

68 



The Florists^ Review 



May 2S, 1922 



r-'l-'lTJntTlTJ-lTlTlTlTlT.TXTXTlTiT-^^^^ 



ALL ABOUT MOTHERS' DAY 



I 



sgsgsgsasasESgsBsgsasgsgsgsgsgsgsHSEsasasHsasEsgsgsaszsHSEsssEsasgsHsasgsgsasasasgsgsEss^^ 



SAVING MOTHERS' DAY. 



Cutting the Carnation Demand. 



So much has been said regarding the 

 prices of flowers for Mothers' day and 

 regarding the use of the carnatiou for 

 that day that I desire to say something 

 that might help us hold on to Mothers' 

 day as one of the big flower days, since 

 it is feared that the profiteering that 

 is going on in different sections of the 

 country will eventually have the effect 

 of killing this occasion, first iu one sec- 

 tion, then in another, until after a 

 while it will eventually reach this state. 



As my firm, the Idle Hour Nurseries, 

 grows flowers, I know that we are not 

 put to any extra expense, as we are 

 at Christmas time, to get up a stock 

 that will meet the demand for Mothers' 

 day. We know it does not cost us one 

 cent more to grow a flower that sells 

 for 15 cents the week before and the 

 week after Mothers' day. Then, where 

 do we get the right to run the price up 

 in the night and advertise to the world 

 at large that we are a set of robbers? 



Gladioli Did It. 



Last year we sold for Mothers' day 

 about a thousand gladioli at $3 per 

 dozen. This year we decided we should 

 campaign against the use of the carna- 

 tion as the only flower suitable for 

 Mothers' day; so we cut the price of 

 gladioli to $1.50 per dozen, which Is 

 the price we have been charging for 

 carnations, and we disposed of over 

 10,000 of them. In addition, we pushed 

 plants for all we were worth, and our 

 efforts along that line were most suc- 

 cessful. 



Carnations were sold at the holiday 

 for $1.50 per dozen, which was the 

 jirice asked the week before and ttie 

 week after Mothers' day. What carna- 

 tions we had left, after picking them 

 over, we relieved of stems and put on 

 our counter in the store Sunday morn- 

 ing along with other short-stemmed 

 flowers for boutonnieres, and they 

 were bought for 10 cents each. I use 

 the word "bought" because we told the 

 customers we were not selling them, 

 but that they were buying them. 



Worked at Macon, Ga. 



lu preparation for our campaign 

 against carnations at Mothers' day, we 

 sent out this "Special Notice" on our 

 letterhead April 26: 



Owing to the mild winter we liave had this 

 season, we find Carnations are getting softer 

 tliis year earlier than heretofore and are there- 

 fore hard to ship to arrive in good condition. 



To meet this condition, we have decided to 

 out the price of our Oladioli to the price of 

 Carnations: namely, $1.50 per dozen. 



The Gladiolus is the Queen of all Spring and 



Kunimer flowers, and we are prepared to furnish 



them from now on till the close of Summer. 



rush Gladioli for Mothers' daj — Sundav, 



May ]4lh. 



They will be extra fine and gorgeous by that time. 



Then, May 2, we sent the following 

 circular letter to our agents to empha- 

 size the matter: 



We note in looking over oiir records that yon 

 sent us <iuite a few orders for carnations to be 

 shipped you last year for Mothers' day. 



Mothers' day this year comes on Sunday, 

 May 14, and as we notified you a few days ago, 

 Carnations are getting smaller and softer every 



day, which is attriluitiihle to weather conditions 

 we liad tills winter. 



We therefore urKe you once more to please 

 urge your customers to talie Gladioli, which we 

 <'an ship to arrive in good condition, and which 

 we are confident will please and satisfy your 

 t Hide. 



Price per dozen, $1.50. 



AVill appreciate early orders. 



For our customers we got up an at- 

 tractive folder in colors, which carried 

 this suggestion as its heading, "Make 

 Home Beautiful for Mother with Spring 

 Flowers," and this message: 



Instead of a few loose blossoms, add a touch 

 of fresh Spring Beauty to tlie home by letting us 

 send her fifty or a hundred plants for tlie porch 

 box or the garden. 



These she can clierish, watcli and c.ire for all 

 spring and summer. 



Siiecial price, 75 cents per dozen; $5 per 

 hundred. Fifty at hundred rale. 



