AOOUST 25, 1921 



The Florists' Review 



23 



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HOW SHOWS SELL FLOWERS 



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FLOWER SHOWS AID PUBLICITY. 



Demonstrated Advertising Value. 



Is the flower show worth while as an 

 aid to getting our goods before the pub- 

 lic? Most uii(|uestionably, yes! Every 

 industry recognizes this and promotes 

 its own exhibitions, the automobile 

 shows, the chemical shows and many 

 other industries' exhibitions being ex- 

 amples to this effect. 



The New York flower show, with 

 which I have been more particularly 

 connected the last six years, has been 

 a wonderful assist.'iuce to business in 

 our section in the flower, seed and plant 

 lines. The grower senses the value of 

 its possibilities; the nurserymen and 

 seedsmen are fully alive to the splendid 

 business it creates; the only man who 

 does not seem aljle to grasj) the signifi- 

 cance of a flower show is the retail 

 florist. The number of retail florists 

 who interest themselves in tlie sliow, 

 in comparison witli tlH> numtxT <'ngagcd 

 in the business, is pitifully small. T am 

 hoping the retail end of the profession 

 will make a different showing at the 

 fifth national flower sliow, wliicii will 

 be held at Cleveland next spring. The 

 retail merchant is the man first bene- 

 fited by the increased demand for flow 

 ITS. He should reciprocate by showing 

 the public the most arfistic use of 

 flowers. 



New York Gives Example. 



If you could have witnessed, as I 

 have, the crowd of onlookers at the 

 tables when the exhibitors are staginjr 

 their decorations, for instaiic(>, you 

 would see why the retail mercliant 

 ■♦lionld be one of the priin'ii>al factors 

 at the show. Tlie ])ublic is interested, 

 vitally so, and it is up to the retail 

 men to encourage that interest. 



One of the main features of the last 

 \'ew York show was the garden class, 

 staged by the garden clubs of the coun- 

 try. This drew commuters by the hun- 

 Ireds, who attended the show just to 

 look over that particular group, to ad 

 uiire and particularly to see in what 

 way they could use the same methods 

 on their own grounds. Now as to re- 

 sults — did it pay? The phenomenal 

 tiusiness the nurserymen in the neigh- 

 liorhood of New York rei>ort this year 

 jn the face of rapidly declining business 

 in other lines speaks for itself. Is it 

 not logical to assume that some of this 

 ''Usiness — much of it, in fact- was due 

 'o the interest displayed and cre.-tted in 

 the New York exhibition? 



We must remember our business is 

 !iot a necessity. Our customers do not 

 Have to purchase flowers. They do not 

 think they have to adorn tlieir grounds 

 ■inlcss we put the thought in their 

 minds and keep it actively alive that it 

 IS the right thing to do. Demonstr.'i- 

 tions at flower shows of the use of flow- 

 ' rs and plants, liacked u]) by a cam- 

 paign of educational instruction in the 

 magazines and pajiers of the country, 

 will, I am sure, make our business con- 

 tinue to grow and flourish like the pro- 

 verbial bay tree. 



Address li.v Cliarli'S H, 'I'litty on •'Tlic VmIii.' 

 ipf Kliiwcr Shows in I'liljlicity l(ir tin; t'lorists' 

 Industry." iinsciilfd at tlio S. A. F. convention 

 :il Wiisliinjiton AuBiist 17, lOlil. 



Not alone do flower shows educate 

 the public to a better knowledge of the 

 progress that is being made, but they 

 are also a medium by which the raiser 

 of novelties can show his brother florist 

 the progress he is making in producing 

 newer and better types of roses, carna- 

 tions ami other flowers. This furnishes 

 an excellent reason why every florist 

 should feel it incumbent on hiiu to at 

 t(>nd the flower show next spring. A 

 grower who keeps up-to-date with his 

 varieties is the man who gets the 

 "cream of the bottle," leaving the 

 ■'skim milk" for the other fellow. 

 New roses that cannot stand uj) in com 

 petition with the standard sorts lia\e 

 a poor chance of getting themselves es- 

 t.ablished in the public estimation. 

 Flower shows should always be edui:i 

 tional in this resjiect. They should 'show 

 through the displays of trained artists 

 how to harmonize colors, how to ar- 

 range bouquets, the proper and many 

 sentimental uses to which flowers can 

 bo put and the dift'ercuice between good 

 and bad form in their arrangement. All 

 these things have an interest for the 



[lublic, and properly handled — that is 

 to say, showing something different 

 every day — they will bring the same 

 [leojjle (lay after day to a large, exhibi- 

 t ion. 



A series of interesting talks on differ- 

 ent jihases of the business is always a 

 good drawing card, jjrovided the lee 

 \uvvT doesn't get too dry- and technical 

 in his discourse. 



Adding to Interest. 



A jirimary consideration in a flower 

 show is good music, liolli instrumental 

 and vocal. .Some sense of the fitness of 

 things sliould be obserxed. .\n orches- 

 tra so heavy that it drowns out all other 

 sounds is to be condemned, but music as 

 a diversion cannot be overestimated. A 

 flower show that has no live movement 

 or action is one of the dullest things 

 im.'iginable. We have found good vocal 

 music to be a drawing card in the .\ew 

 York show, and ;ui excellent adjunct to 

 flowers and their uses. 



Some florists will say, "This sounds 

 all very well for a. large exhibition, but 

 we are living in a small town and can- 

 not put on a big show and any show we 

 do put on has little ch.unce of being a 

 financial success." To such florists I 

 would sav bv .all means work in con- 



Charlcs H. Totty. 



