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NEW NEED OF <»e 



^ AN OLD ART 



Altered conditions are creating new problems for florists and reviving 

 old ones. Many of them have to do with that subject in which the trade 

 was manifesting so much interest when war-time exigencies supplanted it. 

 Salesmanship is again a matter of keen concern to us all. 



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ES, times have changed. 

 "^C ^^ They have a way of doing 

 Sx^f that. And they've done 



y I more of it in the last year 



' "^ than most of us have seen 

 happen before. They've 

 swung clear around to the 

 other side of the circle. 

 A year ago people were 

 crowding into stores — all 

 sorts of stores, florists' included. They 

 wanted to buy something or other, and 

 they weren't always particular what. 

 They had lots of money. Easy come, 

 easy go. 



Now it doesn't come so easy. For 

 some persons it isn't coming at all. And 

 others wonder if they'll be soon in the 

 same boat. So they're not spending all 

 they earn. Part of it goes into the 

 bank. People have become particular 

 what they buy and what they pay for it. 

 Naturally the florist who just stood 

 behind his counter and took in the 

 money finds things dull. If he still just 

 stands there, he isn't tak- 

 ing in much money. But 

 some florists are taking in 

 money, and a good many 

 of them are taking in 

 enough to pay all biUs 

 and have some left to 

 decorate the line marked 

 "profit" on their books. 



Eemember? 



Those florists have seen 

 the change. More than 

 that, they've changed too. 

 When conditions swung 

 'round, so did they. A 

 year ago they were order- 

 takers. Sure, call 'em 

 that; they'll admit it. 

 They didn't have to be 

 any more than that. They 

 disposed of the goods and 

 got their money. What 

 more could they want? 

 But now! Now they're 

 salesmen. They've revived 

 the old art of selling. 

 Where did you hear about 

 that before? Listen, 'way 

 back before the war, a fel- 

 low by the name of Shel- 

 don and some others like 

 him — you'd know their 

 names — said a salesman 

 wasn't just born; he could 

 be made. They said they 

 knew how to make one. 

 They did; not only made 

 one, but lots of them. 

 Florists among them. 

 Those wise men taught the 

 art of selling. It's an old 

 art. Eve used it on Adam 



ages ago. He was "sold" on the apple. 

 Now you remember! Maybe you used 

 the art of selling, too, before the war. 

 But times changed, as they've a habit of 

 doing, and the old art was forgotten. 

 Maybe you've forgotten it. But now's 

 the time to revive it. 



Time to B«vive. 



There's plenty of business to be done. 

 There 's plenty being done. Flowers can 

 be, and are, sold every day. They're 

 sold by the florists who try to sell them. 

 That's the difference between now and 

 a year ago. Then everybody sold flow- 

 ers; now the florists sell them who try. 



Why shouldn't they? There's just 

 as much money in the country as ever. 

 Some of it's tied up, but not much. 

 There's some unemployment, too, but 

 out of 106,000,000 people, less than 3,- 

 000,000 are out of work and half that 

 many are perpetually in that class. We 

 can sell flowers if we'll try. But we've 

 got to try. And maybe try mighty hard. 





\920. 



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C'omtrsy <if till' riilrnnu Tribune. 



How Times Have Changed ! 



We've got to tell the public that 

 flower prices are lower. The buying 

 public has become used to looking for 

 reductions. Mrs. Shopper doesn't ask, 

 "How much is this?" any more. She 

 asks, ' ' How much has this come down ? ' ' 

 Tell her flowers have come down. Tell 

 her they've come down all they can and 

 all they're going to. 



And on top of that tell her and all the 

 rest of the public — yes, tell the world! — 

 that they need flowers as much as ever, 

 that they are just as necessary for fu- 

 nerals, weddings, parties and the home 

 as they were; that they are just as 

 pleasure-giving and inspiring, as appre- 

 ciated and welcome, as eloquent and 

 talkative as when "Say It with Flow- 

 ers" was new. 



And tell 'em that in a voice that can 

 be heard. Don't quit if they seem a 

 little deaf. Talk louder. Remember 

 Henry M. Flagler? He was a railroad 

 man and a Florida hotel promoter. He 

 sank a million dollars in a hotel down 

 there. It was all deco- 

 rated and ready for big 

 business, and a band was 

 hired as an attraction. 

 But folks didn't come and 

 the manager grew discour- 

 aged. At the end of the 

 month he wired Henry M. 

 Flagler: "Business bad. 

 Shall I discharge band?" 

 Flagler wired back: "No. 

 Hire another." 



. Persist. 



Persistence is what's 

 needed. "Keeping ever- 

 lastingly at it brings suc- 

 cess," is an old aphorism, 

 but still true. If Colum- 

 bus had quit sailing west- 

 ward after five days of it, 

 we would call some one 

 else the discoverer of 

 America. But he didn't 

 quit. And the florist who 

 has that same persistence 

 and determination is 

 bound to get somewhere. 

 But the one who hardports 

 the helm after a brief try 

 will never win fape or 

 fortune. You've read the 

 verse — Hczekiah 7:11 — 

 "Blessed is the man who 

 expects to accomplish 

 nothing, for his expecta- 

 tion shall be fulfilled." 

 It's as true today as when 

 it was i*rst written, how- 

 ever long ago that may 

 have been. 



But the florist who ex- 

 pects to accomplish some- 



