Difference between revisions of "Whitcon"

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[[Eastercon]] 1, '''Whitcon''', was held at the [[White Horse]] pub in [[London, UK]] on May 15, 1948 (Whitsun weekend, hence the name.) There had been little advance preparation, but in spite of that approximately 53<ref>[[Rob Hansen]] has identified 53 named attendees from contemporary reportage.</ref> [[fans]] attended. The [[GoH]] was [[A. Bertram Chandler]]. It was run by [[Walter Gillings]] and [[John Newman]] and other fans who normally met at [[Fred Gram]]'s house.  
+
'''Whitcon''', the first post-[[War]] British convention, was held on Saturday May 15, 1948 in the upper room  of the [[White Horse]] pub in [[London, UK]]. It was retroactively declared the first of the [[Eastercon]]s even though it wasn't at Easter. [[Conventions in the UK before 1948|Earlier conventions]], some of which were at Easter and one of which was even called [[Eastercon 1944|Eastercon]], aren't regarded as part of the sequence. It was officially organised by by [[John Newman]], in practice assisted by [[Walter Gillings]] and others. The [[guest of honor|guest of honour]] was [[A. Bertram Chandler]].
  
It was nominally to be held just the 15th, but fans, mostly from the [[London]] area, plus a few from elsewhere in [[Britain]], began to arrive on the 14th. The early arrivals were taken to London bookshops by locals and there was a general meeting  at a Lyons Corner House for tea before moving to the White Horse for the main meeting.
+
== Preparation ==
  
Gillings, who was [[chair]]ing the session, talked about the difficulties publishing [[prozines]] in the [[UK]], and said that ''[[Fantasy_Magazine_(UK)|Fantasy]]'' had folded because of the paper shortage. [[Ted Carnell]] reported the collapse of Pendulum Publications which stopped publication of the fourth issue of ''[[New Worlds]]''.  [[Arthur C. Clarke]] resurfaced and talked on [[sf]] and astronautics. He pointed out that the [[British Interplanetary Society]] once been a basically fan [[organization]], but now perhaps only only twenty percent were fans. [[Ted Tubb]] was the main [[auction]]eer, selling easily everything except [[Ziff Davis]] prozines in an auction which produced about $70. Nearly $50 of the proceeds went to the [[Big Pond Fund]]. [[Ken Slater]] couldn't attend, because of duties in [[Germany]], but he sent two pounds with instructions to employ it in toasts to his health. [[Dave Newman]] also spoke. The only unattached woman at the con was [[Daphne Bradley]].
+
There is no record of any advance publicity for the convention. If [[progress reports]] were issued none have been traced. It's also unclear if there was a membership fee. There is no record of one and according to Newman, '[[G. Ken Chapman]] gave (calling it a loan but refused to accept repayment) money to arrange things and be certain of covering the expense of the buffet and hire of the upstairs room at the White Horse' (quoted in ''[[Then]]'').
  
Ted Tubb later credited the success of the event to John Newman and called it a 'remarkable achievement' that so large a gathering was assembled. He did though concede that 50 was 'hardly representative of of the vast majority of lovers of science fiction' and called for a national organisation.
+
== Venue ==
  
It's ironic that [[Eastercon]] didn't start on Easter. When compiling the canonical list of past Eastercons in 1971 [[Peter Weston]] began the series with this convention, although the list could as easily have begun with the [[1937 Leeds Convention]], the [[Loncon_(Eastercon)|1949 Loncon]] which actually was at Easter, or the 1955 [[Cytricon]] which was the first convention after the permanent move away from Whitsun.
+
The White Horse pub in Fetter Lane had been the weekly meeting place of London fans since April 1946. The fans would move on in 1953, following popular landlord [[Lew Mordecai]] to [[The Globe]], nearby in Hatton Garden. The White Horse was closed and boarded up around late April or early May 1989 and subsequently demolished.
  
