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 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.

Date	Convention	Size	Location	Notes
1936
October 22, 1936	First Convention	12–18	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	~30	Philadelphia
1938
April 10, 1937	Second British Convention	43	London	called Necronomicon in '57
May 29, 1938	Newark Convention	>100	Newark, NJ	aka Fourth Eastern aka First National
October 16, 1938	1938 Philadelphia Conference	> 25	Philadelphia
1939
May 21, 1939	Third British Convention	~40	London
July 2–4, 1939	NyCon	150–200	New York	the first Worldcon
Fall 1939	Philcon 1939		Philadelphia
Early June 1939	OSA Pow-Wow	3	Tulsa, OK	Oklahoma state convention
1940
Early 1940	Washington Confabulation 1	3	Washington, DC
April 1940	Third Chicago Conference	4	Chicago
September 1–2, 1940	Chicon	128	Chicago
November 10, 1940	Phillycon 1940		Philadelphia
December 6, 1940	First Sydney Conference	10	Sydney, NSW, Australia
1941
Late February 1941	Boskone I	~25	Winchester, MA	at the Swishers’ home
April 6, 1941	Second Sydney Conference	~12	Sydney, NSW, Australia
May 4, 1941	All-Eastern Science Fiction Conference		Newark, NJ	May not have been held
Summer 1941	Washington Confabulation 2	6?	Washington, DC	issued Washington Manifesto
July 4–6, 1941	Denvention	~100	Denver
September 20–21, 1941	Bombcon	13	London
November 16, 1941	1941 Michiconference		Jackson, MI
1942
January 1942	PhilCo 1942		Philadelphia	Belatedly announced, called off in favor of Boskone II
January 4, 1942	Third Sydney Conference	8	Sydney, NSW, Australia
February 22, 1942	Boskone II	25	Boston, MA
September 27, 1942	1942 Michiconference	~25	Jackson, MI
November 22, 1942	Bloomington Conference	9	Bloomington, IL	possibly a poker game
November 29, 1942	Hastings S-F Conference	v. small	Hastings, MN	possibly a drinking party
Late 1942	Pacificon Jr.		Los Angeles
1943
February 28, 1943	Boskone III	14	Boston, MA
Spring 1943	Live Oak Conference	3	Live Oak, FL	A Cosmic Circle event
April 23–26, 1943	Midvention	14	Leicester, UK	i. e. over Easter
April 26–27, 1943	Midgicon ("Midget Chicon")	8	Chicago	Al Ashley et al. on bookbuying spree, moots Slan Center
May 16, 1943	Staplecon 1	~12	San Francisco
June 26/28–July 1, 1943	Mainecon or Maine Stf Conference	3	Rockland, ME	Art Widner, Russ Chauvenet bike to Norm Stanley’s
Early July 1943	Mainecon, Jr.	2	Rockland again	visit by Claude Degler
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" of 1943	Fancon		Bloomington, IL
Late 1943?	Councilcon		Newcastle, IN	Possibly occurred only in Claude Degler’s imagination
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	Dovention	11	Dover, NJ
September 1–2, 1944	Midvention 2	6–8	Leicester, UK	or "Midventionette"
October 7–9, 1944	Little Chicon	"small"	Chicago
1944	Bufflocon		Buffalo, NY	Slan Shack visiting Ken Krueger
December 29, 1944–January 1, 1945	Norcon 2	small	Manchester, UK	Announced — did it occur?
1945
February 3–4, 1945	Boskone IV	5	Winchester, MA	at the Swishers’ home
July 7–8, 1945	1945 Michiconference	15-20	Battle Creek, MI
September 2, 1945	Boskone V	9	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
July 4–7, 1946	Pacificon	130	Los Angeles
October 12–13, 1946	Centracon	25	Chicago
October 27, 1946	Phillycon 1946		Philadelphia

See also the Fancyclopedia 2 (1959) articles on Con, fan visits and fan gatherings.

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Fanhistory

1936—1946

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