October 9, 1919. 



The Florists^ Review 



17 



the rest Bussell and Killarney aside 

 from a few Columbia. The houses have 

 just received a coat of paint inside and 

 are being covered outside now. All are 



in excellent shape for the coming sea- 

 son and Paul Hranicka, who is in 

 charge, expects to be sending in regular 

 cuts ere long. Some dahlias are grown 



outside, but Mr. Geddis expects to make 

 a nai?ie for the farm, outside of the 

 greenhouses, in hog and cattle stock 

 eventually. 



TOPICS FOR F. T. D. TALK 



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BIRTHDAY FLOWEES. 



For a long time florists in various parts 

 of the country have been bending their 

 energies towards developing a custom of 

 using flowers as birthday gifts. The ex- 

 tent to which this might be enlarged has 

 led many to work up various plans to 

 this end. The S. A. F. publicity cam- 

 paign uses the idea to a large extent in 

 its advertising. The first advertisement 

 of the fall, in the October 4 issue of Col- 

 lier 's Weekly, carried the message of 

 birthday flowers. 



Realizing how largely the jewelers' 

 trade is aided by the long observed des- 

 ignation of various birthstones to repre- 

 sent the months of the year, Vincent 

 Gorly, of Grimm & Gorly, St. Louis, has 

 worked a similar scheme of flowers for 

 each month of the year. In doing this 

 he was careful to select a flower abun- 

 dant in the month which it represented 

 and available in quantity the country 

 over. Both these are necessities if the 

 custom is to be developed to a large ex- 

 tent. Mr. Gorly believes the adoption 

 of some such scheme of birthday flowers 

 by the S. A. F., promoting uniformity 

 and aiding publicity of them throughout 

 the United States, would be of incalcu- 

 lable money value to the trade. He 

 expects to present his plan at the F. T. 

 D. convention at Buffalo next week, in- 

 viting criticism and discussion of his 

 selections. 



Mr. Gorly has the list of his choice 

 posted in his store. After each flower 

 he has a phrase similar to that em- 

 ployed in connection with birthstones. 

 Such phrases, he believes, help to carry 

 the sentiment of birthday flowers and 

 to establish the custom of using them. 

 Here are his selections. What do you 

 think of themt 



January — Carnation — True Friend- 

 ship. 



February — Violets — Love and Faith- 

 fulness. 



March — Daffodil — A Breath of Spring. 



April — Sweet Peas — Love; A Kiss. 



May — Lilies — Purity; Sincority. 



June — Roses — Fond Remembrance. 



.Tuly — Calendula — Fidelity. 



August — Gladiolus — Beauty in Retire- 

 ment. 



September — Aster — Loyalty. 



October — Dahlia — Elegance; Confi- 

 dence. 



November — Chrysanthemum — Love 

 and Devotion. 



December — Lilies of the Valley — Con- 

 fession of Love. 



FLOWER WEEK HEROES' FETE. 



By setting the much talked of '^Say 

 It with Flowers" week in the monfh of 

 November to include Armistice day, 

 November 11, R. C. Kerr, of Houston, 

 Tex., suggests there will be tremendous 

 opportunities opened to florists to make 

 the celebration of this national fete to 

 soldiers of the late war a floral festiv- 

 ity. .In order to make "Say It with 

 Flowers" week a national affair in the 



trade, Mr. Kerr proposes that the presi- 

 dent of the F. T. D. and the president 

 of the S. A. F. set the week when flo- 

 rists will devote their efforts to placing 

 the national slogan in the public's mind 

 in all sections. In making this proposal 

 for consideration at the F. T. D. conven- 

 tion at' Buffalo, Mr. Kerr writes to Wm. 

 F. Gude, president of the F. T. D., aa 

 follows: 



"The campaign which is being in- 

 augurated to establish the 'Say It with 

 Flowers' week seems to be gaining 

 popularity. It strikes me that there 

 could not be a more appropriate time 

 to set for the 'Say It with Flowers' 



F. T. D. CONVENTION, 



Buffalo. 

 October 14 and 15. 



Headquarters and Meeting Place: 

 Hotel Iroquois. 



