The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-10-27
THE CHRYSANTHEMUM
The Favorite Flower of Other Years
Forgotten or Called Vulgar.
New York Sun.

New York Sun.
Certainly the position of Mime. Chrysan-
theme remains embarras sing. After four
years of such vogue that coat in Octo-
Der was complete without her shaggy pet
ais somewhere on its lapel. and no tea
table properly dressed until she was en-
throned somewhere on Ii in blue-and-
white china jar-to be forgotten by the
world! Not only forgotten, but ignored for
to be sighted until she wilted But that
has been the fate of the chrysanthemum
and in whatever form she appeals to the
public now 1t will have none of her. She
may be white, with long petals that stick
out like porcupine's quilts, or be crisp
and curly In white, yellow or pink. The
violets or roses without asking at how
much the florist values her. And he doesn't
think much of her now, or ask much for
Il used to pay SIS a dozen for that kind"
said one OF the best known florists up town
yesterday, stepping out of the shadow Of
standing in front of the shop, .'and now
you can buy them for $l8 a hundred This
klnd"-here he pointed out bunch of great
delicate pink ones, with thick petals that
curled toward the stem-"this particular
species came on from Toledo, and four
years ago people would have Grown enthu-
them They are coarse-the petals are so
thick they're absolutely vulgar. And these
yellow ones here-see what delicate shade
either. and yet, if you had never seen a
flower like that before, you'd think il was
beautiful But they're dead now. They We
peen run into the ground. and the public
won't have EN-"
If Nine. Chrysantheme could have under
STOOD she would have wilted, and wondered
why the public she had served so well could
have deserted her. Had she not lasted twice
as long as any other flower, and kept in
condition for a week at a time? This is one
reason why the florists sympathize less with
her than they might.
.., There wasn't much .l1, money in them"
If a man was in the habit of sending flow
ers twice week, and while they were the
rage nobody bought any other kind of flow
erS SO We don't regret the fact that
they've gone out of style; and they're gone
for good. They'll never come back again,
and the florists aren't trying to force them
on people who evidently don't want to buy
them"
In the crowd that promenaded Broadway
yesterday afternoon the chrysanthemum
was very little In evidence. There were but
a few In buttonholeS that didn't signify
much as to say whether or not fashion had
abandoned Nine. ChrySantheme. Formerly
they We're in every smart wOman'S corSage
and distinguished every genuine would
be swell as invariably as a gardenia does
tered about and anybody that doubts If
chrysanthemums are still the proper thing
on upper Broadway in the afternoon
Il begin to think" said the florist who
told the Sun reporter that the flower seemed
actually vulgar to him now. that possibly
there never was any real beauty in a chrys-
anthemum. 1t must have been all some mis-
take that made them so popular for five
years. People never weary of roses or
violets and these flowers seen almost
the whole year round, whereas chrysanthe-
NUNS were only a matter OF two months
at the most. We lost our heads over them
for a while. The violet is the one flower
that woman never wearies Of Every
woman in her heart of hearts would rather
have violets than any other flower. They
never get tired of them, and that's the
reason that they're always in demand. /
see some fellow has said that a man should
beware of a woman that wore violet-col-
ored gowns. That may be all very well,
but If a man tried to beware of every wom-
an who cared for violets he would have
mighty few to trust"
So it may be the violet, after all, that
has driven out Nine. Chrysantheme, who
certainly was tride snowy, even at her
best