History of Flower Giving

Modern day flower delivery is merely an extension of a long history of flower giving as a token of admiration, love and friendship that dates back to ancient Egypt. Flowers were symbols of beauty and were used to gift royalty in ancient times. Ancient Egyptians also used the oils from the flowers to create perfumes.

In modern times, Valentines Day has been the traditional day for giving flowers and dates back to the middle ages and was once considered to be a Christian holiday. There is a history of people having recognized Valentines Day as February 14 as far back as the middle ages with evidence that it existed much longer than that.

In Victorian times, gift giving became very much in vogue for this holiday that was celebrated between sweethearts. While flowers were given as gifts, cards were also created to be given to a sweetheart on this day. Towards the middle of the 20th century, it became popular for other people to celebrate this holiday.

Flower delivery dates back to the early 20th century when florists began to not just sell flowers but deliver them in boxes to those for whom they were ordered. The custom was for the person who wanted the flower delivery to send a telegram to the florist that was close to the flower delivery destination and request a flower delivery. There were no networks of florists at this time.

In the late 1960s, as flower delivery became more prevalent for holidays, especially when it came to Valentines Day, florists began to network with one another formally and formed FTD - which was the first florist network. This meant that you could place an order with your florist for a flower delivery and they could give the order to someone in the network that was close to the delivery point.

Telephone flower networks made this even easier in the 1980s and increased the ability to get flower delivery across the miles on the same day. You no longer had to go into the florist to place an order; you could just pick up the phone and conveniently get a flower delivery.

Of all of the flower delivery that was once used, only the telephone delivery and local florist delivery options are used today along with internet ordering. Internet ordering is one step better than ordering by phone as you actually get to see the flowers that you are ordering for a flower delivery. Flower giving goes way back in time, only the method of ordering has changed.

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