30 



The Florists^ Review 



Mat 19, 1921 



der to give the force a chance to catch 

 up with the flowers already ordered. 

 The last customers on Sunday took all 

 the roses without stems; they wanted 

 anything that /'ould be worn. Dozens 

 of men went a^way wearing small sprays 

 of v.alley. The last customer, a me- 

 clianic in his working clothes, bought 

 and wore jway two orchids, absolutely 

 the last flowers of any kind in the store. 

 Mothers' day in this store was far 

 ahead of Christmas, or even Easter, in 

 the sale of cut flowers. 



ROSABIANS PLAN FIELD DAY. 



The executive committee of the 

 American Rose Society will meet in 

 Washington June 1 and 2. The pro- 

 gram will be as follows: Meet at Gude 

 Bros. Oo. oflices at 10 a. m.; visit Ar- 



lington Farms till noon, where the Sec- 

 retary of Agriculture or other promi- 

 nent officials will address the gather- 

 ing; at noon, drive through Rock Creek 

 park to Twin Oaks, the home of the 

 former Mrs. Gardiner Hubbard, who do- 

 nated a gold medal to be awarded every 

 five years for a new rose. This is now 

 the home of Mrs. Charles J. Bell. Here 

 refreshments will be served and the 

 rose garden inspected. After that an- 

 other drive will be taken, through Ex- 

 ecutive avenue and the Soldiers' Home 

 to the New Ebbitt House, where lunch- 

 eon will be served. On the morning of 

 June 2 there will be a visit to the Sbaw 

 water lily gardens at Kenniworth, Md.; 

 in the afternoon a visit to Dr. Van 

 Fleet's rose garden at Bell's Station, 

 Md. 



ODCN U^Xm^J^ DEADED^ 



A FLOBAL BOND. 



We take pleasure in stating that we 

 had the best business on Mothers' day 

 in our experience, more than doubling 

 any previous year, and we give credit 

 for the greater part of this increase to 

 the telegraph business. Friday, Satur- 

 day and Sunday the telegrams piled in 

 on us, and had we not fully prepared in 

 advance, we should not have been able 

 to care for our orders. We had con- 

 tracted in advance, so we did not have 

 to suffer for the increase demanded in 

 prices. 



It is too bad that prices were ad- 

 vanced as they were. It is not to the 

 credit, nor does it serve to the upbuild- 

 ing, of the florists' trade. In the adver- 

 tisement we carried in the Pasadena 

 papers we stated, "It is a day when 

 flowers are a necessity, not a luxury, 

 and prices will be according." There 

 is certainly an opportunity of great 

 value to the florists' trade to make 

 Mothers' day a day that will constantly 

 increase in its observance. 



Consider the great amount of pub- 

 licity given this day by the press. If 

 the florists' trade were compelled to pay 

 for this, it would cost a vast amount of 

 money. All florists were benefited, and 

 we should take advantage of this great 

 opportunity. 



It is to be deeply regretted that cer- 

 tain persons raise the prices of flowers 

 on this day. It gives the public the im- 

 pression that flowers are always high- 

 priced, whereas if people can get flow- 

 ers within their means, more flowers 

 will be purchased and I believe business 

 would be doubled. 



It seems to be generally accepted 

 that carnations are the flowers for 

 Mothers' day. To this I certainly ob- 

 ject. I think the intent was for a car- 

 nation to be worn as an emblem of the 

 day, a white one for the departed 

 mother, a red one for the living. But 

 to give pleasure and happiness to the 

 mother who is with us, flowers of bright- 

 ness and beauty should be sent. I think 

 this can be more fully carried out by 

 the florist himself in suggesting the 

 sending of other sorts of flowers and 

 letting the carnation remain as an em- 

 blem to be personally worn. 



We hope that the trade will take this 

 up and make Mothers' day a day of 

 flowers by necessity. If you figure our 

 great returns in payment for this coun- 

 try-wide publicity, not in dollars and 

 cents alone, we surely shall be well re- 

 paid. 



Let us all boost this as one of the 

 greatest campaigns in the floral world. 

 Think of the great assistance given our 

 trade by this universal publicity! 

 What would any of the large commer- 

 cial business concerns give for such a 

 boost! Yet this is laid at our door and 

 we are not taking the full advantage 

 of it. 



Why not take advantage of it and 

 prepare for next year? We all cer- 

 tainly know a good thing. Why should 

 not every florist feel he has and owns 

 a floral bond — a bond that is always 

 above par and paying interest daily? 

 Who wants a better investment? 



Be assured I have taken one. 



Henry A. Siebrecht, Jr. 



THE DANDELION. 



