Who Has The Oldest Flower Shop???
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Knife's Wife
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- Apr 16, 2005
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My husband is the 4th generation owner of our store. His fathers parents both died when he was 20, and he is an only child. We traced the family ownership back to 1921 but have always wonder if it doesn't go back farther than that. Our store used to have greenhouses on the property where all the flowers were grown by them and everything was delivered by horseback and then bicycle. My husbands father was the first florist in the city to charge a delivery fee, warned him that he was crazy, and would loose all his business. When they saw that he continued to grow and grow they decided to follow suit. I will have to ask him what year that was.
Joan
Joan
Our history
My husband's grandfather, Ed, started our current business in 1929. Prior to that, the Ed's brother, DeForest, had taken over the business from the Great-grandfather (E.C. Ludwig), but went out of business. DeForest was a charter member of FTD.
Attached is a photo of E.C. Ludwig's stall in the Market House in Allegheny, PA, now the Northside of Pittsburgh. The date on the photo says 1895. Funny thing, we never knew about this photo. A former employee found it in an antique shop in Meadville, PA and purchased it, thinking we might know who it was!
My husband's grandfather, Ed, started our current business in 1929. Prior to that, the Ed's brother, DeForest, had taken over the business from the Great-grandfather (E.C. Ludwig), but went out of business. DeForest was a charter member of FTD.
Attached is a photo of E.C. Ludwig's stall in the Market House in Allegheny, PA, now the Northside of Pittsburgh. The date on the photo says 1895. Funny thing, we never knew about this photo. A former employee found it in an antique shop in Meadville, PA and purchased it, thinking we might know who it was!
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CHERYL BAKIN
New Member
Great Picture, Linda!!
So wonderful that you "got this back in the family!!"
(Maybe the Heinz Hinstory Center would like a copy...with some of the details you have supplied here).
Regards,
Cheryl
So wonderful that you "got this back in the family!!"
(Maybe the Heinz Hinstory Center would like a copy...with some of the details you have supplied here).
Regards,
Cheryl
"all the flowers were grown by them and everything was delivered by horseback and then bicycle."
How cool ! (history lover here). Ya know, with gas at almost $4.00 a gallon, and flower prices (along with everything else) going up. ..........
Do you think they complained about the price of hay for the horses back then?
Jennifer
How cool ! (history lover here). Ya know, with gas at almost $4.00 a gallon, and flower prices (along with everything else) going up. ..........
Do you think they complained about the price of hay for the horses back then?
Jennifer
Joe Mioux
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PhillyPhlorist
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- Feb 7, 2004
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100 Years for us
How cool! Some really old shops around here...
My Great-Grandfather, Max Rothe started the flower shop in 1908. He was a German immigrant, working as a landscape supervisor. He started the shop on the same land that houses our store today.
Up until the late 80's, we grew most of what we sold: Carns, poms, Iris, Snap, etc... Our main crops were potted plants. We sold to the wholesalers! We had 13 greenhouses, with 2 plastic houses.
I'm the 4th generation owner. We had our 100 year Spring Open Houses the beginning of April, with nearly 300 in attendance.
Attached is a picture of our first delivery van: a 1912/13 Ford Model T "Delivery Van"... This photo was found in between some old newspaper articles about 3 months ago. Before this year, no one knew the original name of the shop was "Max H. Rothe Florist". My Dad was only 4 when Max died. I was only 5 when my Grandfather died. My Dad had major heart surgery when my son (Max) was 4. It was kind-a dicey there thinking that Dad might not make it!
- H.
PS - the building that houses the store today, was the old family home. It was build around 1850. My Grandfather converted the house to the store in 1956.
How cool! Some really old shops around here...
My Great-Grandfather, Max Rothe started the flower shop in 1908. He was a German immigrant, working as a landscape supervisor. He started the shop on the same land that houses our store today.
Up until the late 80's, we grew most of what we sold: Carns, poms, Iris, Snap, etc... Our main crops were potted plants. We sold to the wholesalers! We had 13 greenhouses, with 2 plastic houses.
I'm the 4th generation owner. We had our 100 year Spring Open Houses the beginning of April, with nearly 300 in attendance.
Attached is a picture of our first delivery van: a 1912/13 Ford Model T "Delivery Van"... This photo was found in between some old newspaper articles about 3 months ago. Before this year, no one knew the original name of the shop was "Max H. Rothe Florist". My Dad was only 4 when Max died. I was only 5 when my Grandfather died. My Dad had major heart surgery when my son (Max) was 4. It was kind-a dicey there thinking that Dad might not make it!
- H.
PS - the building that houses the store today, was the old family home. It was build around 1850. My Grandfather converted the house to the store in 1956.
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CHERYL BAKIN
New Member
Herb:
that is so cool!!!!!!!
Great that you and all the others have this history in your business, and are willing to share with us "younger" less, established folks!
I love history!!! I am so proud to be part of an industry that still remembers, and honors our fathers, grandfathers, greatgrandfathers and such. Ask your dad about when women became part of "the business". I would love to hear that answer.
Regards,
Cheryl
that is so cool!!!!!!!
Great that you and all the others have this history in your business, and are willing to share with us "younger" less, established folks!
I love history!!! I am so proud to be part of an industry that still remembers, and honors our fathers, grandfathers, greatgrandfathers and such. Ask your dad about when women became part of "the business". I would love to hear that answer.
Regards,
Cheryl
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