16 



The Florists' Review 



May 10, 1917, 



ideas to his fellows in the trade and at 

 the same time adopting what of theirs 

 he believes good. 



These traits of the florist have 

 brought out many novelties, some of 

 which have become staples in the trade. 

 An illustration will be a reminder that 

 some brain first conceived and directed 

 the work on each of the funeral designs 

 which every florist now makes. Others 

 of the novelties are popular for a while, 

 and then are dropped. But discarded 

 or not, each new creation has been an 

 ipspiration not only to the designer, but 

 to some other florist. 



Individuality Makes Sales. 



The mere bunching of a few flowers 

 and displaying the result with hundreds 

 of other bunches of much the same char- 

 acter does not invite custom. Viewing 

 a field of daisies is much the same. 

 There are so many of the flowers that 

 the possession of a few of them means 

 but little to the observer. But take 

 those same bunches of flowers into the 

 florist's store, put each into an individ- 

 ual setting and the chances for sales 

 have increased tremendously. 



In the exhibit of Pennock Bros., 

 Philadelphia, at the rose show in 

 March, there were displayed several il- 

 lustrations of this individual method in 

 society work. Special debutante boxes, 

 each made especially for the recipient 

 and not duplicated, were shown. Then 

 there was the floral gift for the new 

 baby, also original and also individual. 



Harmony the Keynote. 



Such work as this requires accessories 

 as well as selection and treatment of the 

 flowers which compose it. Boxes, 

 baskets, vases, dishes — all may thus be 

 utilized. But, as has been emphasized, 

 be careful that the receptacle used be 

 in keeping with the flowers it contains. 

 Make it a fitting background for and not 

 a rival to, the colors of the flowers. 



After the spring rush those in the re- 

 tail branch of the trade have more time 

 to give their artistic ability full sway. 

 It is the time, too, when every original 

 touch to the show window, arrangement 

 of flowers and interior of the store, will 



be a great sales help. For each will at- 

 tract attention and stimulate the desire 

 to possess in the passer-by and the visi- 

 tor to the store. 



Another example of such a window is 

 pictured in the illustration on this page. 

 F. E. Pierson Co., of Tarrytown, N. Y., 

 believes that pottery is a logical side 

 line for the retail florist. The window 

 pictured was awarded first prize in a 

 window display contest arranged by a 

 pottery manufacturer to secure the ex- 

 ploitation of his line. "All the win- 

 dows submitted were excellent, adding 

 to your credit in receiving the award, ' ' 

 was the comment made when the prize 

 was awarded to Mr. Pierson. 



The larger pieces in the window were 



used by Mr. Pierson in his display of 

 roses, for which he received first prize, 

 at the New York show. The two gar- 

 den vases were used in the Pierson rose 

 garden, which also received first prize 

 at the same show. 



Too much stress cannot be laid on the 

 necessity of carrying the invaluable ac- 

 cessories which act as a trade stimulus. 

 But in broadening his business, the re- 

 tailer should not go beyond reasonable 

 limits. He should confine his side lines 

 to natural adjuncts to his business. But 

 first, last and all the time he should 

 remember that his business is selling 

 flowers and that the other things are 

 merely aids in the accomplishment of 

 these sales. 



MOTHERS' DAYNATIONAL AD. 



Paid Tor by Small Profits. 



The Mothers' day advertisement of 

 the Chicago Florists ' Club, with its bor- 

 der of forget-met-nots, appeared in the 

 Literary Digest for May 5 and probably 

 has been the most talked of thing that 

 has happened in the trade this spring. 



It i^ well understood that the adver- 

 tisement, costing something over $1,000, 

 was paid for out of the publicity fund 

 earned by the Chicago Florists ' Club by 

 its sales of St. Valentine's day and 

 Mothers ' day posterettes. These sticker 

 stamps in bright colors were manufac- 

 tured in large quantities, printing great 

 sheets of them at a time, so that by sell- 

 ing in small lots, at moderate prices, a 

 profit was turned into the publicity fund. 

 A large number of florists contributed, 

 but none contributed more than a few 

 dollars and each contributor received 

 full value for his money in the poster- 

 ettes he obtained for his own use. It 

 involved a large amount of work for the 

 publicity committee, but the raising of 



the money was an easy matter because 

 it came in small sums from many peo- 

 ple and the transaction was a purchase, 

 not a contribution. 



Discussion of Details. 



As the first attempt at national pub- 

 licity for flowers the advertisement has 

 attracted unusual attention from the 

 trade. Not unnaturally, there is diver- 

 sity of opinion regarding the details. 

 Literary Digest has not been the fa- 

 vorite weekly publication of any con- 

 siderable number of florists and many 

 were surprised at the committee's selec- 

 tion and the statement of the number of 

 readers reached. Discussion of this 

 point gets nowhere, however, for the 

 reason that no one would be able to pick 

 out a publication giving a greater cir- 

 culation among an equally desirable 

 class of people unless the expenditure 

 for a page were much greater. 



The position accorded the advertise- 

 ment was all that could be desired. It 

 appeared on page 1, the first page in- 

 side the cover, a position so well es- 

 teemed that for it practically all pub- 

 lications charge an extra price. 



Fundamentally All Bight. 



There are those who think the writer 

 of the advertisement might well have 

 put more emphasis on the sentimental 

 appeal of the day, but it is a not un- 

 common fault of florists' advertising 

 that it neglects to take into account that 

 the public does not have the complete 

 knowledge of the subject possessed by 

 the writer of the advertisement; many 

 a florist's advertisement would be well 

 understood by the trade but is rather 

 meaningless to the outside reader. 



As an interesting experiment, how- 

 ever, this Mothers' day advertisement 

 is excellent. It has shown the way. 

 It is the work of the committee of a 

 local florists' club, which probably will 

 not care to carry it on indefinitely. The 

 continuation of the work, and it un- 

 doubtedly is worth continuing, probably 

 wiirrest with the S. A. F. 



Prize Window Display of Pottery by F. R. Pierson Co., Tarrytown, N. Y. 



THE COMMITTEE'S VIEW. 



"This campaign of advertising for 

 Mothers' day was a mighty task," says 

 Fred Lautenschlager, chairman of the 

 publicity committee of the Chicago Flo- 

 rists ' Club. * ' First of all, we got a late 



