Pennsylvania Horticultural Society - Philadelphia Flower Show

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About This Collection

This collection consists of documentation related to the Philadelphia Flower Show from 1829 to the present including tickets, advertisements, posters and high-quality photographs to exhibits and promotional events. Some of the images include buildings that no longer exist, such as Philadelphia's Commercial Museum and Civic Center.

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1961 Philadelphia Flower Show. Sarah Groome Cracker Arrangement

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Philadelphia Flower Show (1961 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Groome, Sarah Crawford Zantzinger, -1988, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

Yes, those really are crackers, specifically "Sea Toast" crackers formerly made by Keebler. For a 1961 composition depicting a feature of the New England seacoast, Sarah Groome chose to do an interpretation of fish chowder. She used a background and floor of sea toast, a cardboard fish, covered in aluminum and completed the composition with onions, potatoes, parsley and a soup tureen. Just as she finished installing this niche, an impatient show visitor pushed her aside, with camera in hand to shoot a photograph of the exhibit. Seeing it through her camera lens, the visitor shrieked "Jesus Christ, them's cookies!" Sarah Groome was photographed above at her niche

1963 Philadelphia Flower Show. Niche Class 305

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Philadelphia Flower Show (1963 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

A competitor installs her creation in a niche class at the 1963 Flower Show.

1965 Philadelphia Flower Show. Armory First City Troop Venue

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Ballard, Ernesta Drinker, Pennsylvania. National Guard. Troop of Philadelphia Cavalry, 1st. Armory, Philadelphia Flower Show (1965 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

By the 1960s flower show attendance was falling. This factor, combined with the city's decision to tear down the Commercial Museum to build a new Civic Center convinced the show managers Philadelphia Flower Show Incorporated to suspend shows until the new Civic Center was completed -- a three year hiatus. Under the strong leadership of Ernesta Ballard, PHS decided to produce the 1965 show without the participation of Philadelphia Flower Show Incorporated. This pivotal show was staged in the Armory of the First City Troop at 23rd and Ranstead Streets. Thirty thousand people attended and paid $1.00 for admission. Even though the show's profit was a very slim $893, it was enough to convince PHS leadership to produce the 1966 show.

1965 Philadelphia Flower Show. Competitive Classes Section

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. National Guard. Troop of Philadelphia Cavalry, 1st. Armory, Philadelphia Flower Show (1965 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

1965 view of competitive classes section of the Flower Show, in the Armory of the First City Troop. This was the only year the Show was held in the Armory.

1966 Philadelphia Flower Show. First Preview Dinner

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia Flower Show. Preview Dinner, Clark, Noel, Philadelphia Flower Show (1966 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

The woman in the flowered evening dress is Noel Clark, wife of Pennsylvania Senator Joseph Clark. She has just cut the ribbon that opened the 1966 show held in the basement of the Civic Center. At a charge of $25 per person, this first Preview Dinner drew 600 guests. This gala preview to the flower show continues today to be a much anticipated annual social event. It is a fund raiser in support of PHS's community greening programs.

1966 Philadelphia Flower Show. First Preview Dinner Guests at Table

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia Flower Show. Preview Dinner, Philadelphia Flower Show (1966 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

Guests at the first Preview Dinner examine program for the 1966 Flower Show.

1966 Philadelphia Flower Show. Philadelphia Civic Center Venue

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Philadelphia Civic Center, Philadelphia Flower Show (1966 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

Crowd shot of 1966 Flower Show, held in the basement of the Philadelphia Civic Center.

1966 Philadelphia Flower Show. Poster

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Posters, Philadelphia Flower Show (1966 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

1966 Flower Show poster, Spring Flower Show, March 12-17, Philadelphia Civic Center.

1966 Philadelphia Flower Show. Program

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Programs (Documents), Philadelphia Flower Show (1966 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

From 1966 through 1997, PHS produced a Flower Show program. The first program was 57 pages with black and white photography; the last one was a 109-page souvenir edition in full color. Both had the all-important floor plan, but later programs included in-depth articles on the making of the central feature, as well as detailed descriptions of major exhibitors' displays. Today, detailed programs are produced by local newspapers.

1967 Philadelphia Flower Show. Poster

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Posters, Stevenson, James, Philadelphia Flower Show (1967 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

The 1967 winner of the flower show poster contest was James Stevenson, a student at the Tyler School of Art. His winning poster features long stem red roses.

