Hugo Trophy

The Hugo trophy is awarded to Hugo Award winners. It consists of a standard Hugo rocket mounted on a Hugo base which is uniquely designed by each Worldcon concom with a plaque attached which specifies the year, the award and the winner.

The Hugo Rocket

The Hugo rocket is the symbol of the Hugo Award. The Hugo trophy consists of a Hugo rocket mounted on a Hugo base.

The Hugo rocket was first created for the 1953 Hugos, the first to be awarded, by Jack McKnight (who spent most of the convention in his workshop turning them out by hand!). It was modelled on an automotive hood ornament. In 1956, for NyCon II, Dave Kyle used real Oldsmobile hood ornaments fixed to a vertically-mounted piece of wood.

In 1967, NYCon 3 moulded their Hugos in translucent plastic. And in 1973, Torcon II presented the "Invisible" Hugos -- their rockets weren't ready in time and the winners were solemnly presented with the unadorned bases.

While there have been the occasional odd variation since then, for the past thirty or more years, the Hugo rocket has been standardized, cast from solid silvery metal, in a classic V2-like shape with four fins.

See:

• Peter Weston's article on how he came to make them.
• “The Hugos Nobody Knows” article by Howard DeVore on early manufacturing of the trophies.

The Hugo Base

While the rocket is standardized, traditionally each Worldcon designs a different base. The design often reflects something about the convention or its city.

Normal practice is to open the design of the base to competition, with fanartists submitting proposals. The convention selects a winner who produces the bases. The artist does the work gratis, but the convention buys the materials.

---

Award

1953—

This is an award page. If you know something about it, such as who awarded it, who the winners were, what the criteria were, and when it was awarded, please add it! See Standards for Awards.