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APRIL 6, 1922 



The Florists^ Review 



53 



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MAKING MORE FLOWER BUYERS 



SENTIMENT SELLS FLOWERS. 



Fox's Analysis. 



Sometime in January, my good 

 friends, Mark Mills and Bill Harris, hap- 

 pened in while we were getting ready 

 for the Cornell University show. They 

 looked over the things we were prepar- 

 ing for the talk and demonstrations and 

 ended by saying: "Why under the sun 

 don't you tell the boys at the Florists' 

 Club about these things? They would 

 be just as much interested as the stu- 

 dents at Cornell." 



I said: "Do you think they would?" 

 Somehow whenever I think of the Flo- 

 rists' Club, it reminds me of that old 

 basement under Horticultural hall. 

 During a chrysanthemum show, while I 

 was nosing about the exhibits of fruits, 

 celery and cabbage, two men were 

 standing in front of Michell's booth 

 talking it over. As I passed one nudged 

 the other and asked: "Who is that fel- 

 low?" "Why, you know who that is, 

 don't you? That's Charlie Fox. 'Acme 

 Tea Store Charlie' we used to call him. 

 He sold more bargain plants at his old 

 store than any fellow in town. By golly, 

 I remember the time when his front 

 pavement was so full of rubber plants 

 that it looked like a forest. Now, 

 since he's moved downtown and got 

 so dam' artistic, it's Charles Henry 

 Fox, 'At the Sign of the Rose,' if you 

 please, and he'd have any guy arrested 

 that dared drop a rubber plant on his 

 front pavement." He heard a laugh 

 near by and looked up, not realizing 

 that the eavesdropper was enjoying the 

 conversation more than he was, for Mrs. 

 Fox was an interested listener and en- 

 joyed it all immensely — every knock is 

 a boost. 



So here I am, kit and tools, with only 

 one idea in the world and that is to 

 share with you some of the things that 

 have made the traveling public say that 

 we do things just a "little different." 



My subject tonight will be, "Analyz- 

 ing the Flower Business." We have 

 analyzed the flower business and find it 

 is composed of three things, impression, 

 sentiment and sympathy. 



First Impressions. 



First of all, we are firm believers in 

 "first impressions." Take yourself, for 

 instance; just recall the instances when 

 your first impressions of people and 

 things have been lasting, and you'll find 

 that ninety-nine times out of 100 you 

 cling to your first impressions. 



Since this is true, just see how ini 

 portant it is that we as florists spend 

 time and thought on the presentation of 

 our article, that the first impression 

 may be 100 per cent to the good, then 

 pray that it may be lasting as an after- 

 thought. 



With this thought in mind, we pay 

 especial attention to our boxes, both as 

 to size and quality. We see to it that 

 a half-dozen roses are not swamped in 



.\(ldres8 by Charles Henry Fox, on "An Analy- 

 sis of the Flower Business," delivered at the 

 meeting of the Philadelphia Florists' Club, 

 April 4. 



a box calculated to hold two dozen, nor 

 do we in our haste put long-steninicd 

 flowers in a short box, allowing the 

 stems to break through a hole at one 

 end and thus advertise our carelessness. 



That cardinal thought of first impres- 

 sions follows us as we pull off the out- 

 side petals of the rose that are . 

 scratched, withered and dried in lian- 

 dling, or see to it that a yellow leaf or 

 crooked stem is clipped before boxing. 



The customers do not understand as 

 much about the reasons for these things 

 as we do, and dry petals, even though 

 they be few, or yellow leaves, even 

 though they are a result of overfeeding, 

 mean nothing to the customers but a 

 faded condition, and they condemn 

 them accordingly. You only need one 

 faded rose in a dozen to condemn all 

 the rest; so it pays to be especially 

 careful in their selection. 



Finishing Touches. 



We take great care in the packing. 

 We see that a definite color scheme is 

 carried out and try always to place in 

 every order some little touch in the 

 way of an extra flower or bunch, dainti- 

 ly arranged. 



We have some exceedingly attractive 

 materials that we use as a last touch 

 in sending off a box, which I am unable 

 to show you now. We are having them 



made in Europe and by fall we shall 

 lijive them on the market. It is sur- 

 prising what intense interest is excited 

 by this dainty little addition to the 

 box. Customers talk more about it than 

 the flowers themselves. This is just the 

 ])(iiiit I want to emphasize when I speak 

 of impressions. 



Blue Bird Box. 



And so we journey on to the "blue 

 bird box," designed with the idea of 

 being unusual as well as beautiful, a 

 box covered with lace. You may think 

 this lace is simply ornamental, but it 

 answers other purposes. We cover it 

 with a shower of seasonable flowers, 

 which are woven into the lace, say, with 

 violets. 



The box is received and the "ohs" 

 and "ahs" are many. "Too pretty to 

 open," you hear them say, but curiosity 

 gets the better of us all and the lid is 

 slowlj' lifted; then the impression is 

 complete. The four sides of the box 

 open as the lid is raised and a perfect 

 centerpiece is revealed. The center is 

 a beautiful corsage, while the side ar- 

 rangements blend hiirmoniously to make 

 a perfect whole. 



What finer way to send a Christmas 

 or a birthday gift than to nest it under 

 the center arrangement of this blue 

 bird box? We have received countless 



Charles Henry Fox. 



