some old flower shop - greenhouse pics

[Joe Mioux]

here is a composite of hydrangeas through the years.

The little kid in the black in white picture is my dad, circa 1925/26. He is probably around 6 or 7 years old. Note the size of that hydrangea head above my dad. That thing is enormous.

Next picture is a picture of my sister and me around 1966, huddled around Pink hydrangeas and Easter Lilies on Easter morning.

Lower right is a picture of a "budding floral designer" my sister Martha in 1968. I think this is a novel use of a Std Oasis box. Oasis makes for a perfect height design table for a 4 yr old. Notice she has her "ticket box", her fresh flowers ready for the next creation. Imagine, Oasis has not changed the packaging of their Std Oasis in over 40 years.

to this day, Martha does not design. She is a great weekend merchandiser for me though and a great designer's assistant for one of my former full time- now part time designers.

Bottom black and white photo shows cut flower poinsettias. I think they are about 6 - 7 feet tall. Picture is probably from the 1920's.

The reason for these pictures is that a local daily newspaper is doing an article on long time family business.

I thought you all would enjoy seeing these.

joe

 

[aileen_c]

WOW! Thanks Joe for posting that. I thought it was great to be invited into your family history. Too cute! Those are huge!! Would love to read the article! Good luck.

 

[Sher]

What awesome history you have Joe....that is really something.Thanks for sharing
Sher

 

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

Joe...the hydrangea was not that big...you and sis were just "little headed" people!!oke:

 

[CHERYL BAKIN]

Just...Thanks!

Cheryl

 

[TGDragonfly]

I love that Joe. That really cool. Love the Hydrangea photo. Is the greenhouse still standing?

Thom

 

[Joe Mioux]

Joe...the hydrangea was not that big...you and sis were just "little headed" people!!oke:

lol

um...

my dad's head!

I vividly remember the day my dad took the picture of my sister Mary and me. Easter Morning, cloudy and rainy.

joe

 

[Joe Mioux]

I love that Joe. That really cool. Love the Hydrangea photo. Is the greenhouse still standing?

Thom

no those glass houses got torn down in '65.

a year went by where all dad had was holding house. I will post a pic of that later.

in '67 he built a little >2000 sq ft greenhouse that stood until '84.

then he built the original half of my growing house.

in '95 i bought out my parents and immediately plunged into more debt by increasing those houses by 100 pct.

joe

I wish those glass house still stood. There is nothing better than being in an old glass house. It is peaceful. Ridge vents move the heat out. They are quiet.

V. you especially would enjoy the Zen qualities of an old glass house.

 

[ivygreen]

Nice pictures, how cool to be part of a family legacy.

 

[TGDragonfly]

You are a what we Yankees refer to as blueblood. Thats cool. Do you ever wish you would have done something else?

 

[Joe Mioux]

You are a what we Yankees refer to as blueblood. Thats cool. Do you ever wish you would have done something else?

I did. I was a commodities broker, a soybean market analyst, and public relations director.

my dad didn't want to do it either. He graduated the university of Illinois in 1942 with a BS in Ornamental Horticulture, however he studied alot of chemistry and wanted to be a chemist.

WWII came about, he went through OCS in Signal Corps, and wound up in Third Army (Battle of the Bulge) as a CO in 285th bn Combat Engineers. Gen Patton promoted him to Captain and he was part of the Honor Guard at Patton's funeral.

He really pushed me hard to become a Civil Engineer.

It didn't work. I wound up in Ag and Business at UofI.

We both wound back up on the same piece of property that his Grandfather and my Great grandfather purchased in 1876.

joe

 

[Cindy's]

and its neat to peek thru the windows and see the church across the street is still there too.

 

[Joe Mioux]

and its neat to peek thru the windows and see the church across the street is still there too.

and that church is the reason, Wilhelm Demming (aka my great grandfather) purchased the property. His Brother Fr. Anton Demming became Pastor of that church in 1874. His brother Wilhelm moved here from Germany two years later. German immigration was big in our area at that time.

that is why you see all those florists' names under mine.

joe

 

[fleuray]

Joe, I am just in awe of your family history in this business. Your roots just run so deep, it really is an inspiration to me.

Thanks.

 

[LOTAKIDS]

Joe, Thank you for sharing you families history. WOW!! what a legacy, you must be very proud.

 

[Carol Bice]

Joe, you are just such an interesting person.

Carol Bice

 

[Eric S]

Thats very cool.

Thanks for sharing those joe!!

 

[Mocha Rose]

Thanks for sharing. Make sure you post the article when it comes out.

 

[Twila]

That was fun...thanks for sharing them with us

 

[TGDragonfly]

Hey Joe

Do you have children in the business? If you do would you pass on the company to them or tell them to be civil engineers?