Difference between revisions of "Nycon"

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The First [[Worldcon]], held Sunday, July 2–Tuesday, July 4, 1939, at [[Caravan Hall]] in [[New York]]. [[GoH]]: [[Frank R. Paul]], [[Chairman]]: [[Sam Moskowitz]].
+
[[File:NyconArt.jpeg|frameless|center|upright=2.6]]
 +
<center><small>Nycon [[Program Book]] heading by [[Frank R. Paul]], courtesy of ''[[Thrilling Wonder Stories]]''.</small></center>
  
−
The 1939 Worldcon simply called itself "World Science Fiction Convention". It has subsequently been called "'''Nycon I'''" (a [[nickname]] initially tagged on it by detractors) and "The 1939 Worldcon".
 
  
−
The convention was controlled by a so-called 'Ruling [[Triumvirate]]' whose other members were [[William S. Sykora]] and [[James V. Taurasi]].  The [[Exclusion Act]] at NYCon attempted to keep some members of the [[Futurians]] from attending after a long history of [[feuding]] between the [[club]] and the [[concom]], exacerbated when [[Dave Kyle]] (who wasn’t banned) anonymously distributed ''[[A Warning!]]'', a somewhat incendiary pamphlet.
+
[[File:FirstWorldconCard.jpeg|thumb|'''Cardboard placard displayed in [[New York City]] just before Nycon. Printed by [[Conrad H. Ruppert]], a fan of the 1930s noted for the excellence of his publications'''.]]
 +
'''Nycon''', the First [[Worldcon]], was held Sunday, July 2–Tuesday, July 4, 1939, at [[Caravan Hall]] in [[New York]]. [[GoH]]: [[Frank R. Paul]]. [[Chairman]]: [[Sam Moskowitz]].
 +
 
 +
The organizers of the 1939 Worldcon simply called it the "'''World Science Fiction Convention'''." It was subsequently called "'''Nycon'''" (a [[nickname]] [[Forry Ackerman]] claimed to have coined) and "The 1939 Worldcon." "'''Fifth Eastern'''" was tagged on it by detractors. About 200 [[fans]] attended.
 +
 
 +
The [[convention]] was controlled by a so-called 'Ruling [[Triumvirate]]' of Moskowitz, [[William S. Sykora]] and [[James V. Taurasi]].  In the [[Exclusion Act]] (which see), they kept some members of the [[Futurians]] from attending after a long history of [[feuding]] between the [[club]] and the [[concom]], exacerbated when [[Dave Kyle]] (who wasn’t banned) anonymously created ''[[A Warning!]]'', a somewhat incendiary [[pamflet]]. He had hidden the copies, but the [[Triumvirs]] found it.  
  
 
One event held at the First Worldcon did ''not'' become a [[Tradition]]: A [[Softball Game|softball game]].
 
One event held at the First Worldcon did ''not'' become a [[Tradition]]: A [[Softball Game|softball game]].
  
−
[[Noreascon Three]] printed reminiscences of NYCon by a number of attendees in its [[PB]]:
+
NYCon did not select a site for the next [[Worldcon]] &mdash; it had not occurred to the NYCon [[committee]] that it could possibly be an annual event.  But [[fandom]] loved it, and a few months later, at [[Philcon 1939]], the [[fans]] present voted to hold another Worldcon in 1940 in [[Chicago]].  See [[1940 Worldcon Site Selection]].
  
