Oecbhbeb 12, 1912. 



The Florists^ Review 



29 



NOVELTIES IN QBEENS. 



Brisk Sellers in Good Stores. 



Every retail flower store of course 

 does a large business at Christmas in 

 the various holiday greens, but the com- 

 petition of the grocer and the butcher 

 has cut down the profit on the sale of 

 the cheaper forms of Christmas decora- 

 tions. Single-faced holly wreaths and 

 ^ound pine roping no longer. have the 

 value they once had in first-class flower 

 stores. Of course, the florist still sells 

 these articles, and by handling a bet- 

 ter grade than is handled by the corner 

 grocer he does business with a class of 

 people who will pay fair prices. Conse- 

 <juently, the ordinary Christmas greens 

 are not to be neglected, but in the 

 stores that cater to the better class of 

 trade the need of novelty has developed 

 some new ideas in the sale of Christ- 

 mas greens. Some of these novelties 

 are illustrated on this and the sueiQeed- 

 ing pages of this issue. Not all of 

 them will at first sight appear as of 

 large importance, but in the stores 

 where these were shown last year an 

 excellent business was done with them 

 and at profits much better than the 

 profits to be made on the staples in 

 Christmas greens. 



The Wall Decoration. 



An enterprising decorator took a 

 sturdy bough of hemlock as a base and 

 on it built a flat bunch after the fash- 

 ion of the ordinary funeral spray, using 

 some smaller pieces of hemlock, the well 

 known Christmas red berries, some 

 holly branches and some mistletoe. The 

 bunch was wired firmly, so that it could 

 be hung on the wall without danger of 

 •coming to pieces, and a big bow of wide 

 Christmas red ribbon was tied at the 

 point at which it is attached to bunches 

 •of flowers. The illustration showing 

 the use of this wall decoration does 

 the subject inadequate justice because 

 the colors are not possible of re- 

 production. But these proved good 

 sellers, and those whose taste would 

 prompt them to buy were people of 

 sufficient means so that the florist was 

 able to get a much better profit than 

 could be had on a simple holly wreath. 



Basket of Berries and Cones. 



The illustration on page 30 shows an 

 Italian straw basket in the Christmas 

 color. All that was needed to make it 

 salable was filling with pine cones, any 

 kind of evergreens in short branches, 

 with a liberal addition of the red 

 Christmas berries. Some retailers who 

 used the idea last Christmas were able 



to secure the cones from some local 

 source of woods supply, but others used 

 the stock offered by the florists' supply 

 houses and were able to devise a large 

 number of variations on the filling of 

 the baskets, so that no two sent out 

 were exactly alike. The idea is not one 

 that can be used for general trade, but 

 where people are looking for something 

 different — and there is an undoubted 

 monotony in the ordinary run of Christ- 

 mas decorations — these Christmas bas- 



Wall Decoration of Christmas Greens. 



kets were found good sellers. A variety 

 of uses suggested themselves to buyers 

 po'ssessed of the artistic temperament. 



Baby Christmas Trees. 



In recent years the baby Christmas 

 trees have enjoyed an excellent popu- 

 larity. The provision stores sell them 

 for a few nickels each, but the florist 



who trims them up effectively can 

 charge dollars. The illustration on page 

 31 shows one of these little trees which 

 was mounted on the ordinary plateau 

 used for table centerpieces of cut flow- 

 ers. The butt of ihe tree was flrst in- 

 serted in the usual block of wood, which 

 was set on the plateau. Then it 

 was covered with moss, which wa» 

 wired on just as though cut flowers 

 were to have been used. Then around 

 the base of the tree the moss was stuck 

 full of short holly branches and short~ 

 sprays of the Christmas red berries. 

 The addition of some Christmas red rib- 

 bon in the top of the tree completed 

 the work. This made an ideal table 

 centerpiece and the price obtained was 

 ample compensation for the work in- 

 volved. 



A variation on this arrangement was 

 to mount the Christmas tree in one of 

 the low Japanese baskets, and anyone 

 who starts out to devise means of vary- 

 ing the stock will find it possible to 

 prepare a considerable number of pleas- 

 ing styles. Only don't have too many 

 on view at once. People who are will- 

 ing to pay for such novelties do not 

 like the idea that everyone in town is 

 going to buy something similar. A 

 novelty is all the better for carrying 

 with it the idea that it is exclusive. 



Table Noyelties. 



The illustration on page 31 shows 

 three simple ways of offering Christ- 

 mas greens in attractive and novel 

 form and making them the means of 

 selling the receptacles. At the left in 

 the illustration is one of the braided 

 baskets of the style of the schoolgirl's 

 handbag. It is filled with hemlock, red 

 berries and mistletoe, but holly or any 

 other greens could be used to as good 

 effect. In the center is one of the sim- 

 ple china cut flower receptacles fllled 

 with Mexican ivy and short, heavily 

 fruited sprays of the Christmas red ber- 

 ries. The basket at the right proved a 

 particularly good seller. The basket is 

 square at the bottom and round at the 

 top and contains a pan which was 

 mossed. It was filled with short pieces 

 of hemlock, Christmas red berries and 

 mistletoe, with a rosette of Christmas 

 red ribbon on the handle. The basket 

 itself was white, with a decoration con- 

 sisting of a garland of red flowers. 

 Discriminating flower buyers find these 

 excellent Christmas table ornaments. 



Quality in Christmas Oreens. 



It is possible for the florist to buy 

 holly wreaths at prices which will per- 

 mit him to compete with the cheapest 

 seller in his neighborhood, but the 



^' 



