Omaha daily bee., 1896-10-11

upon which their work was most beautifully
displayed Now and then a monogram col.
loCtor, wishing to order something in that
line for herself, came to possess one OF thes'
tempting bits of paper, and from this the
monogram fad grew.
The sample monograms looked Just as
pretty in the scrap books as those which
had been given or begged from their own
ers, and some otherwise unattanable ones
were procured in this way. Many girl
! who had coveted the monogram of some
swell or select club or organization and
coveted IL in vain found herself the happy
! possessor Of IL by means OF the sample sheet
/ innocently given. From this the fad
| spread, until at present 1t Is that OF the
| hour. The storekeepers and salespeoplc
were very soon fairly besieged for monogram
sheets-everybody begging them, declaring
! that they wanted TO order die'-and hun
dreds of them had been given away In. re-
! sponse to such requests before they realized
what they were losing. that which was
worth begging was worth buying, they
argued and the sheets we're Immediately
| placed on sale. Later prettier and still
| more delicate ones were brought out, and
I now the monograms of almost any known
| organization club or society may be pur-
chased on these little sheets.
Each sheet contains from three to five
monograms, and in order to obtain the one
desired all the others must be purchased.
Those placed upon the same sheet are as
widely diversified as possible, ana neIeln
lies the double edge of the commercial
sword. II the taste of n collector runs
toward a certain line of monograms those
she desires are morally sure to be on Just
as many sheets as there are monograms.
with sheets at 10 and 30 cents apiece the
total cost is far from small Two or three
friends get around this difficulty occasion
ally by cultivating taste for different types
and sharing the expenses.
The way of using the monograms Is as
E.N1. Moe la ha
procured are obtainhd, and n japanese
folding fan, preferably Of a dark color and
large in size, is also made ready. Then
the monograms are cut out, as carefully
as possible, and delicately pasted upon the
fan until every possible inch of space is
covered. sometimes the work is divided off
into panels, and the monograms which be-
long to one department placed all together,
although often they are stuck on hit or
miss. Sometimes the autograph idea is
combined with the other. When this Is
done space is left above every monogram
fer the signature of the owner or giver
of the monogram, and these signatures
are arranged in regular rows up and down
the fan. These fans are exceedingly popu-
lar with those girls who number quantities
of mice" young men among their ac-
quaintances, and it is also more than popu-
lar with the college youth. BY adopting the
autograph idea he not only saves himself
all expense but all trouble as well, since
himself place it on the fan, and the fan it
self, when finished, forms a very attractive
addition to his wall decorations. Occasion
ally verses. sentiments or quotations are
added to the simple signatures. Once In
a while far is covered entirely with mono
grams relating to single sport, such as
cycling, foot ball or tennis, together with
the autographs of their votaries There
are countless variations OF the monogram
fan idea.
Some OF the fans are adorned with bor-
ders of ribbon, pasted tightly on; some
have pen and ink sketches ON the margin,
some are made OF silk, satin or sSuZe.
Souvenir fans are also popular The IA
vorite among a certain number OF young
people, the departing member of a club or
the most popular girl in given set, is
selected for this honor, and a souvenir fan,
to which every member OF the coterie con-
tributes a monogram, Is presented to her.
These fans are invariably autograph fans
as well, and the monograms are as nice
and pretty as can be purchased or procured.
Every possible style and color may be pur,
chased, so that opportunities are as varied
as can be desired