is valuable only for the lessons it teaches. Its 



History records must mark either progression or retro- 

 ^ gression. There can be no standing still. Espe- 

 cially is this true in the Seed, Bulb and Plant trade where a successful 

 continuance is dependent wholly upon intelligent and persistent efforts 

 toward betterment of sorts by selection and toward improvement in 

 methods of cultivation and distribution. 



In presenting, then, this brief history of seventy years' success- 

 ful achievement, the house of Henry A. Dreer, Inc., seeks not only 

 to give an interesting record of events but to impress upon its patrons 

 the adherence to high aims and purposes which has made possible its 

 present eminence in the trade. 



For a business house to live through 70 years is something. In 

 all the hundreds of business houses which to-day line Chestnut Street, 

 in Philadelphia, Henry A. Dreer, Inc., is the only one which had exist- 

 ence in 1838. But to grow from small beginnings into a vast organ- 

 ization which reaches into all parts of the world and supplies Veg- 

 etable, Flower and Grass Seeds, Bulbs and Plants to thousands of 

 planters is much more. 



Such is the development of the venture which Henry A. Dreer 

 established in partnership with Henry Hirst in Philadelphia in 1838. 



The first store was established at 97 Chestnut Street, next door 

 to the Bank of North America, which is the oldest banking institution 

 in the country. Mr. Hirst's connection with the project was very 



brief, less than two years. 



;sis 



--v.-YV»^ 







PIII?..4I>im.F5iaA : 



THE FOUNDER 



HENRY A. DREER 



Born. Philadelphia, 1818 

 Died, Philadelphia, 1873 



Thoxsdky, Septeuebcr 36, 1830. 



A rara traat m the way of an a^hij)ition or 

 flowers, has bten provided for, o,ur citizens at 

 |.he saloone of the ftlessrs. Parkinson, it! 

 Chesnut street, opposite ihe Masosiio Bait. 

 The display is rich, various and gorgeous — 

 the richest, probably, of the kind, ever exhi- 

 bi ed in Ptiilad s'phia. About eight thousand 

 specimens of dahlias, of every possible shade 

 and colour, have been grouped togutiier with 

 eXijuisite taile, under the auspices of those 

 epterprisiDi; (lorisis and horticulturists — 

 Mtss(3. Hifsi & Dreer — two young geutia- 

 men, by the way, who deserve no little credit 

 fjr their laudable efforts to excite a taste for 

 the tissful and beautiful in nature. The 

 dahlia. has long been an object of curiosity 

 and of adiniratioD — but gathered toge her in 

 aach great variety, and arranged with so de- 

 licate an eye for the beautiful, its true magni- 

 fit^nce and surpassing splondoijir, are in this 

 collection rendered still more palpable to the 

 eye and to the iniod. The Messrs. Parkin- 

 son have also eseited themselves to the ut- 

 most, in gelling up a truly superb iloral spec- 

 lacle — and we doubt not that their saloons 

 wiH be crowded with the beauty, taste and 

 fashion of our city. 



The eshibition is gratis, but such liberal 

 .eflorts to gratify the public, and It; a way alto- 

 gether uot xceptionable, will receiTe iheir ap- 

 .(ttcpriate reward. 



Photographic reproduction of article which 

 appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer, 

 September 2b, iSjg. 



From the first the active 

 management of the busi- 

 ness was in the hands of 

 Mr. Henry A. Dreer, then 

 only 20 years old, and 

 after the withdrawal of his partner, he continued to conduct it with unusual 

 industry and intelligence. In 1848, the business was removed to Number 

 59 Chestnut Street, and ten years later to 117 Chestnut Street (old num 

 bering) now 327, the site of the stately building erected by the Fidelity 

 Trust Company. 



On September 26, 1839, The Philadelphia Inquirer published an 

 article headed "A Splendid Display at Parkinson's." 



No Philadelphian who knows this city of a half century or more 

 ago will ask what was Parkinson's. A gathering place for fashionable 

 folk, it had just the same reputation that Delmonico's in New York 

 attained in the following generation. 



The display which attracted attention in the public print of the day 

 was of Dahlias that came from the Greenhouses and Gardens of Henry 

 A. Dreer which were then located on the Hamilton estate. Woodlands, 

 where is now Woodlands Cemetery. 



Parkinson's Restaurant was then at 714 Chestnut .Street, Twenty- 

 four years later, Mr. Henry A. Dreer purchased this building where he 

 had made his first public exhibition of flowers and removed thither his 

 seed store which had outgrown its former location. There ithas remained 

 until the present day, a period of 45 years. Numerous additions and 

 enlargements have been necessary and a few years ago a large new seed 

 warehouse was erected nearby on Washington Square, but the old store 

 with its many associations is still retained. The ground where it stands 

 was formerly owned by Robert Morris, financier of the Revolution. 



Mr. Henry A. Dreer died in December, 1873, and was succeeded by 

 his son, William F. Dreer, whom he had trained in the conscientious and 

 earnest methods which distinguished the business from its foundation. 



The first catalogue issued in 1838, an illustration of which is 

 shown on page i, was a tiny two-page sheet, listing what was then a 

 complete assortment of Vegetable, Flower and Agricultural Seeds. 

 The list included every kind of vegetable we have to-day, with t'.--^ 

 single exception of Brussels Sprouts. One hundred and twenty-"' -'•-'. 

 varieties of Flower Seeds were offered of which eighty are still hs.ed. 

 Many of the names on the list are still the favorites of professional and 

 private planters to-day, but they have been greatly improved by 

 selection. 



5 



