Early Conventions
The first ten years of SF conventions were a mixed bag, but even the largest was small by modern standards, and some were literally a few guys getting together for a day. But travel was difficult and the tendency of the time was to call nearly any planned get-together of fans from different cities a "convention" (Or a "conference". See the Fancyclopedia 2 article on “con” for the baroque early terminology.)
Anglofan historians tend to take a a hard line on what was or wasn’t a convention (they would omit the First Convention if they could). We are inclined to take the participants’ estimation, even if they declared conhood after the event.
Year | Date | Convention | Attendance | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1936 | October 22, 1936 | First Convention | 10-20 | Philadelphia | later called the First Eastern |
1937 | January 3, 1937 | Other First Convention | ~20 | Leeds, UK | |
February 21, 1937 | Second Eastern | 30-40 | New York | ||
October 30, 1937 | Third Eastern | Philadelphia | |||
1938 | April 10, 1938 | Second British Convention | (aka Necronomicon) | ||
May 29, 1938 | Newark Convention | >100 | Newark, NJ | aka Fourth Eastern aka First National | |
October 16, 1938 | 1938 Philadelphia Conference | > 2 dozen | Philadelphia | ||
1939 | 1939 | Third British Convention | London | ||
July 2-4, 1939 | NyCon I | 150-200 | New York | the first Worldcon | |
Fall 1939 | Philcon 1939 | Philadelphia | |||
1939 | OSA Pow-Wow | Tulsa, OK | Oklahoma state convention | ||
1940 | April 1940 | Third Chicago Conference | 4 | Chicago | |
September 1-2, 1940 | Chicon I | 128 | Chicago | ||
November 10, 1940 | Phillycon 1940 | Philadelphia | |||
1941 | late February 1941 | Boskone I | ~25 | R. D. Swisher home, Winchester, MA | |
July 4-6, 1941 | Denvention I | ~100 | Denver | ||
September 20-21, 1941 | Bombcon | 13 | London | ||
November 16, 1941 | 1941 Michiconference | Jackson, MI | |||
1942 | February 22, 1942 | Boskone II | 25 | Ritz Plaza, Boston, MA | |
September 27, 1942 | 1942 Michiconference | ~25 | Jackson, MI | ||
November 29, 1942 | Hastings S-F Conference | v. small | Hastings, MN | possibly a drinking party | |
1942 | Pacificon Jr. | Los Angeles, CA | |||
1943 | February 28, 1943 | Boskone III | 14 | Ritz Plaza, Boston, MA | |
Spring 1943 | Midgicon | 10? | Chicago | ||
Spring 1943 | Live Oak Conference | 3 | Live Oak, FL | ||
Easter 1943 | Midvention | Leicester, UK | |||
May 16, 1943 | Staplecon 1 | ~12 | San Francisco | ||
Summer 1943 | MeCon | 3 | Rockland, ME | ||
mid 1943 | Mainecon Jr. somewhere in Maine | 2 | Maine | ||
mid 1943 | Schenectacon | 2-4 | Schenectady, NY | ||
October 30, 1943 | 1943 Michiconference | 22 | Battle Creek, MI | ||
November 21, 1943 | Staplecon 2 | San Francisco | |||
"around the end" 1943 | Fancon | Bloomington, IL | |||
December 31, 1943-January 2, 1944 | Norcon | small | Manchester, UK | ||
1944 | April 8-9, 1944 | Eastercon | London | ||
May 28, 1944 | Staplecon 3 | 9 | San Francisco | ||
June 17-19, 1944 | Michicon 4 | 23 | Battle Creek, MI | ||
August 27, 1944 | Dovercon | 11 | Dover, DE | ||
October 7-9, 1944 | Little Chicon | "small" | Chicago | ||
1945 | February 3-4, 1945 | Boskone IV | 5 | R. D. Swisher home, Winchester, MA | |
July 7-8, 1945 | 1945 Michiconference | 15-20 | Battle Creek, MI | ||
September 2, 1945 | Boskone V | 9 | Hotel Hawthorne, Salem, MA | AKA First New England SF Conference | |
1946 | March 3, 1946 | FPWESFC | Newark, NJ | ||
April 6-7, 1946 | First Post-Radar-Contact-with-the-Moon Con | 16 | Chicago | ||
August 30-September 1, 1946 | Pacificon I | 130 | Los Angeles | ||
October 27, 1946 | Phillycon 1946 | Philadelphia | |||
November 9-10, 1946 | Centracon | 25 | Chicago |
See the Fancyclopedia 2 article on Conventions.
Fanhistory | 1936—1946 |
This is a fanhistory page. Please add more detail. |
Convention | |
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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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