■>::■.-" ^-'r > -i^*s^-^»?> :r ^^'. '■: 



-<» >^<S5s,-r ^'. 



./^^m 



EASTER EXCEEDS 

 TRADE'S EXPECTATIONS 



Unaffected hy the uncertainties of industrial readjustment, the Easter 

 spirit, favored by good weather in mdst sections of the country, stinndated 

 the public to holiday purchases the equal of any in the past. Prices 

 lower than last year augmented the number of floiver buyers. 



wm 



ASTEE day, 1921, demon- 

 strated again the truth of 

 that often-proved adage, 

 "The Lord helps him who 

 helps himself." Doubtful 

 as to whether the big day 

 of spring would really bo 

 big in view of current iii- 

 d u 8 t r i a 1 conditions, in 

 some sections not at all 

 rosy, florists set out to do what they 

 could to counteract the public's present 

 tendency to grasp its pocketbook 

 tightly and walk past retail stores in 

 a hurry. Their efforts were well re- 

 warded. Despite some diflScult and de- 

 terrent factors in the supply available, 

 owing to circumstances over which they 

 had no control — such as the quality oV 

 Dutch and Japanese bulbs, the abnor 

 nial weather, etc. — retailers report an 

 Kastcr business well above the average 

 in almost all cases. Some even declare 

 this year's business, at prices lower 

 than last year, exceeded that of a year 

 ago, when prosperity reigned and spend 

 ing was the rule. 



Lilies Lacking. 



Though complaint is not general as 

 to aggregate business, there are several 

 ways in which the day's sales might 

 have been improved. The greatest 

 handicap this year was in the backbone 

 of the Eastertide business — the lily. 

 As a rule, the lilies this year were not 

 up to the standard of previous years. 

 They were not sturdy, and flowers were 

 not often more than two to the bulb. 

 Consequently, several plants had to bo 

 put in one pot to make a showing, with 

 a loss to the grower, and the retailer 

 could not charge the prices he might 

 otherwise have asked for strong, well 

 flowered stock. Moreover, lilies were 

 not plentiful, and good ones were quite 

 scarce in some localities. Persons who 

 had resolved to be economical, at the 

 last moment weakened in their resolu- 

 tion to the extent of entering the store 

 to *buy the customary lily. When they 

 found none were to be had at that late 

 date, they turned around and hurried 

 out. Other plants tempted them not. 



The weather conspired against the 

 growers. Warm days two weeks before 

 Easter forced along bulbous stock al- 

 ready well in time. As a result, much 

 of it was fully ripe, and some barely 

 escaped being a loss. 



Easter Weather Helped. 



A day generally fair, Sunday, March 

 27, was, however, a boon to the retailers. 

 Last year a blizzard spoiled the Easter 

 parade. This year the weather man's 

 predictions of a similar occurrence failed 



to come true. The blizzard started on 

 its way Saturday. North and South 

 Dakota, Minnesota and northern Ne- 

 braska suffered from a heavy wind, 

 accompanied by snow. But it failed to 

 come farther east in time to spoil the 

 holiday. A cold wave struck the north 

 central states the day after Easter, but 

 on the big day itself the weather was 

 warm and clear save in the Ohio valley. 

 Rain fell Sunday in St. Louis, Cincin 

 nati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, 

 Fort Wayne, Memphis and other towns 

 in that section, but it was not heavy 



EASTER WEATHER. 



riiioe of obsorvutiou. 



State of weather. 



Jrnrcli L>7, 'L'l, 7 p. in. 



Cent ml tinif. 



i 2.? -3. 



3 • =" 

 ■5 • '* 



E.istcrn st.itcn — 



.Albany, clear S. «!(! 72 44 ... 



.\tlanta, clear S. 7(i SO fiO ... 



Boston, fair K. M TM ,")0 ... 



BuffiUo, rain S.W. .")»> 08 HS .11' 



(lliurleston, clear S. 71i 80 f><> ... 



Now York, fair E. ,l(i fi2 48 ... 



Philadelphia, cleiir S. 72 82 .")0 .. 



Pittsburgh, cloudy X.W. »H 80 04 ... 



Washington, clear S. 70 80 02 ... 



Gulf states — 



Fort Worth, cloudy N.W. 42 74 ,-.4 ... 



(ialveston, fair S.E. 74 78 72 ... 



.Tacksonville. clear S.E. 72 80 68 ... 



Miami, clear E. 70 78 70 ... 



Mobile, clear S.E. 74 78 70 ... 



MontRomery, clear S.W. 78-80 04 .01 



New Orleans, cloudy S.E. 70 82 72 ... 



San Antonio, fair E. 80 84 71) ... 



Tampa, fair X. 70 80 60 ... 



