Mat 19, 1921 



The Florists^ Review 



29 



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MUCH ADO MOTHERS' DAY 



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Pi;EiraY OF PUBLICITY. 



Newspapers Aid Florists. 



Never have Mothers' day and flowers 

 been so widely advertised as this year. 

 And never did the trade get so much 

 publicity at »o little cost. There are 

 many kinds of publicity, but for May 8 

 the florists got all of them. There were 

 encomiums for Mothers' day; there 

 were injunctions to wear a flower and 

 to send mother flowers on that day; 

 there were quotations of the retail 

 prices of flowers; there were boosts 

 of flowers and florists; and there 

 were injunctions not to wear flowers, 

 revilings of florists, and charges of our 

 trade's profiteering. Yes, plenty of 

 publicity was had, and of all kinds. 



How much was helpful and how much 

 was hurtful depends upon the point of 

 view. Many believe that none of it was 

 hurtful, that all of it, adverse and fa- 

 vorable, advertised flowers for Moth- 

 ers' day. Assuredly the number who 

 refused to purchase flowers May 8 was 

 a fraction of the number who could not 

 purchase because the florists were sold 

 out. From every section of the country 

 have come the most glowing reports of 

 the holiday and actual statistics, when 

 the books were checked up, verified the 

 estimate of the day as the most success - 



eering because carnations, "the official 

 flower" of Mothers' day, were selling 

 at $3 per dozen May 7 when they sold 

 at $1.50 a week before. On the back 

 page of the issue, full of scareheads like 

 the front, was another box, ' ' Wear a 

 dandelion. Everybody will do it Sun- 

 day. Mothers hate profiteers." Under- 

 neath a heading, "Florists boost prices 

 of carnations beyond all reason in Den- 

 ver," was another half column of read- 

 ing matter urging Denver to follow 

 New York's example and wear a dande- 

 lion on Mothers' day. 



Effect? 



What the effects were are best de- 

 scribed by Denver florists themselves. 

 E. P. Neiman, secretary and treasurer 

 of the Park Floral Co., states: 



"The attack was the most violent 

 that has ever appeared in a newspaper. 

 However, we do not think that it had 

 any bad effect upon the business for 

 Mothers' day or since, as most of the 

 people of Denver know the reason for 

 these attacks upon the business people 

 of the city and just laugh at the ar- 

 ticles. 



"The florists' business for Mothers' 

 day was at least fifty per cent to 

 seventy-five per cent better than in 

 former years. When the first article 



Herbert A. Clausen, of the newly es- 

 tablished firm, the Eoekmont for Flow- 

 ers, Inc., declares: "The attack of the 

 Denver Post had no adverse effect on 

 the florists as a whole in Denver. The 

 general public, taking it more as a joke 

 than a reality, favored us with orders 

 as though the attack had not been 

 made." 



If as an attack, the Denver Post's 

 front page heading was a joke, as a 

 piece of florists' publicity it was the 

 cheapest the trade in that city ever re- 

 ceived. 



AN ADVERTISING ADVENTURE. 



Six months ago, Logansport, Ind., a 

 town of 23,000 inhabitants, had no 

 downtown florists' establishment. Five 

 months ago, E. H. Pershing opened the 

 Pershing Flower Shop & Seed Store in 

 the heart of the town. Up to Mothers' 

 day, business in the new location had 

 been good, but not good enough to war- 

 rant heavy advertising for Mothers' 

 day. It was a trifle dubious, for there 

 had been no precedent for him to fol- 

 low. He did not know whether the 

 downtown store would sell enough to 

 pay for the advertising. But he was 

 firm in his belief that advertising pays, 

 so he went ahead and advertised. He 

 also showed a bit of originality in ap- 



HONOR THY MOTHER BUT SWAT THE FLOWER PROFITEER 



Every Yankee Doodle Dandy — 

 Will wear a dandelion on Mothers' day. 

 And help to swat the profiteer! 

 The idea of wearing dandelions Sunday 

 instead of carnations — at $3 a dozen — is 

 spreadintr through Denver like wrildfire! 

 Or. better yet. LIKE A WILDFLOWER! 



