Healdsburg, California: Hand Fan Museum

Billing itself as "the first museum in the United States dedicated solely to hand fans," this museum is in a small room in the H2 Hotel building. According to the docent, only a fraction of the 3,000 fans in their collection are on display at any given time, and they rotate them frequently. The hours seem to be a little iffy -- on the day we visited, they weren't open when they were supposed to be, but they stayed open hours after the posted closing time. So call if you're on a tight schedule (you can see the whole collection through the window if the place is closed, but it's worth going inside). We were expecting to spend about 5 minutes inside, but we got to talking with the docent. She was friendly without being pushy -- she didn't try to convince us that hand fans are the greatest invention in the history of the world (although I was sort of hoping she would). They sell fans as well, everything from $1 paper fans to pricey vintage fans. (No fan that says "Hand Fan Museum," though, but they do have kind of a cool fold-out card with the old Hotel Healdsburg on one side and the new hotel on the other side and "Healdsburg is Hot. Use a Fan!" across the top.)

Address:: 327A Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, CA
Hours:: W-Su 11-4pm; Closed holidays and rainy days (Call to verify)
Phone:: 707-431-2500
Admission:: Free.

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Hand Fan Museum

Billing itself as "the first museum in the United States dedicated solely to hand fans," this museum is in a small room in the H2 Hotel building. According to the docent, only a fraction of the 3,000 fans in their collection are on display at any given time, and they rotate them frequently. The hours seem to be a little iffy -- on the day we visited, they weren't open when they were supposed to be, but they stayed open hours after the posted closing time. So call if you're on a tight schedule (you can see the whole collection through the window if the place is closed, but it's worth going inside).

We were expecting to spend about 5 minutes inside, but we got to talking with the docent. She was friendly without being pushy -- she didn't try to convince us that hand fans are the greatest invention in the history of the world (although I was sort of hoping she would).

They sell fans as well, everything from $1 paper fans to pricey vintage fans. (No fan that says "Hand Fan Museum," though, but they do have kind of a cool fold-out card with the old Hotel Healdsburg on one side and the new hotel on the other side and "Healdsburg is Hot. Use a Fan!" across the top.)

[Megan S., 02/16/2012]