−
* [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Ackerman)|Forrest J Ackerman]]
+
The convention drew [https://web.archive.org/web/20080906184034/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,761661-1,00.html disdainful coverage] from ''Time'' magazine, whose uncredited reporter called the teenaged [[fen]] the “jitterbugs of the [[pulp]] magazine field,” and made “[[goshwowoboyoboy]]” a [[fannish]] [[catchphrase]].
−
* [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Schwartz)|Julius Schwartz]]
 
−
* [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Eshbach)|Lloyd Eshbach]]
 
−
* [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Harrison)|Harry Harrison]]
 
−
* [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Baltadonis)|John Baltadonis]]
 
−
* [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Rothman)|Milt Rothman]]
 
−
* [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Kyle)|Dave Kyle]]
 
−
* [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Hornig)|Charles Hornig]]
 
−
* [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Moskowitz)|Sam Moskowitz]]
 
  
−
Other con reports:
+
See also [[New York Worldcons]] and [[Early Conventions]].
−
* ''[[New Fandom]] #6'' p4, [http://www.fanac.org/fanzines/New_Fandom/New_Fandom06.pdf online here].
+
 
 +
 
 +
==Members==
 +
 
 +
[[File:1939ConeyCar.jpeg|frame|center| '''During the [[first Worldcon]], [[fans]] took the opportunity to visit Coney Island, where this [[foto]]-op took place. '''''Front, from left:''''' [[Mark Reinsberg]], [[Jack Agnew]], [[Ross Rocklynne]].''' ''Rear:'' '''[[V. Kidwell]], [[Robert A. Madle]], [[Erle Korshak]], [[Ray Bradbury]], July 4, 1939.''' ''Courtesy of Robert Madle.'']]
  
−
NYCon did not select a site for the next [[Worldcon]] &mdash; it had not occurred to the NYCon [[committee]] that it could possibly be an annual event.  But [[fandom]] loved it, and a few months later, at [[Philcon 1939]], the [[fans]] present voted to hold another Worldcon in 1940 in [[Chicago]].  See [[1940 Worldcon Site Selection]].
 
  
 
It is difficult these days when there are fans of all ages to appreciate how ''young'' fandom was in 1939.  Here is a table of ages of major figures during the First Worldcon:
 
It is difficult these days when there are fans of all ages to appreciate how ''young'' fandom was in 1939.  Here is a table of ages of major figures during the First Worldcon:
  
 
<tab>
 
<tab>
−
[[Sam Moskowitz]] (the ''chairman''!) ||19  
+
[[Sam Moskowitz]] (the ''[[chairman]]''!) ||19  
 
[[Donald A. Wollheim]] ||25  
 
[[Donald A. Wollheim]] ||25  
 
[[John W. Campbell, Jr.]] ||29  
 
[[John W. Campbell, Jr.]] ||29  
Line 40: Line 40:
 
</tab>
 
</tab>
  
−
Nycon had a list of members, but it was neither accurate nor complete. Not accurate, because many people signed up with [[pseudonyms]] &mdash; in some cases more than one. Not complete in that an estimated fifty people didn't sign in at all! But here is the [[Nycon 1 Membership List]].
+
[[Nycon 1]] had a list of members, but it was neither accurate nor complete. Not accurate, because many people signed up with [[pseudonyms]] -- in some cases more than one. Not complete in that an estimated 50 people didn't sign in at all! (The $1 membership fee, while not insignificant to those poverty-stricken young people, was not a major source of convention income, so there was little attempt to get everyone to pay.)
 +
 
 +
This list was published in [[Julius Unger]]'s [[fanzine]] ''[[Fantasy Fiction Field]] Nycon Review'' in June 1942 See {{link | website=https://fanac.org/fanzines/Fantasy_Fiction_Field/FanFic_Field875-17.html| text=here for the actual list.}} ''[[New Fandom]]'' 6 ([https://www.fanac.org/fanzines/New_Fandom/New_Fandom06.pdf January 1940, p. 10]) also contained a partial list. We have added names for which there is evidence of their attendance.
 +
 
