“Glad” Garden Brings Joy and Profit

 “Glad” Garden Brings Joy and Profit 

 

   EIGHT years ago Lucretia Kays Hanson, of Mill Valley, California, was confronted with the problem of supporting five children and a husband whose ill health had forced him to quit business. Mrs. Hanson is five feet tall and weighs a hundred pounds but she shouldered the burden without flinching. At first she was a “jill” of all trades. Finally she applied for a job with the Mill Valley Record, a newspaper edited by two capable women. Perhaps women editors are soft-hearted; anyway Mrs. Hanson got work in the office and has been there ever since. Evenings she typed letters for a blind business man, coached in French, English and mathematics, and looked after her brood and her nine-room house. Meanwhile, Mr. Hanson busied himself with his hobby of raising gladioli. He had the knack and the “glads” responded by blossoming in gorgeous profusion. People were enthusiastic over their exceptional beauty and wanted to buy, but Mr. Hanson gave the flowers away in great armfuls until his wife suggested: “If they want to buy why not sell?” They discussed commercial distribution and Mrs. Hanson called on the owner of the town’s swankiest market. Would he put their gladioli in for sale? He consented, saying that flowers like theirs would be an asset. His only stipulation was that they be arranged before the store opened. Mrs. Hanson got up still earlier six mornings a week and while the fresh produce was being set out she arranged masses of “glads” in tall vases. Fifty dozen were sold the first month which added twenty-five dollars to the Hanson income. As the grocer refused a commission, Mrs. Hanson insisted that he take home all the flowers he wanted on Saturdays and whenever his wife gave a party. The sale of bulbs followed naturally. Customers wanted certain varieties for their gardens. One big seller was a pale yellow which has been named Billionaire because of its great stalk and the profusion of blossoms, sometimes twenty to a stalk. Billionaires were popular for wedding decorations and floral sprays. It wasn’t long before she found there was another outlet for the flowers. Although several large nurseries are located in outlying districts, there is no florist in Mill Valley; consequently the undertaker sells sprays. In return for services rendered he taught Mrs. Hanson how to wire sprays and she began getting orders which brought from two dollars up. Soon other ideas for getting orders presented themselves. A donation now and then to the leading tea room brought orders for decorations when banquets were held there. A bouquet presented to the owner when a new store opened in town increased trade; so did an occasional advertisement in the Record. On one outstanding occasion red “glads” banked the platform of the San Francisco Civic Auditorium where ten thousand people gathered at the International Convention of the Christian Endeavor to celebrate that society’s Golden Jubilee. “Selling ‘glads’ has been fun, and although it hasn’t meant a fortune the money has often been a godsend,” Mrs. Hanson remarks. “Besides, being gainfully occupied has saved Mr. Hanson much worry and unhappiness.”