1967 Philadelphia Flower Show. Timeless Treasures. Penn Museum Mortuary Figurine

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Haas, F. Otto, Mrs., Weeders, The (Club), Butcher, W. W. Keen, Mrs., Four Counties Garden Club, University of Pennsylvania. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Terra-cotta sculpture, Chinese--Tang-Five dynasties, 618-960, Philadelphia Flower Show (1967 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

For the 1967 Philadelphia Flower Show competitive class called "Timeless Treasures," participants were invited to create floral arrangements using pieces borrowed from local museums. The winner in this class was Mrs. F. Otto Haas of the Weeders, and Mrs. W. W. Keen Butcher, of the Four Counties Garden Club who worked together on this exhibit. They borrowed an 8th Century Tang Dynasty glazed terracotta burial figurine from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

1967 Philadelphia Flower Show. Timeless Treasures. Philadelphia Museum of Art Porcelain Vase

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Judson, Arthur, Mrs., Philadelphia Museum of Art, Courtille Porcelain Factory, Vases -- France -- Paris, Philadelphia Flower Show (1967 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

In this "Timeless Treasures" entry of 1967, Mrs. Arthur Judson of Chestnut Hill used an early 19th Century hard-paste porcelain vase on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The enamel and gilt decorated vase, made in Paris by La Courtille porcelain factory circa 1815, was nearly 9 inches in height by 5 and one half inches wide. Judges' comments described the entry as the "epitome of French arrangement."

1967 Philadelphia Flower Show. Timeless Treasures. Teakwood Copy of Venus Genetrix

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Dohan, David H. W., Mrs., Callimachus. Venus Genetrix, Philadelphia Flower Show (1967 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

1967 "Timeless Treasures" entry (Class 520, entry 3) by Mrs. David H. W. Dohan includes a teakwood copy of Venus Genetrix, or Aphrodite and the Golden Apple. Marble original by Callimachus is in the Louvre, Paris.

1968 Philadelphia Flower Show. Poster

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Posters, Gimbel Brothers, Philadelphia Bulletin, Philadelphia Flower Show (1968 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

From the late 1940s and through the 1970s, Gimbels Department Store and, later, the Philadelphia Bulletin, sponsored a Flower Show poster contest open to area art students. Talented winners saw their poster printed as that year's official show poster. This poster was the winner for the 1968 show.

1969 Philadelphia Flower Show. George Clark and Lee Raden

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Clark, George, Raden, Lee Morris, -2010, Philadelphia Flower Show (1969 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

In 1969 PHS president George Clark, left, congratulated Lee M. Raden for what may have been the first award Lee won over a 40-year involvement with the Philadelphia Flower Show. Lee Morris Raden was a legendary exhibitor who won numerous awards in the competitive classes, particularly for his alpine plant entries. He played many roles at the show, serving as a judge, a chair of horticulture and as a liaison between show management and exhibitors; his efforts helped to grow the show both in size and quality by encouraging many gardeners to participate, to learn, and to up their horticultural game. Friendly, gregarious, with an outsized personality, Lee Raden inspired young and old, beginners or old hands to garden and exhibit; in 1998, Lee won PHS's Distinguished Achievement Award for his life-time role as a "horticultural pied piper for his enthusiasm, dedication and good humor."

1969 Philadelphia Flower Show. Poster

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Posters, Gimbel Brothers, Philadelphia Bulletin, Philadelphia Flower Show (1969 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

1969 Philadelphia Flower Show Poster, Spring Flower Show, Phila. Civic Center, March 9-16.

1969 Philadelphia Flower Show. Teleflora Flower Arranging Demonstration

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Teleflora (Firm), Philadelphia Flower Show (1969 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

Teleflora flower arranging demonstration is set to begin at the 1969 Flower Show.

1970 Philadelphia Flower Show. Ernesta Ballard with Winning Poster

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Posters, Ballard, Ernesta Drinker, Philadelphia Flower Show (1970 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

Ernesta Drinker Ballard (right) hold up the winning poster for the 1970 Flower Show.

1970 Philadelphia Flower Show. Flower Arranger Anne Coste

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Coste, Anne, Philadelphia Flower Show (1970 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

Anne Coste puts final touches on her entry for the 1970 Flower Show

1970 Philadelphia Flower Show. Gaston Lachaise Standing Woman

Flower shows -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia, Philadelphia Flower Show. Preview Dinner, Lachaise, Gaston, 1882-1935. Standing Woman, Philadelphia Flower Show (1970 : Philadelphia, Pa.), Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

Another prominent piece on view in the 1970 art museum exhibit was Gaston Lachaise's 73-inch high bronze Standing Woman, photographed using a fish eye lens, shot by Edmund "Bud" Gilchrist, Jr. during the Preview Dinner cocktail reception on the show floor. French born Lachaise was well known for his stylized and sensuous renderings of female figures. A second casting of his 1927 Floating Figure is one of Philadelphia's public art installations, placed at the Society Hill Townhouses courtyard on Locust Street between 2nd and 3rd streets.

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