Cronin & Company

Fandom in the early days

With the hot weather, I sometimes resort to a retro-tech method for keeping cool. The folding fan is said to have been a Japanese invention, the idea being taken from the wing of a bat. The fan was introduced to Europeans by Catherine de Medici. During the reign of Henry VIII, fans were introduced into England from Italy. In Elizabethan days, the aristocracy sported fans made from ostrich feathers with handles of gold or ivory.

The 18th century was the heyday of the fan. It was an essential accessory in a stuffy, crowded ballroom. Fans were made in every medium: ivory, painted silk and paper, lace, even chicken skin (a very fine kid). There were fans for every occasion, and they were one of the earliest tourist souvenirs.

A lady would not be considered elegant unless she knew how to use her fan, and proper training was part of the well-bred young woman’s upbringing. Matthew Towle's Young Gentleman and Lady's Private Tutor devoted several pages to the subject, and portraits of the period show ladies holding their fans in one or other of Towle's recommended positions.

The fan became part of a lady’s body language. A number of sources even cite a language of the fan whereby ladies could send messages across a room without saying a word. Some of the most common:

• Touching right cheek: yes
• Touching left cheek: no
• Carrying closed and hanging from left hand: I am engaged
• Carrying closed and hanging from right hand: I want to be engaged
• With handle to lips: kiss me
• Drawing through the hand: I hate you
• Fan placed near the heart: I love you
• Fanning slowly: I am not interested
• Carrying the open fan in the left hand: come and talk to me

Whether this language was ever used is open to speculation. Even if a man were to learn the language of fans, how would he know whether the lady across the room was communicating with him or simply cooling herself? And if she was sending him a message, all the other ladies would be able to decode it before he would. Texting may not be as decorative, but it is so much more reliable.

Too hot

Too hot to sleep, too hot to lie,
Too hot to laugh, too hot to cry,
Too hot to stand, too hot to sit,
Too hot to sew, too hot to knit,
Too hot to ride, too hot to walk,
Too hot to read, too hot to talk,
Too hot to eat, too hot to drink,
Too hot to write, too hot to think,
Too hot to scold, too hot to tease,
Too hot to cough, too hot to sneeze,
Too hot to play, too hot to sing,
Too hot, too hot for anything.

Selected, from Weather Opinions for All Seasons, compiled by Jennie Day Haines, 1907

And to all a good night

Clement Clark Moore was born in New York on July 15, 1779. He was a professor of Oriental and Greek literature at Columbia College, now Columbia University. However he is best known for his poem, "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" ('Twas the night before Christmas. . .). The poem was first published anonymously and without Moore's knowledge in a newspaper on December 12, 1823.

Buck Moon

The 15th marks this month's full moon. July's full moon was called the Buck Moon by Native Americans of the Northeast and Great Lakes because at this time of the year, the new antlers of the buck deer begin to appear. It has also been called the Thunder Moon because of the thunderstorms common during the summer.