16 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



May 23, 1912. 



vertise his business as it is for the drug- 

 gist and the dry goods merchant, be- 

 cause good advertising is an acknowl- 

 edged builder of public confidence, 

 which is an absolute essential to great 

 and lasting business success; that news- 

 paper advertising is the best form for 

 the retail florist, as it keeps him in con- 

 stant touch with the flower buying 

 public; that honesty is the only adver- 



tising policy worthy of consideration; 

 that the most successful advertisements 

 are not overwritten and overdisplayed; 

 that all advertisements should be illus- 

 trated, preferably with cuts made from 

 line drawings; that the beat time to 

 advertise is when you want more busi- 

 ness, which means — Well, I'll leave that 

 for you to finish. 



H. Kaymond Campbell. 



I 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



ditional recommendation. "It is an ex- 

 cellent advertising medium and it is 

 always on the job making deliveries 

 and adding new customers at the same 

 time," they say. The car has an es- 

 pecially showy body, as will be seen 

 from the accompanying illustration. 



THE SPRAY. 



Next to the wreath, the spray is the 

 most popular form of Memorial day 

 floral arrangement, and it may also be 

 classed as probably the most popular of 

 all for funeral purposes. The set piece 

 has had its day in the better class of 

 flower stores; people of discriminating 

 taste are asking more and more for 

 funeral flowers in which natural ar- 

 rangement is followed; they do not 

 want the flower heads picked off, wired 

 and stuck in a bed of moss, no matter 

 how well the work may be done. The 

 illustration on page 15, of a spray of 

 roses, is an excellent example of this 

 popular form of arrangement. There 

 is nothing stiff or formal about it and 

 it may well be taken as a model by 

 those not already proficient in spray 

 making. 



BUSCUS THE SED. 



One of the leading florists' supply 

 houses reports as a sign of the times 

 that practically every order taken by 

 its travelers calls for a quantity of 

 ruBcus for autumn delivery, while many 

 mail orders also call for this Christmas 

 specialty. The fact seems to be that 

 ruscus was the big seller last Christmas 

 and many of the large retail stores ran 

 short. It is these that are now seeking 

 to protect themselves against another 

 shortage next Christmas. There was a 

 tremendous call for ruscus in December 

 last year. It developed that some of 

 the ruscus, when it arrived, was not of 

 the right color; it was pink rather than 

 red, and those who received this class 

 of stock were much put to it to find a 

 supply of the right article. Also there 

 was a greasy looking ruscus that failed 

 to fill the bill. What the trade wanted 

 was a good bright red and the supply 

 was a long way short of the demand. 

 Just before .Christmas the real articTb 

 was selling for $1 per pound, and as 

 much as $2 per pound was obtained for 

 small lots, when the off-colored stock 

 was going begging. Apparently the big 

 buyers feel sure that ruscus will again 

 be the big seller next Christmas, for 

 they are buying in much larger lots 

 than last season. 



A STEAMEB IN FLOWEBS. 



Every retail florist has frequent or- 

 ders for the reproduction of all sorts of 

 unusual objects in flowers, the designs 

 to be used for funerals. Ordinarily 

 these freak designs are reproductions of 



some article with which the name of the 

 deceased was associated. This was the 

 case with a recent order which came 

 to the Blind Floral Co., Pittsburgh. The 

 florists were required to make a model 

 in flowers of a river steamboat, the 

 John Moren, for the funeral of its cap- 

 tain. The picture shows the result. 

 These freak designs never can class as 

 art in flowers; they 'belong strictly on 

 the commercial side of the business. 

 But it nevertheless is the fact that one 

 such design at a funeral, if fairly well 

 e'xecuted, will attract more attention 

 than a whole roomful of really artistic 

 floral arrangements. 



A PACIFIC COAST CAB. 



Among the retail florists who have 

 found the autonvobile a valuable asset 

 and a means of ''(Juick delivery service 

 is the Martin & Forbes Co., of Port- 

 land, Ore., which is more than pleased 

 with the advertising qualities and 

 speed of the Buick car that has been 

 in service for some time. The Rose 

 City company is satisfied that it has 

 extended the radius within which busi- 

 ness can be handled conveniently, while 

 the Martin & Forbes Co. figures that 

 the publicity the car affords is an ad- 



QUDE'S PLANTS. V n» 



The accompanying illustration is of 

 interest as showing how Gude Bros. 

 Co., Washington, D. C, handled its 

 Easter plants. The weather was so mild 

 that stock could be taken outdoors -v^ith- 

 out wrapping. An auto truck of 8,000 

 pounds capacity was used in the haul- 

 ing. The showing made by the truck- 

 load of plants constituted a splendid 

 advertisement. 



WHY TAKE CHANCES? 



In comparing the experience of The 

 Review with what is reported by 

 wholesalers of cut flowers, florists' 

 supplies, and plants, one fact stands 

 out conspicuously — the trade puts 

 things off too long. 



It is the regular thing for The Re- 

 view to receive on Thursday morning, 

 after the paper is off the press, a num- 

 ber of advertising orders intended' for 

 the edition then in the mails. Espe- 

 cially when a Special Number is 

 issued, the next day's mail always 

 brings instructions, sometimes of con- 

 siderable importance, from advertisers 

 who have acted too late. Take last 

 week's Memorial day issue, for in- 

 stance: Every advertiser was mailed 

 a letter May 6 calling his attention 

 that 5 P. M. Tuesday, May 14, was 

 the last moment at which advertise- 

 ments or changes of advertisempnts 

 could be received. The same n(^tice 

 appears in each issue of the paper. 

 Nevertheless several changes in, in- 

 structions arrived in Thursday mjorn- 

 ing 's mail, some of them postmarked, 

 a thousand miles away, later than 5 

 p. m. Tuesday — in one case the letter 

 was dated Monday but not postmarked 

 until 6:30 p. m. Tuesday. 



It is the same way with the whole- 

 saler. He gets an order in the morping 

 for flowers that were wanted shipped 

 the evening before. Nothing is jsaid 



Buick Car Operated by Martin & Forbes Co., Portland, Ore. 



