22 



The Florists^ Review 



OcTOBsa 21, 1920 



displays to be made. Those stores which 

 did not enter the contest made use of 

 placards and other devices to bring to 

 the attention of passers the possibili- 

 ties of florists' telegraph delivery serv- 

 ice. The result was that all over the 

 city florists advertised this department 

 of their business more or less elaborately, 

 depending upon whether they made 

 efforts to compete for the prizes or not. 

 More shops would doubtless have made 

 pretentious displays if the rush of retail 

 work had not happened to be so heavy 

 during the week before the conven- 

 tion and that in which it was held. 

 As stated in last week's report, a nuni- 

 ber did make a good showing, namely, 

 Bertermann Bros. Co., A. Wiegand's 

 Sons Co., Greene's Flower Shop, Clav- 

 pool Hotel Florist, Pahud Floral Co. 

 and the Circle Flower Shop. 



Best Florists' Window. 



The winner of the first prize in the 

 F. T. D. contest, the window of A. Wie- 

 gand's Sons Co., combined elaborate 

 detail and striking presentation of the 

 telegraph idea. Clear understanding of 

 both may be obtained from the illustra- 

 tion of it on the preceding page. 



From a telegraph instrument in the 

 back of the window, wires ran to the 

 representation of the Wiegand store at 

 the left of the display. This was 

 worked out with great care and ingenu- 

 ity. From the store a gravel road led 

 past a miniature slogan sign to a little 

 dwelling, whose occupant greeted from 

 the porch the delivery truck from the 

 florist's store. 



At the back was a large circular rep- 

 resentation of the earth done in flowers, 

 across which stretched wires between 

 two big telegraph poles. Over it was 

 the slogan, ' ' Say It with Flowers, ' ' and 

 under it, "Anywhere," and across the 

 globe at about the equator the assertion, 

 "Spans the World." 



Best of all, however, flowers and 

 plants in plenty were used in the deco- 

 ration of the window. While the tele- 

 graph service was portrayed, the 

 spectators were not allowed to forget 

 that the service was in regard to flow- 

 ers, a point not always sufficiently 

 observed in such displays. 



Association's Emblem. 



In the window of Bertermann Bros. 

 Co. the figure emblematic of the Flo- 

 rists' Telegraph Delivery Association 

 was made prominent. Telegrams con- 

 veying orders for flowers at the bottom 



of the window constantly drew specta- 

 tors' attention, and there was always a 

 small gathering of people studying 

 them. The big windows of this store 

 wore filled with a luxuriant arrangement 

 of baskets and other floral arrange- 

 ments, again emphasizing the florists' 

 part equally with that of the telegraph 

 wires. 



At the store of the Pahud Floral Co. 

 a brilliantly colored background in pur- 

 ple made the display a focus of pedes- 

 trians' attention for some distance 

 down the street. On this corner a group 

 continuously stood before the attract- 

 ive display. 



The window showed great ingenuity. 

 In the foreground was a globe sur- 

 rounded by telegraph poles and in the 

 background, enclosing the entire win- 

 dow, a scene showing a greenhouse and 

 store with poles and wires leading 

 away. 



There was no doubt as to the drawing 

 power of any of these displays. The 

 public was attracted by something new 

 and, once attracted, stayed to study the 

 interesting possibilities indicated. 

 Whether direct returns were obtained 

 in the way of wire orders, one may later 

 learn, but unquestionably the people of 

 Indianapolis are more familiar with 

 this service than they ever were before. 

 And, now that they are familiar, sooner 

 or later they will make use of it, to 

 florists' advantage. 



CLOSE OF F. T, D. CONVENTION. 



Endorse Fox's Plan. 



Chief in importance at the closing 

 day's sessions of the most successful 

 of F. T. D. conventions, at Indianapolis 

 last week, was the endorsement by the 

 association of the plan presented by 

 Charles Henry Fox, of Philadelphia, for 

 raising funds for national advertising. 

 Under this plan 2,000 florists will be 

 asked to pay into a fund the sum of 

 $1,000 each. The total will be, then, 

 $2,000,000. In return for this sum the 

 S. A. F. will pay to the heirs of the 

 florist at his death, or to him in the 

 event of his withdrawal from this line 

 of business, the sum of $1,000. In ef- 

 fect, therefore, the money is a loan. 

 The $2,000,000 will be invested. The 

 insurance on the 2,000 florists will be 

 underwritten by an insurance company 

 for $12 per $1,000 or a total of $24,- 

 000. Since the interest at five per cent 

 on $2,000,000 is $100,000, there would 



be left, after payment to the insurance 

 company of $24,000, the sum of $76,000 

 for national publicity, or twice as much 

 as the S. A. F. has spent in any ono 

 year. That, in brief, is Mr. Fox's pro- 

 posal. It was threshed out at the na- 

 tional publicity committee's meetinj^^ 

 October 12 and a straw vote of the 

 members found no one opposed to it. 

 Upon its presentation to the F. T. D. 

 meeting, it received the endorsement 

 of that association, by a resolution pre- 

 sented by George Asmus and Edward 

 Sceery. Upon further consideration of 

 it by the national publicity committee, 

 it is said, the plan will be presented to 

 the S. A. F. board of directors. 



Amendments Adopted. 



At the morning session, October 13, 

 also a number of amendments were 

 adopted upon their being read to the 

 meeting. There are some slight in char- 

 acter, while others are of greater mo- 

 ment. Membership is now divided into 

 three groups. Active membership is the 

 same as that formerly in effect. In ad- 

 dition, traveling salesmen and others 

 allied with the trade may become as- 

 sociate members, without voting power 

 or the privilege of holding office, upon 

 payment of $5 annual dues. On the 

 same basis florists of other countries 

 may join as foreign correspondents of 

 the association. 



As decided at Buffalo last year, 

 "bonds" have been issued to members, 

 to be hung in their stores. These in- 

 dicate to retailers' patrons that F. T. 

 D. members have paid into the guaran- 

 tee fund a certain sum and are a writ- 

 ten receipt for that amount. 



In future the secretary and treasurer, 

 instead of $12 annually, will receive 

 such compensation as the board of di- 

 rectors may see fit to give them. The 

 secretary, as well as treasurer, will here- 

 after be required to give a bond. The 

 checks drawn by the treasurer will 

 henceforth require also the signature 

 of the president. The fiscal year has 

 been changed to run from September 1 

 to August 31, though the membership 

 year continues as before, from August 

 \ to July 31. 



All retired presidents are added to 

 the board of directors. 



The time within which remittance is 

 to be made on invoices of members of 

 the association is extended from forty- 

 five to sixty days. In future the provi- 

 sion that the twenty per cent commis- 

 sion on such invoices as are not paid 



Visitors at the F. T. D. Convention ai Indianapolis Last Week, Photographed During 



