Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 19, 1995 TAG: 9511200051
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRUCE SMITH ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
The coquettish belle in the green hoop skirt and black shawl holds her shut fan over her heart, delicately touches it to her right eye and then, keeping it\ closed, gently waves toward a soldier wearing Confederate gray.
Simply keeping away gnats on a sultry Southern afternoon? Hardly.
She's flirting in fan language, something of a lost art being rediscovered as more Americans take a renewed interest in the Civil War.
As men recreate battle units both North and South, many Southern ladies are donning hoop skirts and rediscovering the language of the fan, parasol and handkerchief.
What our lady in the hoop skirt was telling her beau without words, was, roughly translated: ``I love you and when may I see you again? I long to be near you always.''
The fan and parasol provided a way to carry on conversations that otherwise would have been forbidden in the prim South, said Kila Watts, a member of the 10th South Carolina Ladies Auxiliary re-enacting group who has studied the language and teaches it to others.
``Back then, eye contact was not considered proper. Women were not allowed to speak to men unless they were formally introduced,'' she said.
But young people found a way around the strict rules - and their parents, guardians and chaperones - by flirting with fans, parasols and handkerchiefs.
The rules were subtle, but ``any Southern woman would have known,'' said Jean Hutchinson, another member of the auxiliary. ``There would be different nuances.''
Fan language probably got its start in Spain, where books contained as many as 50 rules for communicating by fan, according to ``Fans Over the Ages'' by Bertha de Veregreen. From there it spread to the rest of Europe and to America.
Fan language generally was studied by the upper classes - by women who didn't have to spend their time making a living.
Each gesture had a different meaning.
Carrying a fan in your left hand meant you wanted to meet a gentleman. Putting it in your right warned him he appeared too willing.
Putting the handle of a fan to your lips meant ``kiss me.'' Dropping the fan didn't mean you were clumsy, it meant ``I love you.''
Did the men understand the fan signals sent their way?
``Many of the books make light of fact that women took this seriously and men didn't have a clue,'' Watts said.
by CNB