Fans had, indeed, at this period become an indispensable adjunct to a lady’s toilet, a temporary loss of this instrument, upon occasion, causing much perturbation of spirit. An amusing story of such a catastrophe is told in _The Gentleman’s Magazine_ for April 1736:
‘What whims, what trifles, light as air, Govern the passions of the fair, And their dear, thoughtless bosoms tear!
Madame had come to grace the ball with her charming presence, her powdered admirers crowding about her, while,
Some dance, some sip their tea, Some chat the pleasing hours away, And all is innocently gay,
when, all on a sudden, Her Ladyship confounds the company by appearing in furious mood, with a voice like thunder, every one demanding the matter. Then the charming Celia, moralising, said:
‘“What pity ‘tis (in great affairs When prudence tempers all her cares) This lady should our mirth destroy, A vixen, for so meer a toy! Oh! how I blush to hear and see A nymph (who, all the world agree, Has acted well three parts in life, The maid, the widow, and the wife), Once mistress of so firm a mind, Who wisely, decently resign’d, Without a tear, her good old man, Roar like Othello—for a fan. Strange! that this engine, wont to prove The surest instrument of love, Should give to its illustrious dame, While others freeze, so fierce a flame!”’
[Illustration: Wedding Fan, with Blanchard’s balloon, 1784. French Mrs Hawkins.]
[Illustration: St. Peters and the Vatican, Rome, probably by J. Goupy. Dr. Law Adam.]
The fan-shops of Fleet Street, the Strand, and Westminster are continually referred to in the advertisements which appeared from time to time in the _Craftsman_. The two following note a change of ownership:—
‘To be sold, at Gordon’s Fan warehouse, The Crown and Fan in Tavistock Street, Covent Garden. All sorts of Fans. Wholesale and Retail, very cheap. The Person leaving off trade.’
‘Gordon’s Fan Warehouse, in Tavistock Street, Covent Garden. Mr. Gordon having left off Trade, the Business, as usual, is carry’d on by his late journey-woman,
At the same Place, where Ladies may be accommodated with all sorts of Fans, at the most reasonable Rates.’
From the extremely naïve and interesting ‘fan-shop’ fan belonging to Mr. Messel we are able to gather some idea of what these shops were like. The inscription on the shop sign is ‘Fanmaker, London,’ showing that the district represented was within the London boundary of this period, _c._ 1745.