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Aphiju 11, 1912. 



The Weekly Florists' Rcvkw* 



9 



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FLORIST 



» THE RETAIL 



NOVELTIES. 



The Purpose They Serve. 



A novelty — Honiething new. But the 

 term has been so long used to describe 

 articles a little out of the common that 

 novelties may mean some old plant or 

 flower that has not been seen for a long 

 time, or a new way of arranging or 

 showing some commoi^;f*pecies. These 

 have been so long knoVn in the trade 

 as novelties that the meaning of the 

 term is quite understood. 



The shrewd business man in any line 

 knows that in order to maintain the 

 interest of his best patrons, something 

 out of the ordinary must continually 

 be thought out and displayed. These 

 things are not always artistic or in the 

 best of taste, but they serve the pur- 

 pose of transferring cash from the 

 pockets or bank accounts of the wealthy 

 to those of the retail florists. An in- 

 stance of this was the craze a year or 

 two ago for violet and other boxes 

 made up to imitate millinery. These 

 were a real success financially, but no 

 one could say that they were either 

 artistic or useful. 



Artistic Receptacles. 



This, however, cannot oe urged 

 against some of the pretty ware and 

 other things now handled by up-to-date 

 retailers. Some of the designs for table 

 decorations are so choice and good that, 

 long after the flowers or plants used 

 have decayed, the china or other ware 

 in which they were displayed is cher- 

 ished by the fortunate owners. Quite 

 recently a lady customer . brought a 

 fern dish of pure white china, of a lat- 

 tice pattern, into a store and insisted 

 on waiting while it was filled, as it had 

 been presented to her by a friend, and 

 she thought so much of it that it could 



not be entrusted to a servant or even 

 left at the store. 



It is this attraction to beautiful ob- 

 jects of art that enables a florist to lay 

 in a stock costing sometimes thousands 

 of dollars without any fear, for he 

 knows that his best customers will ap- 

 preciate his efforts in this direction. A 

 skillful arrangement of flowers or 

 ferns, in choice pieces of ware, stood 

 on or near the customers' desk in the 

 store, often leads to sales by silent 

 suggestion. The customer thinks of a 

 place in his or her home that would be 

 beautified by just such an arrange- 

 ment, and often purchases it without 

 any pushing by the salesman. 



Opportunities for Originality. 



Then there are pretty and more or 

 less useful things, not of a costly 

 nature, but attractive. During the visit 

 of a famous singer to a southern city, 

 one retailer either copied or conceived 

 the idea of lily of the valley fans. 

 These were shown in the window, with 

 the name of the singer and dates of 

 the concerts prominently displayed. 

 Quite a number were sold, as the nov- 

 elty of the thing appealed to many 

 people. In every city there are fre- 

 quent happenings of a public character 

 — inaugurations, receptions to public 

 men, race or aviation meetings or even 

 the ubiquitous ball game. Most of 

 these give the wide-awake florist a 

 chance to display originalitj' in ideas, 

 which, if not always immediately profit- 

 able, at least make the store talked 

 about and constitute the best kind of 

 advertising. 



Novelty, in short, is spice to trade, 

 and the retailer who can use his gray 

 matter and introduce something of a 

 novel nature on all possible occasions 

 will, in almost every instance, score 

 over the man without ideas who trails 

 along at the end of the procession. 



A GOOD CASKET COVES. 



The illustration herewith shows a 

 handsome casket cover carried out in 

 white and pink roses, orchids, Easter 

 lilies and valley by the Hayward Floral 

 Co., of Los Angeles, Cal. Bert Bate- 

 man, the talented designer for this pro- 

 gressive firm, is responsible for this fine 

 piece of work, which was much admired 

 by all who saw it. While the photo- 

 graph hardly did justice to it, yet 

 enough is shown to indicate the high 

 class of artistic work. 



EASTEB XOTES. 



Ideal spring weather almost every- 

 where brought out the biggest crowds 

 on record — but practically all of the 

 Piaster business was done in three days. 



Cut flowers are coming back toward 

 the center of the stage now that the 

 prices stand somewhere near normal. 

 Perhaps in another year or two the 

 retailers will devote their energies 

 equally to pushing plants and cut 

 flowers. 



Some of the best stores in the middle 

 west decline to handle violets at Easter 

 even when it is as early as this year,, 

 or recommend that sweet peas be taken 

 instead. 



Not so many azaleas this year, and 

 not such big ones, but more and better 

 roses. 



Prices were lower than usual, at re- 

 tail, in many of the stores that cater 

 to the wealthy trade. Plants were sold 

 cheaper. With prices for cut flowers 

 being cut in the daily newspaper ad- 

 vertising of the last few weeks, the 

 old-time prices for plants looked a little 

 too steep. 



E. Wienhoeber, Chicago, says La 

 Lorraine, pink, and Avalanche, white, 

 will put the Otaksa hydrangea out of 

 business as a pot plant for retail store 

 sales. 



The Mrs. Cutbush rose is no good aa 

 an Easter pot plant. 



Fashion's florists used satin taff"eta 

 ribbons this season. 



A retailer was heard to tell a cus- 

 tomer that Rhea Reid roses, cut, open 

 poorly, and a moment later to commend 

 Mrs. Ward for the way it develops in 

 water. 



Of the Easter pot plants none were 

 finer than the Hiawatha roses, but 



Catket G>ver of Roses, Valley and Lilies by Hayward Floral G>^ Los Angeles. 



