Afbil 28, 1014. 



The Florists* Review 



13 



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FOROETthe WHITE CARNATION; 

 i^ SELL 'EM "FLOWERS" 



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The trade ''mieide" Mothers' Day by advertising; now let's make it 

 really pay by pushing ^'flowers," instead of just one kind bf^flower 



|HE time has come for drop- 

 ping the carnation, espe- 

 cially the white carnation, 

 from the advertising for 

 Mothers' day, the second 

 Sunday in May. 

 The suggestion will not 

 meet with the approval of the gentle 

 lady whose warm heart and fertile im- 

 agination are responsible for the day, 

 but it can not be helped — there are not 

 enough carnations to go around, and 

 there are plenty of other flowers. 



So let's advertise this year just 

 "flowers" — cut flowers and i)lants — for 

 Mothers' day. Let's let 'the business 



grow; not choke it to 



death now we've got it 

 going. 



History of Mothers' Day. 



time conspicuously to the attention of 

 the whole trade, with suggestions for 

 exploiting it — and you know the rest; 

 it has put thousands upon thousands of 

 dollars into the pockets of the trade. 



Getting Away from White. 



Luckily, Miss Jarvis, choosing the day 

 her mother died, the second Sunday in 

 May, hit on a date when there are 

 plenty of indoor flowers, but not many 

 outdoors. She suggested the white car- 

 nation as the Mothers' day flower par 

 excellence. "Its whiteness stands for 

 purity; its form, beauty; its fragrance, 

 love; its wide field of growth, charity; 



The story of Mothers ' 

 day has been told so 

 often that it might be 

 supposed everybody 

 would ^ow it by now, 

 but, as a reader of Kip- 

 ling said, " 'Lest you 

 forget' we say it yet," 

 we florists made the day. 

 To Miss Jarvis, who con- 

 ceived the idea, we are 

 indebted for just that — 

 and nothing more. You 

 know what happens to a 

 match lighted in a gale 

 of wind! Unless some 

 big, strong, rough hands 

 shelter it the blaze flares 

 up and is whiffed out be- 

 fore it can do good to 

 anybody. It's the same 

 way with many a bright 

 idea — no go unless some- 

 body sees a profit in it 

 and gets after it. 



Miss Jarvis decries the 

 ' ' commercializing " of 

 the idea, and occasion- 

 ally somebody who lives 

 off donations declines to 

 recognize the day bo- 

 cause florists are making 

 money out of it — but that is no reason 

 why we should stop advertising it to 

 those who are interested, which means 

 practically everybody. 



Mothers' day broke out all over the 

 United States in 1908, for Miss Jarvis 

 had written to a Philadelphia newspa- 

 per a letter about it that was clipped 

 and reprinted in many other places. It 

 created a sporadic demand that took 

 florists by surprise, as they had not 

 heard of it. Many wrote The Review 

 for information, the first letter coming 

 from Chapin Bros., Lincoln, Neb. In 

 the last issue of April, 1909, The Re- 

 view brought Mothers' day for the first 



SPECIAL 



MO THER'S 



DAY 



MAY BASKETS 



of Spring Flowers, Complete with 

 Ribbon Bow and Water Retainer. 



95c 



$1,50 Value 



Fresh, Home Grown Carna- 

 tions, any color, 



$1,00 DOZEN 



Dellverin 

 Saturday 

 and Sunday 



ii 



1106 Grand 



"The Review has shown that Mothers' day business need not be confined 

 to the sale of boutonnieres or white carnations; it's just as easy to sell something 

 better worth while if we advertise it."— W. L. Rock Flower G). 



Six Years' Work! 



Writing at Lincoln, Neb., May 11, 

 1913, Chapin Bros., who first called 

 Mothers' day to the attention of the 

 trade by writing about it to The Re- 

 view, had this to say: 



"Well, in this, the first city to ob- 

 serve Mothers' day, this one was the 

 best yet, even though we had bad 

 weather. Every flower in the city was 

 sold, and of every color. There was as 

 much call for colored as for white flow- 

 ers and it was the easiest big day of the 

 year. Saturday's sales this year were 

 seventy-five per cent of the total Easter 



Saturday sales. 



"All we have to do 

 now is to see that the 

 governor and mayor is- 

 sue their proclamations, 

 and have the ministers 

 announce it in the 

 churches, and publish a 

 little a<lvertisement, and 

 the crowds come — and it 

 does one's heart and 

 pocketbook good to see 

 them come, whole store- 

 fuls at a time, from 8 a. 

 m. until ll:.'iO p. m., and 

 carry their own pack- 

 ages away, in most cases, 

 so that only the regular 

 delivery help is needed. 

 ' ' Now that colored 

 flowers go, and we have 

 got it fixed in people's 

 minds, all we have to do 

 is to hol<l thq price rea- 

 sonable and do the busi- 

 ness. We wrote you 

 years ago, ' Push it! '"We 

 want to say The Review 

 has pushed it, and done 

 wonders. Thanks to The 

 Review; long may it 

 live!" 



Advertising Did It. 



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its lasting qualities, faithfulness — all ii 

 true mother's attributes," she wrote. 

 But the way the sentiment appealed to 

 the people when florists began to ad- 

 vertise the day was too strong for the 

 supply of white carnations — there were 

 not enough to go around — and The Re 

 view suggested: 



flowers bright, 

 a flower white. 



This did not meet with the approval 

 of Miss Jarvis, who does not like to 

 have her ideas tinkered with, but the 

 trade took up the phrase and practicaUy 

 everybody used it last year. It worked 

 splendidly. This is how: 



For Mother at home, 

 In Mother'.s memory, 



Advertising, and notii- 

 ing but advertising, has 

 made Mothers' day. 

 Every florist can, and should, help 

 push along the Mothers' day observance. 

 It can be done in many ways, some of 

 which are described briefly in the ar- 

 ticles that follow this one." These will 

 suggest many other methods, although 

 they are all advertising of one kind or 

 another. 



Flowers for Mother. 



But this year let's drop the carnation 

 out of all the ads; let's advertise just 

 "flowers" — the carnations, and espe- 

 cially the white carnations, will take 

 care of themselves no matter how 

 strongly other flowers are pushed. Let 's 



