,v. 



8 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



-,.^ ,*r'v ■'^-''S'" . C- *'•[,. 



AUbch 3, 1910. 



he would be back later, but he didn't 

 come. 



While the boy went to find out defi- 

 nitely what he was to fetch, we started 

 again to re*d about the "Trials of a 

 ^ Country Florist." 

 f "Trials?" No! Call them "ex- 

 periences," if you please. 



Paper Flowers for Big Weddings. 



The experiences of some of us coun- 

 try florists must seem a great joke to 

 the city retailers, if they hear of them, 

 but to' US' the reality is stern enough. 

 Even at the risk of inviting ridicule, i 

 will tell one or two of the things I 

 have had to contend with in trying to 

 sell flowers in a community that has 

 plenty of money because it hasn't yet 

 learned how to spend any. 



Nearly 300 families live in a settle- 

 ment near us. They nearly all are well- 

 to-do; many are worth from $40,000 to 

 $75,000. They ought to be good buy- 

 ers, but they' are not. Paper flowers 

 are us^tl by all. and real flowers shunned 

 as poison. Three designs have been 

 made for this settlement in five years, 

 two crosses and one wreath, and we un- 

 derstand that special dispensation had 

 to be issued by the head of their church 

 permitting these indulgences. There are 

 many weddings, but at most of these a 

 few paper flowers are pinned on, and 

 that is the limit. 



This is not saying that weddings are 

 not held liere on a magnificent scale. 

 There are those in which 50 to 100 

 families participate. A dance floor is 

 specially erected for the occasion; there 

 is a full carload of beer, and a brass 

 band is hired from a neighboring city; 

 there are wagon-loads of cookery and "the 

 festivities are long continued. But the 

 concomitant of flowers represents an ex- 



communities and dropped to what could 

 be had for $3.75; finally we offered him 

 something for $1.75. He was about to 

 go away without ordering, but saw a 

 vase of red carnations. "What do yOu 

 call these here?" We told him. "What 

 do they cost?" And we; told him 10 

 cents each flower. After hesitating a 

 bit, he finally bought one, and at his 

 wedding he wore the red carnation on his 

 coat, but his bride took the vows flpwer- 

 less. 



Funny, isn't it? It would be, if 

 such occurrences were not so common in 

 a community just emerging from dark- 

 ness. 



The Home-made Pillow. 



Last autumn I had a shipment to make 

 by train. At the depot I noticed a dark 

 veil and other evidences of a funeral. 

 In the hands of one of the mourners was 

 something that, on a second look, proved 

 to be a home-made pillow. Sixteen 

 inches had been sawed off a 1-foot 

 board and covered with white cotton flan- 

 nel, raised from the board with some 

 sort of stufling. The word "Mother" 

 was daubed across the center in ink and 

 on this "pillow" five asters were pinned, 

 one on each corner, and one for the mid- 

 dle. I passed tlie mourners with as sad 

 a countenance as possible and with great 

 deference, but I did not see anything 

 in next week 's Review ,about there hav- 

 ing been a disturbance of the general 

 cut fiower markets on account of this 

 event. 



Eeally, there's nothing funny about it. 

 When you come to think of it, it almost 

 would bring tears to a hardened florist's 

 eyes. Not that opportunity for business 

 is so poor, but that sentiment is just 

 beginning to creep into these people's 

 lives. 



Orchid Tables Decorated by Alex. McConnellt New York. 



penditure of about $3.75, and it was 

 hard work to get the bride's mother 

 above the two-dollar mark. 



Christmas week our attractive display 

 brought in a party looking for flowers 

 for one of these weddings. We tried to 

 get $5 to $8, though the family might 

 well have used $25 for flowers for the 

 occasion. The groom scouted the idea 

 and the extravagance we proposed. We 

 showed him what was customary in other 



C The Second Generation. 



A farmer died in mid-May. Corn, 

 cattle and hog grower, he left about 

 $160,000. It was all money in this home. 

 Interest was in steers and steer fatten- 

 ing. Every dollar was honestly made, by 

 the sweat and blood of the family. Econ- 

 omy was the watchword; the next dollar 

 the anxiety of the whole family. But 

 the children finally got into the town 



high school part of the year, and it made 

 them restless to see beyond their ma- 

 terial home surroundings. 



When the farmer went, the children 

 brought the widow to me. She would 

 buy flowers. They had never seen a 

 cut flower in their home, but they gave 

 me leave to use my judgment, I put 

 in $25 worth of cut flowers at the house 

 and in casket work, with about $15 in 

 the church decoration. It took the 

 breath of the community, and set the 

 tongues of the township wagging over 

 such extravagance. But we could see 

 that secretly the widow and her chil- 

 dren enjoyed the situation; their whole 

 tastes were changed by those flowers. 

 While they had been an honor and lov- 

 ing tribute to the dead, they marked the 

 awakening of a new life for the woman 

 and her children. Now they have left 

 the hog lot and moved into a city home, 

 where there are flowers continually. 



One of the worst characters of our town 

 came in one day, and, just a little shame- 

 facedly, bought a rich red rose — one 

 flower. A few days later he was back 

 for another, and I learned his mother 

 was sick. A little while after he bought 

 a potted Easter lily and later an azalea 

 in bloom. 



Future of the Business. 



These are not the ' ' Trials of a Coun- 

 try Florist," but they are some of his 

 ' * experiences. ' ' 



There is no question about the future 

 of the cut flower business. It is bound 

 to grow. Nobody^ needs to cut another 

 out of his trade, or try to. Ours is a 

 product that appeals eventually to all 

 natures. Our trade is most easily ex- ^^^ 

 tended when the best is made to take the 

 place of something not so good. 



L hold that the work of the florist is 

 not! only aesthetic, but moral. But the 

 work is most effectively done without 

 ^^eachment, and with tact. More flow- 

 ers are needed in all human lives, .and 

 they represent a wonderful moral power 

 that, once awakened, brings pleasure and 

 profit to the florist. The very people who 

 ought to use flowers, use few, if any. 

 Here is where the wider extension of 

 the flower trade is possible, and work for 

 this will not interfere with anybody's 

 established trade. 



The florist who started these "Trials 

 of a Country Florist" complained that 

 after advertising carnations at a nickel 

 apiece, he only sold sixty on a special 

 sale. Let him try advertising to show 

 the men of his community that by cut- 

 ting out a cigar or a drink a day they 

 can take home a dozen carnations Sat- 

 urday night. To make flowers take the 

 place of harmful luxuries is the duty 

 and should be the aim of every florist. 



W. M. B. 



ORCHID TABLES BY McCONNELL. 



The social affairs of Miss Marjorie 

 Gould have given the New York retail 

 florists some of the best orders that have 

 dothe out in the metropolis since Miss 

 Gtould's debut. Alexander McConneU 

 has had the large share of this work and 

 for the various Gould functions haa done 

 some of the finest decorating New York 

 ever has seen. One of the most elaborate 

 the season's decorations was that of the 

 Gould residence, on Fifth avenue, for the 

 reception January 18, at which Miss 

 Gould's engagement was announced. 

 There were twenty-five refreshment ta- 

 bles, each decorated with orchids. The 

 accompanying illustration is a reproduc- 

 tion of a photograph of one corner of the 

 room. 



