FEBttUARY 26, 1914. 



The Rorists' Review 



RETAIL STORE MANAGEMENT 



WHAT THE LEADERS IN THE TRADE ARE DOING 



DOES YOUR WINDOW PAY? 



Possibilities Greatest for Florists. 



The flower business is in a class by 

 itself in the possibilities of display 

 windows and the various ways and 

 means an energetic florist has at his 

 disposal to make his windows the ' ' talk 

 of the town" and the most direct me- 

 dium of procuring business. The holidays 

 for the florist are so distinctive and 

 the variety of merchandise he is sell- 

 ing and displaying in his windows is 

 so near nature that with little effort 

 he can make an attractive display. 



In any other line of business the 

 window trimmer must plan an appro- 

 priate background for his window dis- 

 play, put in a considerable amount of 

 work to get the proper effect, and then 

 add sprays of artificially prepared or 

 manufactured foliage to get the nat- 

 ural effect. A florist, on the other 

 hand, has all the necessary material at 

 his disposal; a group of palms or ferns, 

 a few sprays of southern smilax or as- 

 paragus form a beautiful background. 

 He does not have to go out and look 

 for natural effects; he has them all at 

 the tips of his fingers. 



Flowers Always an Attraction. 



In the window display proper a few 

 cut flowers greatly enhance the effect. 

 The public will stop and admire a 

 prettily arranged vase of flowers in al- 

 most any surroundings. The reason is 

 that flowers appeal to everyone; we 

 all admire the beautiful and are fond 

 of nature. We have them both com- 

 bined in the material available for a 

 florists' display window. 



At the time of a seasonable holiday, 

 such as St. Valentine's day, what flo- 

 rist has not the material to make an 

 appropriate display? Lavishness is not 

 accessary, but if you have the finest 

 class of stock, it of course makes a 

 richer showing than poor stock. To 

 make the public talk about your win- 

 dows, originality and some artistic abil- 

 ity are the requirements. The man 

 who copies the other fellow's display 

 window does not get the results the 

 originator did. People have seen it be- 

 fore and he only helps to boost the 

 originator. Someone must be the orig- 

 inator; why not you? 



For Example. 



Holm & Olson, of St. Paul, placed in 

 their show windows a business-getting 

 window for St. Valentine's day. The 

 smaller window of their large display 

 space was the feature window. A 

 loosely arranged ceiling of southern 

 smilax and a low background of the 

 same material furnished the setting for 

 the display. To the left side toward 

 the back of the window was placed an 

 old-fashioned valentine, nine feet high 

 and five and one-half feet in width. 

 This was made to represent the beau- 

 tiful, lacy love messages formerly used 

 to convey St. Valentine's day senti- 



ments. The center was a tilted heart 

 thirty-six inches in diameter made solid 

 of red carnations. To one side of the 

 center of the heart a vase was im- 

 bedded, in which was arranged a bunch 

 of 300 single violets and fifty valley; 

 to this bouquet were attached showers 

 of violets. A gold arrow two feet long, 

 with an imjnense bow of red Silverine 

 ribbon, pierced the heart at this point. 

 A border of Me.dcan ivy completed the 

 heart. Around it was a solid back- 

 ground of white carnations, in which 

 were imbedded twenty vases, those 

 close to the heart containing cattleyas 

 and those toward the border, violets. 

 Next was a row of Werbro lace hand- 

 icerchiefs. 



An 8-inch border of pink lace maline 

 shaded with a combination of lavender 



•me Sdlitor Is pleased 

 when a Reader 

 presents bis ideas 

 on any subject treated In 



As experience is the beet 

 teacber, so do we 

 learn tastest by an 

 exclianee of experiences. 

 Many valuable points 

 arebrouBht out 

 by discussion. 



Good penmanship, spelling and 

 grammar, though desirable, are not 

 necessary. Write as you would talk 

 when doing your best. 



WK SHAIX BB GLAD 

 TO HXAR rROM TOU 



■rr- 



,1 



lace maline formed the frame, to which 

 rolls and ruffles of maline were fast- 

 ened. The piece was mounted on an 

 easel. To the right, at the back of 

 the window, was arranged a group of 

 alsophila. In front of this group, about 

 two feet from the floor and about five 

 feet in diameter, was a sand pile, such 

 as all have the desire to imprint hearts 

 and love messages in. The feature of 

 this mound of sand was an electric 

 fountain, placed in the center, which 

 threw a continuous stream of water 

 about two feet high and was illumi- 

 nated from underneath with green 

 lights. Around this fountain, which 

 was twenty-seven inches in diameter, 

 was a loosely arranged wreath of vio- 

 lets and pink 'sweet peas. • 



Boxes and Bouquets Shown. 



The front of the sand mound was 



moistened and hearts and "I love 

 you" messages were inscribed therein. 

 Several small bisque cupids were placed 

 around the fountain, as were ^Iso a 

 number of gold arrows tied with red 

 Silverine. To the right of the foun- 

 tain was a w^l of mirrors eight feet 

 high, and this was loosely covered with 

 southern smilax, in which were placed 

 a number of solid hearts of red carna- 

 tions with trimmings of violets. 



This formed a setting to the valen- 

 tine display of fancy boxes and hearts, 

 some tied with Silverine and arrows to 

 show them ready for delivery, and 

 others arranged with flowers to convey 

 the desired effect. Throughout the win- 

 dow were scattered, on display stands 

 with vases attached, prettily made-up 

 corsage and Dutch bouquets daintily 

 tied with embroidered Silverine cor- 

 sage ribbon. 



The whole made a most pleasing and 

 attractive window, and as to the busi- 

 ness-getting part of the display. Holm 

 & Olson can safely vouch that it pays 

 to arrange your windows artistically. 

 Samuel Seligman. 



"THE VOICE WITH THE SMILE." 



The telephone exchange girl of A. W. 

 Smith Co., the Pittsburgh retail florist, 

 deserves honorable mention. 



The usual way to handle a call that 

 has come in on the line by mistake is to 

 yell "Wrong number" and ring off. 



This is what happened February 13, 

 when the calls were coming so fast that 

 all trunk lines were busy nearly every 

 moment: 



A voice: "Is this the Coal Co?" 



Phone girl: "This is A. W. Smith Co., 

 and we sell nicer things than coal." 



The voice: "Oh, you do? Well, what 

 do you sell?" 



The girl: "We sell flowers, and just 

 now we have the Valentine Special 

 on." 



The voice: "What is the Valentine 

 Special?" 



The girl: "I'll give you the order 

 department." 



Curtain, as salesman books order. 



Verily, as the telephone company 

 says, "the voice with the smile wins." 



Clarke. 



A UNIQUE WINDOW DECORATION. 



As a part of the campaign for tele- 

 graph orders, as well as an advertise- 

 ment for St. Valentine's day business, 

 the holiday windows of Edward Sceery 

 at both his Passaic and Paterson, N. J., 

 stores showed an ingenious idea well 

 carried out. At both stores the same 

 decoration was shown. Business tags 

 were obtained from all the leading flo- 

 rists of the United States and Canada, 

 and these, together with valentine 

 boxes, were arranged in the window to 

 show the possibilities of telegraphing 

 orders to all parts of the continent. 



A flock of doves with outspread wings 

 seemed to fly toward the front of the 

 window with cards in their beaks, car- 



