Melbourne Science Fiction Club

Etherline #1 - first fanzine from MSFC on 1st March 1953 - from www.fanac.org

Fan Club
Name:	Melbourne Science Fiction Club
Dates:	1952 - ongoing
Founder(s):	Race Mathews, Merv Binns, Dick Jenssen, Lee Harding and Bob McCubbin
Leadership:
Country based in:	Australia
Focus:	science fiction
External Links:	https://msfc.sf.org.au
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Warwick Hockley's fanzine Melbourne Bulletin #9, December 1941, from www.fanac.org

Cover of journal containing Race Mathews' history of the MSFC

The Melbourne Science Fiction Club (originally the The Melbourne Science Fiction Group) was founded on 9 May 1952 and it currently claims status as the second oldest science fiction club in the world (after the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society) and the oldest in the southern hemisphere.

It has been a locus for science fiction activities and support networks, for friendships and creativity, for the production of fan films and newszines and fanzines and conventions.

As of 2024, the MSFC runs meetings on the third Friday night of each month, and produces a newszine, Ethel the Aardvark.

Cultural Background

“Any account of the origins of the Melbourne Science Fiction Club (MSFG) must in the nature of things be as much about biography as history.”

Australian fans of yore grew up in times when science fiction was truly alien from modern values. Nineteenth-century Australian speculative/science fiction was often tied to colonialism, racism, and the values of White Australia, often seen through the lens of isolation amidst alien landscapes or alien indigenous cultures. This isolation can be seen especially in dystopian or post-apocalyptic literature, most obviously demonstrated by On the Beach that was written (and filmed in Melbourne) around the time that the MSFC was enjoying its fledging years.

Added to this was the physical and cultural isolation felt by Australians, demonstrated by the fact that “Little Australian SF of importance was published during the 1930s and 1940s”. Then on 1 April 1940, the importation of all fiction magazines from non-sterling currency countries was banned in order to conserve war-time spending by the British Commonwealth nations for war materials being purchased from the United States; and these bans effectively remained in place until 1959. Wartime conditions and restrictions effectively closed down all Australian science fiction clubs and fanzines, including two fledgling newszines/fanzines commenced in 1940 by young Melbourne fan Warwick Hockley. This era of deprivation also affected overseas fandom, and Isabella Kapur reports that one fanzine, the Futurian War Digest, or FIDO, which was printed between October 1940 and March 1945, helped to save science fiction fandom in the UK. Melbourne fans had no such salvation, and they would have to create it for themselves.

Australian SF historian Leigh Edmonds note the cultural background for SF fans in Melbourne (and Australia) during that era:

Melbourne was a highly conservative city imbued in traditional Christian values. The bars shut at six in the evening and the only form of public entertainment on Sunday was the churches that were packed.There was little else for the populace to do. Life was dominated by a kind of puritanism that demanded and enforced high standards of morality, in public at least. Public drunkenness, lewd behaviour and possessing immoral reading material were all punishable offences and censors protected the public gaze from anything that might offend. They banned many publications, some music and films for moral or political reasons, and it was common for them to remove questionable scenes from films so that they did not offend or arouse public passions. The paperback anthology that included John W Campbell's novelette 'Who Goes There' was banned in Australia...

Science fiction had almost no place in this conservative and constraining world and its relative scarcity and pulp origins made it socially unacceptable. The science fiction that most Australians saw was comic strips in newspapers and cartoons and movie serials made for Saturday matinees, so it was inevitably described as 'that Buck Rogers stuff'. People who insisted on reading it in public did well to hide their books and magazines inside something more respectable like The Sporting Globe or Man Magazine to avoid public stares and ridicule. Fans of the genre did not discuss science fiction in company and any friends who learned that they did politely did not raise the topic or mention it to others. At school boys who read it were ridiculed as 'a dill, a drongo or a wet weed'. This attitude made people who read science fiction feel outsiders in Australian society, but they also believed that what they read was important because it pointed the way to the future and offered insights into life that others ignored.

Race Mathews grew up in this era when scarcity abounded, including one of his favourite childhood books, H.C.F. Morant's neglected classic Australian fantasy:

Whirlaway was a World War II casualty. Its appearance from the English publisher Hutchinson in the late nineteen-thirties coincided with the lead-up to hostilities. Under wartime conditions, few copies ever reached Australia, and the London stocks were destroyed in the Blitz. All but a tiny minority of Australian children - in which by good luck I was included - missed out on what otherwise would undoubtedly have become an enduring favourite to rival Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, The Adventures of Blinky Bill and The Magic Pudding.

Lee Harding also remembered:

... the desperate schoolboy search for the glittering American all-colour comics during the war years. In those days the words ‘Printed in the United States of America’ possessed a wondrous magic. Our own poverty-stricken publications could never match those fabulous products...

