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WINTER WINDOWS 



FREE FROM FROST 



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WtM^er's perennial problem for the storeman, to prevent steam and frost 

 from forming on the show window, can he solved in sevetal ways — Jack 

 Frost should be no "bar to the high-class displays of other seasons. Here 

 are a number of methods, employed to keep the glass clear; if you know a 

 better, tell us of it. 



ITH the coming of winter, 

 inquiries as to the best 

 means of preventing the 

 formation of steam and 

 frost on show windows 



begin to reach the office 



of The Review. Dissatis- 

 fied with the methods generally em- 

 ployed to this end, all of which 

 have one disadvantage or another. 

 The Review has sought for one 

 which would enable its readers to dis- 

 pose of this problem mor6 easily. Many 

 have had suggestions to offer. None 

 of them, however, is entirely free from 

 objection on one score or another. 

 Perhaps there is no perfect method. 

 All are practical, nevertheless, and The 

 Review gives them to its readers, for 

 use as befits their varying conditions. 



Just the Wrong Time. 



Steam forms on the window when the 

 water vapor in the warm atmosphere of 

 the store comes in contact with the cold • 

 glass. As the flower Store has an un- 

 usually moist atmosphere, its windows 

 are the more liable to be coated with 

 frost, particularly in the coldest weath- 

 er. Layer after layer of moisture 

 freezes to the pane, so that the lower 

 part sometimes becomes covered with 

 ice on the days when the mercury is 

 registering its minimum for the year. 



ThesG are just the 

 days when the flo- 

 rist is most desirous 

 of making an attrac- 

 tive display, to sug- 

 gest to those who 

 may see it that 

 they brighten up 

 t h ei r homes with 

 flowers and plants. 

 He can afford the 

 least of all storemen 

 to have his win- 

 dows obscured at 

 this time of the 

 year. So his hunt 

 for a preventive is 

 an earnest one. 



Heat in the front 

 ' of the store does 

 little or no good. 

 In the old days, the 

 burning of gas-jets 

 in the window 

 cleared only a circle 

 within a few inches 

 of the flame. There 

 seem to. be, widely 

 speaking, but two 

 general means of 



clearing the glass after frost has once 

 formed, and two of preventing the 

 moisture's collecting on the' pane, one 

 method serving for both. 



Double Window Expensive. 



In these is not included the construc- 

 tion of a double window. This is 

 formed of two panes of glass, with an 

 air chamber of about one-half inch in 

 thickness between — similar in design 

 to the doors of florists' refrigerators. 

 These are said to be absolutely frost- 

 proof, but they are pretty expensive 

 if the florist has large window space. 

 They are, also, bound to become dirty 

 in time, even if they are as air-tight 

 as can be made. 



It seems that the closed-in window, 

 that is, the one with the display space 

 shut off by a partition from the rest 

 of the store, is the one that is most 

 easily frosted. The reason for this is 

 obvious. Watering of plants, the pres- 

 ence of vases filled with water, etc., 

 make the atmosphere in the window 

 more' moist than that in any other part 

 of the store. If this moisture-laden air 

 is shut off from the rest of the store, 

 steam and frost will surely form on 

 the glass whenever it is much colder 

 than the air. 



If, however, there is no partition 

 between the window and the store, 



Don't Let the Frost Obscure a Good Display Such as This. 



the circulation of the air will dissipate 

 the water vapor from the window 

 through the rest of the store. Florists 

 who have a good circulation of air in 

 their stores and windows open to the 

 rest of trie room, have, therefore, little, 

 or no trouble from frost or steam on 

 their windows. 



Attempts to create air circulation 

 often lead to drafts, which work harm 

 to the stock in the window and some- 

 times the rest of the store. This is 

 the drawback to the suggestion of 

 boring small holes in the sash at the 

 top and bottom of the window, and to 

 another, similar in character, of plac- 

 ing ventilators in these places. 



Electric Fan Effective. 



The simplest, and probably as com- 

 mon as any, means of removing steam 

 and frost from the window, as well 

 as of preventing their formation, is 

 a small electric fan. A 10-inch elec- 

 tric fan placed in a corner of the win- 

 dow, and nearly facing it, will create 

 a current of air that will carry away 

 the moisture. This air movement both 

 removes frost and steam from the glass 

 and prevents their forming. Some flo- 

 rists declare their use of an electric 

 fan in this way does not affect the 

 flowers and plants on display. 



Cold water is excellent for removing 

 frost from' the glass 

 if it can be used in 

 such a way as not 

 to injure the win- 

 dow display. The 

 florist may take his 

 bulb spray and spray 

 cold water on the 

 glass, beginning at 

 one corner of the 

 top and going back 

 and forth until the 

 bottom is reached. 

 If the construction 

 of the window per- 

 mits, he may flow 

 cold water down the 

 glass. This has to 

 be done once or twice 

 a day. 



For preventing the 

 formation of steam 

 and frost, the appli- 

 cation of a solution 

 of glycerine and al- 

 cohol, say twice a 

 week, is effective, 

 but the window is 

 not clear when thus 

 coated. This meth- 



