102 



The Florists^ Review 



Mauch 18, 1920 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



BUFFALO'S BIG AUTO SHOW. 



Demanded Ingenious Decorating. 



The list of dates given with the ar- 

 ticle entitled "Auto Shows Arc Com- 

 ing" in The Eeview for January 1 

 fihowed the first three months of the 

 year to be a season busy with automo- 

 bile exhibits in all parts of the country 

 and consequently full of opportunities 

 for florists to extend their trade. The 

 various suggestions given as to how this 

 could be done, both in connection with 

 the sliow itself and in appealing 

 through window displays to the crowds 

 that would throng each particular city 

 during its show week, were acted upon 

 by florists in a number of the cities with 

 excellent results. 



The order for decorating the exhibi- 

 tion hall is a desirable one and the com- 

 petition for it is keen, since, calling for 

 the exercise of great ingenuity in solv- 

 ing large problems, it brings a large 

 money return and good publicity for 

 the florist. In Buffalo various plans 

 were submitted to the Automobile Deal- 

 ers' Association in competition for the 

 order to decorate the Seventy-fourth 

 Eegiment Armory for the automobile 

 show which was held there February 

 28 to March 6. The plan of Albert 

 Eeichert was finally selected, with re- 

 sults which are here described and il 

 lustrated. 



The entire ceiling of the main audi- 



Plants Played Promfnent Part In Buffalo's Automobile Show. 



toriuiii was one solid mass of southern 

 smilax from Alabama; this was hung 

 en a wire network. The effect was dis- 



General View of Buffalo Automobile Show Decoration by Albert Reichert. 



tinctly pleasing, since the smilax hid 

 the ceiling and tended to reduce the 

 effect of the great height of the arched 

 roof otherwise visible. From the cen- 

 ter of the smilax canopy hung an enor- 

 mous basket, which was twenty-two 

 feet in diameter at the top and tapered 

 to eight feet at the bottom. The bas 

 ket was decorated with beautiful wis 

 teria blooms and from it eighteen pow 

 erful electric lights, which were sur 

 rounded by a rotating color scheme op 

 erated by a motor, flashed rainbow col 

 ors incessantly. White and gold bunt 

 ing was used to cover all four sides 

 of the auditorium. At regular intervals 

 along the rails of the balcony were 

 hireli-hark flower boxes seven feet long, 

 filled with beautiful cibotium ferns and 

 fancy varieties of crotons and dra- 

 casnas. Stately palms and ferns were 

 ranged along on the floor beneath the 

 balcony. 



One of the accompanying illustrations 

 shows the main entrance, or grand 

 court, from which people passed into 

 the auditorium. This court was pret- 

 tily ornamented with more birch-bark 

 flower boxes, with a few blooming 

 plants added to give a touch of color 

 to the rich greenery. 



Fireproof ed Foliage. 



The other illustration shows thB main 

 auditorium. The exhibition space was 

 divided into eight oblong areas, each 

 of which had six columns of latticework 

 trimmed with smilax. These columns 

 were ten and one-half feet high and 

 supported boxes containing a wide va- 

 riety of ferns, ranging from the Boston 



