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click on the photo of Goodbye Lie N203 from our own handmade jewelry collection inspired by The Goodbye Lie, a Victorian novel by Jane Marie |
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Home: greenlightwrite.com featuring
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click on the photo of Goodbye Lie N203 from our own handmade jewelry collection inspired by The Goodbye Lie, a Victorian novel by Jane Marie |
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Gracious Living - Victorian Life Hoop Skirts Odds 'n Ends - Miscellaneous Romance
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fan in the Musée d'Orsay
The Hand Fan Speaks There is a Language of Flowers that was very popular in Victorian times. Back then, individual species of flowers had different meanings when given and received. Curiously, the hand fan can also speak to us, but few know this language because it is rarely practiced today. Why? It’s certainly not because the gestures aren’t graceful. Simply, times changed in the early 20th century. Women just didn’t have enough hands to carry a purse, a cigarette (!), a glass of wine and a fan. Something had to give and sadly, for lovers of gracious things, it was the fan. History of the Hand Fan Although fans were first used in Asia at the beginning of the 6th century, their use was gradually constrained by strict rules of etiquette and ceremony. During the Elizabethan era, from 1558 to 1603, both men and women in Europe practiced a secret language of fanology whereby they could converse without speaking. The alphabet of the fan made it possible to spell out where a clandestine meeting might take place. The number of fan blades displayed might suggest the time. As the world spun into the 18th century, fashionable men could be seen carrying fans. However, instead of the floral or cherub or ribbon fan adornments favored by ladies, men's fans were decorated with insects and outdoor scenes. Perhaps the rules of a game or words to a poem for a recital might be hand printed on the back. Sometimes the front, instead of bearing a pastoral scene, might have a religious picture and a listing of holy days or saints. Advertisements or song lyrics were also displayed. Queen Victoria and her contemporaries loved fans. However, the queen found it none too appealing to see a man fanning himself and let this be known when she reigned over Great Britain in the 19th century. Fans promptly fell out of favor for gentlemen, and that sharp snapping sound when the fan is opened with one hand became a province restricted to women.
click on the photos of Jane Marie's original fan pillow and fan quilt to enlarge them
Antique collectors treasure fans of all shapes, sizes and materials. Quilt makers often use the pleated fan shape in their crafts. Today’s manufactured fans are often lightweight cardboard and can be found in funeral parlors (air conditioned or not) or with radio or television advertising on them. They are passed out at our very own Amelia Island Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival held every May.
Samples of the Language of Fans
As you can see, small fan gestures could change a life! How exciting and how easy the possibility for intrigue, purposeful and / or misinterpreted. It’s no wonder historic romance novels are written and read by lovers of such things. To that end, I’ve wrote The Goodbye Lie where men and women in 1882 Florida live and thrive among this kind of maneuvering. |
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click on the photo of Martha Bear® with her fan to enlarge it
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