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S«*tEjJ(BKU 10, 1912. 



The Florists^ Review 



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THE RETAIL 



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FLORIST...... 



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MIKADO'S WBUmt. 



1 The daily papers last week were full 

 of affairs Japanese: the funeral of the 

 mikado and the events that accompa- 

 nied it. In the cables many references 

 were made to the representative of 

 the United States government having 

 placed a huge wreath beside the cata- 

 falque of the deceased emperor at 

 Tokio. Well, in the accompanying illus- 

 tr^on The Review shows the wreath. 



When the mikado died President 

 I aft sent Philander C. Knox to repre- 

 sent the American people at the obse- 

 qnies. Secretary Knox made the jour- 

 ney by way of Seattle and, according 

 to custom, arranged to place a large 

 wreath on the dead ruler's bier as a 

 mark of national respect. He bought 

 his wreath in Seattle, of Mrs. Lena W. 

 McCoy. Since the design was made 

 about August 20 and not used, across 

 the sea, until September 11, flowers 

 were out of the question. Consequently 

 the wreath was made of prepared mag- 

 nolia leaves and cycas leaves. It was 

 made in the empire form, tied with rib- 

 bon in our national colors, red, white 

 and blue. 



Thus does the magnolia leaf come 

 into its own. Who can object to its 

 use when the florist points out to his 

 customer that it was used for royalty, 

 in the wreath Uncle Sam placed on the 

 casket of his good friend the mikado? 



BASKETS IN FUNERAL WORK. 



Is There Any Eeal Objection? 



. ^ Following out the reading of those 



▼ho are opposing th^ u8ff**f baskets at 



fonerals, it would be inapproj>riate to 



•'* ^niee the center of a table, at a dinner 



^ given to persons interested ii^ maritime 



oursuits, with a floral anclbor, for the 



' reason that the anchor ia used as a 



^ funeral piece. As well refriiin from 



Uie use of white and pirik roses at 



yeddings because of their frequent use 



at funerals. The trouble with tuberoses 



4nd jasmines has b.een that thej*^ were 



tihoughtlessly relegated to funerals and 



liot appreciated as valuable in other 



decorative work. 



. What are flowers for at funerals, any- 

 how f To brighten what nowadays we 

 Jsgard at the worst as a gloomy ind- 

 ent, foi death is but one of the inci- 

 dents oifthe bnward Sind/upward course 

 df life. Now, the», don't be skimpy 

 ▼ith the sunshine which flowers, of all 

 things, <;an scatten. about most per- 

 fectly. Stop only this si^e of the giddy. 

 Bnt brilliancy of colorrag and" design- 

 ing need ney«r be giddy. Funeral, trib- 

 utes, if even fairly well execii ted, are 

 r)ot dead, but living, throbbing with 

 ffe and emotion. This is especially true 

 of baskets. . ' 



Capable of Infinite Variety. 



In spite of the reasonable tinge which 

 tbe arguments against the use of baskets 



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atrf unerals have assumed, they are 

 largely theoretical. It is not what they 

 have done that is feared, but what they 

 may do. Here is one fact, presented 

 for what it is worth: I liave used 

 baskets in funeral work for ten years 

 at least, and never once has the prac- 

 tice injured their use in other decora- 

 tive work. On the contrary, it has 

 served to increase their popularity for 

 all purposes. But I can vouch for 

 this prediction: Tf you conventional- 

 ize your basket work as the majority 



Here are a few examples of variety 

 in trimming the handle: Don't in one- 

 tenth of the cases festoon the handle 

 with smilax, asparagus or any other 

 one material, no matter how attractive 

 it may be in this case. Don't always 

 or nearly always tie a cluster of flow- 

 ers with a bow on top or at one side. 



Variations in Handle Trimming. . 



Vary the trimming by some suen 

 decorations as these: A rosette bow 

 with a bunchy cluster of flowers at 

 either base or both bases of the han- 

 dle; a tall spray on one side and 

 a low group on the Other; a wrap- 

 ping of ribbon all around, loop and 

 ends at one lower side, with slender- 

 stemmed flowers and light sprays of 

 green hanging; from the top of the 

 tall handle of a tall basket drop a 

 cluster of tiny moss baskets, filled to 

 harmonize in color with the contents of 

 the basket, but let the flowers be small, 

 as in the case of a basket of roses or 

 gladioli and the small basket of sweet 



Vrrath Sent to Mikadoes Funeral by U. S. Government. 



of florists treat their other design work, 

 you may expect to have its use nar- 

 rowed rather than broadened. Don't 

 run any one «ty!lb of design into the 

 ground. Be it shower IbSiuquet, center- 

 piece, formal emblem or basket, a con- 

 stant repetition of the same arrange- 

 ment will kill it. Of all designs, do 

 not conventionalize the basket arrange- 

 ment. It, of all, is capable of the most 

 infinite varietv. 



peas; or violets in small baskets over- 

 hanging lilies in the basket below; an 

 overhanging cluster of roses, the same 

 as are used^ in the body of the basket, 

 touching or almost touching; no defl- 

 oration whatever of the handle, but an 

 upreaching, full cluster from the body 

 of the basket around the handle on 

 both sides, no tie; a cluster of chiffon 

 butterflies from the handle, suspended 

 on black threads or fine wire, hovering 



