FTD Flowers history

Also in 1914, FTD began using the Mercury Man logo, comprised of the Greek god Mercury in a winged cap and winged sandals striding along with a bouquet of flowers held in his outstretched arm.

In 1933 the company launched National Shut-In Day, a day to remember invalids, and hired to advertise the event actress Mary Pickford, gossip columnist and celebrity radio commentator Walter Winchell, and singer Kate Smith.

On November 1, 1946, FTD established International Florists, Inc., to sell its flowers by wire all over the world.

Because of its growing international presence, Florists' Telegraph Delivery changed its name in 1965 to Florists' Transworld Delivery.

By 1969, FTD was processing more than 12 million orders annually.

By 1974, the florists' cooperative had about 13,500 members.

In 1983, FTD began using former NFL Hall of Fame football star, sports announcer, and actor Merlin Olsen as a spokesperson in its television ads.

One such competitor was 1-800-Flowers, a company that had been losing money in 1987 when it was bought by Jim McCann, a former social worker.

Beginning in 1990, FTD tried to reach a younger audience, too, placing ads in such magazines as Vogue, Rolling Stone, and Sports Illustrated.

The FTD Bundle of Joy bouquet came attached to an assortment of Gerber products, including a baby bottle and a toy. For example, in 1991 FTD ran a cooperative venture with Gerber Products Co., the renowned baby food and baby products manufacturer.

The company conducted a focus group in 1992 in Atlanta, surveying 18-to-25-year-old women who had recently used a florist for their weddings.

The year 1993 saw the debut of the Chicken Soup Bouquet, a joint venture with Campbell's Soup Co. to combine a get-well floral bouquet with a Campbell's mug and a packet of instant chicken soup.

The new for-profit company, FTD Inc., organized in November 1994.

Leaving Stride Rite in 1995, she accepted an offer to become CEO of Florists Transworld Delivery (FTD), a federation of commercial florists.

In 1996 FTD florists were relying on outdated monochrome PCs which simply listed the different kinds of bouquets available.

In 1998, when a corporate headhunter first approached her to lead the online auction company eBay, Whitman was not interested.

Whitman retired from eBay in 2008.

After spending a record-breaking $81 million on her primary campaign, she secured the Republican gubernatorial nomination in June 2010.

In early 2011 Whitman became a member of Hewlett-Packard’s board of directors.

Whitman became CEO of the latter, but in November 2017 it was announced that she would step down early the following year.