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ow you will probably wonder how the signals from the ladies were answered by the gentlemen. In first instance the men needed to

understand what de ladies wanted to say with their language of the fan and to answer that existed the so called Language of the bastón.

Around 1789 the bastón came in advance. The bastón (cane) is an elegant fashion accessory that mainly belonged to the suit the nobleman wore. It was used by both older and younger men, not because they needed the stick, but purely as an embellishment during a walk in the park for example. In this case, it was more like a jewel and they were among others made of ivory, silver, gold, etc.

The bastón was used for different purposes. For example, when they wanted to show their displeasure if a performance started late or if it was felt that the actors not played well, they tapped very hard with the stick on the ground.

The bastón was also used by the gentleman to send secret messages such as amorous feelings. If we talk about this form of communication than we are talking about around the 19th century. At that time the young ladies were accompanied to a party by their mother or chaperone and thus they thought their supervisors had not seen their communication.

NThe language of the bastón

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4. Leave me alone,

I don´t want to know anything about you!

Cover your left ear with open fan.

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5. I´d like to talk to you!

Touch the upper part of the fan with you fingertip.

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6. You´re mean!

Open and close the fan several times.

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12. Beware, they´re

watching us! Cover your face with the open fan.