Race recounts the atmosphere of isolation and intellectual scarcity that faced science fiction fans in the days before MSFC was founded:

“Science fiction seemed to us in Melbourne in the late nineteen-forties and early nineteen-fifties to be truly “... a universe so young that life as yet had come to only a few worlds.” Being a science fiction fan at the time was still mostly a solitary pursuit, involving something akin truly to “... the loneliness of gods looking out across infinity and finding none to share their thoughts.” Books and magazines were few and far between. Those which turned up through painstaking searching and scrounging had to be savoured, eked out and repeatedly re-read. Often a point was reached where a favourite story was known virtually by heart. We had reason to understand better than most the much quoted paraphrase of a famous 1949 Astounding Science Fiction punchline: "It is a proud and lonely thing to be a fan".

Fans were able to find scarce (imported) material and revel in its difference from the mainstream of insular Australian culture. A schoolfriend of Race, teenager Dick Jenssen later recalled early science fiction that focussed on the emerging technology of computing, something with which he would become personally and professionally conversant. This novel appeared around the time that MSFC was founded, and exemplifies a culture that was turning away from parochialism, and embracing global and nuanced issues:

But the major work was Tomorrow Sometimes Comes (1951). This was a complex sleeper awakes/after the holocaust/redemption of Mankind/time travel plot, which had the twist that the sleeper is the person who was responsible both for initiating the destruction of civilization, and for ultimately saving humanity by being the time-traveller. Pockets of organized life exist in scattered villages and small cities. The sleeper finds his way to one of these, and learns it is dominated by a computer.

Merv Binns was a teenager who was at the forefront of distributing such literature, and this led to his becoming involved in the fledgling MSFC:

In my first job, employed by booksellers McGills Newsagency, I had actually discovered the name of the literature that had commandeered my imagination. It was SCIENCE FICTION! I was reading magazines such as Astounding which I had never seen before and discovering a whole a new world. Then one day one of my customers, Bob McCubbin, came into McGill’s and asked me if I would like to meet some other SF readers who were forming a club. Wow! To actually talk to people who also appreciated what I was reading was an irresistible idea, which despite my shy and introverted attitude I could not resist... In fact it was to be an event that would influence me profoundly for the rest of my life. I did not have any friends and my whole social life revolved around going to the movies, or visiting relatives with my parents, so meeting other people who shared my interests was great and many of the people I met then have remained my friends ever since.

Founding the Melbourne Science Fiction Group

Founding members of the MSFC. Top row, left to right, Merv Binns & Dick Jenssen; Bottom row, Bob McCubbin, Bert Chandler & Race Mathews. Photograph taken in 1952 by Lee Harding. SF historian Leigh Edmonds notes that Bert was not a member of the Group, so he speculates that this photograph was likely taken during one of his visits to Melbourne.

All original members of the Melbourne SF Club, taken in early 2000s at one of Race Mathews’ movie nights: Race Mathews, Merv Binns, Dick Jenssen, Lee Harding.

Race Mathews hosted the first meeting of what became the Club:

The five of us - Bob McCubbin, Mervyn Binns, Dick Jenssen, Lee Harding and myself - made up the core of the Melbourne Science Fiction Group. The inaugural meeting of the MSFG took place in the living room of my home in Hampton on 9 May 1952. Lee records the occasion as having been instigated by "a sort of collaboration between Bob McCubbin and Race Mathews". In Dick's characteristically tongue-in-cheek view:

"Race, I'm sure, was the guiding light in the foundation of the Melbourne Science Fiction Group, for it was he who brought together those who would constitute its nucleus. (lf it seems remarkable that a 16- year-old could accomplish this - that is, the formation of the club, not the seduction to science fiction of a youth of but 15 tender years (me) - it must be remembered that Race was a boy of remarkable precocity. He always seemed old to me - an Olympian of wisdom. Baby-faced he was, Lee, but rather in the manner I've always imagined Odd John would be)."

Dick Jenssen later (slightly differently) recounted those early days:

Race was fifteen at this time, very mature, of a strong personality, and possessed of what appeared to be unlimited energy - which he still has. So it was not surprising that he discovered other SF fans in Melbourne, and arranged meetings where we all could get together - I was included because of the accident of knowing Race. Initially, we met in each others' houses, but the group soon grew so large that less confined spaces had to be found. The first meeting place was a coffee lounge called Val's in Swanston Street between Little Collins and Bourke Streets. It was at a Val's meeting that we decided to call ourselves a Club, but without any formal rules or brief, or office-bearers - and so, again simply by the serendipitous fact of being in the right place at the right time, I found myself a founding member of the Club.

