10th World Science Fiction Convention

10th Worldcon (1952) Chicon II, the 10th World Science Fiction Convention Julian May Worldcon '52.jpg Julian May chairing the 1952 World Science Fiction Convention Science fiction Morrison Hotel Chicago, Illinois United States 30 August – 1 September 1952 non-profit 870 The 10th World Science Fiction Convention, or the tenth instance of Worldcon, was held on the Labor Day weekend, 30 August – 1 September 1952, at the Morrison Hotel in Chicago, and was chaired by Julian May. Participants thumb|John W. Campbell and Anthony Boucher at the 1952 World Science Fiction Convention thumb|Katherine MacLean and Fritz Leiber at the 1952 World Science Fiction Convention For years this Worldcon held the record for the largest attendance at any early science fiction convention, with 870 registered attendees, a figure which was not surpassed by another Worldcon until 1967 for NyCon 3 in New York City. By way of comparison, the previous year's Worldcon, the Nolacon in New Orleans, had an attendance of approximately 190. Guests of honor Hugo Gernsback Programming and events The program included the performance of an original science fiction ballet. Awards It was at this Worldcon that the idea for the Hugo Awards was first proposed and adopted. These awards, the highest and oldest honor in science fiction, were first awarded at the next one, the 1953 Worldcon in Philadelphia. Notes This Worldcon never chose an official name other than the title "10th World Science Fiction Convention", as both the convention's issued membership card and program book clearly stated. Only the first Worldcon in New York City (1939) and the 11th in Philadelphia (1953) shared this lack of a formal convention name. The phrases "Tenth Anniversary World Science Fiction Convention" (TAWSFiC) and "Tenth Anniversary Science Fiction Convention" (TASFiC, likely a simple linotype error, as "World" is missing) were each used in some of this Worldcon's pre-convention materials; the phrase's acronyms "TAWSFiC" and "TASFiC" were never officially used in print or otherwise by the Chicago committee at that time. However, the 10th Worldcon was frequently referred to by its members by the unofficial name Chicon II, so dubbed after the previous Chicago Worldcon (Chicon) in 1940; this name proved so popular that the convention became known as Chicon II in science fiction fandom's lore and written histories. The convention is said to have been the place where Sturgeon's Law was first formulated (although other origin stories claim Sturgeon first articulated the concept in 1951, a year earlier). During a panel discussion on science fiction, one of the panelists observed that about 90% of science fiction was crud. Theodore Sturgeon, also on the panel, replied that 90% of everything was crud. In fiction The previous convention, Nolacon, is a plot point in The Case of the Little Green Men, the first novel by Mack Reynolds, which is set in part at "AnnCon", a fictional version of the 10th World Science Fiction Convention held in 1952. The real 10th Worldcon, held in Chicago, had no actual name like "AnnCon", being simply called, in its own publications, "the 10th Annual World Science Fiction Convention" (and once as "the 10th Annual Science Fiction Convention," likely a dropped-word linotype operator's typo). Before and during the convention, its attendees often referred to it as "Chicon II," an unofficial nickname that stuck to this Chicago Worldcon in the decades that followed. See also Hugo Award Science fiction Speculative fiction World Science Fiction Society Worldcon References 30em Notes on the Long List of Worldcons World Science Fiction Society 1952 - TASFiC http://www.smofinfo.com/LL/LongListNotes.html#1952 2011-03-07 Anthony Boucher The New York Times 219 Report on Criminals at Large https://www.nytimes.com/1951/09/23/archives/report-on-criminals-at-large.html 1951-09-23 Further reading Ash Brian 1977 The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction London Pan Books Chicon Annabelle Gould Chicago Daily Tribune Science Fiction Session Is Out Of This World 8 http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1952/08/31/page/8/article/science-fiction-session-is-out-of-this-world 1952 -08-31 Mark Reinsberg Chicago Daily Tribune Avid Science, Fiction Fans Meet in City G7 http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1952/08/31/page/159/article/avid-science-fiction-fans-meet-in-city 1952 -08-31 Warner Jr., Harry. A Wealth of Fable: An Informal History of Science Fiction Fandom in the 1950s. SciFi Press, Van Nuys, CA., 1992. 0-9633099-0-0. The Wall Street Journal S.-F. Fan's Special: Deeds to Moon Craters https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/djreprints/access/81426931.html?dids=81426931:81426931&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI 1952-09-03 2011-01-19 Do you want a "warranty deed" to a crater on the moon? If so, contact one of the 1,000 space lovers who attended the Tenth Annual World Science Fiction Convention here last weekend. Each got an elaborate scroll attesting to lunar colonization rights when they paid the $1 registration fee. 2012-11-05 https://web.archive.org/web/20121105090503/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/djreprints/access/81426931.html?dids=81426931:81426931&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI dead External links http://www.chicon.org/docs/TASFIC%20program.pdf TAWSFiC program book 2015-03-20 2016-03-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030029/http://www.chicon.org/docs/TASFIC%20program.pdf dead SmofInfo: The Long List of Worldcons 9th World Science Fiction ConventionNolacon I in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States (1951) List of Worldcons 10th World Science Fiction ConventionChicon II in Chicago, Illinois, United States (1952) 11th World Science Fiction ConventionPhilcon II in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (1953) Speculative fiction Novels Category:1952 conferences Category:1952 in Chicago Category:August 1952 in the United States Category:Culture of Chicago Category:Science fiction conventions in the United States Category:September 1952 in the United States Category:Worldcon