FAN HISTORY & ETIQUETTE

It all started when…

Some fans, like in ancient Egypt were semicircular and painted with varying colors serving for royal princes and men of high rank. In Persia during the Christian era, fans were made out of ostrich feathers and in India, they were made out of palm leaves. What became known as the folding fan, or the fan proper, was adopted in China between 900 and 950 and during the sixteenth century, it found its way to Portugal, Spain, Italy, France and England.

Fans were generally made of silk, paper, sandalwood, tortoise shell, and mother-of-pearl. Some fans even had elaborate paintings on them, like the Spanish fans representing incidents of love or gallantry. Fans usually were used by people of royalty and nobility, however, fans in the United States had much humbler beginnings. They were a way of life for many women in Boston who made and mended fans for a living.

Looking beyond the appearance of a fan, the fan was not just a decoration to those of upper class status; it was key to understanding the lady who was holding the object in her hand. In the early 1700s, Joseph Addison of The Spectator claimed he could tell a lady’s mood and what she was feeling through the use of her fan. Addison started an academy for women to be trained in the use and handling of a fan. Essentially, a woman’s fan was to her as a man’s sword was to him. It was her weapon.

Some samples of how a fan was used to convey messages were: If a woman hid her eyes behind an open fan she meant “I love you”. If she shut a fully open fan slowly she meant “I promise to marry you”. If she placed her fan behind her head she meant “do not forget me”. If she dropped her fan she meant “we will be friends”. If she twirled her fan in her left hand she meant “we are being watched”. Not only did fans convey flirtatious messages, they also conveyed messages like a swift drawing of a fan through the hand meant “I hate you”.

Just as fans were designed for occasions such as these, there were also fans designated for mourning. These fans were an important social necessity and were designed using black materials to compliment the black clothing worn during periods of mourning.