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That gentleman lit his pipe and settled back in his easy chair. "I don't quite get the connection between that old lamp and the flower show, honey," he said lazily between puffs on his pipe.

"You will, darling," Roberta promised.

And he did. For his attractive blonde wife walked off with top honors in the flower exhibit for her graceful arrangement of dahlias and fall leaves in a unique copper container—which was the top section of the antique lamp!

Roberta Henderson was no stranger to the art of flower arrangements. She had long been an authority on color harmony and design, having obtained her art degree at Newcomb College in New Orleans, Louisiana. The half-acre back of the sturdy old home in Birmingham, Alabama, which she had inherited from her grandfather, was filled the year around with flowers and shrubbery cared for by her loving hands. She was a nationally accredited flower show judge, a distinction many seek, but few attain.

Now, captivated by copper and its rare glowing charm, she plunged headlong into a study of its use as containers for flowers. Her enthusiasm immediately infected her husband, who is an excellent craftsman.

"BEFORE WE knew it we were up to our ears in copper containers of every conceivable size, shape and fashion!" relates Bill Henderson, grinning affectionately at his slender wife. "Each one was made entirely by hand. We went down to a local metal wholesale supply house and bought sheets of copper and aluminum. Roberta first drew an original design. From this sketch we made a cardboard pattern. An aluminum pattern or template was cut from the cardboard pattern. This in turn was traced on the sheet of copper.

"A sheet of copper varies in price from $9 to $12," Roberta puts in, "and we usually obtain around six of one design to a sheet. We use cutting snips to cut out the designs. The scraps are utilized as feet, and miniature containers.

"After the designs are cut, the edges and feet are rolled around rods, which are square or round, according to the design," Bill explains. "For each design, I build a wooden form which conforms to its size and shape. The container is then placed over this form and hammered and bent into shape. Clamps are then placed at the corners and edges, to hold them in place while they are welded by means of an acetylene weld. We obtained the weld and clamps here in Birmingham.

"The cleaning and waxing are my department," Roberta declares, blue eyes dancing. "You know, copper containers were more or less of a hobby with us at first. But as the days went by, more and more people became interested in them, and it kept us busy filling the orders that began pouring in from all over the country. Bill and I could only make two or three containers a day of the most intricate designs, and only six to eight of the simplest ones."

The containers have been given fascinating names by their clever creator. There is the "bread pan," long and deep and narrow. It is made in two sizes, the small one which sells for $6.50, and is 15 by 3½ inches, and the large one which is 20 inches by 4 inches by 4 inches, and sells for $8.50.

ASKED HOW much it costs to make one in terms of materials and time, Roberta pushed back a lock of hair, which by the way, is copper-colored too, and replies: "I would say that the cost lies largely in labor, for the materials are fairly reasonable. A bread pan which sells for $6.50, takes about two to three hours to make, costs around $1 in copper used, plus the cost of shipping, and advertising, which must be included in the total cost of an article, to my way of thinking."

The Hendersons tried selling the containers in florists' shops in Birmingham, and other cities. They had no difficulty placing them at Rich's in Atlanta, and Marshall Field in Chicago, but they soon found that there was not sufficient profit for them in offering their exquisite, handmade containers in competition with machine-made containers, which sold at unusually low prices in the big stores. The Hendersons decided to sell by mail. They advertised in many magazines. They had leaflets printed and mailed them to selected lists of prospective customers. Wonderful publicity was given the Hendersons by local newspapers. As the orders poured in, they filled them in their own home. "We feel that we can do our best work in familiar surroundings," Roberta confesses, smiling. During rush season last fall, they hired three men to help fill the orders, but even then, so painstaking is the intricate work of bringing these fascinating copper containers into being, that they could only turn out thirty to forty in a single week.

Roberta is very much attached to her bread pan. "Fill it with blossoming spray in the spring, lilies and peonies in the summer, glowing dahlias in the autumn, and crimson winter berries at Christmas time," she says, blue eyes sparkling. "You will find that it is the ideal container for year around flower arrangements."

Handmade copper wall-containers in quaint triangle design double ingeniously as book ends. "These make nice gifts," Roberta declares.

A columnar vase, designed especially for pairs on mantel or console, Roberta calls "Sloping Pillow" because she received her inspiration for it from the Chinese sleeping pillow.

The two bell-like containers, dubbed "pasture bell" and "shallow bell" by their originator, are lovely for piano, or tables.

"A hand-beaten copper bowl and Early American type candle holders make a wonderful ensemble for the holiday table," Roberta declares. "The candle holders make cunning containers, you will discover, for miniature arrangements and designs."

ROBERTA CONSIDERS copper the perfect foil for every flower of every season. "It has the gleam of the sun on a midsummer day," she says dreamily. "Try it "with violets in the spring, zinnias in the summer, iris in the fall, and evergreen in the winter. The results will enchant you."

Mrs. Henderson advises the use of a good flower holder, fastened in the bottom of the container with floral clay, as the first step in making a flower arrangement. For gay and warming effect, she suggests the reds, oranges, and yellows. For a dramatic one, she recommends white.

"Few people seem to realize that a good arrangement should have at least one-and-a-half times more flower material than container, and that one color should always dominate," Roberta says. "I use principles of design in all my flower arrangements. These include balance, proportion, rhythm, harmony, emphasis or dominance, contrast and scale."

Roberta is constantly in demand as a lecturer on color and design for flower arrangements. "You should see her when she starts out for an engagement. You'd think she was headed for the North Pole!" Bill teases his pretty wife. "It's all she can do to squeeze herself into the car along with flowers from her garden, copper containers, notes, charts, colored slides and various and sundry other flower accessories!"

ROBERTA IS her own best advertisement, for wherever she goes ... and she goes everywhere ... her beloved copper containers go with her.

"You will find that our containers are equally lovely on fine antiques and blond modern furniture," she declares. "They are fine for porches and terraces too, and especially distinctive for church altars. We have a wide range of prices too, from $2.50 for the small tray, which is 3 by 6 inches, to $25 for the cornucopias or horns of plenty, which are designed especially for churches."

It has been a scant four years since Roberta Henderson waved the antique copper lamp under her husband's nose, yet already her unusual containers enhance the charm and beauty of hundreds of homes.

Success has come her way more quickly than to most. Perhaps this is because she has fashioned an article of enduring beauty that may be cherished as an heirloom by generations yet to come.