32 



The Florists^ Review 



NOVEMBHR 17, 1921 



signboard lialf as loiij; could he no }i;ood 

 an advtrtiseineiit," ho says, ''tliough 

 it would cost me nianv times as much. ' ' 



PENN'S TIMELY AD. 



Perhaps no florist in the country is so 

 ready to take advantage of current af- 

 fairs and conditions and turn them to 

 use as advertising material as I'enn 

 the Florist, of Boston. A recent illus- 

 tration is shown on this page. The re- 

 production is about one-fourth of the 

 original size of the advertisement which 

 appeared in the Boston papers. The 

 possibility of its use by other florists, 

 at least in the idea, led Henry J'enn to 

 offer it for presentation to a larger cir- 

 cle of florists than would otherwise have 

 opportunity of seeing it. 



PRICELESS PUBLICITY. 



Wienlioeber Wreath Wins First Page. 



When a florist and his work are given 

 a place on the front page of a metro- 

 ]iolitan newspaper two days in succes- 

 sion — and one day in bold -face type — 

 he may properly be said to have secured 

 ''priceless publicity," for no sum of 

 money is large enough to purchase space 

 on that page, at any rate in the Chicago 

 daily papers. 



This feat was performed l)y George 

 Wienlioeber, whose activities in the di- 

 rection of advertising have made him 

 possibly the most talked-of retail florist 

 in Chicago of late. 



Two soldiers of the recent war were 

 sent last week to Washington by the 

 Chicago American to represent the 

 city's soldiers at the burial of the un- 

 known soldier at Arlington cemetery 

 November 11. They were selected by 

 "draft" from the paper's readers and 

 much space was devoted to preparations 

 for their going. Mr. Wienlioeber 

 thought the "gold star mothers" of 

 Chicago ought to be represented, at 

 least by token, ;it the ceremonies. So 

 he presented to these mothers a wreath, 

 which was carried to Washington by the 

 two soldier boys and actually laid on the 

 casket of the unknown soldier as it lay 

 in state under the dome of the Capitol 

 ))uilding, receiving the homage of more 

 than 100,000 persons who filed jiast the 

 bier. 



Newspaper Features Gift. 



In the afternoon edition of November 

 0, the left-liaiid column of the first page 

 — the second most important place in 

 such a news])aper, the right-hand column 

 being first — carried as headlines, 

 "Heroes Bear Wreath for 'Unknown '. " 



"Bearing with them a great wreatli 

 as token of esteem from the Gold Star 

 Mothers of Chicago'' was the ojieniiig 

 of the story describing the embark.-itioii 

 of the soldiers on the train for Wash- 

 ington. Attached to the wreath was tin' 

 following message, which the American 

 printed in large, bold-face type: 



A token of psteom from Ccorct' WicnlioctiiT to 

 the OdhI Stiir Motliors of Cliiciipo tliroiicli tlio 

 ronrtpsy of Tlio Chicago Evcninc -Xmoriinn. Tlif- 

 Cold .Star Slotliers of ChicuKO pliice this wroatli 

 with loving moinorip.s ;il tlic birr of our nnknown 

 lioro who niado the snprenie siicrifiie for his conn 

 trv. 



.Ndvombcr 11. 1021. 



In italics later on tlie story told that 

 Mr. Wienhoeber's brother in-law, a mem- 

 ber of the One Hundred and Thirty-sec- 

 ond infantry, fell at Forges Wood, lead- 

 ing his machine gun platoon, and that 

 his body had never been identified. 



The following dav 's American, under 



a 6-columii headline, "Chicago Boys in 

 Tribute to Unknown Hero," carried an- 

 other frontpage story about the wreath, 

 the opening paragraphs of which were 



iis follows: 



Wiisliington, Nov. 10. — The floral tribute of 

 the Gold Star Mothers of Chiougo today wiih 

 placed on the ca8ket of the unknown soldier 

 lying in state in the rotunda of the Capitol by 

 Sergt. (ieoige It. Oourley and ('orix)ral Clauds 

 Hryan, of Cliicago, representing the Gold Star 

 .Mothers and The Chicago Evening .\merican of 

 that city. 



Silently, Init Impressively, the two (Jliicago 

 vets passed in line to the catafalque and ten- 

 derly placed on it the wreath prepared by George 

 Wienhoeber, Chicago florist, to be placed on the 

 unknown grave in tlie name of the Gold Star 

 Mothers of Chicago. 



In the edition of November 11 the 



American, in describing the ceremonies 



at Washington, printed these para- 



grai)lis, on its second page: 



The floral tribute, which was made by George 

 Wienlioel)er, of (.'hi<'ago, and which was one of 

 the most gorgeous of those left at tlie casket. 



