Potpourri, a mixture of dried flowers, herbs, and other plants, has been used for centuries to provide fragrance in people’s homes. In the United States, potpourri was not well known during most of the twentieth century and was not mass produced. It either had to be home made or purchased at small specialty stores. Potpourri began to become popular amongst the wealthy in 1970s and slowly began to enter the mainstream in the 1980s. Potpourri became especially popular after the introduction of potpourri pots in the mid 1980s, which allowed someone to simmer potpourri in water over a stove top or a candle.
On this date in 1989, The Bismarck Tribune reported that Dick Gerlach of Bismarck was taking advantage of the sudden popularity of potpourri. The 80-year-old Mr. Gerlach harvested the petals from his 87 rose bushes to make potpourri, which he sold at the downtown Bismarck giftshop The Plum Tree. Mr. Gerlach began growing roses in 1949. When all his roses were in bloom, he could pick about 40 roses a day. His roses became so well known that rose grower Jackson & Perkins Company in Oregon had a photo of Mr. Gerlach’s roses in their office.
Mr. Gerlach’s daughter, Dee Meisner, came up with the idea to enter the potpourri business, so Mr. Gerlach started to save rose petals in the late summer of 1987. He dried them on a screen in his basement, added drops of scented oils, and bagged them up, with a handwritten tag for each bag.
Mr. Gerlach’s potpourri was a hit. He came up six different scents. Along with his daughter he also sold handmade doll houses, and doll clothing sown by his daughter.
Gerlach was born in 1908 in Germany and grew up with roses. He immigrated to Bismarck in 1928 and worked as a tinsmith, founding his own sheet metal and air conditioning business in 1932. Mr. Gerlach was very involved in the Bismarck community, as a charter member of the Bismarck Lions Club, Plainsmen, and Bismarck Shrine Club.
Mr. Gerlach passed away in 2002 at 93 years old.
Dakota Datebook by Trista Raezer-Stursa
Sources:
- Author Unknown. “Richard Gerlach,” The Bismarck Tribune, June 20, 2002, pg. 13C.
- Dullea, Georgia. “What’s that Smell? Probably, It’s Potpourri,” The New York Times, February 15, 1990.
- Feickert, Gloria. “Growing Roses a Labor of Love,” The Bismarck Tribune, June 7, 1987, pg. E4.
- Feickert, Gloria. “Potpourri Preserves His Roses,” The Bismarck Tribune, November 13, 1987, pg. C1.
- Strom, Stephanie. “All about/Home Fragrance; a Waft of Potpourri, of Mint – The Scent Trade Grows,” The New York Times, September 1, 1991.
- Stromme, Tom. “Lifetime Hobby has Turned into a Rosy Business,” The Bismarck Tribune, August 23, 1989, pg. C1.
- Voskuil, Vicki. “Life Experience Transformed into Art Form,” The Bismarck Tribune, December 16, 1988, pgs. 10-11.
