Flowers as Currency
Flowers play
important roles in many traditions at Sweet Briar. For example, daisies are carried
up to monument hill and placed on Daisy William’s grave, nature sanctuaries
house a large number of flora, and the school is named after a type of rose.
Therefore, I propose that Sweet Briar start using a new type of currency, one
unique to Sweet Briar and relevant to her traditions. This currency would be
created from species of flowers that grow on the Sweet Briar campus. Since
flowers are already of some worth to the students, faculty, and staff from
traditions, and the beauty of nature is also valued by most here, this will be
a suitable currency.
The
flowers used will be grown on campus. They will be of the rose, daisy, and
buttercup species. The types of roses used will be the multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), the pasture rose (Rosa carolina), and the sweet brier rose
(Rosa eglanteria). The ox-eyed daisy
(Chrysanthemum leucanthemum) and the
hooked buttercup (Ranunculus recurvatus)
will be the other flowers used.
In order for the
flowers to last as currency, they will be pressed dry and placed between two
square pieces of wax paper. The roses will be in wax paper that is two-and-a-half
inches by two-and-a-half inches. The daisy will be in paper two inches by two
inches, and the buttercup will be in paper an inch by an inch.
To make them truly
Sweet Briar currency, a small piece of paper with the Sweet Briar emblem on it
will be placed between the wax paper to the left of the flower. The Sweet Briar
emblem itself recognizes the important families in the college’s history with
the Fletcher and Amherst coats of arms, and it also presents the school motto.
The motto mentions earning roses, another sign that the rose bears value, or at
least symbolizes value, at Sweet Briar.
The values of the
roses as currency are derived from several factors. The main factor is where
the rose can be found on campus. The multiflora rose is found on at least 13
spots on campus, most of which are close to main campus. These spots include
Guion Woods, Carry Nature Sanctuary, Williams Creek Sanctuary, and Monument
Hill, along with growing in cleared areas such as fields and pastures. Because
of its abundance and proximity to campus, the multiflora rose has the least
value out of all the flowers. It also has little relevance to Sweet Briar
traditions. One multiflora rose could buy you a pencil or other small school
supplies in the Book Shop. Three could get you a drink at Daisy’s Café. The
multiflora rose will be the smallest “denomination” of the flower currency.
The daisy,
however, plays important roles in Sweet Briar traditions, so even though it is
also found in over 12 places on campus—mostly in the same places as the
multiflora rose, it is valued more than the multiflora rose. Parents give their
first-year daisies and daisies are carried up to Daisy’s grave, not to mention
that Daisy is the ghost that haunts Sweet Briar. One daisy could get you a meal
at Prothro or the Bistro.
The flower with
the next value is the pasture rose, as it grows at 10 different places on
campus, and is also more aesthetically pleasing than the multiflora rose. The
pasture rose is bright pink as opposed to the white multiflora rose. In order
to avoid confusion, it is important to note that the pasture rose is a darker
pink than the Sweet Brier rose, which is a light pink. One pasture rose could
get you one paperback book in the Book Shop.
The second highest
valued flower is the hooked buttercup, a flower that only grows in six spots on
campus including Kentucky Ridge, Paul Mountain, and Williams Creek Sanctuary.
These places are at the very edges of campus property and are far away from
main campus. One buttercup could get you larger text books from the Book Shop
or pay for a block ride of riding lessons.
Lastly, the Sweet
Brier rose holds the greatest value because it is both rare— growing in only
three spots—and is also the namesake of the college. The places it grows are
the Carry Nature Reserve, Williams Creek Nature Reserve, and occasionally in
cleared spaces such as fields. This particular rose is the college’s namesake
because it was of value to Elijah Fletcher’s wife, Maria. We can only assume
that its beauty was valuable to Maria. One sweet brier rose could buy the most
expensive text books at the Book Shop or it could also buy a computer.
A dinner at
Prothro might be bought with one daisy; books would have to be purchased with a
number of sweet brier roses; a parking ticket might have to be paid with a
pasture rose or buttercup, depending on the severity. Of course, this entails
the use of a huge number of these flowers, which may endanger them. That’s why
the administration of Sweet Briar would be in charge of circulating the
flowers, and would only create new currency during the late spring or early
summer when the flowers were available. Care would have to be taken to make
sure not too many flowers were cut from the plants, or, a green house could be
provided for the purpose of growing these flowers. However, that takes away
some of their value, which is partially derived from their location on campus.
