An Outline of Fanhistory
Fanhistory was first written by Jack Speer Up To Now (1935-39), Sam Moskowitz The Immortal Storm (1935-1941), and Harry Warner, Jr. All Our Yesterdays (1940-1949) and A Wealth of Fable (1950-1959). These volumes do an excellent job of covering the period 1930-1959 in decent detail. Joe Siclari did a summary history of a longer period, 1935-1979, for Marshall Tymm's The Science Fiction Reference Book, but because of limitations of space and time, could write no more than a sketch.
As fandom has expanded, the approach of writing a book covering a decade's worth of fan history in a single volume has proven impractical. Rich Lynch compiled extensive notes towards a history of the 60s following the approach of Harry Warner, but abandoned the project as undoable: The result would be a book too thick to be read and perhaps too thick to be printed. Even if split into multiple volumes, it would be uneconomic to produce and too unwieldy to be widely read. And it just gets worse in later decades.
Instead, we present here a series of articles which (hopefully) cover the main threads of the history of fandom. Naturally, 98% of the detail is skipped -- though much of it can be found elsewhere in Fancyclopedia 3 -- and important threads are missed or slighted. For this we apologize -- perhaps you can help us fill in the gaps?
The time periods are approximate throughout, but are useful in anchoring a article in a logical place.
The Outline:[edit]
| Time | Article | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1930-35 | The Dawn | Readers discover each other through the prozine lettercols |
| 1935-39 | Fandom Arises | Teenage fans across the US and the UK find each other, form clubs, invent fanzines and conventions, and fight epochal battles among themselves |
| 1935-37 | The SFL Comes and Goes | The first club for all of fandom |
| 1937-39 | The Invention of Conventions | The first conventions |
| 1938-45 | The Futurian Wars | The Futurians rise, dominate fandom, fission and fall -- while inventing parts of modern fandom along the way |
| 1939-45 | Fandom and WW II | Fandom goes to war |
| 1939-45 | The First APAs | FAPA and its progeny |
| 1939-45 | Hotbeds of Fandom | New York, Philadelphia, LA and a number of other cities were vibrant early centers of fandom |
| 1945-50 | A Focus on SF | After the War, much fannish energy was devoted to SF and not just to fandom itself |
| 1935-1950 | Present at the Creation | Some of the fans who created fandom |
| Insurgentcy | ||
| Fandom Should Be Fun | A reaction to the serious focus on SF | |
| 1945-60 | The Midwest | The Midwest was a fannish powerhouse |
| 1950-60 | Legendary Fanwriting | The 1950s saw the blossoming of fanwriting and fanwriters |
| 1950-70 | Hotbeds of Fandom 1950-1970 | A look at the centers of fannish activity, 1950-1970 |
| 1950-1980 | Shapers of Modern Fandom | Many of the people who shaped fandom as we know it today came in after the War |
| 1950s? | Numbering the Eras | The idea of numerical fandoms reached its zenith |
| 1955-60 | WSFS Inc. and the Yearning for a National Club | All through fannish history, fans felt there should be wide fannish coordination. There were many tries. None worked. |
| 1955-60 | The Hugos Are Born | The Hugo Awards creation and growth |
| 1950s | Fandom After the Bomb and Sputnik | Fans and SF wanted to be seen as guides to the future. What happened when they became accepted by society? |
| 1960-70 | Conventions Grow | Conventions grow to become a major type of fanac |
| 1965-72 | Star Trek Bursts onto the Scene | The arrival of Star Trek profoundly changed fandom |
| 1970-2000 | Hotbeds of Fandom 1970-2000 | A look at the centers of fannish activity, 1970-2000 |
| 1970s | The Splintering | The SCA, Comics fandom, and Star Trek fandom eventually split off from the fannish mainstream, though many fans kept a foot in more than one camp |
| 1970-90 | Shapers of Modern Fandom II | Who shaped fandom during the years of exponential growth? |
| ?? | Fandom Is Plunged Into War | Feuds have been an unhappy part of fandom from the beginning |
| A Proliferation of APAs | For a long time, apas seemed to be the major outlet for fan writing | |
| 1970-85 | A Proliferation of Conventions | Cons pop up everywhere and become the dominant form of fanac |
| 1990-2000 | Fandom and the Internet | Fandom embraced the Internet from its beginning -- and the Internet has changed fandom |
| 1995-2015 | The Decline of Clubs and Fanzines | As the Internet improved communication and as conventions proliferated, clubs and fanzines became less vital |
| Filk Is Fandom's Song | Filking grew, but remained part of fandom | |
| 1980-2000 | The Rise of Specialized Conventions | With the growth of fandom, specialized conventions became more common |
| 2000-today | OK, We Won. Now What? | By the 21st century, SF became a major part of the popular culture. Can fandom survive success? |
| Fanhistory |
| This is a fanhistory page. Please add more detail. |
