The Weekly Florists'^ Review. 



Apbil 30, 1908. 



subtly establishes a feeling of confidence 

 and ' satisfaction that the establishment 

 is in a superior class and that the man- 

 agement is keenly alive to the constant 

 progressive changes which are taking 

 place, and that consequently they can 

 depend upon securing the most up-to-date 

 goods and service. 



"From a commercial point of view, 

 confidence of this character is worth a 

 great deal to the firm, because it elimi- 

 nates the frequently unreasonable de- 

 mand that goods be sold at a loss or 

 without profit, and assures the securing 

 of a reasonable profit and at the same 

 time maintains the confidence and good 

 will of the buyer. 



"It was with the above ideas in mind 

 that I analyzed the proposition to utilize 

 the first floor and part of the basement 

 of the 8. 8. White building, comer Chest- 

 nut and Twelfth streets, Philadelphia, and 

 which is now known to many as the Acker 

 Quality 8hop. This salesroom was about 

 45x220 feet and had been occupied for 

 forty years by a well known jewelry 

 firm. Notwithstanding its admirable 

 proportions and ideal location, it was un- 

 attractive and gloomy, but I believed the 

 building capable of many desirable 

 changes. 



"The plans which were finj^lly ap- 

 proved included facing with marble 

 the Twelfth street front and introducing 

 ten additional show windows, five addi- 

 tional entrances and twenty ejtterior show 

 cabinets. These changes practically gave 



of the room for a balcony without mar- 

 ring the beauty of the room and possibly 

 accentuating it. ' The result was emi- 

 nently satisfactory. 



"Considerable thought was given to 

 combine utility with artistic effect. That 

 this has been successful is evidenced by 

 the complimentary remarks made by for- 

 eigners as well as Americans who have 

 visited it. I think the result of the ex- 

 periment has also vindicated the theory 

 that the general public appreciate in a 

 practical way the artistic in a store, pro- 

 vided it is associated with honest goods, 

 up-to-date service and fair prices. 



"My own beautiful store is a psycho- 

 logical problem in its entirety, and also 

 in many particulars, and ranks as the 

 most beautiful salesroom and unique 

 luncheon balcony in the world. Paris, 

 London, the orient, the great cities of 

 this country and the leading world's ex- 

 positions have all contributed some ideas 

 t.o this modern scheme of adorning a 

 strictly commercial enterprise with such 

 a beautiful and artistic garb that the 

 buyer not only gets value in his purchase 

 but at the same time absorbs a sense of 

 intellectual exhilaration such as is im- 

 parted by a visit to a gallery of art. 



"Query. — Will not the recollections of 

 the artistic beauty of this French per- 

 fumery department enhance the pleasure 

 of the purchaser in the actual use of 

 these dainty and useful toilet prepara- 

 tions? Will not the cleanly and dainty 

 manner in which foods are displayed and 



Uptown Store of Charles Henry Fox, Philadelphia. 



us an additional frontage of 220 feet. 

 The ceiling was twenty feet high and 

 flat, but I discovered that behind the 

 lath and plaster was a uniform series of 

 arches, the centers of which were twenty 

 inches higher. The architect approved 

 the idea of ripping off the lath and plas- 

 ter and getting the benefit of the higher 

 ceiling and also the artistic effect of the 

 arches, which were supported by richly 

 decorated beams. This additional height 

 facilitated the idea of utilizing one-half 



handled whet the appetite and impart a 

 delightful sense of confidence when the 

 food is served at the table? Will not 

 these picturesque booths recall to mind 

 foreign climes and add a sentimental 

 charm to the beverages which they pro- 

 duce? 



"The 20-foot wide marble staircase 

 and the graceful lines and rich model- 

 ing of the dining balcony to which it 

 leads may remind you of the Grand 

 Opera House of Paris. The visitors will 



be tempted to ascend these stairs and 

 seat themselves at the tables of the 

 Parisian cafe or the English inn or the 

 men's Dutch kitchen. A psychological 

 problem of the balcony is whether many 

 diners will not enjoy luncheon amid such 

 pleasing and versatile environments more 

 than they would in an uni-nteresting and 

 conventional restaurant? Also whether 

 the food is not likely to be more readily 

 assimilated? 



"It is the purpose, so far as prac- 

 ticable, to select for the Quality Shop 

 attendants who look only upon the genial 

 and bright side of life. If a pessimist 

 inadvertently creeps in, he or she must 

 be converted into an optimist or resign. 



"The resulting problem is whether the 

 concentrated cheerfulness and courtesy 

 of over a hundred employees in a single 

 salesroom will not enable the buyers to 

 carry away with them sufficient exhilara- 

 tion to make trading seem more agree- 

 able, and less exhausting than in any 

 other salesroom in the world." 



DOUBLE VALLEY. 



We are mailing you a spray of lily of 

 the valley and we would like to know 

 if it is a named variety or just a sport. 

 There are a number of double blooms in 

 the bed where these were cut. F. B. S. 



The specimen submitted is a sport. 

 . Lily of the valley has a strong tendency 

 to produce sports, at least when grown 

 outdoors. Frequently the blooms are 

 double, as in this instance, and occasion- 

 ally the leaves are striped green and 

 white, like the leaves of a variegated 

 aspidistra. None of these sports has 

 much commercial value. 



H. N. Beuns. 



LOBELL^ KATHLEEN MALLARD. 



One of the best, in fact the best in- 

 troduction of late years in the class of 

 lobelias is the L. Erinus Kathleen Mal- 

 lard^-Jt is a very free flowering plant 

 and especially beautiful and remarkable 

 on account of its large double, deep blue 

 flowers. It was brought out about three 

 years ago by a florist in the southwest of 

 England, who named it after his daugh- 

 -ter. -Snbsequehtly exhibited in London 

 at a meeting of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society, it created quite a sensation by 

 its beauty and prominent qualities among 

 professionals and amateurs. 



A big English firm afterward acquired 

 all the rights of it from the man with 

 whom it had originated and then began 

 to disseminate it in England and on the 

 continent. Of course a lovely double and 

 free flowering lobelia, as this one proved 

 to be, made its way quickly. Last sum- 

 mer it could be seen used as a most beau- 

 tiful bedding plant in the public parks 

 and gardens of quite a large number of 

 German towns. All gardeners who have 

 iised it, either as a bedding plant or as a 

 pot plant, speak in high terms of the 

 Kathleen Mallard. But it must be said 

 that the last summer was not very favor- 

 able for all sorts of flowering plants, and 

 as that summer brought us a lot of rainy 

 and dull days, it was quite natural that 

 in some places this new lobelia was not 

 quite up to expectations. In shady places 

 especially, and where it stood in heavy 

 and cloggy soil, it was not well able to 

 show up all its advantages. 



There is no doubt about it, anyhow, 

 that the Kathleen Mallard does best in 

 bright and sunny positions and light soil. 

 Where such soil is not at hand it is ad- 

 visable to take pot plants and sink them 



