The History of Teleflora Porcelain

Flower bouquets always look better when placed in a vase.

Teleflora was founded in 1934 as a small floral delivery company. Its stock-in-trade was a small vase that accompanied the colorful bouquet. The extra gift was intended to last beyond the life of the flowers as a keepsake around the house.

New Owners

In 1979, Teleflora was purchased by Stewart and Lynda Resnick, one of the more successful entrepreneurial teams in California. Mostly under the guidance of Lynda, Teleflora has used the idea of pairing gifts with flowers to transform to company into the No. 1 flower-selling business in the world.

The Gifts

Since 1979, the porcelain gift that arrives with a Teleflora bouquet is often more than a simple vase. It might be a teacup and saucer, a pitcher, a cookie jar or a candy dish. No matter what the shape of the vessel is, it is still designed to hold an array of blossoms. Sometimes these containers come with small toys, Christmas ornaments or dolls.

The Designers

Many of the vessel designs are collaborations between other companies and Teleflora. From time to time, entities such as Disney, Beatrix Potter, Campbell Soup and Ford have designed gifts that accompany flowers. Some of these items are resold at garage sales, flea markets and thrift shops.

References

• Auction Bytes: Teleflora Keepsakes - Future Collectibles?
• Bee Source: Taking On the Resnicks
• Bloomberg Business Week: Teleflora, LLC

Resources

• Teleflora Company: About Us