The use of flowers
as currency will probably not cause a huge differences between social and
economic classes, although, the wealthier students may get to have more
decorated wallets. Maybe the flowers will also be used as decoration when they
are not being used for monetary transaction. If that is the case, then richer
students will be able to do more decorating. A sign of wealth could be the use
of the flower currency as bookmarks and dorm decorations.
These flowers
would be given to students in the beginning of the school year and turned in
during all breaks. Students choose to give a set amount of American money that
will be changed into flowers before arriving on campus. There will be an online
account keeping track of how many flowers each student has so she will not have
to carry around all of her money. There will be machines around campus where
students can take out more flowers. The machines will identify students by
fingerprints and will know if the student has any more flowers in their online
account. Once the student graduates, all flowers can be turned in and the
school will give the student the equivalent of the flowers in cash.
Using flower
currency has little practical use as a consumable commodity, but gains more
value because of this. Consumable commodities such as food usually end up
rotting or being eaten after a certain amount of time. They do not store value
very well. (Weatherford1997: 22). My proposed currency, however, cannot be
eaten and will be persevered in a way that insures its long-term usage.
Pressing flowers has been used for centuries; very relevant examples are the pressed
flowers found in Daisy’s journal. Wax paper is also very durable, and will
ensure that the flower itself does not deteriorate.
The value of the
currency comes more from sentimental values. Due to this, it would be important
for students, faculty, and staff at Sweet Briar to fully embrace the values
placed on flowers. A deeper knowledge and respect of the college’s past and
traditions may be necessary to convince people of the currencies value. An
appreciation of where these flowers come from, especially in relation to main
campus, and the effect of the flowers on the landscape might also be necessary.
It is often seen in smaller, isolated groups, that a certain currency will be
chosen based on values that only those people have. For example, tribes in Fiji
used whale teeth as a means of exchange because they “… play an important role
in the ceremonial life and the prestige system of the people” (Weatherford
1997: 23). The Fiji tribes could not use whale teeth as means of trade with
outside traders, however, because other people did not see the value in them.
The flower currency would be similar to whale teeth in that only people with
connections to Sweet Briar would see the value in it as a currency.
This is not
necessarily a bad thing. Sweet Briar is very isolated and most transactions
students make are within the campus. Since the college’s currency will not be
tied to any outside currency, and therefore not feel any effects from these
currencies such as inflation. Sweet Briar is such a small community that it
will be relatively easy to regulate the flow of currency. Students would have
no need to take the currency off campus, so the collection of flowers at the
end of each semester would not be too great a challenge. This collection would
allow the administration to fix any worn or broken flowers and let them gauge
if any more flowers would need to be placed into or out of circulation. Tabs
would be taken on the flowers students currently had and those flowers would be
given back to them once classes resumed. The isolation and regulation would
keep the market value for flower currency relatively stable.
A Sweet Briar
flower currency would do little to buy one’s happiness, unless, of course,
pressed flowers were one’s source of happiness in life. Perhaps the currency
could make the Sweet Briar experience more fulfilling in the sense that people
might feel more connection to the school and the land, and therefore value them
more. Learning about the Fletcher-Williams family and the habitats where some
of the school’s most prized flowers grow may create that connection. Other
students, however, might think that it is a waste of time to learn these things
while they could be learning the material they came to college to learn. Since
Sweet Briar strives to be a tight-knit community that is deeply rooted in its
past and landscape, I think the majority of students would appreciate a
currency that was tied these distinctive aspects of our school.
Works
Cited
Edwards, Ernest P. and Edwards,
Mabel T. “An Annotated List of the Wild Vascular Plants of the Sweet Briar
College Property.” Sweet
Briar College Natural History Series. June 28, 1991. Web.
September 9, 2012. <http://nature.sbc.edu/EdwardsEdwards1991_SBCPlantList.pdf>
Weatherford, Jack. The History of
Money. Three Rivers Press. New York, New York, 1997.
