If you need yet more examples of Philadelphia’s love for leisure after a nearly month-long celebration living in the euphoric reality of a resounding Super Bowl victory that brought the Eagles their second World Championship in seven years — then I’ve got good news for you.
It’s time for the 196th Annual Philadelphia Flower Show.
The world’s largest, longest running Flower Show that is indoors — Philadelphia’s has run since 1829 but actually dates 24 months earlier when just over 50 men would form the Philadelphia Horticultural Society. When America was treated to the first Flower Show offered to the public two years later — the event featured a mystery flower introduced by Joel Roberts Poinsett (the US Minister to Mexico) in Philadelphia’s own Masonic Hall.
In fact , leisure is as Philadelphia as cheesesteaks and soft pretzels. Industrialization helped to bring arts and crafts to Philadelphia between the 19th and 20th century. It wasn’t just a hobby, it became a Philly movement and would give birth to Philadelphia School of Design for Women in 1848. In 1898 , a partnership between Chestnut Hill Academy and the Wissahickon Inn would contribute to Philadelphia becoming known for stained glass.
Even before beginnings of the inception of the design of the City of Philadelphia by founder William Penn and Pennsylvania Surveyor General Thomas Holme , areas that were incorporated for the showcasing of horticulture around the city including trees bordering its original five squares — Washington, Franklin, Centre, Rittenhouse, and Logan, as well as around Pennsbury Manor. Modern excavations of areas around Philadelphia have uncovered squash, maize, pitseed, and goosefoot.
That horticultural devotion continues to flourish today.
Each year , Philadelphia plays host to the gigantic Flower Show, with the exception of a brief hiatus during the second World War. Americans even flocked to the show during the Great Depression. From Masonic Hall to the Philadelphia Convention Center to the Pennsylvania Convention Center — people have flocked to the beautiful display of botanicals with modern attendance averaging approximately 250,000 people annually.
And that mysterious plant that Joel Roberts Poinsett introduced to the very first Philadelphia Flower Show in 1829? You guessed it — that plant became the Poinsettia.
Michael Thomas Leibrandt is member of the York Road Historical Society and lives and works in Abington Township.
