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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



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RETAII^BS' OABDS. 



The directory of retail florists which 

 has for years been a feature of each 

 issue of The Review has grown to oc- 

 cupy six pages. The exchange of orders 

 between retailers in widely separated 

 cities has grown to be an important 

 part of the business. It largely has 

 been made possible by the department 

 in The Review, for the cards of Lead- 

 ing Retail Florists, and it is a branch 

 of the business that is so easily handled 

 and so great a convenience to the pub- 

 lic, that it will keep on growing faster 

 and faster as more and more flower 

 buyers find out how speedily and satis- 

 factorily orders for distant delivery can 

 be handled by the retail florists. Those 

 who are not taking advantage of this 

 department of The Review, either as a 

 means of securing or filling orders, are 

 missing something. See pages 34 to 39. 



SOCIETY EMBLEMS IK FLOWEBS. 



The Unfailing Demand for Them. 



Almost every society — perhaps it is 

 safe to say every society or organiza- 

 tion, whether of a social, fraternal or 

 business character — shows its sorrow at 

 the death of a member by sending a 

 floral token to the home of the deceased. 

 It is the best way in which the society, 

 as a whole, can convey its sympathy. 



Just think what this means. Not 

 every man belongs to a society or club, 

 but nine out of every ten do, and some 

 men belong to half a dozen. "Wbmen 

 also have their clubs and societies. Ac- 

 cordingly, nearly every time a man dies, 

 some florist receives an order for a 

 funeral piece, to be presented by the 

 departed one's fellow club members. 

 The average sum allotted is $5, but 

 often $10 or more is spent. Some 

 societies have adopted a certain style 



of spray, wreath or set piece for such 

 occasions, arrangements not in any way 

 associated with the organization, but 

 more of them send always a reproduc- 

 tion of the society emblem in flowers. 



Who Gets the Orders? 



It would not be right to say that the 

 orders for these pieces are invariably 

 given to the florist who does the best 

 work, for this is not always the case. 

 The ordering of funeral flowers is us- 

 ually left to some committee, or in 

 many cases one individual is asked to 

 order the floral token. If the society 

 be one having a florist on its member- 

 ship list, the chances are that he will 

 receive the order, but if, for instance, a 

 member of the Machinists' Union dies, 

 most likely the order for flowers will be 

 given to some florist having friends on 

 the flower committee. 



Nevertheless, even though the merits 

 of your work will not always get the 

 orders, it is exceedingly poor policy to 

 turn out careless work and depend 

 on the influence of your friends for 

 patronage. Remember that the pieces 

 you turn out are seen by many besides 

 those from whom the order was re- 

 ceived. An attractive, well made piece 

 will result in new business, while poor, 

 carelessly made articles will even- 

 tually ruin a business. Many florists 

 place too much reliance on their good 

 location and their influential friends, 

 and as a consequence they find their 

 business diminishing, while expenses are 

 going on just the same. 



What Constitutes Good Work? 



Here the question naturally arises: 

 What constitutes good work? Speaking 

 from an artistic point of view, many 

 would say that society emblems, labor 

 union buttons, etc., when executed in 

 flowers, are not and never can be artis- 

 tic. To me, personally, this view seems 



entirely wrong. Have not many of our 

 society emblems been originally de- 

 signed by some of the country's best 

 jewelers? Why, then, are they not 

 artistic when correctly reproduced in 

 flowers? Ah I There is the point! 

 "CorrecWy reproduced." There are, 

 of course, many minute details in some 

 emblems which cannot be carried out 

 in a floral design; still, by adhfring as 

 closely as possiDle to the shape, color 

 and style of lettering, some excellent 

 results may be obtained. 



The Square and Compass. 



Take, for example, the Masonic 

 square and compass. It would be im- 

 practicable, if not impossible, to mark 

 off the inches on the square, but why 

 not run the points of the compass to a 

 sharp point and use different colors for 

 the background, so that there will be 

 some distinction between the square 

 and the compass! Why not also show 

 both points of the compass above the 

 square, as in the real emblem? In the 

 ordinary $5 design it would be better 

 to have the wire man make the letter G 

 from a singe piece of wire and then 

 wind it with chenille. 



Many florists discourage the making 

 of society emblems. Perhaps they do 

 so because the profits on a $5 galax 

 wreath are (sometimes) larger, or be- 

 cause the wreaths or sprays are more 

 easily and quickly made. Whatever the 

 reason, those florists are injuring their 

 own business. 



Desirability of Such Work. 



If among a number of sprays, wreaths 

 and various other designs placed about 

 a bier you see three links worked out in 

 flowers, does it not immediately flash 

 through your mind that the departed 

 belonged to the Independent Order of 

 Odd Fellows? When a friend of yours 

 passes away, you send some flowers 

 with your card attached. The emblem 

 of a society, club or other organization 

 is its card, and when in the form of a 

 floral design, placed on a grave, it 

 speaks for itself. So do not discourage 

 these designs. They appeal to the peo- 

 ple, are perfectly proper and will al- 

 ways be used, and if one florist turns 

 such work away some competitor will 

 receive the order. 



There is also another viewpoint. 

 Many times, when you have on hand a 

 lot of short stemmed stock, an order for 



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The Tfaree Links of the Odd Fellows, Middle Link Pink Carnations, End Links White Roses. 



