"rr-'^T- 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



June 3, 1909. 



seem to be more in place at the base of 

 the spray. As to the relationship of one 

 flower to another, one will lie gracefully 

 close to another; some buds will cluster 

 easily together and some few will fly oflf 

 on an independent line apart from the 

 main spray. 



The Individualities of Flowers. 



All these little diversions of stem and 

 flower form the character of the spray, 

 by their being allowed to fall together, 

 as it were. Some will lie gracefully on 

 the background; others will turn slightly 

 upward, and still others may be more 



shop on Broad street, Philadelphia. One 

 of his vases is shown in the accompany- 

 ing illustration. 



FLOWER MERCHANDISING. 



Advertising is the Stepping Stone. 



The Eeview holds the opinion that re- 

 tail florists miss being merchants simply 

 through their general failure to take ad- 

 vantage of the most potent power in 

 merchandising — advertising. 



The big businesses of today are built 

 by advertising. The artist, or the pur- 



Three-Column Newspaper Advertisement of Fleischman Co., Chicago. 



naturally bent back over the stems. One 

 long, strong stem can determine the shape 

 or bend of the spray. Play that it is the 

 tree trunk and let the other stems be the 

 branches attached to it and extending in 

 different directions. 



Beauty of stem and foliage should not 

 be hidden by an excess of added foliage. 

 In rose sprays, use mostly extra rose 

 foliage, with perhaps a few ferns or a 

 cluster of smaller flowers for a band 

 across the stems. Make a foundation of 

 rose brush composed of stems from which 

 the old flowers have been cleared or cut 

 off for design work. Lay the roses on it 

 where they seem to fall in line, and if 

 the completed spray, large or small, does 

 not have an individuality, it will be due 

 to a lack of conception, which is a bad 

 habit, rather than to a lack of ability in 

 designing. 



When your last rose spray is somewhat 

 different from some of its predecessors, 

 and when carnations and lilies take forms 

 peculiar to themselves, then you are be- 

 ginning to count the milestones of prog- 

 ress and the stages to good designing. 



Do not complain if your orders are not 

 all large. The sprays of a dozen or two 

 of roses can be traced into the daintiest 

 forms, which will, be attractive on ac- 

 count of this very oddity. 



Gertrude Blair. 



ART VASES. 



Every now and then a retail florist 

 finds time, in the press of other duties, 

 to design a new receptacle for flowers. 

 Charles Henry Fox has originated many 

 of the novel baskets and vases used at 

 the Sign of the Eose, his unique flower 



veyor to the classes, does not advertise, 

 but he does a business limited by his 

 personal capacity. His profits are only 

 those which can be made on his own work. 

 The merchant makes a profit, not only 

 upon his goods, but upon the work of 

 others. Advertising is his method of 



reaching those outside the limited circle 

 of his personal acquaintance. 



Florists advertise too little. Those 

 who, with capable advice, have made a 

 test of the possibilities of advertising, 

 have found that they shortly needed 

 larger stores and more help. Some ad- 

 vertising is better than other advertising, 

 but any advertising is better than none 

 at all. Most advertising printed in a 

 book, directory, program, or souvenir has 

 only the fractional value that the same 

 advertising would have if printed in a 

 newspaper, any newspaper, but prefer- 

 ably the one with the largest circula- 

 tion. 



The Fleischman Floral Co., Chicago, 

 has one of the finest flower stores in the 

 world and does a business of the 

 highest class, but recently Mr. Rubel, 

 president of the corporation owning the 

 business, has given indications of a de- 

 sire to extend the field of operations, 

 and is advertising in the leading daily 

 paper. When Fleischman does anything 

 it is done well. Therefore, when Ileisch- 

 man advertises, he uses plenty of space, 

 even if it is high-priced. The appearance 

 of the Fleischman store, with its mirror- 

 covered walls, could give the impression 

 to some that prices there might not be as 

 low as elsewhere, so the Fleischman ad- 

 vertising has been aimed to show that 

 the prices are no higher than similar 

 stock and similar service would cost else- 

 where. 



The business, already one of the largest 

 in Chicago, is feeling the stimulus of the 

 newspaper advertisements rather sooner 

 than would be the case if the store were 

 not so favorably located; it is in the 

 center of the city, where practically none 

 of the newspaper circulation is wasted. 

 A store in a residence district at one side 

 of a town is at something of a disad- 

 vantage in that a large part of a paper's 

 circulation would be among people who 

 never go to the vicinity of the advertis- 

 ing store. 



There can be character in an advertise- 

 ment as well as in a flower store; you 

 even can put personality in it. 



A Retailer's Special Art Vases. 



