Fan Visits

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959

Fans living in the same city do not correspond with each other much, but supplement meetings of locals with visits back and forth, phoning ahead of time if they're well-bred. Visits between fans in different localities, tho they occurred from the beginning, accelerated greatly about the beginning of 1939. When it is a trip especially directed to one place, arrangements are made by mail, wire or longdistance phone; and when there is a local in the place visited, the leaders may make efforts to gather the comrades (or the actifen among them, at least) to meet the incomers. Fans simply off on a trip trust to luck to find the fans home and unoccupied when they happen to pass thru. Great hospitality was shown of old to visiting fans, even when (returning from a fan gathering pretty broke) it was obvious that their primary reason for stopping was free food and bunks. Occasional abuse of the hospitality of the brotherhood, to the great inconvenience of the visitee (notably by the custodian of the Cosmic Concept) led to recognition of a few restrictions; certainly today more than a few hours' stay calls for advance inquiry. A special type of fan visit is the Blitzkrieg. The visit in person accomplishes some ends impossible by other means -- getting personally acquainted, seeing each other's collections and equipment, glimming the family background, etc.

From Fancyclopedia 1, ca. 1944

Fans living in the same city do not correspond with each other much, but supplement meetings of local organizations with visits back and forth, foning ahead of time if they're well-bred. Visits between fans in different localities, tho they occurred from the beginning, accelerated greatly about the beginning of 1939. When it is a trip especially directed to one place, arrangements are made by mail, wire, or longdistance fone, and when there is a local in the place visited, the leaders make efforts to gather the comrades to meet the incomers. Fans simply off on a trip, like the Futurian Ambassadors, fans returning from gatherings like the Widneriders, and those passing thru inhabited towns in the course of some non-stf trip, just trust to luck to find the fans home and unoccupied when they happen to pass thru. Great hospitality is usually shown visiting fans, even when (returning from a fan gathering pretty broke) it's obvious that their primary reason for stopping is free food and bunks, and arrive in the middle of the nite. Occasional abuse of the hospitality of the brotherhood to the great inconvenience of the visitee, notably by the custodian of the Cosmic Concept, has led to recognition of a few restrictions on this; certainly more than an overnite stay calls for advance warning. A special type of fan visit is the Blitzkrieg. The visit in person accomplishes some ends impossible by other means -- getting personally acquainted, seeing each other's collections and equipment, glimming the family background, etc.