Ethel Merman's hotel room was teeming with magnolias, chrysanthemums and carnations to celebrate her San Francisco opening last week in Gypsy. Though allergic to flowers, Songstress Merman did not sneeze once. The flowers were all fake.
Artificial flowers for allergic actresses are only one use of the U.S.'s flowering bogus-blossom bloom. Imports from Italy and Hong Kong, which manufacture the bulk of the world's fake-flower output, have jumped more than 20 times since 1955. It is now a $50 million-a-year business. Of poor quality in the past, imitation lilacs, rhododendrons, geraniums, magnolias...
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