Chicago Florist Celebrates 50 Years in Business

There isn’t a flower Jim Harney hasn’t seen. Harney says he’s made floral arrangements using every flower on earth. Harney, 70, opened his flower business when he was only 19. This year his shop, Aberdeen‘s Wedding Flowers, celebrated its 50th anniversary making it one of the oldest floral businesses in Chicago.

In the late 1950’s, Harney worked for Sydney Dell Florists, a florist company that focused mainly on funerals. “I hated funerals — seeing people crying,” he said.

Harney opened his first store at 5802 W. Montrose Ave. in Chicago and within the first year he delivered bouquets to more than 500 weddings.  He eventually moved to a larger store at 3829 N. Harlem Ave. and after a few years, Harney opened  shops in Arlington Heights, Vernon Hills, Villa Park and Oak Park, but he didn’t stop there.

When he learned that President Richard Nixon’s daughter Tricia was getting married,  he contacted the country’s largest rose farmer in California and convinced the owners to name a new hybrid rose “The Tricia Rose.” Along with his family he was invited to the White House to present the rose to the president’s daughter.

“She naturally loved [the ivory rose with a pink outlining of the petals] and she wanted to use them at her wedding,” said Harney.

In 1969 he did the flowers for the wedding of singer Tiny Tim and Miss Vickie. Because the wedding took place in winter, Harney purchased 10,000 tulips from Holland.

Through his friendship with Chicago radio personality Wally Phillips, he got in touch with the “Tonight Show,” which was broadcasting the wedding live. He offered to provide tulips. The show’s production staff was reluctant at first and then got back in touch with him when their florist couldn’t find tulips, he said.

Harney said he was proud when Tiny Tim said, “I would like to thank Aberdeen’s Florist in Chicago for providing all the tulips for our wedding.”

Some of his other notable weddings include Gov. Jim Thompson’s daughter, as well as the daughter of Malcolm X and a dance school teacher who had 134 students as her attendants. However, Harney said his favorite weddings were for his own daughters, Shelly, Anita and Amy.

Looking back over his career, Harney said one of his most memorable weddings occurred during Chicago’s big snow storm in 1967 when many brides-to-be canceled their wedding flowers except one woman who made sure her wedding took place despite the weather.

As the traditions for weddings have changed, so has the business. More people marry on a smaller scale, he said. Aberdeen’s stays busy all year with about 1,000 weddings a year.

Flowers are delivered to his store from all over the world including Hawaii, Ecuador, Columbia and Holland. The shipping takes only two days.

“I’ve been working for this business for 30 years and I can’t imagine doing something else,” said Tina Mangione, a designer at Aberdeen’s. Her mother, Vilge D’Avanzo, an Italian immigrant has worked with the company for 36 years.

Rita Mancini started her job as a stemmer 15 years ago. She remembers when the florist had to hire more than 100 people because they were not able to handle all the work with the regular crew.

The florist business is not the only thing that keeps Aberdeen’s busy. Inspired by Phillips’ Neediest Children’s Fund, Harney started his own fund five years ago before Christmas to deliver toys to needy children. The 100 Percent Foundation collects toys and organizing trips to the circus and zoo.

Last year, Harney’s staff collected more than 10,000 toys for kids in Cook, DuPage and Lake County hospitals, Harney said.

“When I see these poor children, I start to question God and at the same time I’m very thankful that my family is healthy,” said Harney. “This is what I want to do after I retire. This is what makes me happy.”