 +
<div style="column-count:3;-moz-column-count:3;-webkit-column-count:3">
 +
* [[Charles D. Hornig]]
 +
* [[Harl Vincent]]
 +
* [[Nelson S. Bond]]
 +
* [[Lloyd Arthur Eshbach|L. A. Eschbach]]
 +
* [[Robert D. Swisher|R. D. Swisher]]
 +
* [[Otto Binder]]
 +
* [[Jack Williamson]]
 +
* [[Ross Rocklynne]]
 +
* [[John D. Clark]], PH.D
 +
* [[Manly Wade Wellman]]
 +
* [[Edmond Hamilton]]
 +
* [[Ray Cummings]]
 +
* [[Charles Schneeman]]
 +
* [[Frank R. Paul]]
 +
* [[Leo Marguiles]]
 +
* [[Mort Weisinger]]
 +
* [[Isaac Asimov]]
 +
* [[Milton A. Rothman]] ([[Lee Gregor]])
 +
* [[Malcolm Jameson]]
 +
* [[John Victor Peterson]]
 +
* [[Kenneth Sterling]]
 +
* [[John W. Campbell, Jr.]]
 +
* [[L. Sprague de Camp]]
 +
* [[David C. Cooke]]
 +
* [[Charles F. Ksanada]]
 +
* [[Norman L. Knight]]
 +
* [[Robert A. Young]]
 +
* [[David V. Reed]]
 +
* [[Ruroy Sibly]]
 +
* [[Arthur Sidney Johnston|A. S. Johnston]]
 +
* [[F. E. Hardart]]
 +
* [[Julius Schwartz]]
 +
* [[John Giunta]]
 +
* [[Sam Moskowitz]]
 +
* [[James V. Taurasi]]
 +
* [[David A. Kyle]]
 +
* [[Carl Rachlin]]
 +
* [[William S. Sykora]]
 +
* [[Jack Speer]]
 +
* [[Mario Racic, Jr.]]
 +
* [[Raymond Van Houten]]
 +
* [[Bill Mosher]]
 +
* [[N. Gilbert Dancy]]
 +
* [[Henry Lemaire]]
 +
* [[Oswald Train]]
 +
* [[Ray Bradbury]]
 +
* [[Betty Cummings]]
 +
* [[Francis J. Moroff]]
 +
* [[Joseph Lipton]]
 +
* [[Myrtle R. Douglas]]
 +
* [[Forrest J Ackerman]]
 +
* [[Paul W. Poulson]]
 +
* [[Eugene Sander]]
 +
* [[Norman Spector]]
 +
* [[Alphonse Grimminger]]
 +
* [[Charles Eastabrooks]]
 +
* [[Jerry Siegel|Jerome Seigel]]
 +
* [[Sidney Levine]]
 +
* [[A. J. Murphy]]
 +
* [[Marvin Weingold]]
 +
* [[Irving Frankel]]
 +
* [[Sol Knegov]]
 +
* [[Albert Roger]]
 +
* [[Vida Jameson]]
 +
* [[Mark Reinsberg]]
 +
* [[Israel Krenzel]]
 +
* [[A. W. Lincoff]]
 +
* [[Scott Feldman]]
 +
* [[John V. Baltadonis]]
 +
* [[Walter Sullivan]]
 +
* [[Gertrude Kuslan]]
 +
* [[David Verne]]
 +
* [[Louis Kuslan]]
 +
* [[John A. Mellerner]]