Then followed a list of suitable 

 plants, such as ageratums, eoleus, sal- 

 vias, verbenas, sweet alyssum, hefio- 

 tropes, petunias, zinnias, snapdragons, 

 sultanas, calendulas and feverfew. 



We handled more orders this Moth- 

 ers' day than we have ever handled at 



Every Florist 



has hit upon idea* 



that have made money 



for him. The spread 



of such idea* through 



the trade make* progrea*. 



is the medium for spreading those 

 money-making ideas. Tell the trade 

 about yours. Contributions on any 

 subject relating to the trade are 

 always welcomed by the E^ditor, 



The way they are written is not so 

 Important as the ideas they convey. 

 Write as you would talk. 



Christmas, Faster or any other occji- 

 sion since we have been in business. 



Must Obey Economic Law. 



The fellow wlio runs his prices up 

 not only loses the increased revenue 

 he seeks, but drives away normal trade 

 and makes a world of enemies wlio 

 stand ready to retaliate. Students of 

 economy will tell you that a price can 

 be fixed on a commodity or a service 

 so high as actually to reduce instead 

 of increase the amount of revenue. The 

 law of diminishing returns applies 

 whenever we fix the price of a commod- 

 ity so high that it drives away trade. 

 Dan C. Horgan. 



SOFT-PEDALING CARNATIONS. 



The Golden Rule department store, 

 in St. Paul, Minn., contains an enter- 

 prising flower department on the main 

 floor. This department ran a special 

 advertisement in the local papers just 

 before Mothers' day, in which was 

 made the best effort yet noted to turn 



the attention of the public from carna- 

 tions to other flowers. 



' ' Supply and demand govern the 

 prices of flowers the same as it does in 

 all other commodities," read the ad- 

 vertisement. "Due to the extraor- 

 dinary demand for carnations in pre- 

 vious years for Mothers' day, the price 

 on them has soared accordingly. But 

 why should only carnations be used to 

 honor Mother? Her favorite flower 

 would be much more appropriate to send 

 her, but if you do not know her favorite 

 flower an assortment of flowers." 



A special Mothers' day box was ad- 

 vertised at $2, "to dispel from the 

 minds of customers that prices on all 

 flowers are unjustly advanced on Moth- 

 ers' day." The usual Saturday special 

 dollar box of cut flowers was also of- 

 fered the day before Mothers' day. 



AT CHITTENANCK), N. Y. 



Advertising copy which pulled busi- 

 ness this year at Mothers' day seems 

 to have been that which put down in 

 black and white the fact that prices of 

 flowers and plants would not be in- 

 creased for the occasion. This is easily 

 understood, for a customer who has his 

 fingers burned once is not apt to take 

 hold of the iron rod a second time with- 

 out first making certain that it is per- 

 fectly cold. A small advertisement in- 

 serted in the local paper and carrying 

 a reassurance that the supply of flowers 

 and plants was ample and that no in- 

 crease in the price of these would be 

 made for Mothers ' day proved its worth 

 for A. R. Ellis, of Chittenango, N. Y. 

 Mr. Ellis said that he had nerer sold 

 so many plants and flowers in the his- 

 tory of his business as he did this year 

 at Mothers' day. People came sixteen 

 miles from the city and from other 

 towns to take advantage of the stock 

 he had to offer. "Made my first sale 

 Saturday morning about 6 a. m.. May 

 13, and the last sale got me out of bed 

 at 10:30 p. m.," said Mr. Ellis. 



ALBANY, N, Y, 



Several of the florists of Albany, 

 N. Y., ran the American Legion ad- 

 vertisement supplied by the S. A. F. 

 publicity committee in the local news- 

 papers, so that it appeared almost every 

 day during the ten days preceding 

 Mothers' day. The other advertising 

 was liberal and most effective, and the 

 sales for the holiday reached a high 

 mark. 



After working at it for more than 

 five years, the Albany florists have at 

 last succeeded in getting the public 

 away from the idea that the white car- 

 nation is the only flower for Mothers' 

 day. William C. Gloeckner reports that 

 he sold more pink and red carnations 

 than he did white ones. He sold 1,000 

 pink roses and only fifty white ones. 

 He held prices on both roses and carna- 

 tions at $3 a dozen and consequently 

 met few complaints as to prices. Sweet 

 peas also sold Avell at reasonable prices. 



The manager of a local hotel placed 

 a hand-painted card, bearing a carna- 

 tion and an appropriate verse, in each 