Reservations should be made 

 through S. A. Anderson, chairman 

 of the hotel committee, 440 Main 

 street, Buffalo. 



' 'I have been asked by the man- 

 agement of the Hotel Iroquois to 

 advocate putting two in a room 

 as much as possible for the F. T. 

 D. meeting October 14 and 15. 

 This is done on account of the im- 

 usual crowding of hotels. After 

 the experience at Detroit we can 

 see the wisdom of putting even 

 three in a room rather than stand 

 around all day waiting for an as- 

 signment. ' ' 



William F. Gude, 

 President F. T. D. Ass'n. 



week tlian tlie week of November 11. 

 We should grasp this opportunity to 

 create a demand for flowers during this 

 great celebration. There is nothing 

 more appropriate than 'Say It with 

 Flowers,' and there is certainly nothing 

 that will come nearer expressing the 

 proper sentiment. 



"One of the ideas that we might em- 

 body is that everyone wear a flower in 

 memory of the heroes who lost their 

 lives during this great war. 



"Another idea that we might inject 

 in the campaign is to send flowers to 

 the mothers of those who served, more 

 especially to the mothers of those who 

 lost their lives in the war. 



"In connection with this campaign 

 and during the entire week our window 

 decorations should be played up strong- 

 ly and our publicity program should be 

 increased for the week. 



"The proper method, as I see it, is to 

 have the president of the F. T. D. and 

 the president of the S. A. F. declare 

 this the 'Say It with Flowers' week. 

 The many retail florists who assemble 

 in Buffalo at the F. T. D. meeting will 



no doubt have many suggestions to 

 make along this line. 



"I think by all means that we should 

 do something at this coming convention 

 to create the sentiment to commemorate 

 this great day by ' Say It with Flow- 

 ers.' " 



MEANING OF F. T. D. MEETING. 



Are you preparing to go to Buffalo 

 October 14 and 15 to rub shoulders and 

 meet those to whom you are in the habit 

 of telegraphing orders and who will 

 prove themselves worthy of meeting 

 face to face? 



To those who have formed the habit of 

 attending F. T. D. meetings, nothing 

 need be said; but a word to the one 

 who is doubtful about going. Permit 

 me to say that the growth of our pro- 

 fession can be reflected in the interest 

 of the members of the F. T. D. and its 

 proceedings. 



Everyone present has the interest of 

 the body at heart, and the interests of 

 one become the interests of all. From 

 the time when President William F. 

 Gude calls for the opening of the meet- 

 ing up to the time when it is ended, it 

 is just one big family group all bent on 

 giving their neighbors the benefit of 

 last year's experience. This is one of 

 the gatherings where even a good lis- 

 tener demands a chance to talk once in 

 a while, and he gets the chance, too. 

 There everything pertaining to retail 

 store management from the errand boy 

 to the chief is discussed and, inciden- 

 tally, all come away feeling that we 

 have all learned something to our mu- 

 tual advantage. 



They say that the things that people 

 don't do for others indicate what they 

 are, but that does not hold good at 

 F. T. D. meetings. Everybody is in- 

 terested in what you are doing, and the 

 man is long-headed wlio gets there with 

 something that pertains to his neigh- 

 bor's benefit. It comes back many 

 times in good-will and all that goes with 

 it. Here is the forum where store-keep- 

 ing in all its phases can be talked over, 

 where cause and effect are reasoned out 

 in a manner understandable by all who 

 enter into the subject, where employer 

 and employee come to listen and to 

 learn, and many have gone away feel- 

 ing that their time was well spent and 

 that the good-fellowship that followed 

 afterwards was worth many times the 

 effort in being present. 



Orison S. Marden, the noted writer on 

 business success, said: "Stick to those 

 who are trying to do something and to 

 be somebody in the world — the people 

 of high aims and lofty ambitions. Keep 

 close to those who are dead in earnest. 

 Ambition is contagious." This seems to 

 express better than all else the type rep- 

 resented at our meeting. 



Remember, October 14 and 15 at Buf- 

 falo. Can you as a retailer afford not 

 to got Henry Penn, 



Chairman National Publicity Committee. 



