The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1885-12-19
ARTIFrcIAL FLOWERS.
a Pretty and Profitable Employment for
Women OF Refinement.

young and pretty girl inside. She had
frame before her, around which she
deity twined moss and small green
leaves, and then, as she stepped back to
see the effect of her work, tied white
roses neatly in the corners. Entering
the shop, the proprietor was found
working up to his elbows in mass of
pretty flowers and leaves. The re-
porter ventured to say that it was
pity to use such delicate budsso rough
", and the man looked up and said, as
he laughed: "Why, these are not real
flowers; they're only artificial. There,
you may crush up that rosebud as much
as you like, but you won't do it much
harm. These are not the kind that
crumple and decay, as the poet says,
though what poet can't for the life of
me say. What's that young woman
doingP Why she's making Coates
Ajar" for funeral party, and as its
got to be delivered tonight, she will
have to work pretty smart to get
through in good time. Artificial flower
making is quite new industry in Chi
cago. but Judging from the way it has
already taken root think it will soon
be very fiourishing. 1t is purely an
exotic, imported from Paris, where
there are vast establishments devoted
to nothing else but the manufacture OF
flowers and leaves gathered from every
quarter of the globe. These" point
ing to row of large green leaves,
which were marked irregularly by bars
of the most brilliant scarlet imagina-
ble-. these are plants which you would
think exaggerated in their coloring.
The people of Paris thought so when
they were first introduced; but they
know now that they are merely exact
limitations Of the Mexican begonia.
limitations OF all your rarest American
flowers are now to be found in the
drawing-rooms Of Paris, side by side
with the orchids gathered in Borneo,
or perhaps along the almost un-
explored headwaters of the ORR
noco. ] myself learned the
art Of making artificial flowers
In the French capital, and Ithink am
the only person in this country who
has done so; and, so far as that goes,
don't think that even in New York
there is a firm that makes flowers from
Che stem to the bud as we do over here
in Chicago. / have three French girls
that I brought here with me and half a
dozen Chicago girls. The latter l
took in hand to train little over three
months ago, and already they are doing
very well, making up good leaves and
the simpler flowers, such as these snow
balls. The most laborious flowers to
initiate are rosebuds, Gala lilies, hello
tropes, lilies Of the valley and lilacs.
Look at this lilac, and you will see that
the little dots Of yellow seed have to be
put Ia each separately by a process
which is secret Of the trade, and that
every minute stem has to be covered
with silk just exactly the hue of the
stems of the natural flower. Perhaps
the pond lilys which has an open calyx,
is the easiest of all flowers to initiate.
Our flowers are not copied from paint
ings, but directly from nature. When
ever, for instance, see rose that
strikes me, / buy it and set to work at
il initiating it. There are men in
France who do this so skillfully that
they are fully entitled to be called art
lists; for to the most delicate apprecia-
ton of nature they unite the most deli
cate manual power of copying natures
handiwork.
How much can your young women
make week at this industryPn the
reporter asked.
I'VE require well-educated Young
women, and prefer those who have had
an elementary art education. My best
helpers make ten dollars, and the APP
prentices, so to speak, average from
three dollars to seven dollars week.
Artificial flower making is peculiarly
suited for women of refinement. and
when the industry spreads in the West,
as it certainly will, 1t will furnish en-
ployment for many thousands who are
not accustomed to hard work and yet
feel compelled to something to support
themselves
''What are artificial flowers most en-
ployed forp'
'sOf course for household decoration
and ornament. Here, for instance, is
a large palm which we have Just made
for the Chicago Opera House. You
would think that the leaves were made
of India-rubber, but they are simply
French muslin peculiarly sized and pre-
pukcus AuoIo IL BIOWluS ueInunu LOT
artificial flowers for funeral purposes.
At this season of the year natural flow
ers are about as cheap as artificial
flowers, but in the winter the artificial
flowers are almost fifty per cent.
cheaper. Then, these flowers, which
can not be told from natural flowers at
a distance of three feet, have the adj
vantage Of being practically everlast-
ing. You are aware that in the case
of death many people love to have GER
tain devices in natural flowers pre-
served in memory of the dead. The
process of preservation is most ex-
pensive and laborious one, as each
spray and petal has to be covered with
wax. What does this result imp Sim
ply that natural flowers are turned into
wax-howers. These wax-fowers are
subject to the ordinary vicissitudes of
heat, and in a hot room or when acct
dentally exposed to the sun win melt
away just like candle. No such acct
dents can ever happen to artificial
flowers, and we can work them in any
design that a person wants. BY the
way, in the case of large artificial
ferns, begonias, palms, or ehoux, or
L.