Chicon
The 1940 Worldcon, and first in Chicago, Chicon was held in the Hotel Chicagoan in Chicago, Illinois, September 1–2, 1940. The GoH was E. E. "Doc" Smith.
Chicon I was sponsored by the Illini Fantasy Fictioneers, a club set up for the purpose, and run by a triumvirate. Mark Reinsberg held the title of chairman (he'd won that title in a "bitter struggle" with W. Lawrence Hamling, who claimed to have been elected), with Erle Korshak (secretary and executive advisor) and Bob Tucker (treasurer and Director of the IFF) as equal partners. Sully Roberds did publications. Korshak presided over the opening day of the con, when Reinsberg fell ill.
Although the official membership count was 128, Tucker reported that Ray Palmer signed the membership book five times, using his own name and four of his pseudonyms. (This appears to have been common in the early days.) Admission was free.
The Chicon may have been the place where Claude Degler made his first public appearance at a fannish event, unless it was the Denvention.
Chicon I Program. The first masquerade took place at the Chicon.
Denver in 1941 won the right to host the 1941 Worldcon over a New York in 1941 bid. See 1941 Worldcon Site Selection.
N.b., as of 1944, the custom of naming Worldcons like Chicon was still not settled. In particular, naming a con after the host city in some way was definitely not an established custom. Forry Ackerman nicknamed this one.
| From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959 |
| from Convention ChiCon I was in Chicago about Labor Day 1940 under the auspices of the Illinois Fantasy Fictioneers (a con-promoting organization specially organized by Reinsburg, Tucker, and others for the event; it later merged with the MWFFF). The ChiCon I was significant of the new harmony in fandom resulting from the suppression of feuding, and took place in the plushest surroundings yet. A suggestion by Speer and Rothman led to institution of the Costume Party at this con; Dave Kyle won it as Ming the Merciless. |
| From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944 |
| (Ackerman) - The Chicago 1940 World Science-Fiction Convention |
| Nycon I | Worldcon - Bidding - Hugos | Denvention I |
| 1940 |
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