Dear Vance: I recently bought a box of old Memphis items, and inside was half of a matchbook advertising Owen’s Florist. Where was it, and happened to it? — F.G., Memphis.
Dear F.G.: The tiny illustration shows a handsome business, with a canopy stretching from the front door to the street. The building is older than I expected. In 1932, Thomas and Norman Owen from Columbus, Mississippi, opened their firm at 1455 Union. I was about to add “in the shadow of Kimbrough Tower” but that landmark apartment tower didn’t open until seven years later. In the early 1930s, that now-busy stretch of Union was home to the Nineteenth Century Club, the Ness Gift Shoppe, and Pig ’n’ Whistle barbecue. Everything else was private residences or apartment buildings.
Throughout the 1930s, half-inch newspaper ads for Owen’s Florist promised customers would find “Prices You Can Afford To Pay,” but didn’t tell them (or me) much more about the company. Even so, the florist, well, flourished. Ten years after opening, their ads claimed they were now “The South’s Largest” and listed three phone numbers — unusual at the time. A 1949 Valentine’s Day promotion finally hinted at their inventory; roses were $5/dozen, gardenia corsages cost $3, and other offerings included violets, camellias, hyacinths, and “assorted boxes.”
I don’t know what happened to the Owens, but new owners took over that same year, when Otto and Elizabeth Long bought the property but kept the original name. In 1952, however, they moved across the street, occupying two bays at 1434-1436 Union, while opening the Otto Long School of Floral Design.
Everything came to an end, as far as I can tell, in 1965, when the Longs moved to Ohio and sold the business to other owners, who had no plans to sell flowers there. Over the years, that address on Union became Syndicate Realty, Dial Finance, and Hull-Dobbs Insurance. Today, that space holds Edible Arrangements and Papa John’s Pizza.
And the original location at Union and Kimbrough? The little building was demolished in 1950 to make way for the striking art deco headquarters of Kensinger Insurance, noted for its distinctive sculptures at the entrance by Ted Rust, longtime president of Memphis College of Art. Since 1972, the property has been home to Memphis Dermatology Clinic.
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Email: askvance@memphismagazine.com
Mail: Vance Lauderdale, Memphis Magazine, P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38103
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