More Etiquette Fan Fiction

Actual Japanese Fan Language with Nothing to do with Flirting — At wrestling and fencing matches in Japan the umpire always uses a large fan and the various motions of this fan constitute a language which the contestants understand perfectly and to which they pay prompt attention. The servant girl has a flat fan made of rough paper to blow the charcoal fires, or which ahs uses as a dustpan. The farmer has a stout fan to winnow his grain. Still another variety is made of waterproof paper, which, dipped in water, creates a pleasant coolness by evaporation without wetting the clothes.— Morning Tribune, 1905

More ‘Advertorials,’ on Fans, Disguised as Fashionable Etiquette

According to Esti Brennan, of Clements Library Chronicles, “Unfortunately, the fan language — and other, similar codes like the language of the handkerchief and the language of the parasol— were largely the result of advertising campaigns meant to popularize and sell accessories. There is little evidence that the fan language was ever in widespread use, though the concept was satirized by several writers in the 18th and 19th centuries. Besides being rather impractical, fan codes were a bit dangerous; an unconscious fidget or desire to actually fan herself could embroil a lady in a totally unintentional feud— or marriage. Not to mention the consequences if the matron acting as chaperone to a courting couple had, a few years earlier, employed the fan language to win her own husband!” 

“Mexican Lover” Guide 

There is on sale everywhere and in universal use a cheaply printed little pamphlet entitled “El Secretario de los Amantes.” It is the guide and handbook of lovers. It contains the language of flowers, the significance of the varied wearing and handling of the sombrero, the language of fan, the language of fruits, the meanings of the varied use of the handkerchief, emblems in designating the hours of day and night in making appointments, the use of the numerals in cipher writing, several short chapters on the conduct of a love affair, and the deaf mute alphabet for one hand. This literary gem seems to be more studied than any other in the republic. —Napa Weekly, 1888

The Language of a Fan

• Opening and shutting—You are cruel. 
• Closing fan slowly— I wish to speak to you. 
• Open wide—Wait for me. 
• Dropping it —We will be friends. 
• Carrying in right hand in front of face —Follow me. 
• Carrying in left hand in front of face— I wish to make your acquaintance. 
• Drawing across forehead—You have changed. 
• Drawing across cheek —I love you. 
• Drawing through hand— I hate you. 
• Fanning slowly— I am married.
• Fanning quickly— I am engaged. 
• Placing on left ear —I wish to get rid of you. 
• Placing on right ear-—Have you forgotten me? 
• Twirling in right hand— I love another. 
• Twirling in left hand— We are watched. 
• Presented shut—Do you love me? 
• Drawing across eyes—I am sorry. 
• Resting fan on right cheek—Yes. 
• Resting fan on left cheek —No. 
• Carrying in left hand— I have a message for you. 
• Swinging in right hand—Think of me. 
• Swinging in left— I will think of you. — Sacramento Union, 1908

Spanish Language of a Fan

Beaconsfield writes: “A Spanish lady with her fan might shame the tactics of a troop of horses. Now she unfurls it with the slow pomp and conscious elegance of the bird of Juno; now she flutters it with the languor of a listless beauty, now with all the loveliness of a vivacious one. Then, in the midst a very tornado, she closes it with a whirr, which makes you start. Magical weapon! It speaks a particular language, and gallantry requires no other mode to interpret a Spanish woman’s most subtle conceits or her most unreasonable demands.” — London Journal, 1882 and this was reprinted in the Coronado Eagle and Journal, 1929

Fan Language

“There is an infinite variety of motion to be made use of in the flutter of a fan.” once wrote Joseph Addison in the Tatler Magazine. “There is the angry flutter, the modest flutter, the timorous flutter, the confused flutter, the merry flutter, the amorous flutter. Not to be tedious there is scarce any emotion of the mind which does not produce a similar agitation of the fan; inasmuch if I only see the fan of a disciplined lady 

I know very well whether she laughs, frowns, or blushes. I have seen a fan so very angry that it would have heen dangerous for the absent lover who provoked it to come within the wind of it. And at other times so very languishing that I have been glad for the lady’s sake, the lover was at a sufficient distance from it. I need not add that the fan is a prude or a coquet, according to the nature of the person who hears it!” — Blue Lake Advocate, 1935

Fans of Yesteryears Recalling Gracious Customs of Past Era

Old as civilization itself, the fan has played an important part in the development of the human race, it changing as rapidly as the civilization that brought it into existence. It has served to sustain people, acted as a shield in time of war and has aided in the comfort of mankind. The first fans on record were those used as bellows to remove the dust from grain and to keep fires burning. Next they were adopted for religious ceremonies and then as token of distinction for the privileged few. In the Orient they were used by, men and women alike. Open fans of metal were used as signal and shield in time of war, while innocent looking closed fans often concealed a dagger.

Had Sign Language 

Versatile young women of the 16th to 19th centuries adopted this instrument as an aid to romance, matching it to every costume and painstakingly memorizing a definite sign language by which a silent compensation might be carried on beneath the eyes of the strictest chaperon. Toying with a fan eased many an embarrassing moment, while its method in handling could indicate, assent, denial, or pleasure. The majority of the more decorative fans came from France or the Orient. In France villages were centered on the fan industry, some acters while the mount has painted ivory faces and minute silk costumes appliqued on the many little figures. localities specializing in the carving of sticks while other centers featured the painting and fine stitches of the mounts.

Revival Sought 

Popularity of the fans reigned as late as 1910, when, with age of speed and mechanics, it has faded into the more romantic past. A recent revival, in which the film industry, fashion books, and Sally Rand have attempted to reestablish it, as yet has has little following by the modern miss. Entering in the spirit of the Old Timer celebration, the Tribune has sponsored the showing of an interesting collection of fans| in the Carlson store window, the majority of which belong to the nineteenth century, and ranging from the careful workmanship of a French wedding fan to the souvenir fans. 

Types of Fans 

Included in the collection is what is known as a flirtation fan, with which the belle of the eighteen nineties might peek through a clever designed gauze window while hiding behind the more opaque material of the mount. Another of special interest might be on old Chinese Mandarin fan, in which the sticks are pierced ivory, the guards carrying unusually small detailed charms. — San Jose Mercury News, 1938

Women of 18th C. Let Their Fans Do the Speaking

Ladies’ fan movements spoke a silent language of romance in the 18th century, conveying as many as 50 established entreaties and endearments. Covering the left ear with an open fan urged, “Do not betray our secret.” Twirling the fan in the left hand signaled, “We are being watched.” A British magazine of July 1711 said, “Women are armed with fans as men with swords, and sometimes do more executions with them.” — Desert Sun, 1983

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia