■.■^?; 



August 7, 10] 3. 



The Florists^ Rcvkw 



DOG DAY DOINGS 



■ , OF THE 



SHOW WINDOW ARTISTS 



How the enterprising Decorators are halting the crowds 

 by using the suggestions in The Review's article of July 3 



^^^^VIAYE you noticed the fre- with a small ice-cap, under the edge of rock on the waves caused by the w 



AVE you noticed the fre- 

 quent items in the news- 

 letters the last two or three 

 weeks about how the enter- 

 prising decorators are flag- 

 ging the perspiring pedes- 

 trians by initting in special summer 

 windows ? 



It all came about because of the arti- 

 cle, "Cool Windows for Hot Weather," 

 in" The Review for July 3. It set the 

 quick wits and nimble fingers working. 

 The article showed pictures of some 

 cool windows, and told how others 

 might be devised, but the special value 

 of such matter in a trade paper is not 

 so much in what the writer says as in 

 his capacity for set- 

 ting his readers to 

 thinking — and acting 

 on their thoughts. That 

 the window article was 

 one of the most suc- 

 cessful ever published 

 in The Review, almost 

 as successful as the 

 Mother's day and St. 

 Valentine's day arti- 

 cles, is shown by tlii' 

 fact that special water 

 and mechanical-toy 

 displays have been 

 holding big crowds in 

 front' of fiower store 

 windows all over the 

 country the last few 

 weeks. It set the deco- 

 rators thinking — and 

 with the average flo- 

 rist to think is to act. 



Value Proven Now. 



If there over was 

 any doubt about the 

 value of special sea- 

 sonable window deco- 

 rations, especially in 

 the off season, all doubt 

 has been dispelled by 

 the crowds that have 

 stood in front of these windows the last 

 few weeks. It has been demonstrated 

 that at this time of year the retailer's 

 window may exert a drawing power as 

 great as in any other" season. A dis- 

 play that gives the idea of coolness is 

 sure to attract a crowd. People are 

 searching for a cool spot, and if they 

 can not find one to get into them- 

 selves, they will stop and watch one in 

 a disjday window. This is the thing 

 to be l)orne in mind when one is dec- 

 orating a window at this season. 



Of course water is the greatest help 

 in producing a cool effect, lee does 

 not last long enough to be worth while, 

 and reproductions of icy scenery are 

 rarely successful. A scheme well worth 

 while, however, is to make the moun- 

 tain, so often used in summer displays, 



with a small ice-cap, under the edge of 

 which issues a small stream of water. 

 ]f this is well designed and the repre- 

 sentation of ice is a good one, it will 

 often keep the spectators wondering if 

 it is really a piece of melting ice that 

 is the source of the stream. 



Uses of Bunning Water. 



On the brooks and rivulets, then, we 

 must depend a great deal. These can 

 be run through the miniature land- 

 scapes in .small gutters, which are well 

 hidden by moss, soil or gravel. The 

 mill wheel often is used in connection 

 with the stream, but it never fails to 

 attract attention and interest. Better 



GnP88 nhirh window has the runnlnK water, the dncklliiKi and the nierhanlral toys 

 and which window has the conimonplaee Taite of asters anionic the ferns. 



still, and not so difficult as it appears, 

 is a miniature cascade or waterfall. If 

 the water is contrived so as to fall over 

 a ledge of glass, splendid effects can be 

 made at night by the use of colored 

 lights back of the glass and shining 

 through the falling water. A great deal 

 of the effect at night of the window- 

 shown in the illustration on page 11, 

 which was the outcome of a Kansas 

 City florist's reading the article of July 

 '3, is in the electric lighting of the min- 

 iature buildings and of the signs. 



Small fountains are always a source 

 of delight and are easy to set up. iSat- 

 urally, a small pond is used to catch 

 the falling spray and this small body of 

 water may be made the basis of more 

 novelties. Toy ships, either in distress 

 or stanchly braving the rollers, may 



rock on the waves caused by the water 

 falling into the lake from a fountain 

 or a waterfall. The pond may also 

 serve as the home of a dozen or so 

 ducklings, which never fail to draw 

 their full share of attention. 



Living Creatures Always Draw. 



The drawing qualities of the duck- 

 lings, which rank high on account of 

 their acrobatic performances in the 

 water, suggest another feature that is 

 often used in summer displays and sel- 

 dom without success. This is life in 

 its various forms. Turtles, crabs and 

 the like draw crowds when they are 

 simply gathered in a tank in a butch- 

 er's window. How 

 much more attractive 

 should they be when 

 used in a flower store 

 window where there is 

 the additional aid of a 

 scenic display? A 

 sandy beach with a 

 baby alligator basking 

 thereon suggests the 

 seashore, and in north- 

 ern states the rareness 

 of the animal makes it 

 the greater novelty. 



Goldfish, or tiny fish; 

 of any kind serve the 

 purpose, although the! 

 former are so common 

 nowadays that theyi 

 have lost greatly in; 

 drawing power. Frogs 

 ani* toads arc rarely| 

 speiT in windows, but| 

 small ones could be! 

 used to a quite decided' 

 advantage^- the largei' 

 ones might prove dis- 

 'astrous to some of the 

 scenic arrangements, if 

 they started to travel 

 strenuously. Occasion- 

 ally the baby animals 

 of wild species of 

 small size are seen in window displays, 

 but they are the exception and hard 

 to get. 



Toys Are of Advantage. 



The value of mechanical toys in dec- 

 orations of this kind is becoming more 

 generally recognized. For instance, the 

 window in the illustration on page 11 

 shows several in one display. These in- 

 clude an automobile, camels, goats and 

 a fisherman. The effigy fishing in the 

 lake in the foreground is easily distin- 

 guishable by his pole. Says an admirer 

 of this window, "The cleverest feature 

 in this display is the little old man 

 who sits on the bank of the lake from 

 morning till night, only to amuse the 

 passing crowd with jerking his pole and 

 throwing it high in the air, for he fishes 