[[Ken Slater]]’s [[Operation Fantast]], on behalf of the [[BFL]], [[published]] '''''[https://fanac.org/fanzines/OperationFantast/OperationFantast045.pdf Whitconzine]''''', an 18-page, [[mimeographed]] collection of [[conreports]] afterward.  
+
== Attendees ==
 +
 
 +
One report talks of 'about 60' attendees. There is no list of members but [[Rob Hansen]] has identified 51 people named in contemporary reports or signing the list of attendees, making Whitcon the largest UK convention up to this point:
 +
 
 +
<div style="column-count:3;-moz-column-count:3;-webkit-column-count:3">
 +
* [[M. E. Allen]]
 +
* [[Frank Arnold]] *
 +
* [[Norman Ashfield]]
 +
* [[W. W. Baker]]
 +
* [[Sydney Bounds]] *
 +
* [[Daphne Bradley]]
 +
* [[Fred Brown]]
 +
* [[Ron Buckmaster]]
 +
* [[Jim Burch]]
 +
* [[Ted Carnell]] *
 +
* [[Irene Carnell]]
 +
* [[A. Bertram Chandler]]
 +
* Joan Chandler ‡
 +
* [[G. Ken Chapman]] *
 +
* Joan Chapman ‡
 +
* [[Hal Chibbett]] *
 +
* [[Arthur C. Clarke]] *
 +
* [[Vince Clarke]]
 +
* [[Jimmy Clay]]
 +
* [[Ron Deacon]]
 +
* [[W. A. Deveraux]] *
 +
* [[J. D. Doggett]]
 +
* [[Donald J. Doughty]]
 +
* [[Charles Duncombe]]
 +
* Mrs R. Duncombe ‡
 +
* [[D. J. Fabian]]
 +
* [[Frank Fears]]
 +
* [[Kerry Gaulder]]
 +
* Madeline Gillings ‡
 +
* Ron Gillings ‡
 +
* [[Walter Gillings]] *
 +
* [[Peter Hawkins]] *
 +
* [[Eric C. Hopkins]] *
 +
* [[Terry Jeeves]]
 +
* [[Kenneth Johnson]]
 +
* [[Peter Knott]] *
 +
* [[D. Landman]]
 +
* [[Ron Lane]] *
 +
* [[F. C. Newman]]
 +
* [[John Newman]]
 +
* [[Terry Overton]] *
 +
* [[Owen Plumridge]]
 +
* [[Sandy Sandfield]] *
 +
* [[Norman Syms]]
 +
* [[Bill Temple]] *
 +
* Joan Temple ‡
 +
* [[E. C. Tubb]]
 +
* [[E. J. Webb]]
 +
* [[G. F. White]]
 +
* [[Eric C. Williams]] *
 +
* [[Tony Young]]
 +
</div>
 +
 
 +
There is arguable a fifty-second attendee as there's one signatory on the list of attendees that's indecipherable. [[Ron Lane]]'s attendance is a bit of a guess as it's based on a questionable interpretation of a signature in the ''Whitcon Booklet''. Names marked * are people known to have attended at least one pre-1948 convention, only 15 of them although Carnell, Clarke and Gillings had all been at the [[1937 Leeds Convention|first British convention in Leeds in 1937]]. Names marked ‡ are the wives, or in the case of Ron Gillings the son, of known fans and it is not thought at this time that they were themselves fans per se. Daphne Bradley, as is constantly noted, was the only female attendee who wasn't married to one of the other attendees. The list of attendees is also 'signed' by 'George Whitley', a [[pseudonym]] of Chandler's. In a piece called 'The Whitcon Report' published in ''[[Fantasy Times]]'' V3 #9 (September 1948),  [[Jack E. Quinn]] – who wasn't there – provides an often misspelled list of attendees 'extracted from the ''Whitcon Booklet'''. This includes L. L. Fiebler, F. C. Herman and A. Lane, all names seemingly derived from misinterpretations of signatures in the booklet. There is no evidence otherwise that these people exist.
 +
 
