Orchid Beauty Shoppe hand fan

This advertising hand fan made of cardboard is for Orchid Beauty Shoppe in Anderson, South Carolina. The shop was part of the historic Black business district in the early 20th century, but the buildings were torn down in the 1980s. 

The fan features some Art Deco styling with  precise curves, symmetrical scalloped edges, and  radiating lines. The styling fits the time period of the 1920s, which is further being deduced by the reference to Marcel Waving, which was like a finger wave but made with a curling iron. Marcel waves were popular in the 1920s and Josephine Baker’s hair is typical of the look. 

The word PORO on the fan likely refers to products used for creating the Marcel Waves. The Poro College in Illinois, was founded by Annie Turnbo Malone, the daughter of escaped slaves. She  built a beauty empire in Illinois that included a manufacturing plant and retail store for her hair products for Black people, a beauty college, a dormitory, a chapel, a bakery, and a gymnasium. By the 1920s, Malone was a multi-millionaire, and Poro College employed nearly 200 people in St. Louis. 

Four typefaces are used in the text on the fan, including Copperplate Gothic. One of the typefaces is a sans serif. On the back of the fan, nautical references (a ship's wheel and rope) decorate the area where a metal grommet holds the fan together and complement the water scene. On the front, that area features a pinecone, which goes along with the nature scene of shoals, mountains and White Pine trees.