22 



The Florists' Review 



Mat 19, 1921 



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ANOTHER BIG DAY COMING 



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VERYWHERE one moves 

 in the business world, he 

 is greeted with the tale of 

 woe that "business is all 

 shot. ' ' Newspaper and 

 magazine articles without 

 number are bewailing the 

 fact that someone has 

 thrown a monkey-wrench 

 into the machine of indus- 

 try. And it is true. Business all over 

 Iho country is at a standstill — almost, 

 for there is at least one industry that 

 is not at all bothered by the prevailing 

 (lojjressed conditions and that industry 



is our industry. <^ ^ 



Christmas, 1920, came and went and, 

 although it came at the darkest hour in 

 the industrial sadness, it carried with it 

 a tremendous business in flowers, a total 

 sales record that some say is a new high 

 mark for Christmas sales. Then New 

 Year's day came and went and left a 

 touch of happiness in the hearts of flo- 

 rists, for that day, too, was an unusual- 

 ly big one. Soon afterward, St. Valen- 

 tine 's day departed, leaving in its wake 

 another day's business that came in a 

 close second to the record. Next, Easter 

 came and went and that too was a 

 recording-breaking day. Following 

 close on the trail of a tremendous 

 Easter business. Mothers' day fulfilled 

 our highest hopes and expectations, and 

 from all parts of the country comes the 

 dark blue story of empty iceboxes and 

 turned-away customers. 



What Is Coming? 

 With all these big, record-breaking 

 flower days behind us, what can be ex- 

 pected for the one before us, Memorial 

 day? First of all, we may analyze the 



day and find out the outstanding fea- 

 tures which make it a day that florists 

 always look forward to as a business- 

 producing day. 



All the other big days have some 

 flower or group of flowers that have an 

 exclusive right to the day and for that 

 reason far outsell any other plants or 

 flowers. Christmas makes a heavy de- 

 mand on roses, poinsettias and other 

 seasonable plants which display bright 

 red blooms. Easter demands a large 

 supply of lilies. And carnations are al- 

 ways the first to give out on Mothers' 

 day. But Memorial day does not occa- 

 sion an extra heavy call for any special 

 plant or flower, though peonies, by rea- 

 son of their timeliness, have come to be 

 associated with the day by florists. 

 Everything in the store, inducting 

 wreaths, pots, designs, etc., goes 

 strongly. 



Though the custom on this day has 

 been to place flowers on the soldiers' 

 graves, there is aversion to just strew- 

 ing them on the graves, probably be- 

 cause of the fact that in just a few 

 hours this beautiful symbol of devotion 

 withers. With spiked vases, however, 

 this objection is overcome, and cut 

 flowers may be placed on the grave and 

 be held gracefully in an upright posi- 

 tion. 



Special Wreaths. 



Another feature of Memorial day is 

 wreaths. Wreaths of magnolia leaves, 

 galax, oak leaves and many other flower 

 leaves all go well. Many florists, espe- 

 cially in New England, advertise, as a 

 special for Memorial day, a wreath of 

 novel design and moderate price. They 

 feature this wreath in their advertise- 



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[OVER ttiem over witk beautiful {lowers ( 

 Deck them with tfarlaAcls, those brothers of our^; 

 Lyinit so silent, by nii^ht and by day, 

 Sleeping the years of their manhood away; 

 Years they had marked- for the joys of the brave; 

 Years they must waste in the sloth of the tfrave. 

 All the bright laurels that promised to bloom 

 Fell to the earth when they went to the tomb. 

 So in our minds we will name them once more, 

 So in our hearts we will cover them o'er; 

 Roses and lilies and violets blue 

 Bloom in our hearts for the brave and the true. 

 Cover them over — yes, cover them over — 

 Parent, and husband, and brother and lover; 

 Crown in your hearts these dead heroes of ours. 

 And cover them over with beautiful flowers. 



-Will Carleton 



/UHDAYMAY3OTH.(LEGALH0L10AYMAf3bT) 



Chicago Florists Thought This the Best of Their Memorial Day Advertising Last Year. 



ments, in their windows and in their 

 stores to any customers who come into 

 the store without anything definite in 

 mind except the limit in price which 

 they desire to pay for a fitting and at- 

 tractive decoration. Sometimes this 

 wreath is of magnolia leaves, trimmed 

 with some blooms of some other flowers 

 and with some ferns. Sometimes it is 

 made of some other combinations. The 

 whole idea is to present an artistic and 

 attractive wreath at a price that will 

 induce a heavy sale. Yes, wreaths sell 

 well on Memorial day. 



Potted plants, of course, are the best 

 Memorial day sellers. Everything sea- 

 sonable sells well on this day. 



Added Memories. 



Another thing to consider is the 

 meaning of the day. Memorial day was 

 established in 1868 by the members of 

 the G. A. R., who desired to set aside 

 a certain day for honoring their lost 

 comrades. The surprising thing is not 

 the way that the use of flowers on this 

 day has increased, but the manner in 

 which the significance and the observ- 

 ance of the day has broadened. The 

 Spanish-American war, in 1898, added 

 more soldiers' graves to those of the 

 Civil war. And the day has also be- 

 come significant for the decorating of 

 all graves, whether or not they are the 

 graves of men who were army men. 



The great world war has made the 

 day much more full of meaning. It 

 brings the thought of honoring the dead 

 heroes closer to the hearts of the pres- 

 ent generation. With few of the old 

 G. A. R. veterans left and with the 

 ranks of the Spanish war veterans get- 

 ting smaller and smaller each year, an 

 added impetus to the celebration of this 

 day has been furnished. One florist ad- 

 vertises that "Chateau Thierry adds its 

 memories to those of Gettysburg to 

 make more universal the observance of 

 Memorial day." Those words tell the 

 whole story. For that reason Memorial 

 day should grow larger and larger for 

 florists. 



Advertising's Aid. 



If one analyzes the reasons for the 

 phenomenally large business which the 

 florists are enjoying this year, when all 

 other lines are in the throes of an un- 

 precedented slump, he is likely to con- 

 clude that the individual advertising 

 and the general publicity working in 

 this trade's behalf tell the tale. "How 

 sof " say some, "aren't other lines ad- 

 vertising as well as florists?" Certain- 

 ly they .are, but not with the same re- 

 sults. The very nature of florists' ad- 

 vertising means an uplifting of the 

 whole trade. While firms in other lines 

 are advertisihg "buy such-and-such an 

 article from soand-so," florists are ad- 

 vertising "Say It with Flowers," with 

 the idea of educating the public to the 

 fact that they can get flowers wherever 

 they desire, but they should get flowers. 



Hardly an advertisement about flow- 

 ers appears that does not feature the 

 words of the slogan. Through all of the 