 +
* [[George Weinstein]]
 +
* [[D. De Pass]]
 +
* [[Frederick Morgan]]
 +
* [[Hyman Tiger]]
 +
* [[Dale Hart]]
 +
* [[Julius Pohl]]
 +
* [[Richard Ogden]]
 +
* [[Abe Oshinsky]]
 +
* [[Robert A. Madle]]
 +
* [[Jack Agnew]]
 +
* [[John Rubinson]]
 +
* [[Julius Unger]]
 +
* [[Beatrice Unger]]
 +
* [[Franklin Janson]]
 +
* [[Robert Studley]]
 +
* [[Anna Krenzel]]
 +
* [[A. L. Selikowitz]]
 +
* [[Leslie Perri]]
 +
* [[Allen R. Charpentier]]
 +
* [[Richard Wilson]]
 +
* [[Edward Weisinger]]
 +
* [[Conrad H. Ruppert]]
 +
* [[Pearl Moskowitz]]
 +
* [[Morris Moskowitz]]
 +
* [[Harry Moskowitz]]
 +
* [[Wilber J. Widmer]]
 +
* [[Herbert Schaefer]]
 +
* [[Jeannette Reol]]
 +
* [[Herb Goudket]]
 +
* [[William H. Dellenback]]
 +
* [[J. Lacker]]
 +
* [[Jack Darrow]]
 +
* [[Julius Pohl, Jr.]]
 +
* [[Joe Kucera]]
 +
* [[Robert A. McCarthy]]
 +
* [[L. H. J. Ubuear]]
 +
* [[Bernice Keller]]
 +
* [[Millie Taurasi]]
 +
* [[Frances Helen Sykora|Frances Sykora]]
 +
* [[Frances Alberti Sykora|Frances Alberti]]
 +
* [[Rose Alberti]]
 +
* [[Margaret Skiffington]]
 +
* [[Bill Stockton]]
 +
* [[Leonard Levy]]
 +
* [[William Smith]]
 +
* [[Robert G. Thompson]]
 +
* [[Ann Racic]]
 +
* [[Carmen Maris]]
 +
* Mr. & Mrs. [[M. Racic]]
 +
* Mr. & Mrs. [[C. Sykora]]
 +
* Mr. & Mrs. [[D. Alberti]]
 +
* [[Murray Theaman]]
 +
* [[Langley Searles]]
 +
* [[Leonard Myers]]
 +
* [[Isadore Flauenbaum]]
 +
* [[Arthur Young]]
 +
* [[Arthur Ford]]
 +
* [[Betty Keat]]
 +
* [[Ruth Cuher]]
 +
* [[Frances N. Swisher]]
 +
* [[Doña Campbell|Mrs. J. W. Campbell, Jr.]]
 +
* Mr. & Mrs. [[Insana]]
 +
* [[Rudolpha Catherine Rigelsen Paul|Mrs. Frank R. Paul]]
 +
* [[Joan Paul]]
 +
* [[Patricia Ann Paul]]
 +
* [[Leon Burg]]
 +
* [[David Charney]]
 +
* [[Warren D. Woolsey]]
 +
* [[Harry Dockweiler]]
 +
* [[Thomas Stats]]
 +
* [[George Herman]]
 +
* [[Eldred Mendyk]]
 +
* [[Henry Dowds]]
 +
* [[Mary Jameson]]
 +
* [[Arthur L. Widner]]
 +
* [[Harry Harrison]]
 +
* [[Kenneth Rohan]]
 +
</div>
  
