To wrap-up my writing about the Victorian era (for the time being, at least), I’d like to muse about fans for a moment.

I have female friends who are going through menopause, and talk about arguments at home because they want the air conditioning turned down to near-arctic levels.

I don’t think we can imagine what life must have been like before air conditioning was invented! Ladies would fan themselves, have a whole wardrobe of fans to coordinate with different outfits. Women would express themselves eloquently but silently with their fans. Whether they were perturbed or pleased, intrigued or incensed; it could all be said with fanning. I’d love to convey whether I felt demure or decadent, chaste or wanton, all with my fan. Maybe I’d need to lift my skirt, fan the wet gusset of my knickers, all while looking you directly in the eye. Maybe I’d then need to fan my knickerless bottom, after the spanking you administered to it…!