In 2011, the American Daffodil Society (ADS) designated a new exhibition section for any daffodil registered between 1940 and 1969, inclusive named "Classics".

The ADS believed that such a section would interest a different segment of exhibitors and might encourage bulb growers to keep these post-war era cultivars available.

The ADS Historic daffodil period ended shortly after World War II started, when marketing and exporting of daffodils temporarily ceased.

When trade resumed, daffodils were different, improvements in form were most noticeable.