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SUNDAY CLOSING i^ 

 .^ SPREADS FAST 



The movement in favor of Sunday closing, zyhich has been sloivly gather- 

 ing momentum for several years, gained sudden impetus at the Detroit con- 

 vention. Retailers in big cities and small toxvns, in every part of the coun- 

 try, are announcing their adoption of Sundav closing. 





NYONE who was at the 

 opening session of the S. 

 A. F. convention at De- 

 troit and heard the burst 

 of applause that greeted 

 President Amnianu's re- 

 _ marks on Sunday closing 



*^i^^!if^ realized then and there 

 — 'I that the alarm clock had 

 rung for that movement 

 ill the florists' trade. In political con- 

 ventions there are persons planted here 

 and there in the audience to revive an 

 outburst of applause as it weakens, in 

 the effort to establish for a eandidate 

 the record of the longest period of ac- 

 clamation. But there were no such in- 

 dividuals to prolong the applause at 

 Detroit. It was the genuine enthusiasm 

 of persons who had long been hoping 

 for what President Ammann advo- 

 cated in such definite and sturdy terms. 

 When he had voiced his appeal in the 

 words, ' ' And let us in reverence to God 

 and for the love of. man ^ 



close our shops Sunday," 

 there was immediately an 

 echo of clajijiing hands. 

 And instead of gradually 

 dying away, the applause 

 grew in strength. One 

 man would turn to his 

 neighbor and say, "He's 

 right on that!" and then 

 clap a little harder, Hia 

 noighborwould come back 

 with, "You know he's 

 right!" and then he 

 would applaud with re- 

 newed vigor. And in re- 

 ply perhaps the first flo- 

 rist would exclaim, "You 

 doggone know he's 

 right!" and thereupon 

 blister his palms to ex- 

 press his approval. There 

 was no question, no reser- 

 vation — everybody was 

 for Sunday closing. The 

 alarm clock had rung. 



wards that eml tliaii in thirty j^ears 

 before. 



80 bu.sy have been the florists during 

 the last year that they themselves 

 scarcely knew how widely the practice 

 of closing on Sunday had quietly 

 sjiroad. Now and then tiiey had read 

 in the news columns of The Review of 

 a florist or group of florists in one lo 

 cality who had announced a determina- 

 tion to close Sundays. But when they 

 went to t)etroit and found out what had 

 actually been done, there was no doubt 

 in tlieir minds that the time for Sunday 

 closing was ripe. 



Lesson at Toronto. 



A week before, a party of five, in- 

 cluding President Ammann, Secretary 

 Young, Albert Pocholon, Philip Breit- 

 meyer and Chas. H. Plumb, had made a 

 trip from Detroit to Toronto, to visit 

 the convention of the Canadian Hor- 

 ticultural Society. There they learned 



Rapid Results. 

 Maybe President 



Am 



mann is surprised to see 

 liow rapid were the re- 

 sults of his voicing of the 

 trade 's growing senti- 

 ment. During the last 

 three weeks, as some one 

 recently remarked, there 

 has been greater progress 

 in the Sunday closing 

 movement than in the 

 previous three years. And 

 in those three years there 

 hart been more done to- 



Kindly Order on Saturday , 



as ive wiU not be open for business on Sund/ry 



that tlio Toronto florists ail closed on 

 Sunday. This fact they commented on 

 at the S. A. F. convention, and the 

 knowledge that the florists of one city 

 of approximately half a millipn in- 

 habitants could achieve tiiis / result 

 worked like leaven in the minds ol 

 those who heard it. So they went liome 

 with their eyes open, watching for a 

 favorable opportunity to follow the 

 good example. 



Once upon a time florists believed 

 that if their shops were not open Sun- 

 day they would lose the customers who . 

 made their purchases that day. They 

 felt dependent upon transient trade, in 

 the same fashion that cigar stores and 

 candy shops depended upon it. If 

 some one had an impulse to buy flowers 

 on the day of leisure, the florist wanted 

 to be sure to be oj)en for the sale. But 

 times have changed. Florists are not 

 dependent on the chance buyer — only 

 the curbstone hawker gains his. liveli- 

 hood from such pur- 

 chasers. The buying of 

 flowers has become so 

 firmly established that 

 . they are now a necessity 



l^a^^tf for certain occasions. And 



rCukJ for personal pleasure they 



'4#T for"^ fully as strong a 



/ want as do candy and 



tobacco. Today the flo- 

 rist has his regular cus- 

 tomers, who are as steady 

 in their orders of him as 

 they are in those of the 

 butcher or the grocer. 

 The only remaining prob- 

 lem of the retailer is to 

 shift the Sunday pur- 

 chases of these customers 

 onto the day before. 



Orders for Sunday will be filled with our 

 usual care and delivered Sunday morning - 

 BUT PLEASE ORDER ON SATURDAY. 

 We will appreciate your consideration and 

 cooperation in giving our employees their 

 Sundays free. 



rioicers JQi livery Occusion 



In New York City v/c can deliver within the hour. 



Within two hours we can give you the same service 

 in any city in the United States or Canada. WHY ? 

 Because the Best Florists in Every City are Our 

 Representatives and are >Vaiting at the Other End 

 of the Wire for Our Instructions to Fill Your Order. 



MAX SCHLING. Inc.. 



i 78 S Fifth Avenue. Nnv YorW 



Phone P:«r» 7241 



lias Schling's Announcement in the New York Times September 6. 



Shifting to Saturday. 



Transferring the pur- 

 chases of Sunday to an 

 earlier date is not so diffi- 

 cult as some have be- 

 lieved. The varying firm- 

 ness of the habit has 

 caused different florists to 

 take different courses 

 when they began to close 

 Sundays, Some have re- 

 quested customers to give 

 their orders in time for 

 delivery to be made Sat- 

 urday. Others who have 

 thought this was too big 

 a step to take at once 

 were content to ask for 

 the orders to be placed 

 Saturday and continued 

 deliveries Sundav morn- 



