May 11, 1922 



The Florists^ Review 



29 



WAYS WITH WINDOWS 



MAKING THE WINDOW WORK. 



Things Done and Overdone. 



TiiiK' was, jierliaps, whoa all a lloiist 

 liad to (1(1 was to liaiid llowcrs ami plants 

 over the counter and collect the cash. 

 In those days the demand was spon- 

 taneous; no pulling for business was re- 

 quired and the front window, if there 

 ha])peiied to be one, coidd be used for a 

 storeroom, if necessary. Let the ])ast 

 rest. We live in the present and for 

 the future; we know that husiiiess does 

 not come so <';isily, and that it must be 

 angled for and pulled in. As ))roved, 

 one of the best baits for the anglinij is 

 the display window. The window lias 

 come to be n jiowerful w<>apon in the 

 hands of enteiprising tradesmen. I^ike 

 all oreat forces, it»must be handled cor- 

 rectly to get the maximum results. 



Tt can be said that the ])urpose of the 

 window is to stimul.ile tlie senses of 

 passers-by. They can be o\erstimulated. 

 And mixing colors, heedless of the sim- 

 ple rules of ai'tistry, is just about as 

 disastrous as nii.xing alcolndic drinks. 

 To gain the best results, all the colors 

 should best be kept distinct. More- 

 over, too many colors have been recog- 

 nized as a liiiidi;ince to beauty in an as- 

 semblage of plants, flowers and baskets. 



Harmony ' ' Too Perfect. ' ' 



The arrangement in a window follows 

 along the lines of arrangement in a sin- 

 gle basket, where harmony can be over- 

 done. There can be too much harmony 

 — ii' tlir ])hrase is permissible, "too 

 perfect" harmony. By this is impliecl 

 that distinct coloring in a window will 

 lattdi the eye more quickly than colors 

 which lack the sprightly. For instance, 

 if there is a combination of light ])astel, 

 the jirojier ■•jjoii" can l)e obt;iined by in- 

 troducing a hard color. Thus, yellow 

 tulips, light Idue hyacinths, lily of the 

 valley and violets go cliarmingly to- 

 gether. 



Tn the mincls of innny tlicic is no 

 question that too rigid econ((my in 

 making up a window is an absolute mis- 

 take. (!ood material, whii h is naturally 

 high-prii-ed, shows uj) to better .advan- 

 taue. As an instance, in the windows 

 illustrated nn this page .anil the next, 

 silk cult a ins ;ue used, quite cxjiensive. 

 Hut the.y give a rich effect and stand out 

 well. In the same sense one might have 

 baskets in the window fur which bows 

 are necessary, ("licaji ni.'iterial in the 

 ribbon will cause the bows to sag in a 

 sloN'enly way, whereas they should stand 

 out neatly and prominently. As Frank 

 D. Pelicano, of San Francisco, a recog- 

 ni/e<l master at window decorations, h;is 

 said, "some designers caji work to much 

 betttM- .Mdviinta^e on a<'coiint nt' good 

 materials. The jieojdc talk whrii the>- 

 see something clever and desir.able. 

 Printed matter is not always striking, 

 whereas wiiiduus can always be made 

 so. ' " 



The Error of "Too Much." 



Florists realize that they must fall in 

 line with the princijiles of commercial 

 decorators in other businesses. Efft'c- 

 tiveness through originality is the i)oint 

 sought by decorators in commercial 



houses, such as s[)oitiiig goods pl.-oc^, 

 dejirirtment stores, etc. There is, Imw 

 e\'er, a danger of getting ton niigiiial, 

 dejiarting from simple rules of beaut \. 

 .•iikI making a muddle of things. M;ui\' 

 florists get too much into the window 

 and this is j)articularly noticeable where 

 there is limiteil s])ace. Too much mix- 

 ture of stock in the window is just as 

 great a mistake as too much mixture in 

 colors. An overabundance and wihl mix- 

 ture is confusing to the jiasser-by. On 

 the other hand, if there is but one ob- 

 ject of beauty that is striking, it will 

 .attract the eye iileasingly. In the illus- 

 trations on this jiage and the next the 

 kneeling Venus in white marble ser\ es 

 ■ IS the jirimary attraction and you will 

 note that there is no semblance of 

 crowdedness. The Venus is the star ac- 

 tress, surrounded by a harmonious cast 

 of well chosen ]ilants in boxes and cut 

 llowers. The regularity of lines in the 

 window shown and the balance of one 

 side of the window with the other adds 

 to the pleasure of looking .at the di>pla\'. 



Adding Life with Light. 



The ])r('|icr means dt' lighting the dis- 

 play window reqiiiies stmly. .-ind each 

 individual window has its own ,id\aii 

 t;iges and disadxa ntages. I'r.aiik I). 

 I'elic.aiio has said that llowi'is arc like 

 diainonds and arc ;ili\c with cidor. e> 

 pecially when a ilaik setting; brings out 

 their liveliness; wcdl (dioscii portieres 

 can sujiply such n setting. Artificial 

 light is preferable, accor<ling to Mr. 

 I'elicano, but natural light is good 

 enough if it c.an lie obt.ained. Light 

 portieres, gathered ;it both sides so they 

 will not t.'ike iniKdi liulit. tiiiish off some 

 windows ill wonderful st\le. Mr. 

 I'cdicaiio has suggestecl that in a window 



white Woodwork Would be prel'eiable to 

 cii'ani i-(dored in gaining liehtiiig ef- 

 fects. 



I'ortieres make the h.andiest back- 

 ground, perhaps, because aiipropii,-Uel>- 

 coloreil ones can bi' hung at tin' different 

 seasons. This practice is <'arried out by 

 .loseph Harris A: Bro., of Sli.amokin, I'a., 

 who know how to accomplish results, ;is 

 is exemjdified in the illustrations shown. 

 l"or Laster this firm uses j)ur|)le curtains 

 as a background; for s]pring displ;iys 

 oi'i'en colored lianiiiiins are iise(l and 

 for ('hristmas full red is the c(dor. ()ther 

 (■(dors are einplo\-e(l for iiitermeili.ate oc- 

 casions. These portieres are riidi-look- 

 iiig and, since they are fine-textured, 

 li;i\e the practical ad\';int<age of ]irotect- 

 iiig rooms behind the display from the 

 powerful flood of light th;it would break 

 through ordinary loose-wo\'eii fabric. 



A good salesman deserscs ]iro])tM' 

 treatUKMit and these windows are splen- 

 did s.-ijesiiieli. (live them file atleiltioli 

 thev deserve. 



THE WINDOW AT SHAMOKIN, PA. 



Tile stiikiiiM \ii\\> III ;i ,li^p|,-i\- w'iii- 

 dow • ' lieloie ' ' .-ind •'.■liter,'" shown on 



the |ilice.|ille |.;|er ;nid this, were takcll 



.•it the store III .los,.|i|i ll;irris \ l!ro,, of 

 Sh;i iiiokin, |';i. 



Concerning the vvimlows the coiiip.niy 

 s.-ivs, with modest l>r<'vity: ''The i-ol- 

 iimiis .iinl woodwork in the window are 

 painted white, with ;i floor of white 

 tile, mottled with green. The figure is 

 the ■('idiiching Venus,' of whiti' m;ir- 

 lile. The curtains in the b.ackgrouiid 

 are idiaiieed :ici-ordiiig to season pur- 

 |ile till- i;,ister; ereen tor spring; orange 

 tor i';ill: red lur Christinas, with special 

 colors tor intermediate occasions. These 



When a Proper Setthig Is Provided Effective Window Displays Are Easily Made. 



