14 



The Florists' Review 



Makch 31. 1921. 



in newspapers throughout the country. 

 With few exceptions this was favorable, 

 attention being drawn to the fact that 

 prices were lower than in previous 

 years. The newly organized Allied Flo- 

 rists ' Association of New York ob- 

 tained statements in the newspapers of 

 the metropolis regarding the decreased 

 prices of flowers, and these were copied 

 widely in eastern newspapers. Florists 

 in other cities were also able to obtain 

 stories in the reading columns of their 

 local papers, which proved most effec- 

 tive. One of the best was an article in 

 the Knickerbocker Press at Albany, N. 

 Y., March 21. A bold-face caption 

 across two columns read: "Huge Easter 

 Floral Displays Marked oy Decrease 

 in Prices." Two striking paragraphs 

 near the beginning of the article read: 



"Accompanied by an unprecedented 

 demand by persons who wish to ' Say It 

 with Flowers' in sending their Edster 

 greetings, the prices are cheaper, on 

 the whole, than at any time since be- 

 fore the war, according to announce- 

 ments made yesterday by some of Al- 

 bany's leading dealers. 



"The wide advertising which flower 

 dealers in Albany and other cities of 

 the country have given to flowers as 

 gifts, particularly at Easter time, has 

 resulted in an increased demand from 

 year to year. Hitherto, prices each 

 year have been a little higher, but the 

 fact of lower prices this year is ex; 

 pected to break all records for sales." 



Such publicity was instrumental in 

 making the sales of florists where it 

 was read large enough in volume to 

 more than make up for the decrease in 

 prices. 



Profiteering Charge Counteracted. 



An exception to the favorable com- 

 ment of the press occurred in Chicago. 

 Friday morning, March 25, the two 

 morning papers printed a charge of 

 profiteering by florists made by Russell 

 J. Poole, called "the city high cost ex 

 pert." The Tril)une 's ten lines headed, 

 "Florists Profiteering on Easter, Ex 

 pert Warns," was of the same tenor, 

 but not in such damaging terms as the 



shorter piece in the Herald and Exam- 

 iner, which also appeared in the eve- 

 ning Hearst paper, the American. It 

 read : 



" 'Don't buy flowers for Easter,' 

 warns Kussell J. Poole, high cost ex- 

 pert. 'Teach the retail florists a les- 

 son. They have boosted the cost of 

 Easter lilies and other flowers from 200 

 to 2,000 per cent. This is unfair mer- 

 chandising — plain profiteering. ' ' ' 



Immediately the Allied Florists' As- 

 sociation prepared a notice to the press 

 denying the statements of Mr. Poole, 

 branding them as ridiculous. This ap- 

 peared in the evening papers March 25. 

 In the Tribune the following morning, 

 under the head, "Florists Deny Profi- 

 teering on Easter Sales," was the fol- 

 lowing: 



Retractions. 



"In a statement issued yesterday the 

 Allied Florists' Association ridicules 

 the assertion of Eussell J. Poole, city 

 high cost expert, that retail florists are 

 boosting prices for Easter sales. 



' ' ' Mr. Poole has not made a thorough 

 investigation,' the statement says. 

 'His assertion that flower prices are 

 being boosted 2,000 per cent is un- 

 reasonable. That would mean that a 

 plant costing $2 at wholesale is being 

 sold for $40. 



* ' * Easter lily blooms cost the retailer 

 from 20 to 30 cents each, and are being 

 sold at from 35 to 65 cents. The average 

 net profit of Chicago florists for Easter 

 will run from twelve to fifteen per 

 cent. ' ' ' 



The Herald and Examiner did not 

 print the statement issued by the Allied 

 Florists' Association, but the following 

 instead: 



"Easter flowers are cheaper this year 

 than they have been in a decade, ac- 

 cording to Louis Choromokos, proprietor 

 of the LaBonte Floral Shop at Wilson 

 avenue and Broadway, who denied last 

 night an assertion that florists were 

 profiteering. 'We are selling plants all 

 the way from $1.50 to $4 and $5, but 

 none higher,' Mr. Choromokos said." 



Such counter-statements and florists' 



advertisements, notably one of the 

 Fleischman Floral Co. of nearly a page, 

 offering "Easter Flowers at Most 

 Reasonable Prices," did much to re- 

 move the damaging notices of the day 

 before. Certain it is, Chicago florists 

 enjoyed a notably good holiday, as well 

 as their fellow tradesmen in other 

 cities. 



"AIN'T NATURE WONDERFUL!" 



Yes, many of the works of nature 

 are beyond human ken, but it is the 

 hand of man which makes available 

 most of the products of nature. For in- 

 stance, if it were not for the commer- 

 cial instinct in the genus homo most of 

 nature 's fairest flowers would be ' ' born 

 to blush unseen." 



In Chicago there are some twenty or 

 more wholesale dealers in cut flowers, 

 whose Easter shipments went as far as 

 West Virginia, Georgia, i^ew Orleans, 

 Texas and Manitoba; without Chicago 

 and its wholesalers half America would 

 have gone more or less without its 

 Easter flowers. 



Chicago people do not themselves un- 

 derstand the cut flower business done 

 in their city, its extent or what it 

 means, although they see daily mani- 

 festations of its presence. The whole- 

 sale houses are gregarious; they like as- 

 sociation with their own kind. So we 

 find them grouped within a short 

 radius; several occupy space in the 

 same building. The American Railway 

 Express affords them special service, as 

 the combined shipments amount to tons 

 each day. There is a supervisor, with 

 as many men and wagons as are needed. 

 The shipments are carried by hand to 

 a sidewalk dispatching station, where 

 they are routed to the various railway 

 stations. As train time approaches, the 

 mountains of similarly wrapped boxes 

 attract many curious persons who have 

 no idea what is going on. Any business 

 day several wagon loads go to the eve- 

 ning trains, while just before a special 

 flower day the shipments mount up to 

 carloads. 



To handle the Easter shipments the 

 express company assigned to the cut 



City Sales Department of a Chicago Wholesale House, Potthig up Orders the NJght Before Easter. 



