March’s Mad Tea Party

Grimes Public Library hosted a Mad Tea Party on Saturday, March 19th. Participants learned about etiquette, elegance, and Victorian manners. Teens also learned about the Language of the Fan, and other ways to flirt in the Victorian era. Fan and hat flirtations were taken from Henry J. Wehman’s The Mystery of Love, Courtship, and Marriage (1890). Here are some examples of how to talk with a fan or a hat:

Fan Flirtations

Placing fan behind your head= “Don’t forget me”

Drawing the fan through your hand= “I hate you”

Rested on right cheek= “Yes”

Rest on left cheek= “No”

Twirling in right hand= “I love another”

Fan open and held to heart= “I love you painfully”

Drawing across forehead= “You have changed”

Half open over your face= “We are watched”

Shading from sunlight= “You are ugly”

Glaring at shut fan= “Why do you misunderstand me?”

Hat Flirtations

Hat held behind you= “I am married”

Held in front of you= “I am single”

Inclining the hat towards your nose= “We are watched”

Hat under the right arm= “Wait for me”

Hat under the left arm= “I will be at the gate at 8 P.M.”

If you want to learn more, please visit Susanna Ives’ s blog (http://susannaives.com/wordpress/2012/12/a-collection-of-victorian-flirtations/).

Grimes Public Library will host another etiquette class for younger patrons this fall. If you would like to be notified of events at Grimes Public Library, please visit our Facebook page and subscribe to our events calendar.

References

Ives, S. (February 10, 2012). The mystery of love, courtship and marriage explained — Handkerchief and fan flirtations. [Web log]. SusannaIves. Retrieved from http://www.susannaives.com

Wehman, H. (1890). The mystery of love, courtship, and marriage. New York: Wehman Bros.