 +
== The convention ==
 +
 
 +
Whitcon was nominally to be held just on the evening of Saturday 15th, but fans, mostly from the London area plus a few from elsewhere in [[Britain]], arrived earlier. The early arrivals were taken to London bookshops by locals in the afternoon and then went for tea at Lyons Corner House around 5 o'clock (when else?!) before moving to the White Horse for the main event, which started at 6:30 and had to vacate the pub by 10:30. The ''Whitcon Booklet'' gives "May 15th 16th" at the cover, but Sunday included only an informal stroll, possibly to be followed by a visit at Newman's: "John turned up at Kew Gardens with [[Sydney Bounds|Syd Bounds]] and [[Sandy Sandfield]] - had he known his entourage could have been increased 100%, for [[Vincent Clarke]], [[Daphne Bradley|Daphne]], and Speedy [unidentified] turned up, but could not find the others".
 +
 
 +
Gillings, who [[chair]]ed the session, talked about the difficulties publishing [[prozines]] in the [[UK]], and said that his ''[[Fantasy Magazine (UK)|Fantasy]]'' (1946–7) had folded because of the paper shortage. [[Ted Carnell]] reported the collapse of Pendulum Publications which stopped publication of the fourth issue of ''[[New Worlds]]'' (also 1946–7, revived in 1949). [[Arthur C. Clarke]] resurfaced and talked on [[sf]] and astronautics. He pointed out that the [[British Interplanetary Society]] once been a basically fan [[organization]], but now perhaps only only twenty percent were fans. [[Ted Tubb]] was the [[auction]]eer, selling easily everything (sent a. o. by fans who could not attend, "as did several generous fans in the States" – the unavailability of US publications due to currency restrictions was a bad problem then) except [[Ziff Davis]] [[prozine]]s, producing about $70 (sic?!). Nearly $50 of the proceeds (after deducting expenses) were voted for the [[Big Pond Fund]]. Lt. [[Ken Slater]] couldn't attend because of duties in [[Germany]], but he sent two pounds "to buy all the Whitcon attendees a drink, so, before attacking the running buffet, the meeting hurriedly broke up to drink Ken's health". [[Dave Newman]] also spoke. The only unmarried woman at the con was [[Daphne Bradley]].
 +
 
 +
Ted Tubb later credited the success of the event to John Newman and called it a 'remarkable achievement' that so large a gathering was assembled. He did though concede that 50 was 'hardly representative of of the vast majority of lovers of science fiction' and called for [[Science Fantasy Society|a national organisation]].
 +
 
 +
It's ironic that [[Eastercon]] didn't start on Easter. Compiling the canonical, ordinal list of past Eastercons in 1971 (when knowledge of even so recent [[fanhistory]] was still not at its strongest), [[Peter Weston]] began the series with Whitcon (naturally enough, as it launched a new tradition in a new era), although it could also have begun with the very first [[1937 Leeds Convention]], the original small [[Eastercon 1944|1944 Eastercon ]], the following [[Loncon (Eastercon)|1949 Loncon]] which actually was at Easter, or the 1955 [[Cytricon]] which was the first [[natcon]] after the permanent move away from Whitsun.
 +
 
 +
== Publications ==
 +
 
 +
Only after the con, "a ''Whitcon Booklet'' containing articles, comments, and information about the Whitcon and [[Anglofandom]]" was published. It was followed by '''''[https://fanac.org/fanzines/OperationFantast/OperationFantast045.pdf Whitconzine]''''' (PDF), an 18-page, [[mimeographed]] collection of [[conreport]]s and other reprinted material, [[published]] by [[Ken Slater]]'s [[Operation Fantast]] for the [[British Fantasy Library|BFL]] ('what this meant in practice is not clear', according to [[Rob Hansen]]).
 +
 
 +
== Future conventions ==
 +
 
 +
It's not clear that there were any immediate plans for a follow-up
  
 
{{fancy2|text=
 
{{fancy2|text=
 
The gathering (brainstormed by [[John Newman]]) that marked the postwar revival of congoing in [[England]]. It took place 15-16 May 1948, over Whitsuntide weekend, at the [[White Horse]] tavern in [[London]]. Nearly 60 fans attended, including [[Gillings]], [[Carnell]], [[ACC]], [[Bill Temple]], and [[Bertram Chandler]]. ''[[New Worlds]]'' was declared folded (ending the last surviving [[English]] [[prozine]]), and a cooperative company was planned to take it over.  
 
