Business & brands / Politics
Philip Breitmeyer
1864–1941 · florist, FTD co-founder, mayor of Detroit
Detroit-born florist who co-founded Florists' Telegraph Delivery (FTD), served as parks commissioner and was Republican mayor in 1909–1910.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 77- Detroit years
- 1864–1941
- Field
- Business & brands, Politics
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Philip Breitmeyer was born in Detroit in 1864 to German immigrants and joined the family florist business, John Breitmeyer & Sons, after the city's public schools. He became president of the firm and, after his father's death, its sole owner; the business grew so fast that it built a new downtown home, now known as the Breitmeyer-Tobin Building. In 1910 he was one of the Detroit florists who organized Florists' Telegraph Delivery, the network that let customers wire flowers to another city, and he served as its president; today it is FTD. He also led the American Society of Florists and the Michigan Cut Flower Exchange. Mayor George Codd made him commissioner of parks and boulevards, and his work there led to the Republican nomination; he was mayor in 1909–1910. In 1933 he lost a mayoral comeback to Frank Couzens, but he served on the City Council in 1938–1939. He died in 1941.
Highlights
- Mayor of Detroit, 1909–1910
- Co-founder and president of Florists' Telegraph Delivery (FTD), 1910
- President of the Society of American Florists
- Detroit commissioner of parks and boulevards
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1906–1930s
Breitmeyer-Tobin Building
Beaux-Arts office building erected to house the Breitmeyer flower business; it still stands in the Broadway Avenue Historic District.