Carnations have heen raised AT LEAST 

 100 PER CENT, just because they've been 

 the official flower for Mothers' day. 



The florists like Mothers' day. For the 

 sentiment? Yes. Because that sentiment 

 makes dollars flow into their pockets. And 

 the florists soak everybody who wants to 

 buy carnations to honor mother. 



But Denver folks are aroused and angry. 

 They won't let the florists commercialize 

 Mothers' day. 



Dandelions will stop 'em. 



So— everybody — wear a dandelion in your 

 coat lapel Sunday. 



Mother wrill understand! And rejoice! 



This Was the Heading Across the First Page of the Denver Post> Sunday Morning, May 8. 



ful Mothers' day on record and one of 

 the topmost holidays in the trade's his- 

 tory. 



Denver Post's Attack. 



The most violent attack on the trade 

 «'ver experienced was that of the Den- 

 ver Post on the morning of May 8. The 

 reputation of this i)api'r is so widely 

 known throughout the country that it 

 need not be described here. Its flar- 

 ing headlines are so greatly discounted 

 in Denver that the box heading repro- 

 duced here served chiefly as a splendid 

 piece of advertising for the local trade. 

 The sole disadvantage lay in the fact 

 that it did not nppear until Sunday 

 morning, May 8, when most Denver 

 florists were sold out, or nearly so. 



The Denver Post can be counted upon 

 to do a thing "up brown." So it did 

 not stop with the box here reproduced 

 across the top of the first page of the 

 early Sunday edition — the most prized 

 position in the whole edition. At the 

 top of the second page was a box, of 

 still heavier type, reading, "Wear a 

 dandelion Sunday. Pick it yourself — a 

 tender ceremony — and swat the 

 profiteer." Lower on the page was half 

 a column devoted to charges of profit- 



appeared in the Denver Post, on the 

 afternoon of May 6, nearly all the flo- 

 rists of Denver had advance orders 

 enough to use up all their stock of car- 

 nations. Sunday morning. May 8, near- 

 ly every florist in town had to wait un- 

 til the morning's stock had been cut 

 and brought in before they could fill 

 their orders, and some of the florists 

 had to hold their late orders over until 

 Monday morning in order to fill them. 

 So you can readily see what effect this 

 publicity had on the business for Moth- 

 ers' day." 



S. E. Lundy, of the Roldt-Lundy 

 House of Flowers, savs: 



"We do not think" that the attack 

 hurt us, coming as it did from this 

 paper. The reporter who wrote the ar- 

 ticle interviewed me, and I quoted to 

 him the prices of carnations in other 

 cities, showing that our prices were $1 

 less than in many other places, as we 

 sold carnations for $2, $2..")0 and $3. 



"We had the biggest business in the 

 history of Mothers' day in Denver. 

 .\11 florists here sold out completely, 

 and we could have handled at least 

 10,000 to 1.1,000 more carnations, if we 

 had had them. ' ' 



propriating his advertising fund. He 

 based the amount to spend for his ad- 

 vertising on the percentage he could 

 afford to spend of the entire proceeds 

 should the entire stock purchased be 

 sold out. 



Therefore, Monday, May 2, there ap- 

 peared a small inch reader in six places 

 in the local daily paper. It read, 

 "Mothers' day, next Sunday, May 8. 

 See tomorrow's announcement. The 

 Pershing Flower Shop." The adver- 

 tisement of May 3 occupied 2-column 

 space twelve inches deep, with an illus- 

 tration and a little type telling about 

 Mothers' day and its meaning, an ad- 

 vertisement such as is run by many flo- 

 rists. May 4 and -l, there were smaller 

 advertisements with cuts and type. 

 May 6 and 7, there were the readers in 

 six places in the papers again. 



The result was even better than was 

 hojjed. The stock was completely sold 

 out before 8 p. m. Saturday, May 7. 

 More flowers were ordered for Sunday 

 morning and all of those were sold out 

 before 11 a. in. Many customers were 

 turned away Saturday evening and 

 Sunday morning. Selling was .stopped 

 for two hours Saturday afternoon in or- 



