Mav 25, 1011. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



11 



I THE RETAIL 



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CO-OPERATIVE PUBLICITY. 



Does advertising pay? Ask any flo- 

 rist in Cleveland and the answer will 

 be in the affirmative. The plan of co- 

 operative advertising had its first try- 

 out recently in preparation for Moth- 

 ers' day and it is the consensus of opin- 

 ion that it was a howling success. 



Signs and placards were printed ad- 

 vertising Mothers' day and these were 

 spread broadcast throughout the city. 

 Delivery wagons of every description 

 bore one of the cloth signs reading: 

 ''Remember Mothers' day, May 14. 

 Wear a flower in her honor." In many 

 of the store windows, other than those 

 of florists, were cards inscribed with 

 the words: "Mothers' day, Sunday, 

 May 14. As a token of love for her, 

 wear some flower on this national 

 day." Other cards read: "Flowers for 

 mother. Don't fail to send some floral 

 remembrance to mother for Mothers' 

 day, Sunday, May 14." 



Needless to say, there were not half 

 enough white carnations and other 

 stock was also short of the demand. 

 Every store in town was completely 

 cleared of stock by Sunday noon and 

 everybody was satisfied. In the third 

 year of its existence, Mothers' day is 

 already one of the big days of the year. 



Does it pay to advertise? 



Much praise is due the members of 

 the advertising committee, Tim Smith, 

 John Kirchner, Chas. Russell, C. B. 

 Wilhelmy and Wm. A. Bramley, for 

 their excellent work and their judicious 

 expenditure of the "ad fund." 



C. D. Fell. 



CARDS IN THE CARS. 



Street car cards are a means of gen- 

 eral publicity; it is not reasonable to 

 expect from them the direct response 

 that one gets from an .advertisement 

 in the leading daily paper, but cards 

 in the cars nevertheless have place in 

 any plan for the exploitation of a re- 

 tail store. They are as useful to the 

 local florists as to the national adver- 

 tisers, though the latter are the ones 

 who use most of this kind of space. 



At Kansas City the Alpha Floral Co. 

 uses the street cars to bring out the 

 phone number, emphasizing the fact 

 that although Kansas City is one of the 

 towns that is so unfortunate as to have 

 two telephone systems, Alpha's num- 

 ber in both systems is the same, 1806. 

 The accompanying illustration shows 

 how it is done: Of course, in a town 

 of such size each telephone system is 

 operated through a number of ex- 

 changes. Therefore, while the subscriber 

 can get the same number in each sys- 

 tem, he has two different exchange pre- 

 fixes. By having one number in two 

 different exchanges the confusion is 

 reduced only one-half, so the Alpha 

 Floral Co., instead of trying to teach 

 the public to call for Grand 1-8-0-6 

 when using the Bell phone, and Main 

 1-8-0-6 when using the Home system, 

 simply has dropped the exchange names 



in these street car cards, trusting to 

 the operator at central to get the right 

 exchange for the party calling. 



Mr. Elberfield thinks the card re- 

 produced is one of the best he has used. 



The sketch was made up for three 

 Colors, but only two colors were used. 

 The cost of a space 11x22 inches is 50 

 cents per month for each car. "We 

 have been advertising in street cars for 

 five years," says he, "and it is like 

 all other advertising; it does not pay 

 to get in for a few months, but every 

 year adds greater value to it. It has 

 in time its accumulative effect. In 

 street cars I would advise change of 

 copy at least four times a year. ' ' 



Referring to the preparation of the 

 copy. "The come-back orders are what 

 count, and duplicate orders. Note that 

 the first paragraph speaks about du- 

 plicating the order, and that the re- 

 cipient was pleased and delighted. We 

 carry out our name by a regular stand- 

 ard of type that is used in every adv.; 

 also a few words regarding floral de- 

 signs, which are always a florist's main- 



conclude that it is the most delightful 

 and fascinating branch of the floral 

 art. 



Somebody will remark about this 

 time, "But I don't know how to go 

 about it, how to figure on it, how to 

 plan, etc." Well, in the first place you 

 must look over the home thoroughly. 

 Suppose it is an informal home wed- 

 ding. "Size up" the rooms, their re- 

 lation to the ceremony room, their gen- 

 eral dimensions; height of ceiling; color 

 of walls and woodwork; the number of 

 doorways and their size; whether it is 

 a light or dark house, generally speak- 

 ing; figured or plain walls; amount of 

 window space; kind of window drap- 

 eries; the hall and stairway, whether 

 opposite the entrance; whether the 

 stairway presents a broadside or up- 

 stair view; style of balustrade; width 

 of stairs; special features of each room 

 and their location, as mantels, mirrors, 

 seats, etc.; the view from one room to 

 another, whether extended or ob- 

 structed; size and shape of dining table 

 to be used; distance between table and 

 chandelier; whether chandelier fs in the 

 center of the room, etc. 



Then there are questions which you 

 must ask, as to where the ceremony is 

 to be performed, the number of guests, 

 the path of the bridal party, style and 

 time of ceremony, the kind of dining 

 service, whether a color scheme has 

 been chosen, and whether there is to be 

 a musicians' corner. 



The Decoration as a Whole. 

 The reason for all these observations 



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! WALNUT ST. 



Street Car Advertisement of a Kansas Gty Retail Florist. 



stay, or should be. A line or two is 

 used on immediate delivery service, 

 which is essential to success." 



PLANNING THE DECORATION. 



Making the Right Start. 



While perfectly at home with any 

 kind of store work and proficient in 

 funeral designing, many persons hesi- 

 tate to .undertake decorative work, 

 dreading that they may find themselves 

 in an unknown country without a guide. 

 The necessity of completing the work 

 on time, the self-consciousness that 

 comes from having an audience, as one 

 usually has, the fear that results may 

 not be altogether satisfactory, the want 

 of adaptation to new surroundings — 

 all these considerations combine to 

 keep many shy of these jobs. Yet, if 

 they will plunge in they will eventually 



and questions may not appear at first 

 thought, so we may as well take them 

 in order, with some remarks. First, 

 then, the relation of the rooms. Could 

 one decorative design, such as a wall 

 festoon, be extended from one room to 

 another? This depends upon their rela- 

 tive size and arrangement, similarity of 

 color, whether partitions are half or 

 entire, etc. If the rooms are rather 

 small, do not recommend palms, for 

 they would occupy too much space. 

 Where the rooms are to be quite well 

 filled with guests, doorway draperies 

 are usually removed. If the ceilings 

 are low, plan for straight lines up and 

 down, such as posts or columns, whose 

 decoration does not touch the ceiling. 

 If the walls and woodwork are light, 

 you may use plenty of green with dark 

 flowers. If they are dark, you may 

 know that the green used will be large- 



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