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Prior to the invention of floral foam, florists used chicken wire and newspaper, clay or cedar greens as a base for floral arrangements. Delivering these creations was a gamble, due to "sloshing" water and rough handling in the delivery vehicle. Without a supply of water and nutrients, flowers typically lasted only a day or two.
In 1954, at the age of 65, V.L. Smithers invented the product we all know today as OASIS® Floral Foam. While experimenting with plastic foams in his Smithers Laboratories business, V.L. was glancing at a floral arrangement he had given his wife, when he thought, "If I could find a way to get water into foam, perhaps it would be used as a base for floral arrangements." EUREKA! - OASIS® foam emerged.
The invention of a water-absorbent cellular foam was the first of its kind in the floral trade and revolutionized the floral industry forever. Today, a typical brick of OASIS floral foam saturates in seconds and holds two quarts of liquid. This represents more than 40 times its own weight!
In 1998, V.L. Smithers was profiled in a special exhibit at the National Inventors Hall of Fame, located in Akron, Ohio.
Smithers-Oasis Company continues to be the leading manufacturer and marketer of floral foams and floral foam accessory products in the world. Today, the majority of the company's worldwide sales are floral products. The company is also the developer and leading producer of cellular growing media for the commercial greenhouse grower segment of the horticultural field.
The company continues to be one of the largest supporters of the people and trade associations that make the floral industry what it is today.
Smithers-Oasis diligently pursues a policy of trademark
protection for its strategic products throughout the world. OASIS®
is the registered trademark of Smithers-Oasis Company.
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