DIY History | Transcribe | World War II Diaries and Letters | Carroll Steinbeck miscellaneous correspondence, 1943-1947 | Vira Steinbeck to Carroll Steinbeck Page 2

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Carroll Steinbeck miscellaneous correspondence, 1943-1947

Vira Steinbeck to Carroll Steinbeck Page 2

From he deck of a ship at sea or a far-distant field of strife, someone who loves you dearly has sent you a gift of flowers.
He sent them to say he remembers---to tell you that neither time nor distance have dimmed his devotion or lessened his steadfast affection.
His thoughts of the joy they would bring you started them on their journey. We hope that a brief explanation of how these thoughts were transformed into a bouquet of lovely flowers will interest you.
The sender placed the original order at some Army of Marine Corps post exchange, a ship stores, or other service agency. Perhaps your gift was selected from the catalogue available to all American overseas units throughout the world.
The order form carried your name, address, the flowers desired, their cost, the date on which he wanted them delivered, and the sender's name. Regulations permit no special word of greeting, but "flowers are love's truest language"---and your heart will understand.
Filed some time ago, the order was dispatched by regular mail, through Army Exchange Service headquarters in New York City, to the Armed Forces Order Division of Florists' Telegraph Delivery Association. Upon receipt, it was immediately forwarded to a florist member of the Association who makes the delivery.
This is the established procedure which enables our fighting men, wherever they may be, to remember their loved ones at home. But like so many other things in these unsettled times, it occasionally encounters unavoidable delays.
The usual cause is a wrong or incomplete address. The original order may have been written almost illegibly with pencil---in haste or amid the . confusion of war. Many an order is filed by proxy---"Here's five bucks, buddy---when you get back to the PX will you send some flowers for me---to this address." As a result, a name was misspelled or the numerals of a street address transposed. Perhaps the name of the state was omitted. All such errors cause delay.
Many people to whom flowers are sent move and leave no proper forwarding instructions---at least not with persons the florist would logically contact when attempting to make delivery. When moves are made to other cities, orders must be transferred to floral shops in those cities.
Such mistakes are understandable, but correcting them takes time and may prevent delivery on a requested---and often sentimentally significant---day. In every instance, however, the utmost effort is made to locate the addressee---and almost always succeeds eventually.
It may be that the original order specified, let us say, five dollars worth of roses---but instead of roses you receive some other flower. Such substitutions are made of necessity and not from choice.
For reasons every woman appreciates, roses are requested more often than any other flower. But florists have shortages to contend with like everyone else and in even the largest wholesale markets roses frequently are not available. When such is the case, the florist carefully chooses an appropriate substitute. There are scarcities of other varieties, too, and some flowers are not to be had at all during certain seasons---which the sender, thousands of miles from home, does not always stop to realize.
The florists who handle these orders for our boys in uniform give you full value in every case but you should remember that values vary with localities and seasons. It is for this reason that the Army Exchange Service permits substitutions to be made so that the flowers which you receive are the best possible selection at the time and in the locality where you live.
The Florists' Telegraph Delivery Association is a nationwide organization which has served the public for 35 years and every bonded member of the Association is a reputable, foresighted business man who knows his success depends on his integrity. He takes real pride in flowers that will please and thrill you.
He sincerely feels that his honest, wholehearted fulfillment of a serviceman's wishes is a patriotic duty. He hopes you will write, "The flowers you sent me were beautiful."---for he knows the beauty of the thoughts and memories that inspired them.

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From he deck of a ship at sea or a far-distant field of strife, someone who loves you dearly has sent you a gift of flowers. He sent them to say he remembers---to tell you that neither time nor distance have dimmed his devotion or lessened his steadfast affection. His thoughts of the joy they would bring you started them on their journey. We hope that a brief explanation of how these thoughts were transformed into a bouquet of lovely flowers will interest you. The sender placed the original order at some Army of Marine Corps post exchange, a ship stores, or other service agency. Perhaps your gift was selected from the catalogue available to all American overseas units throughout the world. The order form carried your name, address, the flowers desired, their cost, the date on which he wanted them delivered, and the sender's name. Regulations permit no special word of greeting, but "flowers are love's truest language"---and your heart will understand. Filed some time ago, the order was dispatched by regular mail, through Army Exchange Service headquarters in New York City, to the Armed Forces Order Division of Florists' Telegraph Delivery Association. Upon receipt, it was immediately forwarded to a florist member of the Association who makes the delivery. This is the established procedure which enables our fighting men, wherever they may be, to remember their loved ones at home. But like so many other things in these unsettled times, it occasionally encounters unavoidable delays. The usual cause is a wrong or incomplete address. The original order may have been written almost illegibly with pencil---in haste or amid the . confusion of war. Many an order is filed by proxy---"Here's five bucks, buddy---when you get back to the PX will you send some flowers for me---to this address." As a result, a name was misspelled or the numerals of a street address transposed. Perhaps the name of the state was omitted. All such errors cause delay. Many people to whom flowers are sent move and leave no proper forwarding instructions---at least not with persons the florist would logically contact when attempting to make delivery. When moves are made to other cities, orders must be transferred to floral shops in those cities. Such mistakes are understandable, but correcting them takes time and may prevent delivery on a requested---and often sentimentally significant---day. In every instance, however, the utmost effort is made to locate the addressee---and almost always succeeds eventually. It may be that the original order specified, let us say, five dollars worth of roses---but instead of roses you receive some other flower. Such substitutions are made of necessity and not from choice. For reasons every woman appreciates, roses are requested more often than any other flower. But florists have shortages to contend with like everyone else and in even the largest wholesale markets roses frequently are not available. When such is the case, the florist carefully chooses an appropriate substitute. There are scarcities of other varieties, too, and some flowers are not to be had at all during certain seasons---which the sender, thousands of miles from home, does not always stop to realize. The florists who handle these orders for our boys in uniform give you full value in every case but you should remember that values vary with localities and seasons. It is for this reason that the Army Exchange Service permits substitutions to be made so that the flowers which you receive are the best possible selection at the time and in the locality where you live. The Florists' Telegraph Delivery Association is a nationwide organization which has served the public for 35 years and every bonded member of the Association is a reputable, foresighted business man who knows his success depends on his integrity. He takes real pride in flowers that will please and thrill you. He sincerely feels that his honest, wholehearted fulfillment of a serviceman's wishes is a patriotic duty. He hopes you will write, "The flowers you sent me were beautiful."---for he knows the beauty of the thoughts and memories that inspired them.