1920's -1930's Advertising Fan - Paper - Ice Cream Parlour

This is an extremely pretty advertising fan made of cardboard.  The vintage fan has a printed picture of a beautiful girl using a silver spoon to enjoy her ice cream with a cherry on top! It is likely that the fan was given away by an Ice Cream Parlour - clever move keeping your customers cool with your delicious ice cream and gifting them a useful fan too.  This fan dates to the 1920s to 1930s Art Deco period as the lady is dressed in a lovely blue straw cloche-type hat and has the shingled hair cut of that period.  There is a nod to the earlier Art Nouveau period too as there is a blue peacock design to the shaped handle.  The fan is in very good order for a paper ephemera collectible with its handle still strong and just a few nips and folds indicative of its age. There is nothing to mention that could  detract from its use for display or as a cooler!  It is 21.5cms long and 18cms across at its widest points. When I purchased this lovely fan I was told it came from the USA but I have no further evidence of that apart from this was the opinion of the previous owner. 

Fans are a fascinating collectable and an important antique and vintage accessory.  They have been used from very early times and by the most primitive peoples as cooling devices and for winnowing and activating fires.  They have had a role in ceremony and are often objects of great beauty and elegance.  There are some superb examples of fans in many of our museums and the role of the fan has evolved as a courtship device with a secret language and also as an advertising tool - particularly with the paper fans that were used for promoting champagne, night clubs and other things in the art deco 1930s period.  I recommend the Shire Publication 'Fans' by Helene Alexander ISBN 0-7478-0402-B for further reading.

ACCESSORY DETAILS

Designer or Brand: None

Condition: Very Good

Decade: 1920's - 1930's

Style: Art Deco

Era: Vintage ( 1920s - 1980s)

Type:  Advertising Fan

Material:  Cardboard Paper

Design: Glamorous Lady, Ice Creams, Ice Cream Parlours