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GAINING FAVOR 



^ FOR GLADIOLI 



In gaining favor for flowers in general, the only practicai^method is to 

 feature each genus or race of flowers in its season. Though the main prin- 

 ciples of publicity are applicable to all flowers, there are special details of 

 publicity for each type of flowers, including gladioli. 



S THE season approaches 

 when millions of gladiolus 

 blooms go to waste annu- 

 ally, the question arises, 

 "In what ways may the 

 retail florist use the flowers 

 so they will be brought to 

 the attention of possible 

 purchasers t" When people 

 stop at our gladiolus field 

 to admire and purchase blooms, de- 

 claring they never saw anything so 

 lovely and they don't see why they can- 

 not find such beauties in the city, and 

 when we know that the florist near 

 their city hon/e, whose store they pass 

 daily, is using the same varieties, from 

 the same field and possibly even from 

 the same row — then we wonder if that 

 florist has put our flowers under the 

 table. We have even gone so far as 

 to "walk in upon" our florist quite 

 unexpectedly, departing well pleased 

 but still wondering. 

 The fact remains 

 that the field visitor 

 has discovered 

 something varying 

 from the usual land- 

 scape, something 

 that especially at- 

 tracted his atten- 

 tion. It may be only 

 curiosity that 

 prompts him to 

 stop, but he be- 

 comes interested 

 and seldom leaves 

 without purchasing. 



Unnsoal Uses. 



Now, what about 

 the retail florist? 

 Has he something 

 in his window or is 

 ho doing something 

 varying from the 

 usual, which will at- 

 tract the passerby 

 to the extent that 

 lie may be led even- 

 tually to become a 

 purchaser T As ap- 

 preciation of any- 

 thing is measured 

 by knowledge of it, 

 so does the demand 

 for gladioli depend 

 upon the extent to 

 which the public is 

 educated in regard 

 to the beauty and 

 uses of the flowers, 

 and there is such 

 dire need for this 



By MRS. A. H. AUSTIN. 



educational publicity that I would sug- 

 gest, first, that much of the surplus 

 stock be used in some rather unusual 

 way along the line of advertising, in 

 which the retail florist through his work 

 may gain the attention of the buying 

 public. 



A CHadiolus Pageant. 



When this flower is on the market 

 in greatest abundance, amid summer's 

 dull demand, I would suggest that the 

 retail florist plan and carry into execu- 

 tion a gladiolus pageant in his city. 

 Of course, in such a great demonstration 

 as this might be made, he should be. 

 ably assisted by the commission florist 

 and the grower. Being a member of 

 the S. A. F. would insure suitable ad- 

 vertising through the usual channels, 

 directing the public mind to the fact 



Mrs. A. H. Austin at Vork with Her Favorite Flower. 



that August is the month of gladioli, 

 in the same way that Juneas the month 

 of roses. \:> 



In speaking of pageants,^^ who .can 

 question the advertising value ~i>f the" 

 raisin day pageant in Fresno, Cal. — the 

 value even in Fresno, itself, where 

 everyone knows all about raisins f With 

 organization and judicious advertising, 

 even far-off Ohio caught the echo and 

 is helping swell the demand. Likewise 

 all who ever witnessed Pasadena's rose 

 pageant, or Portland's wonderful dis- 

 plays, have mentally resolved that roses 

 shall be theirs. 



In this gladiolus pageant of autos and 

 floats, I would advocate the free dis- 

 tribution of many blooms, one spike to 

 a person, tossed to the bystanders by 

 pretty flower girls. Each float could 

 be of special, descriptive design. One 

 might represent a wedding, another a 

 garden party, another a luncheon, etc., 

 all with appropriate 

 decorations of glad- 

 ioli and with people 

 taking the parts. 

 Of course there 

 would be expense 

 connected with it, 

 but this would be 

 one of the first steps 

 to get the public in- 

 terested in your 

 work. 



Special Sale. 



Another step to- 

 ward getting the 

 public into your 

 store would be to 

 have a banner on 

 each float advertis- 

 ing the fact that for 

 a short time gladioli 

 would be sold at ex- 

 tremely low prices. 



This sale might 

 be for one to three 

 days and would im- 

 mediately follow the 

 pageant. But dur- 

 ing the sale the 

 prices should be 

 made so reasonable 

 that the most hum- 

 ble home could have 

 the flowers in quan- 

 tity and the occu- 

 pants of the home 

 would thus be given 

 the opportunity to 

 become acquainted 

 with gladioli in all 

 their variety of 



