1954 Worldcon Site Selection

Site selection for the 1954 Worldcon was conducted by Philcon II in 1953. The winner, San Francisco, ran SFCon.

There were an indeterminate number of bidders in that there were no formal bid committees. Nonetheless, when the vote was actually taken, the choices were London in '54, Cleveland in '54 and San Francisco in '54.

The previous year, at Chicon II, in a very complicated and political race (see 1953 Worldcon Site Selection and The Story Behind Philly in '53), Philadelphia in 1953 narrowly defeated San Francisco in '53 in a vote that one observer described as fans voting with their feet rather than their hearts. So at Philcon II, there was a widespread feeling that San Francisco deserved the 1954 Worldcon (rotation rules had not yet been formalized.)

Unfortunately, there was no San Francisco bid and only one San Francisco fan, Hans Rush, was in attendance -- and when the voting started he could not be located. So Don Ford (of Cincinnati!) presented the San Francisco bid. (In those days, the vote was held at the convention during the WSFS Business Meeting, which was typically an hour-long item on the single track of program.) Hans had played poker till dawn and went to a nearby hotel to sleep and no one knew where. When he finally showed up, he learned that San Francisco had won. Howard DeVore, who was in the poker game, probably convinced Don Ford to make the bid.

L. Sprague de Camp presided over the Site Selection.

Cleveland was nominated by Eugene J. Burham and was seconded by Noreen Falasca.

London was nominated by H. J. Campbell and seconded by Rita Krohne. Campbell reported in Authentic Science Fiction #39 (November 1953) that the London bid received 61 votes.

---

1953

Worldcon Site Selection

1955

1954

This is page about convention bidding, the competition and its outcome. Please extend it by adding information about who was bidding, and how the race went.