What did flower arrangements look like in 1908? If you are familiar with Dutch Master oil paintings, you may have an idea.  Painters in this period often painted still lifes of lush, opulent flower arrangements.  Roses and dahlias were popular, as were jewel tones mixed with light pastels.  Arrangements were often loose, asymmetrical, in a garden style, and spilling out of metal or stone containers.

Kahn, Donovan, Dees, and Kahn Law celebrated their 110th anniversary last Thursday and we were tasked with creating arrangements that would have been similar to those 110 years ago.

I doubt imported flowers were available in Evansville in 1908. So, I checked with three of our local farms to see what they would have available and started to make my plan.

We had beautiful dahlias from Wild Willow Farms, zinnias, celosia and solidago from Timberview Flower Farm, and other zinnias, celosia, and unique foliage from Darnell School Farm.  I did use some non-local flowers, specifically roses.  Roses were so popular then but unfortunately, we do not have any commercial rose growers in our area.

We used our vintage gold containers for the majority of the arrangements.

The arrangements were spread throughout KDDK’s large office and bud vases were set on bistro tables throughout the space.

What do you think of this style?  What was the most unique aspect for you?