CANDIES AND FLOWERS.
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A community’s prosperity is always to be gauged by the amount of money
it is able to spend on luxuries. And if candies and flowers are to be
classed as luxuries Chicago must be very prosperous indeed, for the
city supports a large number of large stores that are devoted to the
sale of one or both of these articles.
A high-class florist in these days simply coins money. He ought to
do so, with Jacqueminot and La France roses often at $12 a dozen.
There are several Chicago florists who are in a fair way to become
millionaires. The immediate profits of the candy business are not quite
so large, perhaps, but there is less risk. Roses fade in a day, and
if they are not bought are a dead loss. The sweet stuff on which the
young ladies of the period dote lasts a little longer and is disposed
of more readily. Perhaps the best customer of the florist and the candy
man alike is the susceptible youth who wishes to make the fair object
of his adoration think her best of him, and for that reason bestows
gifts of flowers and candy upon her as long as he seems to entertain
the ghost of a chance of getting any sort of return for his money. It
is the proper caper, if you are an engaged man, to send your _fiancee_
flowers and candy every day. This is where the profits of the purveyor
of these luxuries come in, for, when a marriageable young man gets
what is known as “the mitten,” it stands to reason that he is very
soon going to find somebody else upon whom to lavish the same gifts so
fruitlessly bestowed upon the cruel one. Of course when he actually
does marry, the florists and candy men may mark him off their books,
for who is so foolish as to suppose a man is going to buy flowers and
candy for his own wife? But, while the flower and candy men are apt to
deplore marriage on this account, they find comfort in knowing that for
every marriage that is taking place there are twenty young men arriving
at a marriageable age and thereby taking the place of the rescued
victim.
To mention all the florists of Chicago would take up too much space.
There are over two hundred of them. It is the fashionable thing
nowadays to join the two businesses, having flowers for sale on one
side of the shop and candy on the other. This is the case with the
Spencer store in the new Masonic Temple building, on State street, at
the corner of Randolph. The windows of this store are adorned with rare
palms and other handsome plants that prepare one for the beauties to
be found within. It is a splendid stand for a store of this character
and commands a large patronage. An establishment of a very similar
character, and quite as imposing, is the store of P. J. Houswirth
(successor to Charles Reissig), in the Auditorium building. It is a
convenient place to rush into during an operatic performance in the
Auditorium and purchase a $1000 bouquet to fling to a favorite singer.
Perhaps the best-known florist in Chicago is Michael H. Gallagher,
whose store is located in the Palmer house block, 163 Wabash, and whose
greenhouses are at 5649 Washington avenue. Mr Gallagher’s trade is very
large. “The superb floral decorations were by Gallagher,” is a familiar
phrase in the newspaper reports of weddings, receptions and kindred
gala events. Mr. Gallagher is said to have made a large fortune at the
business. Among the other prominent down-town florists may be mentioned
the following:
Joseph Craig, 84 State street; Charles Fisk, 149 State; Joseph Curran,
242 Wabash avenue; Walter Krintberg, 231 Wabash avenue; J. C. Vaughan,
88 State street (with a branch at 148 West Washington).
Coming to the consideration of candy, confectionery, and fine
fruits, the name of Charles Gunther first challenges attention. The
Gunther store, 212 State street, is without doubt one of the sights
of the city, containing, as it does, in addition to the regular
stock-in-trade, the Gunther museum, which the proprietor has spent the
best years of his life in collecting. The museum embraces curios of all
sorts and some of them are of great value. The entire collection is
worth a fabulous amount and there is a well-defined impression abroad
that the owner intends to give it to the city some day.
The furnishings of the Gunther store are magnificent. Tall mirrors
reflect the customer’s shape at every step. The rear part of two floors
is dotted with tables, at which iced drinks, ice cream, and light
luncheons are served. Whether with a view of purchase or not, the store
will well repay a visit. Gunther’s candy is advertised the country
over, and the concern enjoys an enormous out-of-town trade.
The new Berry candy store, at the north-east corner of State and Adams
streets, challenges Gunther’s for brilliancy. The walls and ceilings
are lined throughout with mirrors, set at all angles, and the effect at
night when all the electric lamps are in full blaze is one of dazzling
brilliancy. The usual soda water fountain and ice cream branch is also
to be found here. The store is the head-quarters of John Berry, the
proprietor, who, however, has branches at 155 East Madison, and 167,
241, 581 West Madison streets. The factory is on Washington boulevard,
corner of Sangamon street.
Huyler’s, 161 State street, is a branch of the famous New York house
of that name and enjoys a large patronage. It is a favorite resort
for ladies who, tired out with shopping journeys, stand in need of a
little refreshment. Plow’s, in the new McVicker’s theatre building,
is another popular store. On matinee days especially it is crowded
with purchasers. Boles & Kehoe, in Central Music Hall, claim that
their candy is equal to the best, and to judge by the size of their
trade the claim is well founded. The Kranz store, on the opposite side
of the street, is particularly gorgeous in its furnishings, and its
refreshment tables, as well as its counters, are always crowded.
There are many others that might be mentioned. The candy purveyors of
Chicago number over a thousand, and no one who is in need of a package
of the toothsome stuff need go away disappointed.