Description
Book SynopsisAvid flower man James Vick ingrained a nationwide conviction that no home was complete without flowers and transformed the ordinary, nineteenth-century American mail-order seed business with an unprecedented marketing strategy.
Trade Review“Discover the history of one of the largest Victorian-era mailorder seed catalogs in the United States as well as bygone trends in gardening in this well-researched book by Thomas J. Mickey. Mickey takes an insightful look at how (James) Vick transformed the seed business and beautified thousands of American gardens. Readers will also learn about 19th-century landscape design elements and plants that are still used in today’s gardens.” * The American Gardener *
“A well-researched…. fascinating account of a long-forgotten, energetic man who single handedly changed the face of
American horticulture.”
* Hortus *
“Showcasing a nineteenth-century entrepreneur’s bold, innovative marketing that helped transform flower gardens into one of America’s favorite hobbies, All about Flowers … is a beautifully illustrated and impressively informative history that will have special appeal to the legions of dedicated flower gardeners and students of nineteenth-century American capitalism.” * Midwest Book Review *
“Replete with colorful floral illustrations, this book about James Vick and his nineteenth-century seed company shows how he used innovative mass marketing and regular customer correspondence to build one of the largest and most respected seed companies in the United States. As a writer, horticulturist, and businessman, Vick deserves to be recognized as a man whose knowledge and influence spread worldwide during his lifetime. This book is long overdue.”
“Illuminating reading for those interested in the history of horticulture and landscape design, or nineteenth-century American culture.” * Library Journal *
“Thomas Mickey has brought to life the work of nineteenth-century flower seedsman James Vick through historical documents, catalogs, customer testimonials and charming illustrations. In
All about Flowers, Mickey reveals where our enduring love for flowers came from and examines the role flower gardening played in the Victorian era, particularly for women.”
“
All about Flowers makes an indispensable contribution to the history of US ornamental horticulture.”
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Vick the Writer
Chapter 2: Flowers in the Garden: Flora, Goddess of Flowers
Chapter 3: The Garden Industry in the Nineteenth Century
Chapter 4: Women and Flowers
Chapter 5: Flower Garden Fashion
Chapter 6: The Vick Seed Company: Founded on Flowers
Chapter 7: The Garden Catalog: Means of Business
Chapter 8: Promoting the Seed Business
Chapter 9: Building His Business
Chapter 10: Vick Lays Out the Flower Garden
Chapter 11: Vick Sells the Same Flowers Year after Year
Chapter 12: Victorian Flowers That Vick Loved
Chapter 13: Vick’s Success: We Still Love His Victorian Flowers
Conclusion
Postscript
Notes
Bibliography
Index
