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Jack Atkinson
There is a collector spirit in many of us. One does not have to collect fine art worth millions a painting; most of us find interesting little things with little value to collect. In the dust bin that time and change have created I have found church and funeral home fans. For those who sat through long services in the heated south needed something to move the air. Then church windows would open but the breeze usually had to be created using the hand held fan. One fan is appropriate for this week. It is a portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King. On the reverse side is the advertising for Dudley Enterprises in Dublin. Mrs. Mayme Dudley had a service station, a motel a beauty shop, a cemetery, a retreat and The Enterprise Ranch, in addition to the funeral home! From Wadley comes the Smith Funeral Home and Ambulance Service fan. The phone number is 78. The front shows Little Playmates, a young girl holding a puppy, no doubt a 1950's idealic photograph. In another 1950's classic Hunter-Allen-Myhand Funeral Home in La Grange has a large flower arrangement of roses with two porcelain angels next to it. Names and addresses of a Mrs. Griggs, Bill Hyatt and Mrs. Homer Turner are written on the back. Independent Life Insurance sponsored another 1950's view of red topped barns, a windmill and a pasture full of cattle. The D. T. Phillips' Store in Reidsville has a snow covered mountain on the cover. This fan belonged to Willa Kicklighter. Another bouquet of early spring flowers carries 17 advertisements on the reverse side. Mrs. Emory Bargeron of Ruth's Flower Shop and Henson-Estroff for tractors in Louisville were two of the advertisements. The theme changes now to religion. Jesus is portrayed in many fans. Sometimes he is sitting alone praying; sometimes he is at the Lord's Supper. One fan has him coming back in a ghostly image. Otis Pierson Grocery in Forsyth has a scene of Jesus preaching to a crowd. The reverse is given in memory of his mother Della H. Pierson. It prints the 10 Commandments of How to Get along with people. I liked number 9 "Pay no attention to ill-natured remarks about you. Simply live that nobody will believe them. Disordered nerves and a bad digestion are a common cause of backbiting." There is a cheerful Jesus holding a lamb in one titled "The Good Shepherd." This fan was compliments of Gunn Drug Company in Wadley and the Jefferson Pharmacy in Louisville. My collection has three fans from Peelbes-Curry Mortuary all with religious themes. Rexall Drugs in Wrens (prescription delivery and hospital rental supplies) displays the last supper on the reverse. First State Bank in Wrens has a New England church with a yard full of colorful fall maples, not exactly what one sees in Wrens. There are a few modern fans in my collection. There is a fan from each for my sons' weddings. There is a 2005 fan with a photo of the Garfield Methodist Church which was celebrating its centennial that year. With air conditioning in churches and with internet advertising spam one hardly needs an old cardboard fan with its balsa wood handle. As I said, I do not change easily. Once people are in my life, they remain forever. These old fans found in the dustbin of time have staying power as well for what they did, what they can do and what they represent. I end with Vann's Warehouses in Vidalia. The reverse is "Joyful Moments", a little boy fishing with a cane pole being kissed by his Irish setter. If only the fish would bite! If only life was so simple.--Jack Atkinson is our regular guest columnist and a resident of Garfield.
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