r 



'■■;■>■ ■-■• ; 



!| 



/^* 7iB# everyl^dy that can get up a striking window display; one that 

 will compel the passers-hy to stop and look. And even a cracker jack at 

 the business can't make that kind all the time. But there's^ 'ftctyJiO'make 

 the people stop and look just the same. It's told in this article. 



t! 



|HY are the shopkeepers in 

 every line of business dis- 

 playing maps of Europe in 

 their windows these days! 

 The answer is easy. Every- 

 body, no matter whether he 

 has an atlas at home or not. 

 sfops to look at a map of the district 

 where war is being waged, and the 

 shopkeeper finds this an easy and in- 

 expensive means of attracting the at- 

 tention of the people passing by. For 

 the same reason, photographs of current 

 events are seen everywhere in shop win- 

 dows. People stop to look at things in 

 which they have an interest, and the 

 thing which holds the interest of the 

 greatest number of persons is the best 

 basis for an advertisement. 



One Step Better. 



But remember, it's only the basis for 

 ail advertisement. The map and the 

 photographs make the people stop in 

 front of the store, but they don't bring 

 them inside. And that is what the store- 

 man who spends time on a window deco- 

 ration is trying to do. 



The florist who displayed the map of 

 Europe in his window and surrounded, 

 it with the flags of 

 the various countries 

 done in flowers went 

 one step farther, and 

 it was a long step, 

 too. He Q^t only 

 made the people stop 

 to look at his win- 

 dow, but he also at- 

 tracted their atten- 

 tion to his particular 

 line. He forced them 

 to take notice that 

 •lis was a flower store. 



Unless the florist 

 does both these things 

 in his window decora- 

 tion his time and ef- 

 fort are wasted. He 

 must attract the peo- 

 ple 's attention, and 

 when he has secured 

 their attention he 

 must make them no- 

 'ice that his is "i 

 place for them to buy 

 lowers. The objec- 

 tion to the window 

 'uU of palms and 

 vases of cut flowers 

 ■s — perhaps we should 

 ay was, for this win 



appearing — that it docs not attract at- 

 tention. And a show window that does 

 not attract attention might as well be 

 a brick wall. Equally objectionable is 

 the window showing only a map, a tank 

 of goldfish, or the liKe; it attracts atten- 

 tion, but it does not advertise the flow- 

 ers. And it doesn 't do any good to make 

 a lot of noise if nobody knows what 

 you're talking about. 



Making Them Look. 



The florist, however, rarely errs in the 

 latter respect. His wares are so easy to 

 display and he is so used to arranging 

 them in pleasing fashion that he natu- 

 rally puts them into every window dis 

 play. The difficulty that he faces often- 

 est is how to make the people look. He 

 can speak plainly; he wants to know how 

 to make the noise. 



The clue to this problem is found in 

 the map idea. Show the people some- 

 thing in which they are interested. Let 

 your display be a reference to some- 

 thing that the people who pass your 

 store are thinking about. Timeliness is 

 the keynote for the window decorator. 



Just now war is the subject uppermost 

 in the mind of nearly everybody, and 



ow is rapidly dis- 



The Polo Pony that Pulled the Crowds During Fair Time at Spokane. 



references to anything military or to 

 anything relating to the scene of con- 

 flict are of great interest to all. There 

 are other subjects of as strong interest 

 in each locality. Baseball has been used 

 by florists as a basis for noteworthy 

 window displays when feeling was high; 

 a description of such a decoration, with 

 a baseball diamond in flowers, appeared 

 in a city news-letter in The Review not 

 long ago. Boat races, county and state 

 fairs, G. A. R. reunions, conventions of 

 various organizations, celebrations of 

 one kind and another have been success- 

 fully used to furnish the underlying idea 

 for many florists' window displays, and 

 they always draw the crowds. 



Getting Ideas. 



There is no lack of ideas for such 

 displays. Something is always going on, 

 no matter how dead you think your town 

 may be, even in the middle of the sum- 

 mer. Summer itself has furnished the 

 best basis for a timely and attractive 

 display. As was pointed out in The Re- 

 view during the summer, everybody is 

 interested in a cool spot in hot weather, 

 and the florist's window that shows one 

 draws the crowds. Similarly, Hallowe'en, 

 Thanksgiving, Christ- 



mas and all the other 



holidays and festal 

 uccaeions during the 

 year furnish ideas 

 for timely displays. 

 Election day often 

 has been put to use. 

 Fads and fashions 

 contribute their share 

 of suggestions. A few ■ 

 years ago a miniature 

 .Japanese garden in 

 a florist's window 

 would have only the 

 interest of novelty. 

 Today it has the ad- 

 ditional interest of 

 timeliness, and these 

 gardens in various 

 florists ' windows in 

 different parts of the 

 country have attract- 

 ed much notice be- 

 cause the people 

 whom the florist 

 wants to reach are 

 interested in this 

 form of garden just 

 now. In a like man- 

 ner other popular sub- 

 jects will furnish the 

 ingenious window dec- 