The gathering (brainstormed by [[John Newman]]) that marked the postwar revival of congoing in [[England]]. It took place 15-16 May 1948, over Whitsuntide weekend, at the [[White Horse]] tavern in [[London]]. Nearly 60 fans attended, including [[Gillings]], [[Carnell]], [[ACC]], [[Bill Temple]], and [[Bertram Chandler]]. ''[[New Worlds]]'' was declared folded (ending the last surviving [[English]] [[prozine]]), and a cooperative company was planned to take it over.  
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
* [http://www.fiawol.org.uk/fanstuff/THEN%20Archive/Whit48.htm Whitsun 1948] at fiawol.org; contains photos and HTML versions of the ''Whitconzine, The Whitcon Booklet'', John Newman's Whitcon Report (''[[Fantasy Advertiser]]'' Vol. III No. 2 (July 1948) ) and ''[[Fantasy Times]]''' Whitcon Report" (by [[Jack E. Quinn]], 'As extracted [i. e. summarised] from the Whitcon Booklet'; #69, September 1948, PDF. This latter document should be treated with caution because names are often misspelled.)
  
 
{{convention | series=Eastercon | year=1948 | after=Loncon (Eastercon)  | website=http://www.fiawol.org.uk/fanstuff/THEN%20Archive/Whit48.htm |Locale=London, UK}}
 
{{convention | series=Eastercon | year=1948 | after=Loncon (Eastercon)  | website=http://www.fiawol.org.uk/fanstuff/THEN%20Archive/Whit48.htm |Locale=London, UK}}

Latest revision as of 02:55, 19 June 2024

Whitcon, the first post-War British convention, was held on Saturday May 15, 1948 in the upper room of the White Horse pub in London, UK. It was retroactively declared the first of the Eastercons even though it wasn't at Easter. Earlier conventions, some of which were at Easter and one of which was even called Eastercon, aren't regarded as part of the sequence. It was officially organised by by John Newman, in practice assisted by Walter Gillings and others. The guest of honour was A. Bertram Chandler.

Preparation[edit]

There is no record of any advance publicity for the convention. If progress reports were issued none have been traced. It's also unclear if there was a membership fee. There is no record of one and according to Newman, 'G. Ken Chapman gave (calling it a loan but refused to accept repayment) money to arrange things and be certain of covering the expense of the buffet and hire of the upstairs room at the White Horse' (quoted in Then).

Venue[edit]

The White Horse pub in Fetter Lane had been the weekly meeting place of London fans since April 1946. The fans would move on in 1953, following popular landlord Lew Mordecai to The Globe, nearby in Hatton Garden. The White Horse was closed and boarded up around late April or early May 1989 and subsequently demolished.

Attendees[edit]

One report talks of 'about 60' attendees. There is no list of members but Rob Hansen has identified 51 people named in contemporary reports or signing the list of attendees, making Whitcon the largest UK convention up to this point:

There is arguable a fifty-second attendee as there's one signatory on the list of attendees that's indecipherable. Ron Lane's attendance is a bit of a guess as it's based on a questionable interpretation of a signature in the Whitcon Booklet. Names marked * are people known to have attended at least one pre-1948 convention, only 15 of them although Carnell, Clarke and Gillings had all been at the first British convention in Leeds in 1937. Names marked ‡ are the wives, or in the case of Ron Gillings the son, of known fans and it is not thought at this time that they were themselves fans per se. Daphne Bradley, as is constantly noted, was the only female attendee who wasn't married to one of the other attendees. The list of attendees is also 'signed' by 'George Whitley', a pseudonym of Chandler's. In a piece called 'The Whitcon Report' published in Fantasy Times V3 #9 (September 1948), Jack E. Quinn – who wasn't there – provides an often misspelled list of attendees 'extracted from the Whitcon Booklet'. This includes L. L. Fiebler, F. C. Herman and A. Lane, all names seemingly derived from misinterpretations of signatures in the booklet. There is no evidence otherwise that these people exist.

