The greenhouses where I work used to be a fairly famous site for orchid blooms grown for corsages. It was the original Baker Greenhouses in Utica NY, and in the 50's Mr. Baker hired a Mr. Joseph Filipkowski from New Jersey. Joe worked as the Head Orchid Grower, producing I believe Cattleya mossiae, Phal and Cymbidium hybrid (maybe all species) blooms to be sold mainly in the New York City and surrounding areas (including upstate ny) at certain times of the year to be used in traditional orchid corsages. It was a very intensive, hands-on job controlling the environment so that the orchid blooms were in prime flower for the appropriate holiday. Back then there were no computers controlling the vents and heating, just lots of people who worked their station and pretty much nothing else. Bakers was known for it's high-quality orchid blooms, and Joe was responsible for that quality.
I worked with Joe from 1998 to about 2005 when he was sort of pushed into retirement. He lived right next door to the greenhouse ranges, and used to climb the fence to go to work! One day they presented him with a ladder to go over the fence and eventually they just cut the fence down so that he could walk through. Joe would tell me all about his orchid growing years (they also produced long-stem rose blossoms) and how they used to go about doing everything; whenever I would ask him about being a speaker at our orchid club he would always say that he really didn't have anything he could present (which was very funny because he could talk for hours and hours) so I never had that much real information that I could write down, but it was a colorful history just the same. I did have one picture he found that showed him as a much younger man in the middle of a greenhouse filled with cattleya mossiae blooms, but I have no idea where that picture is, now.
Joe passed away peacefully with his family present last weekend and the services were yesterday (thursday), unfortunately the same day I was having surgery; Joe was 81 years of age. The days of orchids being grown for corsages in the U.S. are long gone, and not many people know about how they used to be grown, packaged and shipped around the country, but at least you all can know that there was one person who used to do this, and do it very well! I have a little more information about Joe and where donations could be made to a local hospice if anyone is interested.
...and no, i'm sorry, there weren't any paphs or phrags used for corsages back then!
I worked with Joe from 1998 to about 2005 when he was sort of pushed into retirement. He lived right next door to the greenhouse ranges, and used to climb the fence to go to work! One day they presented him with a ladder to go over the fence and eventually they just cut the fence down so that he could walk through. Joe would tell me all about his orchid growing years (they also produced long-stem rose blossoms) and how they used to go about doing everything; whenever I would ask him about being a speaker at our orchid club he would always say that he really didn't have anything he could present (which was very funny because he could talk for hours and hours) so I never had that much real information that I could write down, but it was a colorful history just the same. I did have one picture he found that showed him as a much younger man in the middle of a greenhouse filled with cattleya mossiae blooms, but I have no idea where that picture is, now.
Joe passed away peacefully with his family present last weekend and the services were yesterday (thursday), unfortunately the same day I was having surgery; Joe was 81 years of age. The days of orchids being grown for corsages in the U.S. are long gone, and not many people know about how they used to be grown, packaged and shipped around the country, but at least you all can know that there was one person who used to do this, and do it very well! I have a little more information about Joe and where donations could be made to a local hospice if anyone is interested.
...and no, i'm sorry, there weren't any paphs or phrags used for corsages back then!
