OCTOBIB 28, 1019. 



The Florists^ Review 



21 



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TATE'S TIPS 



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HOW C3ITIES SAY IT, 



Civic Affairs Aid Trade. 



"While the slogan, ' ' Say It with Tlow- 

 «rs," is still in its infancy, it is fast 

 becoming a robust child. While the 

 S, A. F. proposes to spend, in the next 

 year, $100,000 in the best advertising 

 mediums in the country to popularize 

 this slogan, the individual florist should 

 equal the results of this advertising by 

 missing no opportunity to make as much 

 of every occasion that is the result of 

 this advertising. There are many local 

 •civic affairs in which flowers may be 

 used and which, in return, will do much, 

 through their use, to spread the indi- 

 vidual demand for florists ' wares. Bal- 

 timore, a city of 800,000 inhabitants, re- 

 cently said it with flowers to the con- 

 vention of Odd Fellows, held there in 

 September, in a manner so expressive 

 that it was heard in every state in the 

 TJnion and Canada. 



There are many ways in which a mu- 

 nicipality can "Say It with Flowers." 

 Albany, N. Y., a short while ago did so 

 in memory of her sons who made the 

 supreme sacrifice in France. Get the 

 cities to saying it with flowers and it 

 will not be long until the inhabitants 

 wtt be doing likewise. In this slogan 

 the florists have an asset that has un- 

 told possibilities. The thing for them 

 to do is to commercialize it along every 

 line possible. Let florists everywhere 

 be on the alert for occasions such as the 

 above and through these columns keep 

 other cities posted on what their par- 

 ticular city is doing to "Say It with 

 Flowers." Not only tell what they are 

 doing, but how it is done. 



Sising to the Occasion. 



On the Baltimore occasion referred 

 to, a great advertisement of flowers, the 

 value of which there is no way to esti- 

 mate, was accomplished by a little fore- 

 thought on the part of th'e florists, with 

 an expense of just $40. It was simply 

 a case of "casting your bread upon the 

 waters, ' ' and in this case the return was 

 much larger and sooner than expected. 



Early in August the mayor of the 

 city, like the executives of all other 

 cities, issued a proclamation to the peo- 

 ple, welcoming the returning soldiers 

 from France. In this proclamation he 

 suggested that the people express their 

 appreciation of what the boys had done 

 and wl^at they had suffered, and he 

 knew of no better or more expressive 

 way to do this than to "Say It with 

 Flowers." When the florists of the city 

 read that proclamation,' they sat up and 

 took notice. This made them realize 

 how the slogan was beginning to take 

 hold. It made them understand better 

 than anything that had happened up to 

 this time the possibilities the slogan 

 possessed. At the next meeting of the 

 Florists' Club the matter was taken up 

 and discussed. It was decided that the 

 fact that Baltimore had been the first 

 city in the country to use the slogan 

 officially should not go unnoticed. So 

 it was voted that the club should pre- 

 sent to the mayor an embossed letter 



of thanks. The cost of this letter was 

 $40 and never was a like amount better 

 spent. This letter was taken to his 

 office and presented, with some cere- 

 mony, by a committee appointed for 

 the purpose. 



Results of $40. 



About six weeks later the I. O. O. F. 

 convention was about to be held in the 

 city and the question of entertaining 

 them and of decorating the city was be- 

 ing considered. Now, the mayor had 

 "Say It with Flowers" stamped upon 

 his memory; so what was more natural 

 than for him to advocate flowers! And 

 flowers it was. 



The centers of the streets were made 

 to blossom like the rose. The florists of 

 Baltimore themselves were surprised at 

 what could be done with flowers. As I 

 write this article another convention is 

 being held in Baltimore, of the War 

 Mothers of America, and by special re- 

 quest this scheme of flowers was left 

 intact to welcome these good women of 

 our country. I might add that Mayor 

 Broening is just beginning a 4-year ad- 

 ministration and his initial experience 

 in saying it with flowers has been so 



successful and so much appreciated by 

 everyone that much larger things may 

 be looked for in the future. 