In answer to the question in last 

 week's issue: "Did You See Any Dan- 

 delions?" — yes, I did, and so did an- 

 other citizen of Columbus, who took the 

 time to mention it in a leading news- 

 paper. This is the way the item read: 



THE MOTHERS' DAY FIX)WER. 



In a prominpnt Columbus cluircli last Sunday 

 a banker appearp<i witb a dandelion in the lapel 

 of hlH ooat. It was Mothers' day and he alone 

 of all the hundreds of worshipers at that serv- 

 vire chose this lowly yet really l)eautifiil flower 

 as his expression of the spirit of the day. The 

 banker drove to church as splendidly as any 

 other parishioner, and he could well have af- 

 forded the outlay of money for some other con- 

 ventional flower. He had his mother with him, 

 and according to his own statement, when he 

 was tucked into bed that night by his sweetheart 

 of silver hair and she had kissed him, she re- 

 marked that it was the best Mothers' day she 

 had yet enjoyed. 



The dandelion expressed to her the simple de- 

 votion the son bore for a real mother. The 

 banker said that he had gone to a florist's shop 

 the day previous to buy some more conventional 

 flower, but found the supply exhausted. He also 

 discovered that the day had been sadly commer- 

 cialized. 



No doubt some criticised this banker for 

 wearing a dandelion to express the most natural 

 and simplest love that exists. But his heart 

 was rich in devotion, and besides, it was his 

 protest against a tendency that in New York 

 city, for Instance, found carnations selling for 

 $1 a blossom, because the special demand made 

 it possible to get that sum. 



But dandelions are picked so closely 



here to make liquor that I predict they 

 will never pass carnations as a Moth- 

 ers' day flower. Their market value at 

 $15 a quart distilled is more than carna- 

 tions at $3. J. W. Thompson. 



HOSPITAL DAY IN TOLEDO. 



National Hospital day, May 12, was 

 celebrated in Toledo under the auspices 

 of all the hospitals. An advertising 

 campaign in the daily papers called at- 

 tention to the work that is being done 

 for humanity in these institutions. The 

 various hospitals were decorated with 

 palms and ferns donated or furnished 

 by the florists. Many visitors were 

 shown through the hospitals between 2 

 and 4 p. m. Some of the visitors 

 brought or had flowers and plants sent 

 to the sick. The celebration will be an 

 annual affair here, and next year flo- 

 rists ought to receive a much greater 

 benefit. 



As the day came right after Mothers ' 

 day, when one Toledo councilman called 

 florists who charged 25 cents for a car- 

 nation "the meanest kind of profit- 

 eers," Schramm Bros, thought it an 

 auspicious moment to show the public 

 that florists are always willing to co- 

 operate in worthy movements. They 

 contributed a rose for each patient and 

 nurse in every hospital, with a card 

 attached reading, "Just a bit of good 

 cheer from Schramm Bros." They be- 

 lieve that it is profitable for a florist 

 to take a dose of his own medicine, 

 which he prescribes for the public when 

 he urges them to "Say It with Flow- 

 ers." An advertisement in the daily 

 papers headed, "A Rose for Each Pa- 

 tient," brought the firm's attitude to 

 the public's attention. 



MOTHEBS' DAY NOTES. 



Cinciimatl, O. — Julius Baer, who is 

 one of the foremost advertisers of tele- 

 graph delivery service, reports an ex- 

 ceedingly large business in wire orders 

 for Mothers' day. 



Lincoln, Neb. — Frey & Frey report a 

 rapid increase in the telegraph delivery 

 department of their business. The tele- 

 graph orders handled for Mothers' day 

 were twice as numerous as in 1920. 



St. Louis, Mo. — Grimm' & Gorly ad- 

 vertised in the Post-Dispatch May 5 

 their intention to send each "gold 

 star" mother a gift of flowers on 

 Mothers' day and asked the public to 

 furnish the names and addresses of 

 them. 



New York, N. Y.— H. B. Marinelli, 

 Montvale, N. J., took advantage of the 

 widespread newspaper talk of "dollar 

 carnations" for Mothers' day to adver- 

 tise in the New York Times May 13 

 that "Marinelli carnations have been 

 sold at all times since they were first 

 put on the market at not less than that 

 price," urging the public to ask the 

 florists for Marinelli carnations. 



Knoxville, Tenn. — "An ad that 

 brought real results, "-is the way Karl 

 P. Baum, secretary-treasurer of Baum's 

 Home of Flowers, Inc., characterized 

 the page which his firm, with Charles 

 W. Crouch, A. H. Dailey and the Mc- 

 Xutt Floral Co., ran in the Journal and 

 Tribune May 5. It was well illustrated 

 with pictures of mother and carried a 

 short story about the origin of Moth- 

 ers' day. 



