. The American florist : a weekly journal for the trade. Floriculture; Florists. 48: The American Florist. 7nly I. The Street F'akir. The fakir has at last received notice from the daily press, as witness the fol- lowing from the New York correspond- ence of the I'hiladelphia daily Press. It would seem the most difficult thine i» >he world to perpetrate fraud in the sale of fresh flowers, but the street dealers here are up to some cunning devices. For ten cents the other morning I purchased a bunch of what looked like fresh roses from a basket man at the end ol the Brooklyn bridge Fifteen m
. The American florist : a weekly journal for the trade. Floriculture; Florists. 48: The American Florist. 7nly I. The Street F'akir. The fakir has at last received notice from the daily press, as witness the fol- lowing from the New York correspond- ence of the I'hiladelphia daily Press. It would seem the most difficult thine i» >he world to perpetrate fraud in the sale of fresh flowers, but the street dealers here are up to some cunning devices. For ten cents the other morning I purchased a bunch of what looked like fresh roses from a basket man at the end ol the Brooklyn bridge Fifteen minutes after I noticed a sudden drooping of the flowers. On investigation I found that every seemingly com- pact rosebud had a wire run through the centre and bound to a slender stick. The curled edge of the faded leaves had been chipped oflT and the wire run through to hold the rest together. An hour later the seemingly beautiful bunch of roses was a faded, drooping mass of color. These street dealers buy the leftover stock of florists, clip off the (lead leaves and keep the rest hidden in a pan of water until a customer comes along. Thev are .scattered over all the streets of the city on bright, sunshiny days, and especially in the district where the dry goods and other stores for women are located. Most of them sell out every day and their profits average $5 easily. On Sun- day they run much higher, for nearly every girl wants a bunch tucked in at her waist. Mayor Hewitt tried to stop this flower peddling-busi- ness on Sundays and his efforts were highly suc- cessful for awhile, as in his endeavor to enforce the Excise laws. The peddlers established guards and .sold when the police were not look- ing. ;,ately, however, they have dispensed with these lookouts and sell as openly as ever. In this connection we call to mind a statement of a German florist as to the gigantic nerve possessed by these out- casts of .society. "De rascal he come in uud ask me eef I vouM gif him
Size: 2157px × 1158px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectfloriculture, bookyea
