All Saints
This month there will be a diversion from the neighborhood stories to consider a rather unique New Orleans floral tradition – All Saints.
Even in the early days of harkins, the florist, All Saints was not a big deal. A few of the old-timers would try to teach Jawn about the traditional arrangements for decorating graves, but it was just a small bleep even in the slow, early years. Those few old-timers passed on, and now it’s a big All Saints if five or six bunches of pompons are sold.
Elsewhere in the city in the early 1980s, however, All Saints was still a BIG deal. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands of the big football mums would be sold. There was a Mr. Picou up around Hammond who grew his entire crop of mums for the All Saints market.
It is no accident that until recently many of the flower shops were clustered around the cemeteries. The most interesting of these, about which a book could be written, was Quality Flower Shop on Canal Street.
Almost a hundred years ago there was a young Italian widow with children to raise who had no special job skills. She had an idea, however, that paid off. Watching the way New Orleanians flocked to the cemeteries at All Saints, Mrs. Emma Bottinelli opened her shop right in the heart of the end of Canal Street cemeteries.
In her heyday it is said that she would have thousands of bouquets prepared and laid out on the sidewalk marked in numerical order. Patrons came for them and she stuffed the money in pockets of her apron. When the pockets were full she would go inside and empty the cash into her bathtub. Supposedly she filled the bathtub during the holiday. This may be an exaggeration, but she did take in a huge amount.
This writer has fond memories of seeing Mrs. Bottinelli at the wholesale house. One of the old school, she never went anywhere without wearing a hat, purse and gloves. She had other quirks as well. She opened her shop at 6 a.m. each day and closed at 2 p.m. “My customers know when I am open,” she responded as to why she closed so early. She also had an answer for why there was never more than one telephone in her shop: “So how can I talk on more than one phone at a time?”
Mrs. Bottinelli certainly did well in the flower business. It is said that she saved all the Lincoln automobiles she ever bought throughout her life putting them in a museum of sorts in the back part of her building. Although the storefront for Quality is now an appliance store, there remains a fitting memorial to the family. Bottinelli Place is a less-than-a- block street dead ending into a cemetery with a beautiful cobblestone pattern, a talent passed on from his father to Mrs. Bottinelli’s son, Teddy. Also reminding us of the family’s time there are the double towers from a Jewish synagogue Teddy meticulously took down and reconstructed on their property.
Sweetie Pie, Mrs. Bottinelli’s daughter carried on the business for a few years after her mother’s death when she was well into her nineties. Sadly, it is no more, just as with all the old shops in the city. “Ain’t dere no mo” are many other proud names: Scheinuk, three different Chopin families, Rohm, Pelitire, Farley and Rieth. The Young Turk invading their territory back in 1979, Jawn now finds himself the Old Man of New Orleans florists.
In the present day of niche marketing in the flower business, one wonders if the era of the Mom and Pop shops wasn’t the better approach. After all, it’s service that sets traditional florists apart from the other means of vending flowers. There’s lots of charm being lost with the slow demise of the old time shops.
Another MLF Benefit
Mobile Loaves and Fishes Ministry at Trinity Church received support from harkins, the florist last Father’s Day. Now Jawn’s good buddy, Ted Brown, is following suit at Uptown Eyecare, 4004 Magazine Street. There will be a Trunk Showing of the latest in eyewear there on Friday, October 23 from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. Ted and his wife, Laura, will donate a portion of the proceeds to Trinity’s valuable post-Katrina ministry to feed those in need.
Care and Handling of......
Sunflowers!
Origins Availability and Vase Life Care and Handling Sunflowers dry well. Prop several stems in a vase, or hang them in a well-ventilated, warm area and allow them to air dry. Design Uses
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This wraps up another edition of our little newsletter. Stop by to see the great sunflowers we are expecting next week. With those big happy faces of theirs, we should have some great autumn arrangements!
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