African Violet Roots - The First Show

The First African Violet Show in 1947

Flower enthusiasts of Atlanta, Georgia, were spellbound by the tremendous interest shown in the African violet show held in the H. G. Hastings Co. showroom on November 8 and 9. The traffic jam in front of the Hastings store rated newspaper headlines and reports in the press told how extra policemen had to be assigned to keep the crowd orderly before the show opened. In a word, African violets took Atlanta by storm!

Considering publicity and promotion, it was by far the greatest, in point of interest and attendance, of any similar show ever staged in the South. There was also the greatest interest in club promotion ever seen in the Atlanta area, there being two African violet societies formed on the evening of November 8.

To get down to statistics, 203 persons exhibited 478 individual plants in the show. About 1500 people were expected to view the exhibition, and that number of cultural pamphlets were prepared for distribution among the visitors. A very conservative estimate, however, was that 8,000 people attended over the two days. Visitors came from 103 cities and towns in 14 states - Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Michigan, Iowa, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Texas. Exhibits came from five states - Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina.

The show committee adopted a classification schedule of eight main classes, based on color groupings, and 31 sections of named varieties. The eighth class, calling for "best collection of five named varieties in pots not over 5 inches in diameter," drew entries from both individuals and garden club groups. The details of the schedule are given in the accompanying table.

Among the many letters - from 29 states - asking for particulars about the show, there were a number inquiring if the rumored yellow African violet would be on display. Apparently hundreds of growers had heard of this elusive color but no one had ever seen it. As a matter of fact, however, there is no such color as yellow in the genus saintpanlia.

Mrs. R. H. Dobbs, Jr., of Atlanta, won the award for the "best entry in the show" with her magnificent specimen of Blue Boy. Mrs. Pat Crowe of Rossville, Ga., won the sweepstakes award for the greatest number of points, while Mrs. H. G. Carter of Atlanta was runner-up with just one point less.

National and local societies formed. Following a showing by Gates Dunn and Boyce Edens of a motion picture on African violet culture on the evening of November 8, the group began organization proceedings for both a national and a local African violet society.

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