A Tale as Old as Time: Recycling Theater Bouquets in 1874

"When the man told her the flowers would cost twenty dollars, the actress said the price was too much for one night.

But then the gentleman had an idea.

He said twenty dollars could be sufficient for two nights and explained how his plan would work."

July 25, 1874

On this day, the Opelousas Courier shared a story from Berlin called "A Case of Floral Offerings."

The story was about an actress playing the role of a female Hamlet.

She wanted bouquets and wreaths thrown at her at the end of her performance and asked a man to help her.

When the man told her the flowers would cost twenty dollars, the actress said the price was too much for one night.

But then the gentleman had an idea.

He said twenty dollars could be sufficient for two nights and explained how his plan would work.

He said,

"Today, I and my men will throw the bouquets to you from the first tier.

After the performance is over, I shall take the flowers home with me in a basket [and] put them in the water...

Tomorrow night [we will toss them at your feet again].

No one in the audience will know that the bouquets have been used before."

The actress loved the man's ingenious plan and happily paid him the money.