−
*{{link | website=http://fanac.org/conpubs/Worldcon/Nycon%20I/index.html|text=Publications at Fanac}}
+
===Recorded elsewhere as having attended:===
−
*{{link | website=https://eFanzines.com/1939Nycon|text=Conreps at EFanzines}}
+
* [[Joe Christoff]]
−
*{{link | website=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebzRkm6HyQA|text=Video of MagiCon panelists reminiscing}}
+
* [[William H. Groveman]]
 +
* [[V. Kidwell]]
 +
* [[Erle Korshak]]
 +
* [[Ken Krueger]]
 +
* [[Jack Newton]]
 +
* [[Pete Racic]]
 +
* [[Bobby Wright]]
 +
* [[Farnsworth Wright]]
 +
* [[Marjorie Z. Wright]]
  
−
See also [[New York Worldcons]] and [[Early Conventions]].
+
===Excluded from the convention:===
 +
* [[Cyril Kornbluth]]
 +
* [[Donald A. Wollheim]]
 +
* [[Fred Pohl]]
 +
* [[John B. Michel]]
 +
* [[Robert Lowndes]]
 +
* [[Jack Gillespie]]
 +
 
 +
===Boosters===
 +
The [[program book]], meanwhile, contains a [https://fanac.org/conpubs/Worldcon/Nycon%20I/Nycon%201%20Program%20Book.pdf list of “Scientifictionists”] who each paid 25&cent; to be included, a way of supporting the convention. Like all such lists at [[early conventions]], there are numerous [[pseudonym]]ous duplicates, including many names for [[Forry Ackerman]].
 +
 
 +
==Futurian Conference ==
 +
A [[conference]] held on Tuesday, July 4, 1939, the third day of the Nycon, while many of the Worldcon attendees were playing a [[Softball Game|softball game]] on Flushing Flats. The [[Futurians]], most of whom had been banned from the Worldcon, and their sympathizers held their own free mini-[[con]] in [[Brooklyn]]. They discussed the [[Exclusion Act]] and [[Michelism]].
 +
 
 +
{{fancy1 | text=
 +
From '''Conference''' – Third day of the [[Nycon]], where most of the attendees were [[Softball Game|playing softball on Flushing Flats]], the [[Futurians]] and their sympathizers met in a [[Futurian Conference]]. They discussed the [[Exclusion Act]] and [[Michelism]].
 +
}}
 +
 
 +
==More Reading==
 +
* {{conpubs |series=Worldcon|con=Nycon I}}.
 +
* [[Illustrated Nycon Review]].
 +
* {{link | website=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebzRkm6HyQA|text=Video}} of [[panel]]sits at [[MagiCon]] panelists reminiscing.
 +
* [[Caravan Hall|David Dorman's search for traces of Caravan Hall]].
 +
* [[Noreascon Three]] printed reminiscences of NYCon by a number of attendees in its [[PB]]:
 +
** [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Ackerman)|Forrest J Ackerman]]
 +
** [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Schwartz)|Julius Schwartz]]
 +
** [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Eshbach)|Lloyd Eshbach]]
 +
** [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Harrison)|Harry Harrison]]
 +
** [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Baltadonis)|John Baltadonis]]
 +
** [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Rothman)|Milt Rothman]]
 +
** [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Kyle)|Dave Kyle]]
 +
** [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Hornig)|Charles Hornig]]
 +
** [[Nycon 1 Reminiscence (Moskowitz)|Sam Moskowitz]]
 +
*Other con reports:
 +
**[https://web.archive.org/web/20080906184034/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,761661-1,00.html “Amazing! Astounding!”] ''Time'' magazine, July 10, 1939. (Also: [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-times-scientification-fans-mee/125117526/ “‘Scientification’ Fans Meet,”] Owen Sound Daily Sun-Times, July 13, 1939, p. 4.)
 +
** [https://www.fanac.org/fanzines/Satellite/Satellite11.pdf “The New York Convention”] by [[Louis Kuslan]], ''[[The Satellite]]'' Vol. 2, No. 8 (August 1939, p. 3).
 +
** [https://www.fanac.org/fanzines/New_Fandom/New_Fandom06.pdf Uncredited report], ''[[New Fandom]]'' 6 (January 1940, p. 4).
 +
** [https://efanzines.com/1939Nycon/Fifth-Convention-Report.pdf “The ‘Fifth’ (World's Fair) Convention”] by [[Jack Robins]], 1940.
 +
** {{link | website=https://eFanzines.com/1939Nycon|text=Conreps at eFanzines}}.
 +
** [https://www.jophan.org/mimosa/m06/kyle.htm “The Great Exclusion Act of 1939”] by [[Dave Kyle]], ''[[Mimosa]]'' 6 (April 1989).
 +
** [https://www.jophan.org/mimosa/m22/kyle.htm “Caravan to the Stars”] by [[Dave Kyle]], ''[[Mimosa]]'' 22 (June 1998).
  