The point I wish to make is the fact 

 that all of this was entirely due to the 

 Florists' Club in not letting the oppor- 

 tunity slip which the mayor's prpclama- 

 tion presented last summer. He had, 

 perhaps, just heard the slogan some- 

 where and used it as public men will on 

 such occasions, but when the florists got 

 behind it he realized there was more 

 in that slogan than he had supposed. 



Possibilities Scarcely BeaUzed. 



In a speech I heard John Young de- 

 liver recently, he emphasized the fact 

 that the national publicity committee 

 was using every means to discover new 

 uses for flowers. Surely to replace 

 bunting with flowers to decorate a city 

 is a new use. I do not mean to say 

 there was no bunting used in the Balti- 

 more decorations. Yet it was proved 

 that the use of flowers instead of bunt- 

 ing is possible, and when one compares 

 the two after a heavy shower, is alto- 

 gether probable. Every florist through- 

 out the country should watch for every 

 opportunity out of the ordinary where 

 flowers are used and give it publicity. 



The florists of this country have a 

 slogan the value of which they as yet 

 do not fully appreciate. Advertising 

 experts everywhere say it is one of the 

 best. The time has come for the florists, 

 with their talents and means, to get 

 behind it and push it to the place where 

 it rightfully belongs. Tate. 



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PLAINTS ON PACKING 



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POOR PACKING, POOR POLICY. 



Cannot something be done to impress 

 on plant shippers the necessity of care- 

 ful packing, with some regard for the 

 interests of the buyer! I have for a 

 long time refrained from ordering plants 

 from the east for the reason that they 

 were usually ruined when received and 

 the money thus was wasted. Eecently, 

 however, I have tried it again, with the 

 same result, and am disgusted with the 

 sellers' neglect to follow instructions 

 regarding packing. 



I make some exceptions, as I have re- 

 ceived small shipments from New York 

 and Pennsylvania in perfect condition, 

 packed by men who considered the 

 buyer's end of it. Therefore, I know 

 it is easily possible to pack so that 

 goods will stand an eight days' journey 

 and arrive in California in proper con- 

 dition. Moreover, I have, to satisfy 

 myself, packed the same kind of plants 

 as if for shipment, left the box out ex- 

 posed to the sun and wind, thrown it 

 around violently occasionally, and at 

 the end of a week or more opened it and 

 found the stock in good condition, so it 

 is quite evident to me that they will 

 stand long transportation if packed 

 with any intelligence. 



I have just received two small ship- 

 ments, are from Tennessee and one from 

 Massachusetts. One of these was packed 

 properly and arrived in fair condition. 

 The plants, together with all packing 

 material, weighed six pounds and the 

 empty box weighed fourteen pounds. In 

 the other case the plants, with the pack- 



ing material, weighed five pounds and 

 the empty container eleven pounds. 

 Neither of these boxes was more than 

 half filled. In the case of the second 

 shipment, no packing material was used 

 except one thickness of newspaper, and 

 as it was open quite freely to the air, 

 it could not possibly go more than one 

 or two days without becoming dry, thus 

 ruining the plants. In both cases I had 

 made the request that they be sent in 

 light containers, to avoid unnecessary 

 express charges for the long distance, 

 and in both instances the containers 

 weighed at least three 'times more than 

 was necessary. As jpRyment was made 

 in advance, I do aot expect any redress. 

 The plants sent were no doubt as good 

 as offered, but what is the use if no re- 

 gard is given to the packing? 



A. Beverley. 



DOES THE SHIPPER CARE? 



I was much interested in "Tate's 

 Tips" in The Eeview of September 25, 

 describing the proper method of pack- 

 ing flowers for shipment. I live in the 

 southeastern part of Texas and have 

 ordered many different kinds of plants 

 from different florists, but I have never 

 yet met with such careless, indifferent 

 ways of packing and shipping plants as 

 I experienced last month. 



I sent an order September 8 to an 

 Iowa dealer for 100 carnation plants 

 and on the following day I sent him an- 

 other order for 200 plants. I enclosed 

 checks for the full amount with each , 

 order. In due time, the first lot arrived 



