Tag: holidays

Tradition is in Full Bloom at Kuhn Flowers

~ Karen J Rieley, M.A. ~ Leave a comment

kuhnMy article #4 for First Coast Magazine appeared in its February 2016 issue. I was asked to write about a Jacksonville institution – Kuhn Flowers. The floral shop was long-established before I moved to Jacksonville in 1978, and its history is one of a true love story, most fitting for the month of roses, sweet nothings and romance. Read more here.

Valentine’s Day is Kuhn’s largest volume day, with more than 2,000 deliveries out of the Beach store alone. That requires 150 delivery people and 150 delivery vehicles. The store’s large volume allows it to buy flowers directly from growers, not via wholesalers, from around the world.

Kuhn Flowers was built with love. Nancy was the floral designer, and Bob Kuhn marketed and managed the business. Bob had worked in greenhouses as a kid, so opening Kuhn Flowers was a natural next set for him. Nancy and Bob married, and Kuhn Flowers became their life. It was the only business they ever owned. Bob bought up a number of smaller floral shops and rolled them into Kuhn Flowers after he relocated to Beach Boulevard in 1958. The Ponte Vedra Beach store is Kuhn’s only branch. “They both worked every day until they were about 70,” Howard says. They retired in 1984.

While no Kuhn family member is still a part of the business, traditions started by Nancy and Bob Kuhn 68 years ago, in the store’s first location in downtown Jacksonville, are still kept alive today. The seasonal celebration in Kuhn Flowers’ two-story storefront window is a Jacksonville destination, not just for locals, but regionally as well. Christmas decorations are up by Nov. 1 and stay up for 60 days.

“It used to be a tradition for many families to have Thanksgiving dinner and then pile everyone in the car to come see our Christmas window,” Howard says. McCall has revived the Kuhn window tradition for holidays. Santa has visited the store for the past seven years for children to have photos taken. “We hope to have the Easter Bunny visit as well,” McCall says. And, at Halloween, the employees dress up in costumes. And of course, there is a rose in every arrangement that leaves the store on Valentine’s Day. Both McCall and Howard buy their daughters flowers every Valentine’s Day. They do this to set an example for them, illustrating how women should be celebrated by the men in their lives.

“My best advice to a guy is to start now developing a personal relationship with a floral shop that delivers,” McCall says. “Then, the week before Valentine’s Day, he can call the store to have flowers delivered to his girl on Wednesday or Thursday before Sunday’s Valentine’s Day. This gives her plenty of time to show off to her girlfriends how much she is loved.”

The Classic Bar Cabinet offers exquisite entertaining

~ Karen J Rieley, M.A. ~ Leave a comment

My third First Coast Magazine story has hit the streets! You can read about the classic bar cabinet as an essential piece for entertaining made famous first by David C. Rockola in the “Front Door” section of the December issue.

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Lisa McVie would be glad to show you this original, black, 1930s Rock-Ola bar cabinet with a red interior that houses alcohol, glassware and barware alike. The Rock-Ola label is carved into the back. The furniture is displayed in her space at Avonlea Antiques & Design Gallery on Philips Highway.

Here is the my original article as submitted to the magazine. It was shortened by editors to meet space requirements.

Thirteen years after Jay Gatsby’s fateful summer of 1922 in The Great Gatsby, David C. Rockola, inventor of the RMC jukebox, filed a patent for a “new, original and ornamental design for a Bar Cabinet,” that would have knocked the stylish dress socks off Gatsby. Lisa McVie would be glad to show you this original, black, 1930s Rock-Ola bar cabinet with a red interior that houses alcohol, glassware and barware alike. The Rock-Ola label is carved into the back. The furniture is displayed in her space at Avonlea Antiques & Design Gallery on Philips Highway.

Rockola, who changed his name to Rock-Ola, because so many people mispronounced it without the hyphen, went on to make many styles of bar cabinets, scales, parking meters, pinball machines and furniture. He was best known, however, for his coin-operated jukeboxes.

Some blame the decline of cocktails and highballs on Prohibition. Despite the law that made alcoholic beverages illegal, cocktails were still consumed in speakeasies. However, the quality of liquor available during Prohibition was much worse, because focus shifted from quality aging to ease of producing liquor illicitly. Honey, fruit juices and other flavorings served to mask the foul taste of the inferior liquors. Sweet cocktails were easier to drink quickly and disguised the presence of liquor, an important consideration when the establishment might be raided at any moment. Cocktails that were popular in the 1960s, 70s and 80s lost their elegant status once they were prepared with sugary pre-made mixes that skimped on quality.

But today, craft cocktails focus on fresh juices and ingredients, and their status has been revived. With the craft cocktail revolution in the last decade, sophisticated bars as discreet as speakeasies are making a comeback as well. As with Gatsby in the 20s, the ad men of, well, “Mad Men” in the 60s and the women of “Sex in The City” in the 90s, it’s not just about drinking; it’s about the ritual, the exquisite lifestyle and the desire to treat guests special, especially during the holidays.

“Would you like something from the bar – a gin Martini, Mint Julep, Manhattan, Old-Fashioned, perhaps a Sidecar, Stinger or Rusty Nail? Why, certainly, I have all the makings right here.” <Clink> Here’s to your holidays being the most special ever.