Featured How to remove old masking tape! Any ideas?

I agree. I'd also use a cotton-bud to carefully remove any residue of sticky-tape, to protect any surrounding areas. The fans may be transfer printed covered with varnish which could be affected by lighter fuel and/or acetone. Lighter fuel is also very good for cleaning vinyl records!

 

Lighter fluid is safe on just about any material, easy to do a test but in my experience the very best solvent on paper because of the lack of residue or effect on pigments.
Benzine has nothing like the effects of acetone which you should never use on anything absorbent or with transitive applied colour, finish etc.

 

You have a very interesting fan. Ballooning fans are very collectible. You might try posting your inquiry to the Facebook group "Hand Fan Collectors". There are many people on it that are familiar with fans and fan restoration. There is also an organization of fan enthusiasts, Fan Association of North America (FANA).

 

Welcome @Tonkafan , from another fan collector.

 

I use lighter fluid also. Works about the best. If the tape is old and dried out you might be able to get most of it off, without an additive, by picking it off with a dental tool. Seems that I 've read that whale bone was used in a lot of fans and corsets during the 1800's.

 

So got some advice from a fan restorer, the tape was really old and brittle. It came off with some resistance but got it off. Doing this left a dry tape residue, since it was on a lacquer surface Goo Gone did the trick, don't even know it was there. The reason the previous owner taped the fans was because each one needs re ribboned. Personally since they would be remounted I wouldn't re ribbon because the restorer would not repaint the ribbon. Here is the end result.