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Hippie Flower Sellers

Submitted by clex on Tue, 11/04/2008 - 8:23am. Outdoors | People

Today, there are pan handlers on every street corner. Back in the good old days, there were hippie flower sellers. Remember them? I think they were officially called "The Flower People". They each had a white plastic bucket of long stem carnations and each had their own style of marketing and actually put some effort into it. The main technique I recall was their ability to twirl a long-stem flower on their index finger for hours. Much like watching someone spin a basketball or ride a unicycle, it look effortless and easy.

Effortless and easy... that pretty much describes the culture of the times that allowed not only the omnipresence of these hippies of commerce but also allowed one of them to rise up to run the circus:

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Nice to be here with you guys

Submitted by KimkasJK on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 1:19pm.

Thanks for the helpful post.
KimkasJKK

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Max

Submitted by Greg S. on Wed, 03/30/2011 - 10:58am.

The comment about max got me, I have to respond. He got elected by hard work. I have been involved in politics, and I know how much work it is. Thet guy talked to everyone, asked them for a vote, and then sold many of them a flower. He got elected the same way he sold more flowers than anyone else, hard work! And twerling the flowers is a lot easer if you put a pin in the end of the stem.:)

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I was a flower seller

Submitted by squirrel on Thu, 06/03/2010 - 1:31pm.

I was one of those flower sellers in the early eighties, my usual corner was Lamar and Oltorf. I was very young and attractive at the time and that was the extent of my marketing strategy (never learnt to twirl) but it worked well. I used to get terribly sunburnt though.

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One of the most famous "flower people" is

Submitted by jschmidt78704 on Sun, 05/09/2010 - 3:04pm.

Max Nofzinger, a flower twirler turned into a damn good city council member. I'm still not sure how he pulled that one off. I have come to know Max in the last few years and found him to also be a good musician and a great short stop. Max for Mayor in 2020

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