 
{{fancy2|text=
 
{{fancy2|text=
 
from '''[[Convention]]''' NYCon I was held in New York 2-4 July under the auspices of [[New Fandom]] as the [[World Science Fiction Convention]], "First" being added later.  (Annual Worldcons were not at first contemplated; idea and site for the ChiCon were not formally approved by fans till the [[Philcon 1939|PhilCo]] later this year.)  With a total attendance of 200, it was the largest before [[World War II]] ended major [[conventions]].  It set the pattern for subsequent conventions lasting more than one day, but was marred by the [[Exclusion Act]].  The name of NYCon (or "Fifth Eastern") was tagged on it by the [[Wollheimists]] to downgrade the claim implicit in "World", but after the [[ChiCon]] such portmanteau-names were always used.
 
from '''[[Convention]]''' NYCon I was held in New York 2-4 July under the auspices of [[New Fandom]] as the [[World Science Fiction Convention]], "First" being added later.  (Annual Worldcons were not at first contemplated; idea and site for the ChiCon were not formally approved by fans till the [[Philcon 1939|PhilCo]] later this year.)  With a total attendance of 200, it was the largest before [[World War II]] ended major [[conventions]].  It set the pattern for subsequent conventions lasting more than one day, but was marred by the [[Exclusion Act]].  The name of NYCon (or "Fifth Eastern") was tagged on it by the [[Wollheimists]] to downgrade the claim implicit in "World", but after the [[ChiCon]] such portmanteau-names were always used.
 
}}
 
}}
−
 
 
{{fancy1|text=
 
{{fancy1|text=
 
The First [[World Science-Fiction Convention]] in [[New York]] in 1939; called originally by its enemies who denied that it was a "world" [[convention]], the name was generally adopted after the [[Chicon]]. The enemies of WSFC committee also called it the World's Fair Science-Fiction Convention, 1939 being the first year of the NY Worlds fair.  
 
The First [[World Science-Fiction Convention]] in [[New York]] in 1939; called originally by its enemies who denied that it was a "world" [[convention]], the name was generally adopted after the [[Chicon]]. The enemies of WSFC committee also called it the World's Fair Science-Fiction Convention, 1939 being the first year of the NY Worlds fair.  
 
}}
 
}}
  
−
{{convention | series=Worldcon | year=1939 | after=Chicon I | files={{fancy}}}}
+
 
 +
{{convention | series=Worldcon | year=1939 | after=Chicon |series1=New York Worldcons|after1=NyCon II}}
 
[[Category:fancy1]]
 
[[Category:fancy1]]
 +
[[Category:fancy2]]
 
[[Category:US]]
 
[[Category:US]]
 
[[Category:worldcon]]
 
[[Category:worldcon]]
 +
[[Category:notable]]
 +
[[Category:fanhistory]]

Latest revision as of 00:55, 27 July 2023

NyconArt.jpeg
Nycon Program Book heading by Frank R. Paul, courtesy of Thrilling Wonder Stories.


Cardboard placard displayed in New York City just before Nycon. Printed by Conrad H. Ruppert, a fan of the 1930s noted for the excellence of his publications.

Nycon, the First Worldcon, was held Sunday, July 2–Tuesday, July 4, 1939, at Caravan Hall in New York. GoH: Frank R. Paul. Chairman: Sam Moskowitz.

The organizers of the 1939 Worldcon simply called it the "World Science Fiction Convention." It was subsequently called "Nycon" (a nickname Forry Ackerman claimed to have coined) and "The 1939 Worldcon." "Fifth Eastern" was tagged on it by detractors. About 200 fans attended.

The convention was controlled by a so-called 'Ruling Triumvirate' of Moskowitz, William S. Sykora and James V. Taurasi. In the Exclusion Act (which see), they kept some members of the Futurians from attending after a long history of feuding between the club and the concom, exacerbated when Dave Kyle (who wasn’t banned) anonymously created A Warning!, a somewhat incendiary pamflet. He had hidden the copies, but the Triumvirs found it.

One event held at the First Worldcon did not become a Tradition: A softball game.

NYCon did not select a site for the next Worldcon — it had not occurred to the NYCon committee that it could possibly be an annual event. But fandom loved it, and a few months later, at Philcon 1939, the fans present voted to hold another Worldcon in 1940 in Chicago. See 1940 Worldcon Site Selection.

The convention drew disdainful coverage from Time magazine, whose uncredited reporter called the teenaged fen the “jitterbugs of the pulp magazine field,” and made “goshwowoboyoboy” a fannish catchphrase.

See also New York Worldcons and Early Conventions.


Members[edit]

During the first Worldcon, fans took the opportunity to visit Coney Island, where this foto-op took place. Front, from left: Mark Reinsberg, Jack Agnew, Ross Rocklynne. Rear: Vincent Kidwell, Robert A. Madle, Erle Korshak, Ray Bradbury, July 4, 1939. Courtesy of Robert Madle.


It is difficult these days when there are fans of all ages to appreciate how young fandom was in 1939. Here is a table of ages of major figures during the First Worldcon:

Sam Moskowitz (the chairman!) 19
Donald A. Wollheim 25
John W. Campbell, Jr. 29
Robert A. Heinlein 32
James V. Taurasi 22
Bob Tucker 25
Jack Speer 19
Dave Kyle 20
Fred Pohl 20
Isaac Asimov 19
E. E. Smith (the old man!) 49

Nycon 1 had a list of members, but it was neither accurate nor complete. Not accurate, because many people signed up with pseudonyms -- in some cases more than one. Not complete in that an estimated 50 people didn't sign in at all! (The $1 membership fee, while not insignificant to those poverty-stricken young people, was not a major source of convention income, so there was little attempt to get everyone to pay.)

This list was published in Julius Unger's fanzine Fantasy Fiction Field Nycon Review in June 1942 See here for the actual list. New Fandom 6 (January 1940, p. 10) also contained a partial list. We have added names for which there is evidence of their attendance.

Recorded elsewhere as having attended:[edit]

Excluded from the convention:[edit]

Boosters[edit]

The program book, meanwhile, contains a list of “Scientifictionists” who each paid 25¢ to be included, a way of supporting the convention. Like all such lists at early conventions, there are numerous pseudonymous duplicates, including many names for Forry Ackerman.

Futurian Conference[edit]

A conference held on Tuesday, July 4, 1939, the third day of the Nycon, while many of the Worldcon attendees were playing a softball game on Flushing Flats. The Futurians, most of whom had been banned from the Worldcon, and their sympathizers held their own free mini-con in Brooklyn. They discussed the Exclusion Act and Michelism.

From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944
From Conference – Third day of the Nycon, where most of the attendees were playing softball on Flushing Flats, the Futurians and their sympathizers met in a Futurian Conference. They discussed the Exclusion Act and Michelism.

More Reading[edit]

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959
from Convention NYCon I was held in New York 2-4 July under the auspices of New Fandom as the World Science Fiction Convention, "First" being added later. (Annual Worldcons were not at first contemplated; idea and site for the ChiCon were not formally approved by fans till the PhilCo later this year.) With a total attendance of 200, it was the largest before World War II ended major conventions. It set the pattern for subsequent conventions lasting more than one day, but was marred by the Exclusion Act. The name of NYCon (or "Fifth Eastern") was tagged on it by the Wollheimists to downgrade the claim implicit in "World", but after the ChiCon such portmanteau-names were always used.
From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944
The First World Science-Fiction Convention in New York in 1939; called originally by its enemies who denied that it was a "world" convention, the name was generally adopted after the Chicon. The enemies of WSFC committee also called it the World's Fair Science-Fiction Convention, 1939 being the first year of the NY Worlds fair.


first Worldcon - Bidding - Hugos Chicon
first New York Worldcons NyCon II
1939
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.

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