Invest in Optimism 



Flowers are nature's op- 

 timists. Through all the 

 ages no flower ever was a 

 pessimist. They always make 

 for a happy outlook upon 

 life. They are ever carrying 

 messages of love and cheer. 

 They bloom, all unselfishly, 

 for the delight of the human 

 soul. 



If there are clouds in the 

 sky, if things don't go just 

 right — then let flowers bring 

 a touch of brightness. In- 

 vest in the messengers of 

 optimism — flowers. 



A SUGGESTION: PENN'S 

 Famous Violeta, per bunch, $3.(i0 



124 Tremont Street 



Appropriate and Timely. 



attracted attention <pf the thousands wlio passed 

 by the fl.ig-draiied casket yesterday afternoon 

 and np ti> 10 o'clock last night. 



.\s Gourley and Hryan tenderly placed the 

 iK'antiful wreath on the casket they were pho 

 tographed by a naval photographer. Few pho- 

 tographs were iMrmiltcd. but officials realizing 

 the sentiment of the mothers in Chicago who had 

 lost sons in the world war and of the heroic 

 service of (Jourlcv and Hryan, permitted tlie pho- 

 tographers to snap the Chicago veterans and tlie 

 tiiiral tribute in tlic rotunda under the dome of 

 the Capitol 



All three days' issues contained l;irge 

 ]ihotograi)hs illustrating the story, draw- 

 ing attention to the gift of George 

 Wienlioeber. November 10, a photo- 

 gra])h of the wreath itself was repro- 

 duced, witli credit to Mr. Wienhoeber in 

 large type beneath. 



Public Notice. 



Of course, the publicity obtained from 

 such stories on the first page of the 

 American, with a circulation close to 



half a million, was tremendous. But it 

 brought further public notice. People 

 came into Mr. Wienhoeber's store, on 

 Wabash avenue and Monroe street, to 

 thank him in person. Many letters with 

 similar messages came. The secretary 

 of Governor Small came himself to bear 

 the appreciation of the chief executive 

 of the state. 



In consequence, Mr. Wienhoeber was 

 able to stage a window display which 

 in itself was an iu-hievenient, for it was 

 completely hidden by the crowd that 

 gathered to see it, from morning till 

 night. A huge gold frame supported a 

 background on which hung a replica of 

 the wreath sent to Washington. All 

 about it were photographs of the boys 

 on their journey, clippings from the Chi- 

 cago American telling the story of the 

 wreath, and facsimiles of the messages 

 of thanks. In a conspicuous place on 

 the window was this actual telegram, 

 where all might read it: 



(;t>org<' WienhoelKT, 



41 South Wabasli Avenue, 



Cliicago, 111: 



Wreath arrived. Condition exceUent. After 

 receiving instructions took wreath to rotunda of 

 Capitol. Placed it i)er8onally on bier of unknown 

 soldier. Navy department took photograph of us 

 holding wreath on stairs of Capitol building. It 

 matches with any we saw. No other similar 

 design in sight. 



Claude Bryan. 



George Gouiley. 



To the left and right of the wreath, 

 before the frame, stood two great silver 

 candlesticks, three feet high, in each 

 of which was a candle again as high, 

 continually burning. 



The wreath was composed of palm 

 leaves, magnolia leaves, sea grass, bit- 

 tersweet, Japanese lanterns and small 

 silk flags. The long journey to Wash- 

 ington and the length of time which the 

 wreath had to lie on the casket pre- 

 cluded the use of fresh flowers. An ex- 

 cellent photograph of the wreath, held 

 by the boys who bore it to Washington, 

 is reproduced on the opposite page. 



The Moral to Florists. 



The moral of this story — for it has 

 more purpose than relating how this 

 wreatli came to lie on the unknown sol- 

 dier 's casket — is expressed in George 

 Wienhoeber's own words: "Any florist 

 could have done this; all of thein could 

 have done something of the sort. And 

 all of them might have had a first -page 

 story about it in their home town 

 papers. It 's not too late now. Let the 

 florist in each town send a wreath to 

 the grave at Arlington next year at 

 Armistice day. I've gone on record t6 

 contribute such a wreath each year." 



Newsjiapers chary of giving business 

 concerns anything that may savor of a 

 "write-up" fairly fall over themselves 

 for so good a news story as this one of 

 the wreath. The florist who has an eye 

 for news values can find many ways in 

 the course of each season to hook up his 

 liusiness with events of first importance 

 in his community and win publicity of 

 this sort, of incalculable value in estab- 

 lisliiug jirestige. 



FLOWERS AT ARLINGTON. 



Rarely has such an array of flowers 

 been seen as that at Arlington cemetery 

 November 11 for the burial of America 's 

 unknown soldier. All the Washington 

 florists were rushed with orders and 

 many floral pieces came from other 

 cities. Wreaths there were by the 

 scores, some of flowers, some of prepared 

 material, but most of magnolia leaves 



