The Fan

The fan was, in an age gone by, a very important instrument of adornment. And it was often used, too, for allurement . . .

The fair ones gave it more attention than they gave the fashions of their dress: they studded it with precious jewels and embroidered it with bright, enticing colors, until it became one of the plain proofs of wealth and of high social standing.

The fan is old in history; varied circumstances and conditions have passed over it, and it took on characters by which nations and peoples were known. The Chinese fan, for example, differs from the French fan even in the way a woman uses it.

It is enough for you, Madam, to know — from the place the fan occupied in olden times — that it was a symbol of love, as the handkerchief is today. Designs of hearts were drawn upon it; it was stamped with the initials of the beloved's name; poets sang of it; and some famous writers made it a subject of their own. Perhaps the most famous of these is 'Oscar Wilde,' who wrote the greatest of his stage masterpieces about 'Lady Windermere's Fan.'

And after all this, Madam, the fan is a long story. I do not know whether its near extinction in the modern industrial age is a thing to be regretted or rejoiced at. In any case, it has left its place to the electric fan, of which you see a fine example beside this article. It was lately brought out to Syria and Lebanon by the foremost company, Resources of the East; it is of the 'Hawkins' make, which is the most famous make in the whole world.