This year marks the 95th anniversary of the American Orchid Society. To commemorate the milestone, a series of vintage orchid images are being re-created from 1940s horticulture magazines. The glossy advertisements were groundbreaking and promoted the many uses of cut cattleya flowers in high-society fashion.
Founded in 1921, the society mission was “popularizing orchids and their culture.” At the time, cattleyas were the orchid of choice and women wore the flowers to important social events: a play, an opera, a cocktail party or a fancy reception. A woman wasn’t considered properly dressed unless she wore cattleyas.
In the 1940s, the ‘cattleya craze’ was in full swing and growers were popping up everywhere trying to meet the demand. Hobbyists started adding small greenhouses to their homes, as the price of a single corsage soared to $20. The largest commercial grower, Thomas Young Orchids in Bound Brook, N.J., had 250,000 plants in production and still couldn’t meet the orders for cut flowers.
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