I would like to know the exact dimensions - height and width - of the 1980’s version of the Roses by Fred Edmunds catalog. I’m making a ‘catalog’ of my orchard for my grandchildren and I’d like to style it on those old catalogs that I loved so much. They were ‘just the right size’. I’m hoping that I can figure out what size paper to use to print mine on.
I wish. I had a ton of them. They were marvels of their era. When the internet was new and I was young, I recycled them… :[
Many years ago, Henry sent me 2 decades of ARS magazines. I have slowly added pages to HMF that I think are so unique in information or images that they should be added. I have added about 2% of what I have in total. It was not a fun process selecting those unique pages, because something happens with those magazines that they degrade and smell really bad. The smell doesn’t wash off for several days.
Example: 'Starlet' rose photos
Sorry that I no longer have the old Edmund’s magazine. I can still see the pictures of Prima Donna and Lloyd Center Supreme in my mind. I still remember visiting Rich Baer at their office every February to pick up my order… like it was yesterday :[
What I ADORED about them were Wini’s descriptions. “The Nile isn’t blue and neither is this rose!” “Fred called it ‘Garden Pity’ at a rose show and I’ve had to refund many orders…” She HATED mauve roses. “Fred won’t let me plant the rose in the garden. I guess he feels one in the house is enough…” (Wini Edmunds rose). I couldn’t wait for their new catalog to arrive! I laughed myself silly. She was a CHARACTER!
Don;
I have catalogs from the 80’s. They measure 8.5" x 5.5" Sometime in the 90’s they switched to the 11" x 8.5" format. Let me know if want any images.
Stephen
Stephen, thanks very much! It is exactly what I need to know.
It would be great if you could post a scan of a page of the offerings with Winnie Edmund’s commentaries. I agree with Kim about those, although I always wondered if they were actually created by a genius professional marketeer - they were just that good.
I’m curious which years you have?
I remember her disparaging remarks about “Garden Pity”, Blue Nile, basically ANY mauve rose, her own Wini Edmunds. I’m trying to remember which one she railed against then had to handle canceled orders because people took it OFF their orders. From people who knew her, that was HER. She had a very “strong” personality with deeply held “opinions”. Fred was diminutive and reportedly was insulted when they named the rose for him as it was such a short grower. I’ve heard stories of Wini’s favorite HUGE squash blossom necklace which she frequently wore. From the stories I’ve heard years ago from people who knew them, those descriptions were HER opinions of the roses.
Don;
84/84, 87/88, 91/92, and 94/95 were all filed where I expected them to be and are all in the above mentioned format. I’m guessing I have more. I’ll take some time tomorrow to scan some pages.
Stephen
Out of memory, was 94/95 Singin in the Rain on the front? I used it in a lot of arrangements and won at the Lloyd Center and Washington Square, when I was very young. Great rose for arrangements. It’s terrible plant habit of pretending to be a small grandiflora lent well to cutting stems. A habit unfortunately discouraged by commercial growers for not being round enough, but it passes on quite readily through Yellow Submarine.
Edmunds carried a lot of good arrangement roses for its time compared to other places. Singin in the Rain, Kardinal 85, Prima Donna, Tineke, etc. Mid-sized cuttable roses with tea form that barely moves make Japanese Ikebana much more approachable.