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HOLD YOUR OWN 



^ FLOWER SHOW 



How to make the public want more flowers is a question florists are 

 answering hy many forms of advertising. Just now everybody tvants to 

 create more business. Here is described a way already demonstrated suc- 

 cessful and frequently employed, which might be used by more florists. 



13 





HETHER it is such an elab- 

 orate array as a national 

 flower show of the Society 

 of American Florists or a 

 display of seasonable 

 plants and blooms filling 

 one florist 's store, the busi- 

 ness-creating ability of a 

 ^wer exhibition has been 

 S^onstrated so frequently 

 and so decisi^^y that it is indisputable. 

 So it is that tbere is competition among 

 the cities of the country for the priv- 

 ilege of holdin||^ the national flower show. 

 So it is that the New York trade, having 

 witnessed thf notable results that ac- 

 crued from one of the big S. A. F. flower 

 shows, vowed that never again should a 

 year pass without an exhibition at the 

 Grand Central Palace to stimulate and 

 renew the floral desires of the metropoli- 

 tan populace. So it is that Boston, 

 whose Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety throws open to the public a num- 

 ber of shows each year, maintains an 

 unflagging demand in her many fine flow- 

 er shops. 



Opportunity for More. 



Examples are not confined, either, to 

 the big cities. The small communities, 

 where a church houses a collection of 

 amateur and professional exhibits or a 

 local civic society stages an annual show, 



demonstrate equally well their stimulat- 

 ing effect on the florists' business. Just 

 as the trade as a whole promotes the 

 great arrays that compose the metropoli- 

 tan shows, so the florist in the small town 

 usually is largely responsible for the 

 local exhibition. 



Since the trade slogan has brought the 

 notice of other lines of business more 

 directly on us, there is greater oppor- 

 tunity than before for local exhibitions, 

 which will stimulate sales and may be 

 held more frequently and without the 

 tremendous outlay of time and money 

 that one of the big shows necessitates. 

 Examples of this have been given in 

 these columns before. One that was 

 strikingly successful occurred in St. 

 Louis the last week in April. 



When a new "movie palace," con- 

 structed on a most ornate and elaborate 

 scale, was preparing to open, the man- 

 agemejit collaborated with the local flo- 

 rists' publicity committee regarding an 

 exhibition in the large lobby during 

 opening week. The cooperative plan of 

 a free flower show, which would be seen 

 by thousands of people, seemed so at- 

 tractive to all consulted that it met an 

 enthusiastic reception. 



The lobby was placed at the disposal 

 of the florists' committee, which secured 

 from the retailers, wholesalers and park 

 department a splendid array of palms, 



blooming plants, baskets of cut flowers 

 and decorative materials. Part of the 

 result may be viewed in the illustration 

 on this page. The interior of the theater 

 was also decorated lavishly with the 

 same material. Even the box office, a 

 marble booth in the lobby, was festooned 

 with greens and surmounted by boxes of 

 blooming plants. 



Cooperative Support. 



In return for the display furnished by 

 the florists of St. Louis, the management 

 of the Missouri theater advertised the 

 exhibition heavily in the daily papers, 

 using large spaces all week and featur- 

 ing the trade slogan. 



One act of the daily program during 

 this opening week was entitled, "Say It 

 with Flowers. ' ' It was termed a ' ' musi- 

 cal floral pageant" on the program, and 

 was laid in a St. Louis flower shop. The 

 characters were Rose, Violet, Daisy, 

 Buttercup, Black-Eyed Susan, Liiy, 

 Pansy and Tulip. This musical number 

 was eiiacted six times each day during 

 the week and proved what is theatrically 

 termed a hit. In fact, St. Louis florists 

 say, the entire affair, so far as the floral 

 end of it is concerned, was a hit with 

 the public, and, therefore, with the trade. 

 The publicity obtained in the local pa- 

 pers, in illustrations and write-ups, 

 would have cost far more than the thea- 



Lobby of New Missouri Theater, in Which St. Louis Florists Staged Show of Much Local Interest. 



