA. 



I have been interested in noting the 

 spread of the idea of Sunday Qlosing 

 for florists. We have never opened our 

 store on Sunday since we have been in 

 business. The other florists in Wichita, 

 Kan., also tacitly agreed not to open 

 up, so that, with a few exceptions, there 

 have never been florists' shops open on 

 Sunday in Wichita. We have been 

 damned many times for not opening, 

 but so far we cannot see that we have 

 lost much business from that score in 

 the thirty-five years we have been op- 

 erating a florists' establishment in Wich- 

 ita. ^ 



Further, an article in a recent num- 

 ber of The Eeview stated that the city 

 of Mobile has enacted a city ordinance 

 prohibiting Sunday funerals. Fifteen 

 years ago the ministers, cab drivers and 

 grave diggers of Wichita got together 

 and decided that there would be no more 

 Sunday funerals. The florists, under- 

 takers and cemetery superintendents fell 

 in with the plan, and the result has been 

 that since that time there have been 

 practically no Sunday funerals in Wich- 



ita. 



H. S. Mueller. 



Mainly Abou 



m 



eoDie 



Avoca, la. — Carl Blank has sold his 

 residence and given up greenhouse work. 



Anglmn, Mo. — Charles D. Hecht has 

 bought the interest of Mr. Wensel, who 

 was associated with him in the firm of 

 Wensel & Hecht. 



Hartford, Mich. — L. E. Davis, pro- 

 prietor of the Hartford Greenhouses, 

 finds the seventh year he has been in 

 business here the best of all. 



Orlando, Fla.— Ross R. Kellish plans 

 to start business on ten acres of land 

 that he has purchased and improved 

 near a lake just outside this city. 



Canton, 0. — Don L. Johnston, who, as 

 successor to A. T. Pollard, conducts his 

 store in the Harris Arcade building as 

 Johnston's Flower Shoppe, is enjoying 

 excellent business. He counts on a 

 long and steadily busy season. 



Lexington, Ky.— Starting with one 

 small greenhouse and several hotbeds in 

 1890, David B. and Ollie S. Honaker are 

 closing the third decade of their busi- 

 ness with a range of 85,000 feet of glass 

 and one of the best equipped stores in 

 this section, expecting the coming-season 

 to be the best yet. 

 •\ . 



Cincinnati, O. — Peter Cassinelli, for 

 the last twelve years with D. Rusconi & 

 Co., has gone into business for himself 

 as a dealer in bulbs and nursery stock. 



Houston, Tex.— Albert Schwenke, 

 in addition to growing plants principally 

 for landscape tvork, cultivates some 

 nursery stock and grows vegetables for 

 market. 



Erie, Pa.— G. C. Kaltenbach took up 

 rose growing two years ago, when his 

 physician's orders turned him from pro- 

 fessional photography to outdoor work. 

 He nvarketed his first flowers this year 

 and expects to put up his first house this 

 fall. 



Vincennes, Ind. — Paul C. Schultz 

 staged a dahlia show in his store Sep- 

 tember 23 and 24, exhibiting over 200 

 varieties. In the window the words 

 "Dahlia Show" were worked out in 

 that flower, r The exhibition was so 

 great a success that Mr. Schultz intends 

 making it an annual affair. At the 

 greenhouses cuts have been taken from 

 the young carnation plants and Golden 

 Queen chrysanthemums will be ready in 

 about a week. A bench of Columbia 

 roses looks promising. 



