.Tr.NK 24, 1020 



The Florists^ Review 



19 



^-^ if- f J^ 



Annual Banquet of the Commercial Flower Growers of Cliicago at Hotel Randolph, June 17, J920. 



It. But hofoie tlie {grower ami wholo- 

 salcr sacriliee tlie stock, to uiulersell 

 I'acli competitive wholesaler, before 

 |)rice.s are reiluce<l to the lowest level 

 ami before the stock -^oes to waste, why 

 not utilize suridus prt)duction as a mo- 

 ilium for advertisinfi;? Cut flowers and 

 jilants ill themselves have the highest 

 advertisinjj value in tlu'ir appeal to the 

 human family. Let the surplus stock 

 jiio\e its value in effective adx'ertisiuLT 

 as an addition to the cost of llie priiiteil 

 advertisiiifj. 



.Surjdus cut liower camjiaijijns can bo 

 laid out and profitably utilized. Re- 

 member the high cost of selling i)egins 

 with the low price of cut flowers. Stock 

 would not ai'cumulate as waste if used 

 to further the work of the a>l\ (Mtisiui; 

 bureaus. 



Never before have wc had our eyes 

 opened to the opportunities of reachinjx 

 out for business. Cut flowers and jdaiits 

 slioidd be a part of every home. • • Say 

 It with l-'lowers" should be brou<;ht to 

 'onsumers' attention in such forceful 

 and compellin<j ways that every pjrower 

 la city, vill;it;e and crossroads will sii 

 u]> and listen. 



We have been old-fashioned and slow 

 to accept advances made to us, but 

 ;xrowors' orjjanizations siiould alwavs l»e 

 ready to listen ami take heed ol' the 

 new era of protjress before us. 



Organization. 



.\s an orojanizat ion we hoj).- to im- 

 |un\-e our own condition and tiie other 

 l)ranches of the trade in the maiketinj; 

 nf our products. An orfjanization sliould 

 represent a majority, or criticism will 

 be hurled at one another, relationship 

 will be strained, f;ictioiialism and clan- 

 nishness will aii-^e to obstruct and im- 

 peije the Work we set out to .lo. 



We should strive to remedy wiliiiiiily 

 defects as they arise in our business, to 

 >;ifei^uard liciilthy and pro-^perous j^row- 

 lUi; conditions, to discourajje low sellino-, 

 which Jeopardizes quality jjroduction. 



The f^rower who lioids back from join- 

 in<T liis ori;anizat ion ''drifts with the 

 tide," only to see other lines of orj^an- 

 ized industry forge to the front. The 

 organization that is j)rofitabIc for the 

 one individual pays better for them all. 

 To withhold your membership eomjjels 



otiier growers to )>ay for all the benefits 

 you tak(» advantage of. 



The oflicers of every organization bur- 

 <leu themselves with their duties in be- 

 half of its members; so the least a grow- 

 er can do in his organization is to show 

 su]i]iort by attendance at the regular 

 mi^etings. Every growi'r should be anx- 

 ious (d' lht> opportunity to be a member 

 <if his organization. Xo greater testi- 

 monial was given to the Commercial 

 I'lower (irowers (d' ("hicago than the 

 moNfnient towards a national org.iuiza 

 t ion. 



Growers of .\merica, go to (de\e!;iiiil 

 and attend the convention! 



CHICAGO GROWERS BANQUET. 



Annual Meeting. 



After a Avait which put the final edge 

 on appetites already keen, aliout seven- 

 ty five growers and their friends filed 

 into the i)anquet room in the Randolph 

 hotel, Chicago, Thursday evening, June 

 17, foi- the annual meeting and stag 

 b.Miiipiet of the Commercial Flower 

 Growers of Chicago. When all had found 

 l>laces at tht> long tables, whicii were 

 decor.'iteil with j)iuk roses and white 

 Tarnations, doseidi Kohout, president of 

 the organization, with a few well chosen 

 words bade everyone be seated and then 

 the fun began. 



First a photograph was made which 

 included everybody's best smile, as may 

 be seen in the ilhist ration on this pagi'. 

 Tli(>n the pianist who had been playing 

 when the gathering assembled resumed 

 his work and another member of the 

 entertainment troupe for which Paul 

 Weiss, as chairman of the entertain- 

 ment committee, had arranged led and 

 encouraged the banqueters in singing 

 more than a score f»f j)fipul,'ir songs 

 between the courses of the exctdient 

 dinner. This young woman had the en- 

 thusiastic cooper.'ition of Timothy 

 Waters, who displayed then the same 

 (•ontagious gooil nature familiar to mejn- 

 I)ers of the Chicago Florists' Club. 

 Prominent in the singing, solo and 

 otherwise, was Fddie Hunt, of tlie 

 Chic.'igo Flower Growers' Association. 



Other features of the entertainment 

 were the black-face comedian with the 



Irish accent and the saxophone, the 

 sleight-of-hand man who did things that 

 made the h. c. of 1. look easy in coni- 

 })arison and the solo dancing in both 

 the Egyptian and the shimmy styles. 



Officers Reelected. 



Partly from a reluctance to turn to 

 such serious matters as business and 

 chiefly from an entire satisfaction with 

 this last — and first — year's administra- 

 tion, the organization quickly reidected 

 its oflicers to serve for another year, as 

 follows: President, Joseph Kohout; 

 vice-president, Peter Pearson; treasurer, 

 X. J. Wietor, and secretary, Otto Am- 

 ling. 



II. V. Swenson, secretary of the Al- 

 lied Florists' Association of Illinois, 

 sk(dcheil the development of last year's 

 local jpublicity work and outlined the 

 chief points of what had been planned 

 for this year. The chief endeavor, he 

 said, will be to build up a steady, all 

 the-year business through the use of 

 four or five big ideas. One of these is 

 the fact that there are in Chicago al- 

 most 3,000,000 birthdays each year; 

 birthday greetings said \vith flowers will 

 ju-ovide a large, yet continuous demand. 

 Another line wliich may be f(dlowed 

 is the desirability of having business 

 men use flowers more commonlv in their 

 oflices, as well as in their buttonholes. 



In addition to brief speeches by the 

 officers, there was some discussion of 

 the basis of assessing growers to be 

 adopted by the Xational Flower Grow- 

 ers' Association; no definite action was 

 taken on this matter, the decision being 

 l>ostponed until tlo' .July meeting, when 

 the organization's delegates to the 

 Cleveland meeting in August will be 

 chosen. 



CINCINNATI, O. 



The Market. 



The maiket 'ast week was on a stead v 

 go and everything sohl well, (uganteum 

 lilies seem to be the oidy flowers to 

 promise a slight glut, bringing the jtrice 

 down to ^i) .and $8 ])it hundred. 



Peonies are now a thing of the past 

 for this season, but such flowers as fever- 

 few and dtdphiniuitis are arriving just 

 in time to fill in. Roses are still hold- 



