■■'fT'?'' 



^M^srs; 



PUTTING THE BON 



IN BON VOYAGE 



"Bon voyage" is the French way of saying "Oood luck" to a departing 

 traveler. But the luck is not "'ban," or good, if the well-wisher's floral' 

 token miscarries. Errors in handling steamer orders may be lessened hy 

 care in the matters indicated in this article. 



'0 :^ ^^" 



^^ 



EFOBE many days have 

 passed the maritime hori- 

 zons will be heavily 

 flecked with incoming and 

 outgoing passenger ships, 

 carrying the usual sum- 

 mer traffic to foreign 

 parts. "The heaviest 

 movement of first-class 

 travel to Europe and Med- 

 iterranean ports since the end of the 

 world war is indicated for early spring 

 by heavy bookings now recorded on the 

 leading steamship lines," says a New 

 York Journal of Commerce of recent 

 date. And a representative of one of 

 the steamship lines said recently: "Ad- 

 vance demands for de-luxe and single 

 berths have not been so heavy this far 

 in advance in many years. We have prac- 

 tically sold all our best quarters for 

 several months. The lower-priced first- 

 class accommodations and second-class 

 bookings are also heavy, but not so 

 heavy as for the higher-priced rooms." 

 These statements carry a gratifying 

 portent to the live telegraph delivery 

 florists of this country, who know that 

 the heavy business forecasted by the 

 steamship compa- 

 nies points to or- 

 ders and profits for 

 the man who keeps 

 pace with the 

 steamer sailings 

 listed weekly in the 

 Pink Part "of The 

 Review. 



"Time and Tide." 



To demonstrate 

 the scope of the op- 

 portunities offered. 

 a glance at what 

 was done before the 

 world war will give 

 an idea of what can 

 be done this year. 

 The effects of the 

 war on sailing are 

 diminishing rapidly. 

 Before the war the 

 average number of 

 persons leaving 

 New York daily was 

 ."500, all cabin pas- 

 sengers. At the 

 height of the sea 

 son, the daily 

 average approached 

 1,000 persons and at 

 times the number 

 ran as high as 5,000 

 people per day. 



The speed of the 

 telegraph will put 



flowers on any of the ships sailing, but 

 there is many a slip 'twixt the sender 

 from inland to the seaport florist; from 

 the seaport florist to the harbor itself, 

 and oven there, mishap is possible if 

 the proper care is not taken. An insight 

 into actual conditions should enable flo- 

 rists to avoid n\any mistakes; pointing 

 out the cardinal difficulties and suggest- 

 ing ways of circumventing them are the 

 main points of this article. 



Two parties are mainly involved — 

 the florist who sends the order, whether 

 by wire or letter, and the one who re- 

 ceives and fills it. If each of tliese 

 would fully appreciate the other's dif- 

 ficulties, a clearer understanding and 

 i)etter cooperation could be obtained, 

 first, then, what can the inland florist 

 who sends the order do to insure per- 

 fect service in filling the order? This 

 can Ijest be stated by quoting some con- 

 structive criticism offered by David 

 Clarke's Sons, of New York: 



"While many of the larger steam- 

 ship lines dock in Manhattan and are 

 quite accessible, yet there are other 

 lines in Hoboken, and some in South 

 Brooklyn, which require an hour or 



Bon Voyage Basket with Appropriate Decorations Added. 



more for making deliveries. We should 

 suggest that all orders be sent as much 

 in advance of the date of sailing as pos- 

 sible. They should state the name of 

 the steamer as well as that of the line, 

 and, when possible, the number of the 

 stateroom of the person sailing. The 

 latter is not always necessary, but it 

 helps to locate the passenger more 

 (|uickly. 



"The Cunard line is exacting as to 

 the delivery of flowers intended for 

 passengers sailing on any of the line's 

 steamers, and so informs the florists of 

 New York by mail as to the date and 

 hour of sailing of each steamer. This 

 line insists that the delivery of flowers 

 must be made before a certain hour 

 prior to the sailing time, and the line 

 refuses to accept or receipt for the 

 flowers otherwise. This, of course, 

 makes it necessary to have all orders 

 in hand early to insure the delivery. 

 The Cunard line gives receipt for de- 

 livery on board, but no guarantee will 

 he given as to the flowers' reaching 

 the jiassengers addressed. In the ma- 

 jority of cases the flowers do reach the 

 proper persons, but now and then, in 

 the confusion and 

 excitement of get- 

 ting away, the flow- 

 ers, intended as a 

 surprise gift, are 

 overlooked, lost or, 

 jiossibly, stolen. 



Receipts. 



"Quite often, too, 

 the passenger neg- 

 lects to acknowl- 

 edge the receipt of 

 the flowers to the 

 sender, which all 

 tends to make no 

 end of trouble for 

 the florist. No 

 doulit. the steam- 

 ship companies do 

 their utmost to see 

 that patrons re- 

 ceive the packages, 

 but no deliveries 

 can be guaranteed 

 further than the 

 steward 's receipt at 

 the time of deliv- 

 ery on board the 

 steamer. ' ' 



Along the same 

 lines, but with two 

 additional sugges- 

 tions, H. G. Perry, 

 general manager of 

 Charles A. Dards, 

 Inc., New York, 



