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December 10, 1008. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



21 



lution of the florists' boxes. When I 

 first began my experience in the busi- 

 ness, every now and again my boss would 

 say, "Charlie, run up to the shoe store 

 and see if they have any boxes for 

 us. If they haven't any, go across the 

 street to McCreary's and get some col- 

 lar and shirt boxes. ' ' I can yet well 

 remember what acrobats those carnations 

 and roses were; they had to bend the 

 crab, and do every other stunt, squeezed 

 in tight, like a coffin. Then, after I 

 got a lot of boxes, I had a steady 

 job pasting on our labels over the shoe 

 merchant 's. 



Then, after this, we had boxes made 

 •with nice green paper, and gold trim- 

 ming. Once in a while we would change 

 to yellow with white labels. 



Then the ever-handy, cheap folding 

 boxes came into use. When the board 

 got wet the string would cut through 

 ^nd hold the flowers to the lid. At last, 

 we had boxes made of different sizes 

 to suit our business — all but American 

 Beauties. You can today see fine Beau- 

 ties coming out of fine shops with the 

 tail cut out of the box, and the stems 

 sticking out of the end, as long as the 

 box itself. 



What right has a florist to send roses 

 out in this style? Would a dry goods 

 merchant do it? Can you think of any 

 •other line that wouldf 



It is the first impression that counts, 

 •every time, and especially in our busi- 

 ness. You can't command a price if you, 

 yourself, do not value the goods worth 

 a decent box. 



Necessity the Mother. 



Ideas are always created through a 

 desire for something. Think 1 Eemem- 

 ber ! Imagine I 



First, you think about what is wanted. 

 You see things suggestive. You remem- 

 ber them. You build on them. You im- 

 agine. Put on a little more "salt" 

 and you create. 



We had a lot of one-sided begonias. 

 Then the thought, "What can I do to 

 •enhance the value of these plants, to sell 

 them at a good profit?" Mats were old, 

 heavy, unsuited to the plant. They need- 

 ed some kind of a crazy basket to hide 

 the defects. I walked through the sup- 

 ply houses, but couldn't find anything 

 to suit. Must make it myself! I am 

 not a basket maker, but here she goes. 

 Got a basket maker to make a skeleton, 

 and we did the rest. Here is your plant, 

 worth four times the price in the basket, 

 and something new in the bargain. But 

 it took enthusiasm, thought, confidence 

 in the goods, in ourselves, in the pub- 

 lic, to create it. 



In creating ideas you will get lots that 

 are not practical, and that may be ridicu- 

 lous or fantastic. But they are divided 

 into two distinct classes, easily defined, 

 and I have always found this a good 

 rule to observe. 



An idea is only a genuine idea when 

 it conveys your thought, and your thought 

 should come from some useful want or 

 desire. There must be an excuse for 

 doing it, or twisting a shape in a cer- 

 tain way. It must express that thought 

 to your customer without any explanation 

 from you — then you have a genuine idea, 

 worth having. 



The Misuse of Ribbon. 



I believe the use of ribbon with flow- 

 ers has a great field, and enhances the 

 beauty and value of them. Remember 

 that last suggestion: Value. A bunch 



A Variation of the 'Christmas Wreath. 



or basket, with an appropriate bow, 

 artistically placed, is worth half as much 

 again, if you are not simply selUng 

 merchandise. But put the ribbon where 

 it belongs; where the eye suggests the 

 need of something being tied. To put 

 a red necktie on an araucaria is as bad 

 taste as chiffoning an azalea, with a lot 

 of fussy stufl:, puffing out here and 

 there. It does not do the azalea any 

 good, anil wastes the ribbon. 



You can use some receptacle with the 

 plant that offers an excuse to tie on 

 a bow of ribbon, and you at once have 

 the satisfying effect for the eye. 



Lots of people will notice these defects, 

 but not really know what it is that does 

 not appeal to them. They may even 

 buy them, but it will not have that sat- 

 isfying effect on them which sDmething 

 would have that correctly conveys and 

 carries out the thought. 



The Matter of Plant Decorations. 



I remember how plant decorations im- 

 pressed me, when a boy starting in the 

 business. 



The word ' ' decoration ' ' carried with 

 it the thought of a half day's hustle 

 and bustle, the tearing out of the well- 

 arranged greenhouse, breaking of pots, 

 and freezing of plants, and then the next 

 day everything repeated, bringing them 

 home. And all this for as much as a 

 tailor would charge for a good suit of 

 clothes. 



The reason for this is that we sell 

 our brains by the load! So much a 



load — plants, brains, and work thrown 

 in — and get them all back again, you 

 know, next day. 



This idea of getting them back again 

 is 80 impressed on the public that you 

 will not get a good price for your flowers 

 and work, because you sell them by the 

 load, and get them all back. Sell them 

 something they will keep — you do not 

 want them back — and your customer will 

 be satisfied to pay your price. 



It is the mental law of sale: Some- 

 thing they will get for their money, be- 

 longs to them, the desire to possess. Do 

 not take it away the next day — by the 

 load. 



Talk up cut fiowers. Use them every- 

 where; they can be used to good advan- 

 tage in vases, clusters and garlands. 



Now, I do not wish to be misconstrued. 

 We do not want to eliminate plants al- 

 together — we always want to use plants 

 — but let them be specimens, plants that 

 you can set anywhere on their merits. 



Has it ever occurred to you how in- 

 congruous and bad taste it is to fill a 

 house with a lot of stuff you would not 

 otherwise dare to show a customer, in- 

 dividually, using pot covers and pedestals 

 that are anything but ornamental in a 

 finely appointed house? Removing all 

 the objects of art and bric-a-brac and 

 building in place banks of plants! Fill 

 vases with cut flowers, arrange them on 

 the mantel, and you will get a better 

 price, and will not have to take them 

 back next day. 



