14 



The Florists' Review 



Afril 24, 1913. 



to work up the business. Thanks for 

 your 



A white flower for Mother's memory. 

 A bright flower for Mothers living. 



About all we did was to get behind a 



good idea and push. We pushed hard 



the first year and the ball has kept 



rolling ever since. If prices can be 



kept down it will soon show as good a 



profit as any day of the year. — Chapin 



Bros., Lincoln, Neb. 



Doubled the Sales. 



We used attractive ads in three daily 

 papers and you will notice the quotation 

 of your origin: 



A white flower for Mothec's memory. 

 A bright flower for Mothers liTlng. 



Only we made it read a little different- 

 ly, as follows: 



White flowers for Mother in memory dear, 

 Bright flowers for Mother who still is here. 



We think it took well with the public. 



The results were great; had the weather 



been favorable we would have had a 



real Easter rush on, and as it was, in 



spite of two days' rain, we did over 



100 per cent better than for the same 



days last year. We think the increase 



is due to better advertising, including 



the low prices we were able to quote. 



The Review certainly is due a large 



amount of credit for making Mothers' 



day as profitable as it is. — H. W. F. 



Goetz, of J. B. Goetz Sons, Saginaw, 



Mich. 



Sold Everything. 



Acting on the suggestion in The Re- 

 view, we dressed our show window ten 

 days in advance of Mothers' day. In 

 the center was a picture of Mother 



we sold absolutely everything we had 

 in stock; think we could have sold 

 twice as much had we prepared for the 

 demand we had created. — Eugene 

 Woerz, Enid, Okla. 



' Made Them Open Up. 



Mothers' day was the biggest yet; 

 we got out a handbill that embodied 

 the publicity suggestions of The Re- 

 view and got good results. I think the 

 time will soon come when Mothers' 

 day will be as big a day as Memorial 

 day, if not bigger, for the sentiment 

 back of it makes even a tough old sin- 

 ner open up his heart and go down in 

 his pocket. Push the good work along 

 next year; you are doing something 

 worth celebrating. — Chas. B. Simons, 

 Mgr. Hill City Greenhouses, Forest 

 City, la. 



No Crepe at Weddings. 



I took your "bright flowers" idea 

 and put a reading notice in our local 

 papers: "Mothers' Day. Make a dis- 

 tinction. A white flower if mother is 

 dead; bright flowers for mothers living. 

 One does not wear ctepe at a wed- 

 ding." Some thought it a little rough, 

 but there was no name signed to it, 

 so the public did not know who did it. 

 And it certainly made a hit in a busi- 

 ness way. I sold more colored flowers 

 than white and cleaned up on all the 

 carnations I had. — D. H. Zbinden, 

 Greenville, 111. 



A Simple Expedient. 



We worked a simple plan and did a 

 nice business. A circular was neatly 



Mother's Day 



Official Mother's Day Next Sunday 

 May 14, or Second Sunday in May 



THIS most beautiful idea and sentiment origi', 

 noted with Miss Annie Jarvis. of Philadelphia. 

 The happv thought occurred to her that all 

 mothers, whether living or dead, should be honored 

 some day, and the second Sunday in May was set 

 aside as Mother's Day. 



A White Flower for Mother's Memory 

 A Bright Colored Flower for Mothers Living 



'Wt STRIVE TtnXASE 





LRH/I 



TLOIVIL& 



,#^^ 



An Extremely Attractive Mothers* Day Advertisement. 



with a wreath for a frame. At one 

 side wap a card lettered "Wear a 

 flower," etc., as per the ad The Re- 

 view suggested. On the other side was 

 a similar card reading 



A white flower for Mother's memory. 

 A bright flower for Mothers living. 



It attracted a great deal of notice and 



printed: "The founder of Mothers' 

 day in wearing a White Flower in 

 memory of her deceased Mother has 

 unconsciously started a world-wide cus- 

 tom of wearing a flower in honor of a 

 living Mother also. This may be any 

 flower, of any color, leaving the white 

 flower for the memory of a deceased 



Mother." Below this was our firm 

 name and address and the words 

 "Mothers' day this year falls on Sun! 



day, ," the blank being to fill in 



the date. We had a supply printer! to 

 last several years. Any florist can de- 

 vise ways of getting the card into the 

 hands of the people. — W. H. Gulp, Wich- 

 ita, Kan. 



Oot the Churches Started. 



After reading The Review we sug- 

 gested to our pastor a special Mothers' 

 day service. He did not know any- 

 thing about the day, but we gave him 

 the facts as well as we could. He said 

 that if we would decorate the church 

 he would prepare the sermon. He sent 

 a notice to the papers, announcing the 

 special service, and we did our part. 

 The church was packed and we dis- 

 posed of about 400 carnations, impress- 

 ing the idea of 



A white flower for Mother's memory. 

 A bright flower for Mothers llTlng. 



Another year it will grow with leaps 



and bounds, as the five other churches 



are sure to take it up. We value The 



Review not only for this suggestion but 



for the lots of good, solid, profitable 



information we get out of it. — Cleek 



Floral Co., Council Grove, Kan. 



She Is Waking Up. 



Great interest was taken in Mothers' 

 day; in 1912 it was almost equal to 

 Memorial day. There were so many 

 calls I really could not supply all. 1 

 had to take some pink carnations, but 

 I easily sold these to people who have 

 living mothers. I wish we could get 

 all the people to understand that col- 

 ored flowers are for the living and white 

 to be worn for the departed; some in- 

 sist on white anyway. I think next 

 year I will just put a piece in our local 

 paper: "Wear colored flowers for the 

 living and white for departed mothers. " 

 Mary F. Lindsey, Hebron, Neb. 



rLLUSTEATING THE ADS. 



Early in its work of exploiting 

 Mothers' day The Review prepared a 

 simple advertisement that was offered 

 as a suggestion for use in local news- 

 papers anywhere. It is reproduced 

 again in the lower right-hand corner 

 of page 13, as hundreds have written 

 of the good results it brought. As a 

 matter of fact, it has been printed 

 for the last two years in newspapers 

 from Maine to Washington, and from 

 Georgia to California. The advertise- 

 ment is not so good as it would be 

 with the use of an illustration, but any 

 newspaper can set it up on a few niin 

 utes' notice. 



In its use a number of florists have 

 greatly improved on The Review's sug- 

 gestion. Most of them have followed 

 the wording more or less closely, the 

 principal improvement being in the '^is' 

 play; appropriate cuts help immens' l.v- 

 What "rhe Review considers the Vest 

 Mothers' day advertisement yet put'' 

 lished was that of the Alpha Floral 

 Co., Kansas City, shown on this pai^f^- 

 It embodies The Review's suggestion 

 with a particularly attractive illustra 

 tion. The only possible betterment 

 would be the inclusion of a specific 

 offer of stock appropriate to the occa- 

 sion, quoting prices. General publicity 

 advertisements are good, but more <!•■ 

 rect returns come from advertising that 

 includes a direct offer. 



In the larger cities the newspapers 

 will draw suitable illustrations for a<^' 



