Jandaby 9, 1913. 



The Florists^ Review 



18 



The Barber-Pole Garland at the Left is Not bo Good as the Simplified Treatment Shown at the Right 



reaved home where only that which was 

 simple, soothing and harmonious could 

 possibly have been welcome. 



Grotesque Masses of Flowers. 



I sincerely believe we are the direct 

 cause of these unwilling prohibitions 

 of funeral flowers, for my investiga- 

 tions have proved, with reference to 

 certain homes from which the strong- 

 est prohibitions were issued, that in 

 some of these homes the most expensive 

 floral arrangements were chosen — cho- 

 sen because of their rich, soothing qual- 

 ities and their artistic merit. This 

 seems to refute the prevailing opinion 

 that the forbidding of flowers is merely 

 a fad or that flowers are not wanted, 

 and seems to substantiate the argument 

 that the real desire of the bereaved 

 families is to be sure that their hour 

 of trial and sorrow will not be ridiculed 

 by the presence of grotesque masses of 

 flowers, violated into the form of a 

 steamboat, a train of cars, or some ani- 

 mal. 



Art a Business Necessity. 



I know that there are many who will 

 disagree with the foregoing opinion. It 

 is the hope of the writer, indeed, that 

 these lines will be read by those who 

 do differ, and that they will show the 

 courage of their convictions by pub- 

 licly expressing their ideas, for it is 

 only by a free discussion of this and 

 kindred subjects that we can expect to 

 clear our atmosphere of such money- 

 eating customs as requesting that there 

 be no flowers at funerals. 



The writer has no hesitation in as- 

 serting and reasserting that this great 

 loss can be traced directly to our lack 

 of understanding of art, and just as 



long as we persist in sending and sug- 

 gesting these freak forms and sizes, 

 just so long — and a little longer — will 

 the loss continue. 



I am aware that many of our florists 

 rarely turn out these huge arrangements 

 now, but have substituted the more 

 simple forms and increased the value, 

 when necessary, by using more expen- 

 sive material, but there are just as 

 many who think that to earn $25, $50 

 or $100 for a funeral emblem, they must 

 use size for the stfke of impressiveness. 



There are a great many arguments, 

 of course, that might be used to prove 

 how necessary it is to supply the cus- 

 tomer with what he wants, but does he 

 really want it I Are you sure his de- 

 mand is not the result of the years of 

 public custom and of suggestion from 

 youf In order to remedy the evil, it 

 is essential that florists have a better 

 understanding of their own business, so 

 that they will not scoff at art, but real- 

 ize, as they eventually will, that art is 

 an absolute necessity because of its 

 economy. Ered C. W. Brown. 



PUBLICITY. 



"Holiday Flowers Will Be Costly" 

 was the headline displayed in the New 

 York Herald for Sunday, December 22, 

 1912, to a half-column article, stating 

 that prices would be raised fifty per 

 cent over preceding Christmas prices; 

 that the entire stock, with a few minor 

 exceptions, of all plant growers with- 

 in easy reach of the metropolitan 

 wholesale dealers was exhausted, and 

 that there was no possibility of an- 

 other cutting reaching the market be- 

 fore Christmas. 



A prominent wholesaler was given 



as authority for this and a lot more, 

 all of which was detrimental to the 

 flower trade of New York city. 



When the subject of publicity was 

 brought up in Chicago, I, with a num- 

 ber of others, expected a real pub- 

 licity campaign, headed by the S. A. F., 

 with all the local clubs and associa- 

 tions as allies. We expected a vigor- 

 ous handling of the press of the United 

 States from a positive point of view 

 and a strict censorship over all nega- 

 tive matter, such as the foregoing and 

 occasionally other articles are. 



Our trade is developing in spite of 

 our lethargy, but other business has 

 developed a hundred br two hundred- 

 fold — yes, in some cases, five thousand- 

 fold — through the aid of the press. 



There is no other one business in the 

 world that can adapt itself to press 

 manipulation as well as ours, and an 

 up-to-date newspaper man, assisted and 

 advised by the good, live wires we 

 have on our various publicity commit- 

 tees, would earn his salary ten times 

 over. 



If the S. A. F. is not able to finance 

 such a proposition, and presuming that 

 such a man could be employed for, say, 

 $3,000 per annum, with an additional 

 $2,000 for sundry expenses, I will be 

 one of 500 to give $10 a year toward 

 maintaining such a campaign for at 

 least five years, and I am sure there 

 are 499 others in the S. A. F. who will 

 do the same. • 



This is not decrying the present 

 publicity methods; it is the one thing 

 we can not have too much of, and the 

 right kind of a newspaper man could 

 be a great help toward making these 

 local attempts successful. 



