The story of this year’s annual flower show at Macy’s (which occupies the historic Marshall Fields building here in Chicago on State St) was very fitting since winter is still hanging on. The show usually takes place the last week in March and the first week in April.
Here’s a quick version of the story. Once upon a time, the noble King of Time had 4 daughters; Princesses Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Queen Snow. He gave them four equal seasons to reign over.
Well, Queen Snow thought that since she was the oldest and a queen, winter should last the longest. So she casts an awful blizzard on the last Winter’s Eve over the entire kingdom. It froze the astronomical clock and stopped the seasons from changing.
It was the beginning of March, and Spring was nowhere to be found, so Alden (the furry-tailed rabbit) went to find Princess Spring to see what was going on. He found she had fallen ill, partly because of the awful winter weather and that she hadn’t had a visit yet from Bart & his traveling wagon where she would get her elixirs & magic potion that helped her transition the seasons.
The cruel, harsh weather made it impossible for Bart to travel. They found out from Godmother Nature that Snow Queen was responsible. Princess Spring had an idea! What if Dagny the Dragon could use her fire breath to melt the snow and ice then Bart & his traveling wagon could make the journey to Princess Spring’s castle.
They set off to ask Dagny for help, but alas, the evil Snow Queen had imprisoned her. But Alden and the rest of the forest animals in the Kingdom had a plan to rescue Dagny. It worked! They set Dagny free, and in return, she sent long, flaming breaths over the land, melting everything.
Bart was finally able to reach Princess Spring. She took the elixir, cured her illness, and gave the magic potion to the butterflies to disperse it throughout the kingdom. Happily, Spring did, in fact, finally return.
I am an independent tour guide, and Macy’s is one of my clients. Besides giving Historical, Educational & Holiday Traditions tours, I especially look forward to giving Flower Show tours every year. I bet you didn’t know it started as a fragrance promotion in the cosmetics department in San Francisco back in 1946.
I hope you enjoyed reading about the annual flower show at Macy’s (aka Marshall Fields). This post is for my Mom, who can name pretty much every flower there is, with love from one of the flowers in your garden.