Given the general absence of air conditioning (and sometimes electricity), one of the most precious objects you can have in a sweltering Cuban summer is a well-made, old-fashioned lady’s fan. This store, located near the old port of Havana, houses a women’s cooperative that offers sturdy, gorgeously hand-painted wooden fans in all colors and sizes, as well as fans made to order. The red, dual-faced fan I purchased here in 2016 served me so well that it remains a permanent, everyday occupant of my purse—for use in the often equally sweltering Gainesville, Florida! Old Havana, July 2016.
