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APRir> 29, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



I THE RETAIL 



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FLORIST, 





THE AIRSHIP. 



>;ot so long ago it used to be said 

 thill this is the stean;! age, and then it 

 was the electric age, or the gasoline age, 

 but times have progressed rapidly of 

 late and now comes the age of air-ships. 

 Automobiles are behind the times in New 

 York; to be up-to-date there the deco- 

 rator must go one better, and the ac- 

 companying illustration shows how M. A. 

 Bowe employed au airship for a recent 

 dinner. Most of the supply houses now 

 hanille "airships" for this purpose. 

 They are to be filled with flowers and 

 suspended above the table. Mr. Bowe 

 used Farleyense fern and American 

 Beauty roses, with American Beauty rib- 

 bon. The propeller and rudder of the 

 airship also were made by the decorator 

 of ribbon bows. 



MOTHERS' DAY. 



It's Important to Florists. 



To honor the best mother who ever 

 Uved — your own. That is the purpose 

 of Mothers' day, and its emblem is the 

 emblem of purity, a white flower. 



f]very florist is interested in Mothers' 

 day, not only because we each of us had, 

 or have, ' ' the best mother who ever 

 lived," but also for the reason that most 

 of us have some Avhite flowers that will 

 wear well on the second Sunday of May. 

 The white carnation is the Mothers' day 

 emblem par excellence, and if we haven 't 

 the carnations ourselves, most of us know 

 u wholesale man who will send us sonic, 

 or at least white roses. 



It is fortunate that Mothers' day calls 

 for no special flower. The emblem of 

 McKinley day was the pink carnation ; 

 if it had been just the carnation — any 

 color — the observance of the day might 

 liy now amount to something. As it was, 

 it was killed the first year or two by the 

 scarcity of pink carnations. But Moth- 

 ers' day calls for just a white flower — 

 carnation or rose — and doubtless li|.rht 

 pink will do at a pinch, so that lets 

 Kncliantress in. 



And, furthermore, don't make the 

 mistake of putting Mother and McKinley 

 "' the same class. To most of us Me- 

 Kiiilcy was only a name, while he is 

 indcd a poor specimen of mankind who 

 ''•><s not hold Mother in closest, fondest 

 'egard or tenderest memory. 



Sn jret ready your white flowers and 

 I'tisl. tho day along. The date is May 9. 



Mothers' Day Last Year. 



^' ' many people had heard of Moth- 

 '■'s' !ay in 1908, but where a little pub- 

 licitv ^vas given it the idea "caught 

 ""* ind the florists felt its force. Tor 

 "istai.co, Chapin Bros., Lincoln, Neb., 



" !■ 



"s a sentiment that appeals to 

 "'■' ■ nian and bov, and people bought 

 now,, s who never "bought before. The 

 J""' -is' stores were crowded from early 

 ' -itii day morning until Sunday night. 

 *^''\ tlorist in Ijincoln was cleaned out 



cleaner than it has been done for years. 



"We hope to make it a holiday for 

 the United States. Crowd it and push it; 

 it has Decoration day beat a mile, and 

 comes when flowers are cheap and plenty. 

 Get a swing on your pen ; let the trade 

 know. ' ' 



In a great many other places Mothers' 

 day came as a welcome surprise to flo- 

 rists. Little had been done to exploit it. 

 No one was prepared. 



The result has been much inquiry as 

 to the origin of Mothers' day, the date, 

 and, above all, what is being done to 

 advertise the day this year. Every flo- 

 rist would like to help it along. 



Origin of Mother's Day. 



The origin of Mothers' day seemed 

 shrouded in the mists of antiquity — it is 

 just a year old. The Federation of 

 Women 's Clubs, when appealed to, dis- 

 claimed responsibility, but said, ' ' It 's a 

 fine idea. ' ' Officials of the Congress of 

 Mothers replied, ' ' We have no record of 

 Mothers' day, but the idea is good; we 

 shall call attention to it at our next an- 



letter about it to a Philadelphia news- 

 paper and it was this that caused Moth- 

 ers' day to break out in spots last year, 

 all over the country, at Los Angeles, at 

 Dallas, Brooklyn, Providence and many 

 places in between. 



The mayors of Omaha, Lincoln, Hast- 

 ings and Fremont, in Nebraska, and 

 Council Bluffs, ir Iowa, issued special 

 Mothers ' day proclamations last year and 

 Brand Whitlock, the widely-known mayor 

 of Toledo, O., directed special attention 

 to it. The newspapers everywhere com- 

 mented favorably. The pulpit was in- 

 terested. 



Observance This Year. 



Miss Jarvis suggested the date as the 

 second Sunday in May, and in a circular 

 issued a few weeks ago asks that every 

 person join in doing homage. 



' ' The white carnation is the emblen* 

 of Mothers' day," reads the circular. 

 "Its whiteness stands for purity; its 

 form, beauty; its. fragrance, love; its 

 wide field of growth, charity; its lasting 

 qualities, faithfulness — all a true moth- 

 er's attributes. 



' ' The fitness of the observance of the 

 day appeals to all social, fraternal, civic, 

 military and religious organizations 

 alike; to him who has missed life's 

 crowning joy, the tender ministrations of 

 a mother 's love, no less than to the one 

 who has derived the elements of noble 

 character from the maternal care be- 

 stowed in childhood." 



The tlay this year will have a much 

 wider observance than in 1908, for Gen- 

 eral Henry M. Nevius, commaiider-in- 

 chief of the Grand Army of the Repnb- 



The Airship and Its Flowers. 



nual meeting." Finally, the s?areli for 

 someone to whom the credit could he 

 given led to an individual. Miss Anna 

 Jarvis, 20.31 North Twelfth street. Phila- 

 delphia, who conceived the idea three 

 years ago in the desire to conimenio 

 rate the anniversary of her mother 's 

 death. It was not only the thought of 

 laying some flowers on mother's gr;ue, 

 but it occurred to her that it would lie a 

 beautiful tribute to all mothers, the liv- 

 ing as well as the dead, if their children, 

 on a given day. would unite in the simple 

 wearing of white flowers. She wrote a 



lie, and Edgar Allen, Jr., commander-in- 

 chief of the Sons of Veterans, have is- 

 sued requests to all posts and camps 

 throughout the United States asking that 

 each member of the two orders wear a 

 white flower and properly observe the 

 liay. Other national fraternal organi- 

 zations have done the same. Mothers' 

 day has been set aside as an official state 

 holiday by Governor R. S. Yessey, of 

 South Dakota. 



How Florists Can Help. 



Any florist wishing to help along the 



