May 5, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



I THE RETAIL 



FLORIST... 



I 



I 



DON'T KILL THE GOOSE 



That Lays the Golden Egg. 



Mothers' day has taken hold as never 

 before. 



Bapid as was the development of the 

 interest in preceding years, the broad- 

 ening of the general observance this sea- 

 son promises to far eclipse what has gone 

 before. The governors of a dozen states 

 have issued proclamations, mayors innum- 

 erable have done the same, churches, socie- 

 ties and individuals all over the country 

 have taken it up and Mothers' day seems 

 already firmly established as a national 

 institution. 



It is confronted ^y just one grave 

 danger. 



In too many instances emphasis has 

 been put upon the designation of the 

 white carnation as the flower of the day. 



"We must get away from that. 



It is a manifest impossibility to supply 

 white carnations for everyone any one 

 day in the year. 



"We have just taken a census. It will 

 show this country has 90,000,000 people. 

 Suppose one in five wants white carna- 

 tions May 8, just one flower to a person. 

 That would be 18,000,000 white carna- 

 tions. 



"Where are they to come from? 



They simply can't be had. 



Naturally, the extra demand for white 

 causes a sharp advance in price. A few 

 days before Mothers' day it looked as 

 though the price of white carnations 

 would be limited only by what the buyers 

 will pay. 



That isn't riglit. 



To make the day the big thing that is 

 possible, prices must be kept reasonable. 

 There must be no extortion from the 

 public. 



Up to the Retailers. 



This part of the proposition is up to 

 the retailers. 



The retailers must turn th^ demand to 

 other flowers than white. 



The commission man is helpless. He is 

 always between the devil and the deep 

 sea. Growers are not sentimental. They 

 insist on getting all the money the stock 

 will bring. If a wholesaler sells his stock 

 below what other wholesalers get, he 

 promptly loses his growers. Concerted 

 action to keep prices down is impossible; 

 competition is too keen. 



The only course is for the retailers to 



turn the demand into general channels: 



A white flower for mother's memory. 

 A bright flower for mothers living. 



It isn't easy to turn the tide of popu- 

 lar demand, but since you can't sell every- 

 one white carnations, there not being 

 white carnations enough to go around, 

 you have got to sell them something else. 



* * A bright flower for mothers living. ' ' 

 Have several large cards painted, for 

 your window and store, and do your part 

 to make possible a flower day that will 

 rank with Christmas, Easter and Memo- 

 rial day. 



A LAUREL WREATH. 



The accompanying illustration shows a 

 characteristic laurel wreath as made by 

 Philip L. Carbone, Boston. The emblem 

 of victory usually is made other side up 

 — to lie, or recline, with the bunch of 

 flowers at the base, but Mr. Carbone 's 



to wear on their heads. Cypripediums 

 are the only flowers used in the cluster 

 at the top of the wreath illustrated, the 

 green being fronds of Boston fern, 

 Sprengeri and plumosus. 



BRIDES' BOUQUET PICTURES. 



Florists, unless perhaps it is the lady 

 florists, are not included in large num- 

 bers among the readers of that estimable 

 publication, the Ladies' Home Journal, 

 but not a few of its million copies of the 

 j\Iay edition have found their way into 

 the hands of the retailers because of the 

 full page given to illustrations of brides ' 

 bouquets. The inscription is "Photo- 

 graphs by R. Irving Gresham, " and if 

 truth be said, a good many florists who 

 admired the bouquets took it for granted 



Wreath of Laurel and Cypripediums. 



idea is to show off the wreath to better 

 advantage by hanging it on a standard, 

 like those the millinery stores use to dis- 

 play the flower gardens it pleases women 



that Mr. Gresham was the man who 

 pushed the button, instead of the one 

 who built the bunches. He is, in fact, 

 manager of the C. A. Dahl Cor, Atlanta, 



