This week’s historical dumpster fire

The Secret Language of Fans

A keepsake from hell: Victorian fan language.

A weekly dose of macabre history, gently pressed into your hands like a haunted educational pamphlet.

You’ve probably seen the lists. (probably not, that’s why you’re here.)

Fan against the right cheek: yes.
Left cheek: no.
Draw it across your cheek: I love you.
Hold the handle to your lips: kiss me.

It paints a wonderful picture of Victorian ballrooms as enormous, horny semaphore stations.

Unfortunately, history has come to ruin our fun.

In the nineteenth century, the famous Parisian fan maker Duvelleroy really did give customers pamphlets explaining a supposed “Language of the Fan,” complete with gestures that conveyed very specific romantic messages.

A sepia photograph of an Edwardian woman in a large hat holding a lace fan

But historians have found little evidence that Victorian women were actually wandering around using one universally understood secret fan code.

Many earlier references were satirical, and some “conversation fans” were essentially parlor games, fans literally printed with systems for spelling out letters, asking questions, or communicating across a room.

In other words:

The elaborate secret language was probably less ancient feminine knowledge and more excellent fan marketing.

Duvelleroy basically said, “This accessory lets you secretly flirt with men.”

And women apparently said, “Fine. I’ll take two.”

Fans absolutely were expressive. They could hide a smile, draw attention, create a little privacy, and become an extension of ordinary flirting and body language.

They just probably weren’t Victorian Morse code.

Which somehow makes the whole thing even better.

People have always been strange.

Sometimes we just needed better advertising.

Seance scent pairing

This one belongs to Eternal Darkness — for anyone who prefers their romance conducted from across a dimly lit room with absolutely unnecessary levels of mystery. It smells like you have something to say — whether you communicate it normally or spend twenty minutes aggressively waving a fan is entirely your affair.

Eternally grateful you’re part of the Seance family. Consider this us drawing the fan slowly across our cheek.

Please note: no AI. That is right, this came from the dark folds of Lacey’s very human mind.