APRIL 6, 1922 



The Florists^ Review 



55 



E. £. SpanabeL 



So the Sunday funeral bugbear is elimi- 

 nated. Surely a great help toward Sun- 

 day closing, in which I am a firm be- 

 liever! 



I made a pillow basket in nine and 

 one-half minutes in Toronto and eight 

 minutes at Cornell. 



Condolence. 



We have tried out" another idea which 

 has proved to be practical, an idea which 

 comes under the heading of sympathy. 

 For the last two years we have been sug- 

 gesting flowers for condolence. They 

 are sent by friends to the members of 

 the family of the deceased immediately 

 upon hearing of their loss. Many peo- 

 ple have spoken to us of this innova- 

 tion, telling us how much they appre- 

 ciated the thought that the flowers car- 

 ried with them. Just another opening 

 for increasing the sale of flowers 1 



Here's another new idea, "the little 

 nifty basket." This is an evolution of 

 the pillow basket, conformed to an en- 

 tirely different use and mission. It 

 makes a charming little gift for the 

 new arrival. On one side a little, old- 

 fashioned bouquet is arranged. On the 

 other side is the mother's favorite 

 flower, while the center we fill with sea- 

 sonable little flowers. 



It is charming for the sick room, es- 

 pecially fine because all the flowers are 

 in water and will keep. It is also de- 

 lightful as a birthday basket, to be sent 

 to a young lady, and the beauty of it is 

 that it doesn't take much to fill it, 

 while it makes a big showing for the 

 money. 



The idea of continually suggesting to 

 the public new uses for flowers, and con- 

 tinually hammering on the subject, is 

 not new, but it is vitally necessary for 

 the upbuilding of the flower business. 



School Some Day. 



Now, these are all just one man's 

 ideas. Just imagine what it would 

 mean to have the ideas of 500 florists. 

 Suppose our wonderful organization, the 

 F. T. D., would establish a school or col- 

 lege and would enlist the services of the 

 best minds of the country in our pro- 

 fession to contribute a certain amount 



J. N. Spanabel. 



of thought, experience and practice to 

 such a school. 



This has been the dream of the men 

 behind that live organization ever since 

 its conception, that some day in the 

 near future a school or college for flo- 

 rists would be established, where the 

 flower business could be properly studied 

 and experimented with from every 

 angle, where one could enter and learn 

 every detail as it should be learned un- 

 der the most expert instructors. If it 

 is necessary to have schools and col- 

 leges for the proper building up of other 

 arts, why should the finest art of the 

 Creator, that of the growing and ar- 

 rangement of flowers, be left to develop 

 as best it can? An industry that has 

 made the rapid strides this industry has 

 in the last ten years is worth the best 

 you can give it. And I certainly share 

 the dream of these men that the day is 

 not far distant when we can 'phone to 

 Detroit, or some other central head- 

 quarters, and ask to be sent a man for 

 use in our business who is skillfully 

 trained in the various departments, who 

 can sell as well as make up and who 

 can suggest without being prompted. 

 The need is great and I'm quite sure 

 you will agree with me that the flower 

 business will receive a tremendous im- 

 petus when this change takes place. 



SPANABEL'S ROAD TO SUCCESS. 



March of Progress Steady. 



Singleness of purpose in the march of 

 progress would have been characterized 

 by Lord Bacon as narrow-minded ego- 

 tism, but today such a criticism would 

 meet much disfavor, indeed, and as a 

 proof of this assertion we need only 

 glance at the aeliievemcnts of Hugo 

 iStinnes, the groat Gorman manufacturer 

 and the oliief doniiiiator of Gorman poli- 

 tics today, whose creative impulse has 

 been felt througliout the Gorman na- 

 tion. It is not necessary for us, how- 

 ever, to go across the water for exam- 

 ples of what consistent effort can do in 

 tlie ■ way of adding ta the material 

 wealth of a community and a nation. We 

 need only glance at the success made by 



R. R. Spanabel. 



one in our own trade; namely, J. N. 

 Spanabel, president of the J. N. Spana- 

 bel & Sons Co., Columbiana, O., to real- 

 ize that sincerity of purpose is well re- 

 warded. 



J. N. Spanabel was born in 1864 on a 

 small farm near Parkersburg, W. Va. 

 When he was but a year old, his parents 

 moved to Jackson, O., where he resided 

 until 1883. After the death of his par- 

 ents he went to Calla, 0., where he 

 found employment among the farmers 

 and finally put in seven years at the 

 Cherry Valley Rolling Mills, at Leetonia, 

 Ohio. 



Sees Opportunity Ahead. 



In 1894 he was employed by L. Temp- 

 lin & Sons, a widely known firm of flo- 

 rists, at Calla, O., and it was during his 

 employment here that Mr. Spanabel con- 

 ceived the idea of building up some- 

 thing for himself. Being aware of the 

 fact that even to begin a realization of 

 his dream it was necessary to have some 

 capital, he continued to work at the rate 

 of $1 per day and at the end of four 

 years of saving and planning he had 

 accumulated enough to buy one acre of 

 ground, upon which he built a small 

 residence and one greenhouse, 16x90 feet. 

 Hither he moved with his wife and fam- 

 ily of four small boys to embark upon 

 that plan which was to lead him to 

 the prosperity which he now enjoys, 

 growing cut flowers and pot plants at 

 first and adding a greenhouse now and 

 then as he was able. Spurred on by that 

 most remarkable trait of human nature, 

 faith, and a sincerity of purpose, he 

 went into the wholesale business, being 

 at one time one of the largest growers of 

 Pelargonium Easter Greeting and its 

 sports. 



The range had grown, in 1919, from 

 one house, 16x90 feet, to a range of 

 I'l.OOO square feet of glass, doing a 

 wliolcsalo and retail business. One son, 

 1?. R. Spanabel, had been associated with 

 ills father for several years until Janu- 

 ary 1, 1920, when these two, with the 

 oldest son, formed the firm of J. N. 

 Spanabel & Sons, at Columbiana, O., 

 whore they now have seventeen acres 

 of ground and 25,000 square feet of glass, 

 devoted to Asparagus plumosus nanus 