The convention[edit]

Whitcon was nominally to be held just on the evening of Saturday 15th, but fans, mostly from the London area plus a few from elsewhere in Britain, arrived earlier. The early arrivals were taken to London bookshops by locals in the afternoon and then went for tea at Lyons Corner House around 5 o'clock (when else?!) before moving to the White Horse for the main event, which started at 6:30 and had to vacate the pub by 10:30. The Whitcon Booklet gives "May 15th 16th" at the cover, but Sunday included only an informal stroll, possibly to be followed by a visit at Newman's: "John turned up at Kew Gardens with Syd Bounds and Sandy Sandfield - had he known his entourage could have been increased 100%, for Vincent Clarke, Daphne, and Speedy [unidentified] turned up, but could not find the others".

Gillings, who chaired the session, talked about the difficulties publishing prozines in the UK, and said that his Fantasy (1946–7) had folded because of the paper shortage. Ted Carnell reported the collapse of Pendulum Publications which stopped publication of the fourth issue of New Worlds (also 1946–7, revived in 1949). Arthur C. Clarke resurfaced and talked on sf and astronautics. He pointed out that the British Interplanetary Society once been a basically fan organization, but now perhaps only only twenty percent were fans. Ted Tubb was the auctioneer, selling easily everything (sent a. o. by fans who could not attend, "as did several generous fans in the States" – the unavailability of US publications due to currency restrictions was a bad problem then) except Ziff Davis prozines, producing about $70 (sic?!). Nearly $50 of the proceeds (after deducting expenses) were voted for the Big Pond Fund. Lt. Ken Slater couldn't attend because of duties in Germany, but he sent two pounds "to buy all the Whitcon attendees a drink, so, before attacking the running buffet, the meeting hurriedly broke up to drink Ken's health". Dave Newman also spoke. The only unmarried woman at the con was Daphne Bradley.

Ted Tubb later credited the success of the event to John Newman and called it a 'remarkable achievement' that so large a gathering was assembled. He did though concede that 50 was 'hardly representative of of the vast majority of lovers of science fiction' and called for a national organisation.

It's ironic that Eastercon didn't start on Easter. Compiling the canonical, ordinal list of past Eastercons in 1971 (when knowledge of even so recent fanhistory was still not at its strongest), Peter Weston began the series with Whitcon (naturally enough, as it launched a new tradition in a new era), although it could also have begun with the very first 1937 Leeds Convention, the original small 1944 Eastercon , the following 1949 Loncon which actually was at Easter, or the 1955 Cytricon which was the first natcon after the permanent move away from Whitsun.

Publications[edit]

Only after the con, "a Whitcon Booklet containing articles, comments, and information about the Whitcon and Anglofandom" was published. It was followed by Whitconzine (PDF), an 18-page, mimeographed collection of conreports and other reprinted material, published by Ken Slater's Operation Fantast for the BFL ('what this meant in practice is not clear', according to Rob Hansen).

Future conventions[edit]

It's not clear that there were any immediate plans for a follow-up

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959
The gathering (brainstormed by John Newman) that marked the postwar revival of congoing in England. It took place 15-16 May 1948, over Whitsuntide weekend, at the White Horse tavern in London. Nearly 60 fans attended, including Gillings, Carnell, ACC, Bill Temple, and Bertram Chandler. New Worlds was declared folded (ending the last surviving English prozine), and a cooperative company was planned to take it over.
  • Whitsun 1948 at fiawol.org; contains photos and HTML versions of the Whitconzine, The Whitcon Booklet, John Newman's Whitcon Report (Fantasy Advertiser Vol. III No. 2 (July 1948) ) and Fantasy Times' Whitcon Report" (by Jack E. Quinn, 'As extracted [i. e. summarised] from the Whitcon Booklet'; #69, September 1948, PDF. This latter document should be treated with caution because names are often misspelled.)

first Eastercon Loncon
Website 1948
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.