Los Angeles Flower Market – American Florists
Exchange
Introduces Sending Flowers to America Book
Pictorial souvenir volume depicts the history and
influence of
Southern California flowers upon floriculture throughout America
November 1, 2008
NEWS FACTS
The American Florists
Exchange, Ltd. dba Los Angeles Flower Market introduces the first
book about its nearly 90 years of history, including a history of
Los Angeles.
The book, titled Sending
Flowers to America for its references to California's importance in
supplying fresh flowers year-'around for florists throughout the United
States, is a hardbound, coffee table type volume with 288 pages in
color, documenting the history of Los Angeles with an emphasis on the
arrivals of early settlers and immigrants who began their flower-growing
and wholesaling ventures in their backyard gardens and grew their
businesses by forming a flower market in the heart of the Los Angeles
wholesale district. Today, the Los Angeles Flower Market is housed in
the largest flower district in the United States.
More
than 350 photos (many in full color) appear in
this unique book which is divided into two
parts: The chronological history of the area and
its flower industry, written by Buena Park,
California author and project manager Peggi
Ridgway; and a Profiles section featuring 66
biographical profiles of early flower farmers,
shippers, florists and others in the business,
written by Fullerton, California business writer
Jan Works, who based the information on
2007-2008 interviews with the subjects and their
families.
Sending Flowers to America contains a main
index, a photo index and indices to the
biographical
profiles.
The book
is heralded as a major achievement for its
documentation of the Los Angeles Flower Market
history and Southern California floral industry
history in permanent form.
About the American Florists’ Exchange, Ltd./Los Angeles Flower Market
The Los Angeles Flower Market of the American Florists’
Exchange, at 754 Wall Street in the Los Angeles wholesale district, is
one of the two major wholesale flower markets in the Los Angeles Flower District
(located in the Fashion
District). The Los Angeles Flower Market was incorporated in 1921. Bringing
together floral wholesalers, flower growers, shippers, distributors,
suppliers, floral designers, event planners and retail florists,
the Market is open to the trade and to the public during selected hours.
The Los Angeles Flower District is the largest wholesale flower district
in the United States.
We are very pleased to present this
archival quality record of the milestones in our history. These
stories have been passed down to us through generations. It's time
we record them for those who follow in our footsteps and those
across America who trade with California farmers and wholesalers and
the Los Angeles Flower Market. - Johnny Mellano, manager, the
Los Angeles Flower Market and principal with Mellano & Company, a
family run company in business more than eighty years.
A delightful collection of
reminiscences and photographs that illustrate the development of the
Los Angeles Flower Market and share the stories of people who made
the Market and Southern California floriculture what it is today. A
must read for everyone in the California floral industry. –
Michael Reid, Professor and Extension Specialist, Department of
Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis
Sending Flowers to America is a
heart-warming tribute to all who played a role in the birth of the
American floral industry. Ann Quinn, Executive Vice President,
California State Floral Association
... a tremendous job of bringing into focus one facet of the
tapestry by following the threads that people have woven over time
from the cottage industry to an agricultural powerhouse. By telling
the stories of the people whose lives shaped the business of cut
flowers you feel as though they are family friends. Not a bad way to
view history, real people, real stories. – Marie
Barnidge-McIntyre, Horticulturist, Rancho Los Cerritos
AUTHORS' AVAILABILITY:
Please contact us to arrange an interview and for
additional quotes, photos and material.
In early 2009, principal author Peggi Ridgway
presented PowerPoint shows throughout the Los Angeles area,
featuring some of the historical photos from Sending Flowers to
America, with narration about the stories behind the photos. For
special presentations, contact the author directly - 800 200-1101 or
peg@wordpix.com
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
More Information about the California and U.S. floral industry:
About the Los Angeles Fashion District in which the Los Angeles
Flower Market resides: http://fashiondistrict.org
*The Bloomin' News, published almost continuously since
October 1949, is mailed to nearly 5,000 subscribers every other
month.
Other books about major wholesale flower markets in California:
A Scent of Flowers, by Naomi
Hirahara (2004) - about the Southern California Flower Growers
market located across the street from the Los Angeles Flower Market.
Contact information at:
http://LAFlowerDistrict.com/contactus.asp
Living with Flowers: The California Flower Market History,
by Gary Kawaguchi (1993), about the flower market in San Francisco.
See http://www.sfflmart.com
The information contained in this document is available at:
