From the Trent Theater, Trenton, New Jersey, 1905, celebrating the first anniversary of its founding, December 7, 1904
Then ring the bells,
the Vesper bells,
For Peace on Earth has come;
And Christmas Love and Joy shall reign,
Till festal days are done.
Marguerite Radcliffe
International Art Publishing Co., New York, Printed in Germany, Attributed to Ellen Clapsaddle
Sweet Peeping Faces has five leaves with the heads of children showing in them. On the back is a lengthy poem
“Sweet Peeping Faces”
by Alice Reed.
E. P. Dutton & Co., New York, Lithographed and printed by Ernest Nister, Nuremberg, Bavaria
Calendar fan for 1912, in the form of pieces of holly
Calendar fan for 1915, showing poinsettias and rural snow-laden scenes
Kitty's Fan
Seven little kittens as sweet as can be,
They’re bringing a message to-day from me,
They come with a greeting sweet to say,
That somebody’s thinking of you to-day
Ernest Nister, London; E. P. Dutton & Co., New York
Printed in Bavaria
Little Darlings
The flowers bud and bloom and twine,
Like you found this fond heart of mine.
Raphael Tuck & Sons, London, etc.
Printed in Germany
The Bird Fan, 1906
To my Valentine, showing 16 heads of cats.
Verse on the back:
A Token of Affection
Enshrined in my bosom thine image shall be
Like a magnet attracting my fancy to thee
Delightful the voice of the fond cooing dove
When the heart is enraptured with music and love.
Fan with calendar for 1908, with illustrations of the heads of three dogs and three cats.
To my Sweetheart
Take my heart sweet Valentine
And promise to be true
Then come what may I’ll be for aye lover fond to you.
Raphael Tuck & Sons, London, etc.
Attributed to Frances Brundage
To my Sweet Valentine
Life once for me no joy could give,
Until your bright eyes bade me live
The sun upsprings the mist’s uprolled
And all is changed to living gold
The sweet flowers droop at early morn, the dew is dull upon the thorn.
Attributed to Frances Brundage
To my Valentine
Often asks my heart the question
“Do you love me?”
“Love me not?”
Oh that it were mine to linger
Near thee and to share thy lot.
Attributed to Frances Brundage
The Sunbeam Valentine
Sweetheart, whate’er this life withholds,
This one thing comforts me,
Tho’ much I craved hath been denied,
Dear Love it gave me thee,
Knowledge I sought, but hid its face,
Wealth courted not my name,
And beauty’s charms unheeding passed, But thou, beloved, came,
So, let the world deny me much, If it doth so incline,
Thou art a world within thyself Unto thy Valentine.
Attributed to Ellen Clapsaddle
St. Valentine’s Greeting
My Heart’s
Gift
with loving
wishes
and Kindest
Regards
to my Sweet
heart.
To my Sweetheart
The Attractive Fan, 1913
The Rose Fan Calendar for 1908
To my Sweetheart
Dated 1905 on the back.
To greet My Love
One heart I prize and that the best,
The world for me may take the rest
To me the flowers are passing dear,
I see them all when thou art near,
The river flows towards the sounding sea,
My heart knows no true resting place but thee.
To My Love
To my Sweet Valentine
To the One I Love
Attributed to Frances Brundage
A Loving Thought
Printed in Germany
Sweet Easter Flowers
Verse on the back:
Sweet angel faces Smiling at you,
Bring you a greeting Tender and true.
Out of their pansies Thought's dark-eyed flowers,
Sweet faces wish you Many bright hours;
Whisper and tell you, Though far away,
Ernest Nister, London; E. P. Dutton
Printed in Bavaria
Calendar for 1906
Hand fan showing various forms of head wear. For the other side, see Image 26.
Reverse of fan in Image 25 showing various forms of head wear.
From Day to Day calendar fan for an unidentified year in the early 1900s.
Calendar fan from 1894
Each month the flowers are budding like stars the blossoms shine,
May hopes fulfilled like gathered flowers make fair this life of thine.
Calendar fan from the early 1900s, each month with a separate section, all featuring portraits of a different woman.
To my Love a Greeting
I send this to my little girl,
She is a Venus, five feet five,
Ah! If she will come and live with me,
I’ll be the happiest man alive;
And so, I’ll ask her to be mine,
By means of thee, blest Valentine.
To my Valentine.
A loving thought.
Sweet Tulips
Tulips sweet I send to thee
For your lover I would be
Give me back a kiss from thine
Own sweet two lips, Valentine.
H. G. M.
Given in 1904.
The Children’s Week Calendar, 1900
Attributed to Frances Brundage
Blue Eyes and Brown
Blue eyes and brown eyes—Brown eyes and blue,
May each and all look kindly This happy day on you!
May everything around you
Be bright and fair to see,
Your heart and eyes o’er-brimming
With blithe content and glee,
And as you go through life, dear,
May each day happy be.
H. M. Burnside.
Ernest Nister, London; E. P. Dutton & Co., New York
Printed in Bavaria
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Verse on the back:
A Wish Whate’er your fortune place is,
May it be bright with happy faces
So when the too-short Summer closes,
Mid winter snows,
You’ll find the roses
C.B.
Ernest Nister, London
Printed in Bavaria
Cherry Cheeks
Cherry Cheeks, we smile on you,
Bringing you a greeting true,
May life be as rosy, friend,
As the Cherry-cheeks we send.
May joy your heart be ever near,
Like us, in season all year!
C.B.
Ernest Nister, London; E. P. Dutton & Co., New York
Printed in Bavaria
To my Love A Greeting
Remembrance 1911 calendar for the year showing six poinsettias.
Happy Christmas, a delicate fan, perhaps from the United Kingdom featuring Christmas imagery, including a Santa Claus figure, holly, and a child, one possibly anticipating gifts.
Calendar from 1909 most likely circulated at the end of 1908, judging from the abundant Christmas holly used for illustration.
Holly Fan Calendar, 1899
Sing to the Holly, the Christmas Holly
That hangs over peasant and king,
While we laugh and carouse ‘neath its glittering boughs,
To the Christmas Holly we’ll sing.
Eliza Cook
International Art Publishing Co., New York
Printed in Germany
While this image is not totally a fan, the woman depicted carries a fan in her right hand, seemingly ready to wave it to stave off the heat.
This illustration—a woman surrounded by flowers, dressed in delicate clothing, and carrying a hand fan—was most likely printed to be used as an advertisement but never was, judging from the blank space at the bottom where the ad would have appeared.
Fan on a stick showing the bottom of an Uncle Sam face. It could double as a mask, hiding a person’s face from the nose down. For the other side, see Image 45.
Reverse of fan in Image 44: Try Mr. Johnson, A Cooler, A Cooler. Common Sense Novelty Co., Chicago.
Krewe of Proteus fan, labeled as such on both sides. It was most likely carried during a Mardi Gras parade. The Krewe of Proteus is the second oldest parade organization associated with the New Orleans Mardi Gras, having been founded in 1882. For the other side, see Image 47.
Reverse of fan in Image 46. Krewe of Proteus fan, labeled as such on both sides. It was most likely carried during a Mardi Gras parade. The Krewe of Proteus is the second oldest parade organization associated with the New Orleans Mardi Gras, having been founded in 1882.
Fan showing an eagle superimposed on the stars and stripes, copyrighted in 1908. For the other side, see Image 49.
Reverse of fan in Image 48 with the words to the “Star-Spangled Banner” and advertising for the Long Beach, California Skating Rink, which had the “Finest Floor in the State. Best Organ on the Coast. Best Order Prevails at All Times. Ladies Specially Invited. Souvenir Nights Extra Inducements.”
Hand fan showing a young girl wearing a green dress and carrying a bouquet of flowers. For the other side, see Image 51.
Reverse of fan in Image 50 with an advertisement for cigars: “For a cool smoke try Florence Walton 5¢ Cigar. Manufactured by Irwin Horst Schaefferstown, Pa.”
