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September 21, 1011. 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



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I THE RETAIL 



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JLORIST...... 



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TAO! WHO'S IT? 



Individuality and Character. 



Buyers of flowers, candy, jewelry 

 and, in fact, of all the so-called luxu- 

 ries, demand and get an attractive con- 

 tainer for the goods, neatly wrapped 

 and tagged. Just as a jeweler can not 

 deliver a diamond ring wrapped in a 

 piece of tissue, or a candy man put his 

 80- cent bon bons in a paper bag, so 

 the florist who is aiming for the top 

 rungs of the ladder can not neglect his 

 put-up on the plea that the customer 

 wants the flowers alone and doesn't 

 care about the looks of the package. 

 The majority of flowers are sent either 

 as presents or in payment of respects, 

 and go to a person other than the one 

 placing the order. A gentleman order- 

 ing roses to be sent to a lady naturally 

 desires them to make an impression, 

 and he knows the tag, the box and the 

 dressing up of the package make for 

 a greater appreciation of the flowers 

 within. The average purchaser of 

 flowers demands the dainty accessories 

 which go to improve the package and 

 is willing to have the cost included in 

 the price. 



Before even tho question of boxes 

 and inside wrappings comes the ques- 

 tion of a tag which will be in keeping 

 with the flowers. The tag goes on 

 every plant, package and box. It is 

 always first noticed when the goods 

 are delivered, because one of the initial 

 questions is, "Where did they come 

 from!" If the tag is a cheap manila 

 stock, poorly printed and cut, the im- 

 pression gained from it must be similar 

 to that left by a personal visiting card 

 of the cheaper class. 



Checkmating the Copyist. 



Discerning florists who want to spend 

 the money used in dressing up the 

 package where it will do the most good, 

 have long since adopted the high grade 

 tag. Some of them, in the endeavor 

 to get and retain something distinctive, 

 are having tags made from registered 

 designs. They reason that inasmuch 

 as the name is a guarantee of quality, 

 it should be attractively printed and 

 made as hard to imitate as possible. 

 In a New Jersey town not long ago 

 the best florist was using a white tag 

 printed in script and old English in two 

 colors, red and green. A hustling com- 

 petitor dropped in, opened a store a 

 block away on the same street and 

 copied the older florist's tag exactly as 

 far as inks, arrangement and wording 

 were concerned, only making sure that 

 the name and address were changed. 

 The first man on the ground naturally 

 was nettled and resolved that he would 

 get a distinctive tag that could not be 

 copied. He began by photographing 

 his store front and placing a halftone 

 cut of it on the tag. Around the cut 

 was a trellis design in roses which 

 eventually became a border for the 



tag. His name and address were also 

 printed from cuts, and when the tag 

 was turned out he sent a copy down 

 to Washington and had the design 

 registered. Customers quickly noticed 

 the change and complimented him both 

 on his new tag and on the effective 

 way in which he had squelched his 

 imitator without any litigation. 



. Many Variations Possible. 



Distinctive florist tags are made in 

 countless varieties. The violet, rose, 

 orchid or gardenia may be effectively 

 made use of in the design, and if an 

 especially attractive tag is desired, 

 both name and flowers may be em- 

 Bossed. Many florists use a crest or 

 halftone of their store front on one 

 corner of the tag. For a florist who 

 desires simplicity, the neatest tag is 

 one printed in gold bronze ink on white 

 stock and embossed. 



The stock used in all of the better 



looks of the package and impresses the 

 customer. 



THE AGORAVATINQ FLOEIST. 



"Did you get the flowers for the 

 window boxes!" asks the fond wife. 



The obliging husband waits until he 

 has hung up his hat and then answers: 



"No." 



"But I thought you were going right 

 to the florist this morning, to order 

 them." 



"I was, and I did, but I didn't or- 

 der them. I went in there. It was a 

 regular florist's shop — pots of flowers 

 all around, and cut flowers in an ice- 

 box, and a young lady cashier with a 

 violent pompadour on the back of her 

 head and not enough powder on her 

 nose, and one of these splattery-looking 

 new-fangled shirt waists. Yes, I went 

 in. And a low-browed man with a 

 hay-colored mustache came to wait on 

 me, and I told him I wanted to pick 

 out some stuff for some window boxes. 

 All right. He took me around, and 

 pretty soon I saw what it was. He 

 said it was ornothorhynchus pasteuritis, 

 as near as I can remember. Next thing 

 I picked out he called taxidermatous 

 policlinic. Then I pointed at some 

 kind of a fern, and he said the bi- 

 sulphidous mulligatawney was a fine 

 box plant. Also he especially recom- 

 mended a vine he called Popocatepetl 

 ipecacuanha and a shrub that he de- 

 clared was bifloratamus zoUocoffer 



Distinctive Tags Give the Package an Individuality. 



tags is treated so that water does not 

 stain it. This means that unless act- 

 ually soiled, all the tags leaving the 

 shop will go out white and clean, even 

 though the flowers have been sprayed 

 after the tag is attached. 



With the busy autumn season near, 

 the time when the florist counts on 

 adding to his prestige, the adoption of 

 a tag showing individuality helps the 



dolcefarniente. From then on he had 

 my goat. I thought I was to give 

 an order to a florist, and I found I was 

 up against a university professor, evi- 

 dently. Why, I'll have to brush up on 

 the dead languages and tour Europe a 

 few times before I can order plants. 

 What was I to say when he rolled his 

 eyes and asked me if I didn't consider 

 something a fine specimen of multiform- 



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