Fan is a device people use to create an artificial breeze. By moving air around, a fan makes it easier for the air to evaporate sweat from a person’s skin or to dissipate (disperse) heat from an electrical or electronic device.
Many early cultures in Mesopotamia, the Mediterranean, and Asia used various types of hand fans. Some such fans were as simple as palm leaves. Beginning in ancient Egyptian times, fans served as fashion accessories and status symbols. Such fans were often elaborately crafted from expensive materials. Wealthy and important people could display their rank by having servants fan them with large ceremonial fans.
Folding fans probably originated in Japan by the 800’s. The Portuguese brought them to Europe during the 1500’s. Fans soon became an important fashion accessory for European women. For several hundred years, correct handling of fans was a social skill, and women used fans to set off the grace of their hands and the beauty of their eyes. Skilled craftspeople made fans from such elegant materials as lace, feathers, parchment, and silk. Commissioned artists decorated many paper and fabric fans with delicate paintings. Fans were often mounted on sticks of ivory, bone, mother-of-pearl, or other fine substances, decorated with carving or gilding.
Electric fans have largely replaced hand fans for cooling. Most electric fans move the air using a rotating set of curved blades. Many types of electrical and electronic equipment have built-in fans that help prevent components from overheating.
