Poinsettias were TV stars

poinsettia product placement

It took 3 generations and 3 steps for the Ecke family to turn the Mexican fire flower into everyone’s Nochebuena Christmas plant.

1. Generation 1: Poinsettias grow especially well in winter - so, nix the gladiola and chrysanthemum crops.

2. Generation 2: Use undeveloped land in LA for free! The developers were happy to let the Ecke family grow poinsettias all over the Hollywood Hills. December in LA looked like the postcard above.

3. Generation 3: Give poinsettia plants to television studios for free. Deliver them personally and put them on the desk right next to the host’s face.

All of the above information came from a mash-up of local Southern California PBS specials on the Ecke family. Evidently, the Ecke heading the business in the 1950s would go on the Bob Hope show and tell people about how to care for the plants. They would send the plants to homemaker magazines, too.