The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-03-27
"EASTER FLOWERS"
Beautify the Church and Home and
Adorn the Individual.

Ao0rn the INDIVIDUAL.
The symbolic connection between
Easter and ,A'Easter fowers' Is much
more difficult to conceive than that be-
tween the joyous season and the colored
eggs, which from time immemorial have
been associated to greater or less extent
In the widely diffused quarters OF the
globe. In fact, while the use of eggs at
this season undoubtedly originally sym
bolized the revivitcation. of Nature, or
the springing forth into new life at this
time OF year, the use Of flowers imparts
no such idea, being looked upon more
particularly as something to beautify the
church and home or edorn the individ-
ual, very much as new suit or bonnet
seems essential after the self-sacrifices of
the 40 days of Lent For all that, flowers
seem almost indispensable at Easter and
the florists are correspondingly happy,
although they all state that any swell
dinner during the season beginning Just
before Thanksgiving and ending with
Ash Wednesday will create greater de-
mhnd for flowers than Easter Sunday, and
any good week in the same intervals means
more to the trade than all the strictly
Easter business. Nevertheless the "Easter
business" il not to be sneered at because
1t means here in Providence the sale of
great many potted plants and cut flowers,
the former being principally Easter lilies
and the latter including carnations, vio-
lets, roses and bulbous flowers like hya-
cinths, jonquils and other Darciss@, none
OF which will not bloom at any other sea-
son just as well, In hothouses, although
1t is popular opinion that most Of
them are spring flowers. There are
something like 80 florists furnishing po-
sizes for this city, most of them bein z
wholesalers, 80 to speak, while about
eight or 10 do "A strictly retail business.
4 &C.
for Easter come through the retailers
and 1t is figured that at least 10, 600 East
er lily plants will be sold before week
from next Sunday. Callas will come in
only for moderate showing, as they are
considered passe. Carnations come next
In order to the Easter lilies and leading
florist calculates that over 100, 900 will be
required. Violets for boutonnieres will
also be in good demand, while roses will
not make an insignificant showing by
any means.
To revert to the custom of sending
Easter eggs, in order to emphasize the de-
clination OF that custom in favor OF East
er flowers, II is necessary TO explain that
the most characteristic Easter rite and
that most widely diffused long before our
immediate ancestors saw the light of day
was h, use of Pasch, or Easter, eggs,
stained by dyewoods and chemicals.
These were mutually exchanged as pres
and sometimes eaten. 1t was no uncom-
mon thing for young man TO send his
sweetheart half dozen eggs for Easter,
much as the youth sends valentine on
February Ia, yet who today would not
prefer to send her cluster OF beautiful
flowers, or an Easter lily, in preference
TO half-dozen eggs2
In some moorland parts of Scotland 1t
used to be the custom for young people
TO go out early ON Pasch Sunday and
search for wild fowl eggs for breakfast
and the find was considered very lucky,
but Young people In Providence would
find 1t difficult to find any wild-fowl eggs
early Sunday morning, even II they
arose early. unless they were purchased at
the market the day before. From the
Christian point Of view the "feast of
eggs" used to be considered emblematic
of the Resurrection and of future life,
just as the use of flowers on any joyous
occasion seems inseparable from youth,
vigor and prime of manhood. And Easter
has always been recognized as the most
pleasant of occasions. Flowers carry
gladness wherever they go, and none is so
poor but he can obtain a.fiower or plan
of some sort.
1t is noticeable that more flowers are
used in church decorations at Easter
than prevailed, say 10 years ago. At
that time few Providence churches used
them to any extent, oustide of the Cath
olic and Episcopal churches. 1t may
have been that the others saw the neces-
sity of adding attractions in the way of
flowers and music to insure large congre-
cations on that day, having watched the
tendency of the masses to "take IN" the
church which furnished the best enter
tainment; or 1t may have been that as
the florists multiplied and tho supply
accumulated the prices became more rea-
sonable and the demand increased pro
rata ana became disseminated.
One florist gives II as his opinion that
the public recognizes that the florist were
encouraged to set up shop here and must
now support them and another AYERS
that the florists are bound to live, anyway,
Easter or no Easter.
The'question OF weather at this time has
q great deal to do with the Easter flower
trade. For instance, bad weather would
make carnations scarce aud very high,
while such weather as we had Wednesday
would keep the prices down. AS II Is, the
price today, owing to the bad weather of
the past two weeks, Is almost up TO high
water mark, for hothouse flowers, like
carnations, need plenty of sun to enable
them TO blossom rapidly.
The price for violets would materially
go up for Easter, it is taid, because the
demand exceeds the supply.
There Will not be much demand for
flowers after Easter, except for teas and
small receptions, although trade ought
10 be fair until after Decoration Day, ac-
cording to florist {. c. Sullivan. Dur
ing May spring flowers begin to come in
TO the market and florist O'Connor says
that people prefer those which blossom
out OF doors to those which are grown
under glass. Among the best carnations
which are to be found in the florists
windows are the Scots Ga pure pink and
the Hectors (red), which are raised by
William Maxteld of Darlington. They
are almost twice as large and beautiful
than the best The NEWS man has ever
seen.
IIInIMXI AE EACIIInM