Philadelphia Flower Show
Philadelphia PA
2015

The Philadelphia Flower Show is an annual event produced by The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and traditionally held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in early March. It is the oldest and largest indoor flower show in the world, attracting more than 250,000 people annually.

Celebrate the Movies 2015 Theme
The 2015 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show opens to the public on Saturday, February 28th (and runs through March 8th) at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The Philadelphia Flower Show is the world’s oldest and largest indoor flower show and attracts more than a quarter of a million visitors each year.

The theme for the the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show is “Celebrate the Movies”, with many of the stunning displays inspired by Disney and Pixar movies. Green Thumb, meet Silver Screen. In an addition to the overall show theme, there are many themed afternoon and evening events including ‘Wedding Wednesday’, ‘Girls Night Out’, ‘Cinderella Sunday’, and ‘Fido Friday’.

http://www.victor-victrola.com/History.htm

The foundations for the Victor Talking Machine Company date back to the late 1880's, when a creative entrepreneur named Emile Berliner invented the mass-production flat phonograph record. Thomas Edison had invented the cylinder phonograph ten years earlier in 1877, but there was no practical way to mass-duplicate his cylinders at that time. Berliner's flat-disc design allowed copies to be made of audio recordings in the manner of a printing press. The story of Victor's emergence as the giant in the phonograph industry is complex, and many comprehensive descriptions can be found online; but as a brief summary, Berliner asked Eldridge Johnson (picture at left), the owner of a small machine shop in Camden, New Jersey, to assist him in developing and manufacturing a low-cost spring-wound motor for his disc phonograph. The resulting product showed much promise, and Berliner continued to expand his phonograph operations. However, there were already several competitors in the mix who were battling for a share of the growing market for these early talking machines. Berliner had limited capital to support his new business, but his tenacious efforts kept the operation going for a few years despite a legal "free-for-all" between rival business owners. Competitors charged each other with patent infringements and dishonest practices via a seemingly endless stream of litigation. Berliner was eventually forced out of the market in the USA, and subsequently moved to Montreal Canada where he continued his phonograph production operations. Through hard work, the development of strong partnerships and astute business decisions, Eldridge Johnson soon emerged as the dominant force in the business using the Berliner patents as the basis for his products, and incorporated his new operations as the "Consolidated Talking Machine Company". The business was reorganized in the fall of 1901 as "The Victor Talking Machine Company". Victor quickly became the major player in the explosively growing phonograph market. From his experiences in working with Mr. Berliner, Johnson had already learned a great deal about the emerging home entertainment market, as well as in the efficient production of phonographs. In 1901, phonographs were still basically "crude novelties", which neither sounded very good, nor performed very reliably. But people loved the idea of listening to bands play, or to hear an opera singer belt-out a Wagnerian masterpiece. And many opportunities for improvement of this novel invention were quickly identified.