Tfee Florists' Review 



Jolt 8, 1018 



COOL WINDOWS iif ' 

 Mf FOR HOT WEATHER 



How the enterprising Retail Florist can make capital of 

 the same conditions that cut down his sales in summer 



UST because this is the 

 "good old summer time" 

 is no reason for neglecting 

 the show window-^no ex- 

 cuse for leaving it practi- 

 ^^^^..^ cally empty, as many do, or > 

 for filling it with Boston ferns, and 

 letting it go at that for weeks on end. 

 Quite the contrary, it's the time to 

 arrange a special display that will make 

 your window the talk of the town. And 

 it's inexpensively done; it calls for 

 more ingenuity than material. 



All one needs is a window pan for 

 running water, a windmill or water 

 wheel turned by a motor, some green 

 sheet moss, some turtles or ducklings, 

 a few ferns and a little skill in working 

 out an idea. It's worth trying, if for 

 no other ijeason than that there is time 

 now to test the adver- 

 tising value of. a win- 

 dow, display that is out 

 of tine ordinary. 

 Advertising Value. 



The value of good 

 window decoration as an 

 advertising'force-isover- 



. looked: by too rmitnyf r^ 

 tail florists. They make 

 a show of plants Or cut 

 flowers to tell the pass- 

 ers-by that a florist oc- 

 cupies the shop, but, be- 

 yond placing these in 

 the window, they trouble 

 themselves no , m*o r e . 

 about it. They- do not 

 realize that the window 

 may be made the most 

 valuable space in/ the 

 store. It is really a part 



: of the capital which they 

 have invested in the 



• business, yet they fail to 

 : make it yield the largest 

 ' possible interest. ' If such 



a' florist had a store' for 



• sale, he -would not sell it on the flrst 

 offer but would try to get the largest 



■ sum that he could for it. Had he money 

 to lend, he would not accept one per 



' cent a year for it! But here is valuable 

 proi)erty, ^this .window space, that is not 

 bringing the income it should. 



For local a,dvertisement there is noth- 

 ing better than a show window attract- 

 ively arranged. Every passer-by is a 

 possible buyer. When a person comes 

 into the shop and inquires about flowers, 

 the florist uses every effort to persuade 

 him to buy. He feels that he has lost 

 a customer, if the visitor departs with- 

 out buying. Many people, however, pass 

 the florist's place of business, who buy 

 flowers, yet he makes no effort, through 

 attractive window decorations, to per- 

 suade them to buy their flowers there. 

 The full advertising power of a window 



is often only brought home by actual 

 experiment. There is a small retail 

 store in Chicago which formerly did but 

 little business because another store a 

 block away, in a more favorable loca- 

 tion, at the intersection of two car lines, 

 drew most of the trade of the neighbor- 

 hood. A man , bought the store who 

 was not willing to give up so much of 

 the trade to his competitor, and by 

 means of novel window decorations fi- 

 nally gained the greater part of the 

 business in the vicinity. 



A Few Principles. 



Window decorating, of course, is a 

 trade and an art in itself, but the appli- 

 cation of a few simple principles of the 

 craft will vastly improve the appear- 

 ance of any window. Too often no at- 



A G>oI Window on Main Street, Buffalo. 



tention at all is paid to the arrange- 

 ment of cut flowers or plants in the 

 window; they are simply stored in the 

 window. The too-frequent trouble when 

 an effort is made to decorate is that 

 the window is overcrowded. A dozen 

 different kinds of flowers, of almost as 

 many colors, form a mass that produces 

 no effect whatever on a person passing 

 outside. Perhaps the decorator be- 

 lieved that he would impress the pass- 

 er-by with his varied stock; in reality 

 he makes no impression at all. When 

 there is so much material in the win- 

 dow, moreover the florist can not afford 

 to change it often, and so wilted flowers 

 meet the eyes of the possible customer 

 going by. 



Psychologists have discovered that 

 the human mind can not grasp more 

 than three or four objects in a single 



glance. The fewer the number of ob- 

 jects presented at once, the stronger 

 will be the impression. An expert deco- 

 rator therefore aims at simplicity. He 

 tries to produce a single strong effect. 

 To get this he uses but a few groups, 

 and all of these in harmony with one 

 another. A few vases of one flower, 

 perhaps including several varieties, all 

 of harmonizing colors and shades, will 

 prove much more attractive than a' win- 

 dowful of many kinds *m flowers. Those 

 who have particularly noticed the win- 

 dows of the large city department stores 

 which aim at artistic decorating will 

 remember the few objects used. These 

 displays are some of them marvels of* 

 simplicity, but powerful in attraction. 

 Use few objects, therefore, and have 

 one strong effect in view in decorating 



your windows; aim for 



simplicity. 



Use of Background. 



As an aid to simplic- 

 ity a background is of 

 great value. The effect 

 of one group or of a few 

 small groups of flowers 

 will be intensifled by 

 the presence of some 

 ferns, palms, and the 

 like, forming a screen. 

 The attention is thereby 

 focused upon the flow- 

 ers, or other objects 

 which you have selected 

 as your drawing card. 

 Often the background is 

 elaborate of itself, usu- 

 ally it is quite simple; 

 in either case it must be 

 inconspicuous and serve 

 almost entirely as a 

 screen against which the 

 groups that are to draw 

 attention may stand out 

 more clearly. Bark and 

 moss, rustic wood and 

 even cloth screens are good for back- 

 grounds and, in addition, need no atten- 

 tion after they are put up. 



In all decorating an effort must be 

 made to bring the central objects within 

 the range of vision. The whole ar- 

 rangement, as well as every detail, must 

 stand up. A group of objects all upon 

 the same level makes but little impres- 

 sion. , If the level is a floor or a low 

 window that brings the tops of the 

 objects beloW the istooulders, the objects 

 will be overlooked almost entirely. A 

 terraced platform is therefore one of 

 the best arrangements upon which to 

 build a display. Let the foreground be 

 low, but be sure that the groups in the 

 background of your setting come on a 

 level with the eye. Then the center of 

 attention which is in the middle dis- 

 tance will be at the best possible height. 



