The Fan

Elegant Spanish Beauty by Bagnold Burgess (1830-1897)

18th century fans

In hot weather, I noticed that people who visit me will pick up a magazine or a piece of paper to fan themselves. We have an electric fan, which gives wonderfully cool air, but somehow, it is never close enough to a person's face. I was thinking how nice it would be if the personal fan was back in fashion. I have seen the little battery operated fans that attatch to people's hats, and I've seen all kinds of other contraptions for personalized use, but none are as quiet or as pretty as the old fashioned paper fan.

The fan of the past had a great many other functions besides keeping a person cool. They were created as trade cards in the early 20th century. There were references to the fan in the Bible, in plays and dramas, and in books. I listened to an elderly man tell how he used to try to sit in church and get as close to the women with fans as he could, and if possible, sit between his motehr and sister and all their friends. They would wave their fans and he got the benefit of the cool breeze in the

If you have a luncheon planned or some kind of event for ladies, this craft might suit the occasion, even in winter months when crowded rooms can get a little warm. This is also a very easy children's craft and provides an opportunity to use up old papers and stickers.

This is a fan made on poster paper and covered with a left-over piece of old scrapbook paper. Odd pieces of wall paper would work, as well. It is trimmed with a piece of vintage gold ribbon that was used in gift-wrapping, and then finished off with a paper rose.

This one is made with a piece of pink poster board (cardstock will suffice), covered with half a paper doily and embellished with stickers. A hole puncher provides a place to thread a ribbon. Both these fans really do fan a nice breeze.

This one is a card, but it also "fans" quite nicely. It is made with stickers and glitter glue, on a parchment-look card stock.

Here is the inside, with a rubber stamped greeting.

This is a template pattern you can print yourself. I can see I need to learn to draw darker lines, but I think it will print out clearly enough. Just print it out on cardstock. If you use regular paper, glue the entire piece onto cardstock or poster paper for your templates. Cut them out and trace around them onto your favorite colored cardstock.

The one below is a larger fan, but the smaller ones are every bit as effective when you need to fan yourself.

This is the card pattern. I hope it prints out okay.

You could print scriptures on them or write sayings. They might even be good to give to guests at a wedding.