Made by Myers Mfg. Co., 1125‒27 N. Third St., Harrisburg, Pa.
Stock fan showing a portrait of a young girl used by Frederick Loeser & Co., Brooklyn, New York. The portrait, by Carle J. Blenner (1862‒1952), depicts a girl blowing bubbles. It was adapted from a 30" x 24" painting by Blenner that was auctioned in 2009. For the other side, see Image 53.
Reverse of fan in Image 52. The Frederick Loeser & Co. pledge: “We guarantee the price of everything we sell to be as low as or lower than the same article or pattern [that] can be bought anywhere else . . . What broader guarantee can be given?”
Hand fan circulated by Dwelley & Co., Bangor, Maine, a fancy goods, silk, and wool store. For the other side, see Image 55.
Reverse of fan in Image 54 with New Home Sewing Machine Co. advertisement listing its many locations and images of its sewing machines and factory.
Fan illustrating a domestic scene showing a mother with her two daughters and a sewing machine in the background. Circulated compliments of the New Home Sewing Machine Co., Orange, Massachusetts and used by an agent, J. Quincer, Redwood, New York. For the other side, see Image 57.
Reverse of fan in Image 56 listing the various locations of New Home Sewing Machine Co. offices and stores and depicting its Light Running sewing machine, both open and closed.
Hand fan from the New Home Sewing Machine Co., Orange, Massachusetts, featuring a portrait of a young woman. For the other side, see Image 59.
Reverse of fan in Image 58 listing the various locations of New Home Sewing Machine Co. offices and stores and illustrating its Light Running sewing machine, both open and closed.
A Present from Leamington
Constancy
Though harsh voices may surround us,
Though rude tempests rage between us,
Like you azure heaven around us,
Love like ours shall smile serene,
Bars of iron cannot sever,
When true hearts united are,
Love will bloom and burn forever,
Fix’d and steadfast as a star.
Six-section fan showing pansies.
A New Year’s Wish
I wish you a happy New Year,
The saying is old I confess.
But old as it is it will cheer,
The heart of the one I address.
Health your cheek adorning,
Mind from trouble free.
May the year you've entered,
Happy to you be.
Remember me
Sayings from William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and William Drummond appear on each of the sections of this fan. Their words relate to the flowers illustrated.
With best Wishes
I wish you many Happy Returns of the day.
May each returning birthday be
Filled with happiness for thee,
And peace her balmy perfume shed,
Around thy steps, by Mercy led.
Emblem of Modesty,
Fain would’st thou hide thy head-
Sweet flower it cannot be,
The constant fragrances shed
Around thy leafy bed Betrayeth thee.
E. B. & Co.
The Language of Flowers, A Souvenir
This fan shows, on one of its sides, seven different flowers: China Aster, Cowslip, Blue Bell, Pansy, Forget-Me-Not, Convolvulus, and Moss Rose and includes accompanying verse. For the other side, see Image 66.
Winning Grace
Lovely thou art, ay lovely,
And sorrow shared with thee,
As if magician changed becomes
A pleasure unto me.
Reverse of fan in Image 65 naming eight plants and offering accompanying verse. For the Lilac:
First Love
As the floweret hideth
By the woodland stream
So in youthful hearts abideth
Love’s first witching dreams.
Hand fan that opens to reveal a three-dimensional pair of roses.
Hand fan without its handle, advertising Mistletoe Cigars.
Hand fan showing a number of smiling children’s faces, seemingly all girls, and asking: Have you a little “fairy” in your home? Fairy soap of course.
American Lithographic Co., New York, 1904
Hand fan with an advertisement for Fairbank’s Gold Dust Washing Powder, featuring the Gold Dust Twins. The ad coincided with the St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904.
Hand fan featuring a young woman wearing blue-tinted sunglasses. On the back is an advertisement for Brine & Norcross Reliable Stores, Boston, which sold hosiery, gloves, small wares, and fancy goods. The business suggests that people hold the fan up to their eyes in order to protect them from the sun.
Promis & Co., Philadelphia
An intricate, delicate silver-color fan, missing its handle.