Cytricon II

Cytricon II was the 1956 Eastercon, held March 31-April 1, 1956 (Easter weekend) at the George Hotel in Kettering, UK. There was no guest of honour. The committee was Joy Clarke and Vin¢ Clarke assisted by other members of the London Circle.

It was the seventh convention in the Eastercon sequence and the second of four at the George hotel. There was a significant international element with seven overseas fans attending out of a total of 80-odd, likely making it proportionally the most international Eastercon ever. It was the first to have printed badges although none have survived. It was also the smallest Eastercon since Loncon in 1949.

The name Cytricon II seems to be a retrospective coinage given it followed Cytricon and was in the same place. However, the combozine doesn't use the term and says rather 'Second Kettering Convention'.

Eric Jones, writing in Sidereal# 3.1, noted that none of the Kettering fans attended Cytricon II and this is borne out by the membership list in the combozine. Denny Cowen, the chair of Cytricon appeared for a very short time on Sunday but he was obviously 'just passing thru'.

Preparations[edit]

The attendees at Cytricon in 1955 were focused first on the London in '56 Worldcon bid with the idea of a second Kettering convention in 1956 very much a fallback position. However, at the Cleveland Worldcon, and in the face of overwhelming support for New York in 1956, the London bid was withdrawn without a vote. The bid would return as London in 1957 and at some point Cytricon II was arranged although this time in the hands of the London fans. Vin¢ Clarke wrote:

London fans have stepped into the breach again and are booking the George Hotel, Kettering, Northants, scene of 1955's extraordinarily successful 'do', for the '56 Convention. It will be attempted to run it as an International Convention, for many visiting fans are expected from other countries, and the experience gained is going to be very, very useful for the 1957 Convention, which will call for a concerted effort from fan groups all over the country^[1].

As with the previous convention, there were progress reports – Peter Weston believed there were three^[2] – but copies have not been traced.

Venue[edit]

The George Hotel in Kettering was an old coaching inn dating back to 1639. It would host all four Cytricon Eastercons from 1955 to 1958 and the Kettering Minicon of 1960, as well as Cytricon V, a fiftieth anniversary gathering in 2008. It was later renamed the Naseby Hotel but sadly it closed permanently in 2016 and has been turned into flats.

Attendees[edit]

There are 85 people listed as registered members in the combozine. Some of these didn't attend and in a few cases presumably never had any intention of doing so. There are about 84 known attendees based on mentions in convention reports, appearances in photos or who signed a copy of the combozine. Despite this near match, many attendees weren't listed members and listed members didn't always attend.

In the table below names marked (A) are known attendees, names marked (AN) are known attendees who are not on the membership list, and names marked (N) are members who are known to have not been present. The remainder may have attended. In a few cases that's the limit of our knowledge about them and where this is the case there won't be a page for them until and unless we find out some more. Names to which this applies are in italics. Additionally names marked * are family members of attendees who likely weren't fans per se.

This list is a work in progress. Names are being checked to see if they're here under variants.

A copy of the combozine signed by various people includes somebody whose name appears to be 'Karl Something D-something'. Denny Cowen, secretary and leading light of the previous year's Cytricon appeared very briefly on Sunday but doesn't really count as a member or attendee.

The convention[edit]

Publications[edit]

There were a number of – to date untraced – progress reports. The Cytricon II combozine was the third such, although it would be the last for some time, and included the programme and a membership list alongside sample issues of various fanzines.

Future conventions[edit]

History.

____

↑ Vargo Statten Science Fiction Magazine v2 #7 (February 1956)
↑ Cytricon V Programme Book (2008).
↑ The membership list includes somebody called Jefferson from Leeds with no initial.
↑ The membership list includes somebody called Johnson from an unknown location with no initial.
↑ On the membership list as 'W. Carr'.
↑ This is likely David Thurlby's wife.

Cytricon I	Cytricon	Cytricon III
Cytricon I	Eastercon	Cytricon III
	1956

This is a convention page. Please extend it by adding information about the convention, including dates, GoHs, convention chairman, locale, sponsoring organization, external links to convention pages, awards given, the program, notable events, anecdotes, pictures, scans of publications, pictures of T-shirts, con reports, etc.

[1] Vargo Statten Science Fiction Magazine v2 #7 (February 1956)

[2] Cytricon V Programme Book (2008).

[3] The membership list includes somebody called Jefferson from Leeds with no initial.

[4] The membership list includes somebody called Johnson from an unknown location with no initial.

[5] On the membership list as 'W. Carr'.

[6] This is likely David Thurlby's wife.

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[2]

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Cytricon II

Contents

Preparations[edit]

Venue[edit]

Attendees[edit]

The convention[edit]

Publications[edit]

Future conventions[edit]

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