View source for Breck's

{{Short description|Dutch-American gardening company}}
{{Infobox company
| name   = Breck's
| logo   = Brecks company logo.gif
| type   = Privately Held
| foundation     = 1818 [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] [[United States|US]]
| location       = [[Guilford, Indiana|Guilford]], [[Indiana]], US, [[Noordwijkerhout]], [[Netherlands]]
| industry       = Mail-Order Gardening
| products       = Dutch bulbs, perennials, tulips, irises, lilies
| homepage       = [http://brecks.com// www.brecks.com]
}}
'''Breck’s''' is a mail order gardening company and importer of Dutch flower bulbs. Based in [[Guilford, Indiana|Guilford]], [[Indiana]], and [[Noordwijkerhout]], [[Netherlands]], Breck’s was founded in 1818. Originally a family-owned garden supply business, Breck’s gradually expanded into a catalog company.<ref name="brecksdies">[http://multichannelmerchant.com/webchannel/email/marketing_breck_brecks_dies/ The 'Breck' of Breck's Dies], Multichannel Merchant. {{Archive url|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717044333/http://multichannelmerchant.com/webchannel/email/marketing_breck_brecks_dies/|date=2011-07-17}}</ref> Breck’s is now the largest U.S. importer of Dutch bulbs.<ref name="twp">[https://archive.today/20130131170448/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/44393331.html?dids=44393331:44393331&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+02,+1999&author=Adrian+Higgins&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Gardens;+What's+Best+For+Bulbs;+The+Choices+You+Make+Now+Will+Color+Your+Millennium&pqatl=google Gardens; What's Best For Bulbs; The Choices You Make Now Will Color Your Millennium], The Washington Post.</ref>
==History==
[[Joseph Breck (businessman)|Joseph Breck]] (1794–1873) was born in [[Medfield, Massachusetts]].<ref name="bahistory">[http://www.bahistory.org/OakSq.html Oak Square], Brighton Allston Historical Society.</ref> He founded his business, Joseph Breck & Company, in 1818, in [[Boston, Massachusetts]].<ref name="lib">[http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/hort/seeds.htm Nursery Sample Books], University of Delaware Library.</ref> From 1822 to 1846, Breck was the editor of the ''New England Farmer'', one of the earliest agricultural magazines established in the United States, and the first of its kind in New England.<ref name="nehj">[http://www.proquest.com/en-US/catalogs/collections/detail/New-England-Farmer-and-Horticultural-Journal-263.shtml New England Farmer and Horticultural Journal, 1822 - 1846] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715124631/http://www.proquest.com/en-US/catalogs/collections/detail/New-England-Farmer-and-Horticultural-Journal-263.shtml |date=July 15, 2011 }}, ProQuest.</ref> In 1833, Breck wrote a book called ''The Young Florist'', which is an ongoing dialogue between two young gardeners in order to present information about flowers and natural history as it relates to flower cultivation.<ref name="young">[https://archive.today/20121213164130/http://lccn.loc.gov/11033925 The Young Florist], Library of Congress Catalog Record.</ref> In 1840, Breck published his company’s first catalog, the New England Agricultural Warehouse and Seed Store Catalogue, to promote his company’s products.<ref name="breckbio">[http://www.sil.si.edu/SILPublications/seeds/seedsmanbios.html Biographies of American Seedsmen & Nurserymen], Smithsonian Institution Libraries.</ref> The catalog included illustrations and horticultural literature to accompany product listings.
In 1856, he published ''The Flower Garden'', a book about the cultivation of ornamental plants such as [[perennials]], [[Annual plant|annuals]], [[shrubs]] and [[evergreen trees]].<ref name="tfg">[http://chestofbooks.com/flora-plants/flowers/The-Flower-Garden/index.html The Flower-Garden; Or, Breck's Book Of Flowers] by [[Joseph Breck (businessman)|Joseph Breck]], ChestOfBooks.com.</ref> One of the founding members of the [[American Seed Trade Association]], Breck was the president of the [[Massachusetts Horticultural Society]] from 1859 to 1862.<ref name="breckbio" /> Breck bought a house in [[Brighton, MA]], in 1854 and lived there until his death.<ref name="bahistory" />
The company continued into the 1950s as a garden supply company, when Luther Adams "Bo" Breck, the fifth-generation Breck, transformed the family business into a Dutch bulb importer and flower bulb catalog company.<ref name="brecksdies" />
<!--[[Image:Brecks House.jpg|thumb|right|200px| The house of [[Joseph Breck]] in [[Brighton, MA]]]]-->
In 2001, Breck's was acquired by [[Gardens Alive!]] when then-parent company Foster & Gallagher went bankrupt.<ref name=niche>{{cite news|title=How Gardens Alive! Is Digging a New Niche|url=http://multichannelmerchant.com/crosschannel/how-gardens-alive-is-digging-a-new-niche-01112010/|work=Multichannel Merchant|date=November 1, 2010|author=Jim Tierney|accessdate=January 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141121211345/http://multichannelmerchant.com/crosschannel/how-gardens-alive-is-digging-a-new-niche-01112010/|archive-date=November 21, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
* [http://www.brecks.com/ Official website]
[[Category:Agriculture companies of the United States]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1818]]
[[Category:Retail companies established in 1818]]
[[Category:Companies based in Indiana]]
[[Category:1818 establishments in Indiana]]