24 



The Florists^ Review 



NOVEMBEB 20, 1919. 



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PERSONAL GLIMPSES 



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APOSTLES OF PUBLICITY. 



Henry Penn. 



Our foremost advocate of publicity is 

 Henry Penn, better known throughout 

 the trade as Penn, of Boston; or Pub- 

 licity Penn. An able and successful 

 business man is our friend Penn; older 

 men may profitably harken to his mes- 

 sage and younger men may safely adopt 

 his methods. The liberal use of printers' 

 ink and the "sweet perfume of cour- 

 teous service" are the talismans in the 

 phenomenal growth of his private busi- 

 ness. With a generosity truly char- 

 acteristi* of big and successful men, he 

 never misses an opportunity to diffuse 

 his favorite gospel for the good of fel- 

 low-craftsmen. It is impossible to over- 

 estimate the elevating influence of this 

 man, exerted both by precept and by ex- 

 ample, upon our profession. That the 

 commercial flower business is being sure- 

 ly raised in status is chiefly attributable 

 to the farseeing efforts of florists of the 

 type of Henry Penn. A generation hence, 

 let us hopej they will be the general rule 

 instead of the exception. As chairman of 

 our national publicity committee, his 

 services have been given gratis and are 

 annually bearing abundant fruit in the 

 shape of increased business for the 

 florists of the nation. He has a firm 

 belief in the future of his calling and 

 endeavors to communicate his faith to 

 his fellow-workers. It is impossible to 

 meet this remarkable man without be- 

 ing singularly impressed by the strength 

 of his personality and the sincerity of 

 his purpose. 



Oeorge Asmus. 



Responsibility gravitates to the man 

 capable of shouldering it and power to 

 him who knows how. In the promotion 

 of all human activities, convincing talk- 

 ers and lucid writers have their proper 

 places, but willing and energetic work- 

 ers are of more vital importance than 

 either. Forceful men. possessing the 

 power of leadership and the courage of 

 their convictions, are the big factors. 



I am speaking, of course, of George 

 Asmus, president of the S. A. F. in 1911 

 and a wheel-horse in national publicity 

 work since the inception of the move- 

 ment. His ability to work hard and his 

 readiness to tackle new problems of im- 

 portance mark him as an invaluable 

 asset to the organized trade. His long 

 experience justly entitles him to a 

 prominent place in its councils. 



As chairman of the publicity finance 

 committee, Mr. Asmus has had many 

 weighty matters to handle and countless 

 burdens to bear. That this work is being 

 performed in the most businesslike 

 manner and that the publicity funds are 

 being employed to the best possible ad- 

 vantage is the unanimous verdict of all 

 parties concerned. The perspective 

 gained only by the lapse of time will 

 properly show the value of the achieve- 

 ments of this tireless man for the com- 

 mon good. With a firm belief in the effi- 

 cacy of publicity, practiced on a broad 

 scale, as the means of working out the 

 fitting salvation of his profession, he 

 talks publicity with the enthusiasm and 

 zeal born of deep-rooted conviction and 



is always sure of an attentive audience. 

 The career of George Asmus in the or- 

 ganized trade, begun early in life, may 

 be studied with interest and profit and 

 we heartily recommend it to the young 

 members of the craft. 



J. Fred Ammaim. 



Within the ranks of the organized 

 trade there are many men of eminent 

 ability. For executive office, the selec- 

 tion of the proper man at the right time 

 is the prime desideratum. When at St. 

 Louis in 1918 the S. A. F. chose J. Fred 

 Ammann to be its standard bearer for 

 the year following, it consciously or un- 

 consciously picked out the right man. 

 We are convinced of this because the 

 president of the Society of American 

 Florists has proved himself to be heart- 

 ily in accord with the dominant note in 

 the new program — publicity. 



Mr. Ammann 's speech at the F, T. D. 

 meeting in Buffalo may be regarded as 

 an exposition of his views upon the all- 

 absorbing subject of greater publicity 

 for flowers. In the course of his re- 

 marks, he paid tribute to the retail sec- 

 tion, pointing out that thus far it had 

 borne the burden of the campaign and 

 declaring this unjust, inasmuch as in 

 all other lines the manufacturers 

 financed the advertising of their wares, 

 the retail merchants merely tying up lo- 

 cally. He asserted that a movement 

 was on foot to get the growers properly 

 interested in the publicity movement and 

 asked for the indulgence of a little more 

 time. 