Vicksburg, fair S.E. 78 »t 08 ... 



East central states — 



Chicago, cloudy N.W. 46 64 6.T .01 



Cincinnati, niin E. 00 80 64 .62 



Cleveland, rain S. 60 72 62 .80 



Detroit, cloudy N.W. .">2 60 .''.O .38 



Evansville, rain N. 50 70 OS .10 



Fort Wayne, rain N.W. 44 60 58 1.18 



(Jrand Rapids, cloudy N.W. 42 64 62 .22 



Green Bav, clear W. ,32 52 52 ... 



Indianapolis, rain N.W. 40 70 60 1.74 



Memphis, rain S. 64 82 70 1.20 



Milwaukee, cloudy N.W. .38 04 .14 ... 



Springfield. 111., snow N.W. 38 60 58 1.20 



West central states — 



Bismarck, clear N.W. 10 18 ^2 . . . 



Concordia, clear N. .32 36 14 ... 



Davenport, cloudy N.W. 34 42 40 ... 



Duluth, fair W. 4 14 12 .28 



Kansas Cilv, cloudy N. 34 34 20 .08 



Little Rock, rain S. 70 82 68 ... 



Oklahoma, cloudy N. 36 38 38 .22 



Sioux City, fair N.W. 18 22 30 .01 



St. Louis, rain N. 40 58 58 1.06 



Minneapolis, cloudy S.W. 14 20 18 .62 



Mountain states — 



Boise, clear W. 52 54 26 ... 



Denver, cloudy E. 26 26 20 ... 



Helena, fair N.E. 30 42 18 .02 



Phoenix, clear W. 72 72 42 ... 



Pacific states — 



Fresno, clear N.W. 70 72 4R . . 



I>os Angeles, clear W. 74 78 50- . 



Portland, Ore., clear N.W. 64 64 36 . 



San Diego, clear N.W. 66 68 50 . . 



San Francisco, clear S.W. 68 68 50 ... 



Seattle, Wash, fair N.W. 54 54 38 ... 



Siwkane. cloudy S.W. 54 54 32 ... 



Canadian — 



Montreal, rain S.E. 60 68 38 .02 



Quebec, rain N.E. .'iO 52 32 .02 



Toronto, cloudy S. 52 64 .. .08 



Winnipeg, cloudy N.W. — 4 2 — 8 ... 



nor long in most places. They liiul had, 

 moreover, a fine, clear Saturday. 



So favored by the clement elements, 

 Horists enjoyed a great sale of cut 

 flowers and corsages. In many places 

 all available stock for corsage work 

 was used up. Many more sweet peas 

 could have been used. 



Changed Conditions. 



Those florists fared best this Easter 

 who had sensed the public's purchasing 

 attitude and prepared accordingly. 

 While they anticipated the usual holi- 

 day rush, they took into account tlic 

 habit of parsimony engendered by the 

 "buyers' strike," now more or less 

 prevailing for five months or so. In- 

 stead of spending all their surplus, the 

 thrifty customers now put a share in 

 the bank and cut down on purchases in 

 proportion. Consequently, basket ar 

 rangements and large pots and pans at 

 .$25 were not in much demand. Nor 

 was there the usual number of $10 

 orders. Small pans and pots of Inilhous 

 stock sold best, after Easter lilies. 

 Cinerarias, ])riinulas an<l evtii gera- 

 niums attracted buyers. 



Noteworthy stocks of hydrange.is ami 

 roses were seen in many plai-es this 

 season. The French varieties of the 

 latter are meeting with greater and 

 greater favor. Roses were splendid, as 

 a rule. Great numbers of them were 

 sold. Only the large-sized, expensive 

 plants are left. 



Heavy Advertising. 



The amount of newspaper space used 

 by florists to advertise flowers for 

 Easter was greater this year than it has 

 ever been before. The monition of The 

 Review to make special effort in push 

 ing sales was acted upon by a great 

 many of its readers. In many eoinmuni- 

 ties florists used their local newspapers 

 to splendid advantage. An imposing 

 size of advertisement was used in a 

 large number of instances. Prices were 

 featured in heavy type that made it 

 plain that flowers and plants were to 

 be had at prices below those paid at 

 recent holidays. 



In some cases several florists com- 

 bined to take a page, or nearly a page, 

 of space, cither for a single joint ad- 

 vertisement or for the combination of 

 separate advertisements in one striking 

 arraj'. The local publicity associations 

 did good work in each of the cities 

 where they are established, some ex- 

 cellent pieces of copy being prepared 

 for the occasion. 



Accompanying the paid advertising 

 of florists, a good deal of reading mat- 

 ter on flower prices for Easter appeared 