This is perhaps the most constructive 

 and the broadest view yet presented of 

 the question now uppermost in the minds 

 of all florists. Time and continued con- 

 certed effort are required to bring the 

 great plan to its proper fulfillment; but, 

 ihanks to the perseverance and labor of 

 men of the caliber of J. Fred Ammann, 

 the time is not far distant when the na- 

 tional publicity of florists will be the 

 admiration of the entire business world. 

 James McLaughlin. 



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BUFFALO BOOMING 



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GROWERS GIVE SUPPORT. 



I wish to thank The Eeview for its 

 kind interest in the Buffalo plan for 

 publicity. The average grower does not 

 realize his responsibility in disposing of 

 his goods. When we solicited funds for 

 this campaign the growers thought it 

 was the retailers' job to pay the bills 

 for advertising. The F. T. D. meeting 

 was an eye-opener to us in the way of 

 general publicity. Any city having the 

 F. T. D. convention is well repaid for 

 the trouble and expense of the meeting. 

 The retailers, seeing this wonderful op- 

 portunity, worked on it while it was 

 fresh in the minds of the public, and 

 we conceived the idea which we are 

 now perfecting. 



Mr. Ammann, being a grower, had a 

 wonderful power over the growers, and 

 without him we could not have suc- 

 ceeded. The grower must realize that 

 his future depends on the demand that 

 he creates. Eighteen months ago the 

 Retail Florists' Association called in 

 the growers and told them they were not 

 asking enough for their goods to make 

 a living. Every grower in that meet- 

 ing confessed that he was not making 

 any money. The supply weakened right 

 after that, and prices soared. The result 

 was that every grower made good money 

 last year. 



They must realize that unless the won- 

 derful demand keeps up they will be 

 back where they were before the money- 

 making period happened. We have all 

 got to go to school, as it were, and learn 

 how to sell flowers. The business in 

 my opinion has advanced more in the 

 last two years than it did in the pre- 

 ceding fifteen. We are just beginning 

 to create business, and that in itself is 

 the salvation of the trade. 



We have been closed Sundays since 

 July 1. Our November sales are ahead 

 of last year's, when we thought we could 

 not get along without Sunday business. 

 Now all the ktores in this citv are closed. 



Even with the flu sales of last year, 

 business this year, if not up to that 

 mark, is far ahead of normal years. 



Robert A. Scott. 



PUBLICITY COMMITTEE CHOSEN. 



I have read with considerable interest 

 the article which appeared in your issue 

 of November 13 pertaining to the pub- 

 licity plan of the Buffalo florists. 



J. F. Ammann, president of the S. A. 

 F., spoke to 100 retailers and growers 

 at a meeting held October 25 and cre- 

 ated so much enthusiasm that a plan was 

 prepared. At a meeting held October 30 

 thirty-two growers, retailers and whole- 

 salers subscribed $6,500 for publicity 

 work in the city of Buffalo. Since that 

 time the committee has added subscrip- 

 tions, so that now we have seventy-five 

 retailers and growers out of a possible 

 100, with a subscription of $9,400. The 

 subscriptions for the rest of the growers 

 and retailers will bring this fund up to 

 $10,000. 



At a meeting held November 6 the fol- 

 lowing publicity committee was elected 

 by the subscribers to this fund: Wal- 

 lace H. Eiss, chairman; Robert Scott, 

 Mark Palmer, Arthur Kowalski, Harold 

 Brookins, C. F. Treichler and Ed. Lehde. 



This publicity plan can be worked out 

 in any sized city where there are a num- 

 ber of growers and retailers. It simply 

 is a matter of education, especially with 

 the growers. The retailers know the 

 value of advertising, but the growers do 

 not. Mr. Ammann certainly stirred up 

 tlie growers and retailers in this vicin- 

 ity, and I believe if Mr. Ammann could 

 visit some of the larger cities he could 

 work up an enthusiasm which would re- 

 sult in the making of many publicity 

 funds. He certainly has the ability and 

 power to put it up to the growers. 

 W. H. Eiss, Chairman, 

 Western New York Florists' 

 Publicity Fund. 