Ian Crozier editing Etherline in the 1950s

Bob McCubbin later recalled one of the priorities within the early club, which led to the formation of MSFC's first newszine, Etherline:

For many of the Group, the major interest is publishing. Merv Binns, Dick Jenssen, Race Mathews, Lee Harding and Ian Crozier formed Amateur Fantasy Publications of Australia (hereinafter referred to as AFPA), and by pooling resources, purchased a duplicator and supplies. One of AFPA’s first good deeds was to relieve me of my News-letter which, although a labor of love, was becoming a temporal and financial burden. It was completely remodeled, reconstituted and published by Ian Crozier under the title of ETHERLINE. It is now published fortnightly at 6d per copy. It is a financially sound venture, containing news & notes from local and global sources.

Bacchanalia #2, December 1956

[[File:Lee Harding's 'Perhaps' Issue -1.jpg|thumb|'Perhaps' Issue #1 (February 1953), cover artwork by Dick Jenssen]] The AFPA actually inspired a number of would-be editors to start publishing fanzines: 'Perhaps' (ed. Lee Harding, launched February 1953), 'Etherline (ed. Ian Crozier for the MSFC, launched March 1953), and 'Bacchanalia' (ed. Race Mathews, launched April 1953. While the other two closed quickly, 'Etherline' gained traction and lasted until 1958 with 101 issues published.

In launching MSFC's first newszine (and calling for contributions to their fanzines 'Perhaps' and 'Bacchanalia'), Lee Harding provided his first (and what he intended to be his last) editorial for Etherline #1 on 1st March 1953:

The idea of a regular Australian newsletter has been knocking around in our collective editorial minds for some time now... Our duty is to supply NEWS, and that is what we will feature, not long solemn heddy-torials...

Before I leave you, in this, my first and last editorial, I will put in a plea for "PERHAPS". We want artwork and articles by our own Australian fans. The U.S. and British fans are only too willing so what about it, Aussies. LJH

His editorial was accompanied by a complaint that the Customs Department had banned another science fiction book: 'Who Goes There' by Campbell. This demonstrated once again the entrenched culture of the times and the resilience of those earnest young men who sought to promote 'scientifiction' (or 'stf').

Institutional, societal puritanism ran deep. Race Mathews recalled how such attitudes even pervaded the early club – possibly also a result of the relatively youthful innocence of its members:

Dick Jenssen is Guest Speaker at the Spaced Out Annual General Meeting on 19 October 2002.

Melbourne exemplified the unfractious face of Australian fandom. Meetings revolved around talk, letters, barter and chess. Puritanism too was pervasive. At a relatively early stage - following a night when 19 fans packed into the modest living room of Bob's house in Auburn - proceedings transferred to a Swanston Street cafe called Val's. Shock and horror prevailed when Val's turned out to be a meeting place for some of the more courageous lesbians of the day, whose coming-out from the closet was just getting underway. Dick has recalled being taken aside by his family's landlady and warned in a conspiratorial whisper, "Be careful, Dick, they're a bunch of queens". His account continued, "I didn't know what a queen was, but if she had said "poofters" I should have caught her meaning instantly". Bob McCubbin was insistent that, "Extroverts and introverts we may be, but perverts never". Given that the membership of the MSFG at that stage was exclusively male. its interest for Val's clientele is unlikely to have been other than minuscule. Nevertheless, future meetings were held in the austerely asexual surroundings of the basement room of the Latrobe Street Manchester United Order of Oddfellows (MUOOH hall) in comforting proximity to the Russell Street police headquarters.

One can only imagine what such culturally ingrained homophobia – expressed within the sanctity of the MSFC context - might have had upon teenaged Dick Jenssen, who was growing up to realise that he was gay. Similar problems were to arise a generation later, when the first issues of 'Ethel the Aardvark' included some homophobic jokes, and a light-hearted publication of AIDS article during the height of the epidemic. At least by the turn of the century, the MSFC was welcoming members of the LGBT+ group, Spaced Out, into their own fold. Social evolution may move at glacial speed, but it does happen.

The 1950s

Publishing

Etherline #1 (1 March 1953) editor Ian Crozier pleads:

Now that "PERHAPS” has hit the streets, I think it timely to make known the apathy and lack of interest which is rife in the Melbourne Stf. Group. If science fiction is to go ahead and take its' rightful place among the literature of the world, then it must have the absolute support of all fans. The best way of showing this support is to help and encourage the publishers of the amateur fanzines. Its no good relying on promags to ’spread the word’. After all, their main object is to make money.

Leo, Dick, Race, and Mervyn are making a sincere attempt to put out an adult fanzine capable of holding its own among the best in the world. Therefore I think it time a few ’fans’ stopped being childish and give them some support and encouragement. It does’nt [sic] help any to try and build up a world circulation, and then find the rot has set in at home. GROW UP, MELBOURNE! IJC

In Etherline #101 (December 1959) his editorial priorities have changed:

ETHERLINE will not be on a regular schedule as it was previously. Therefore, some changes will be found inside, with the emphasis now on stories and articles, instead of news. The news columns will still be there, of course, but reviews of magazines will be cut out and a summary of the trends in the various mags presented instead.

There is a postscript to this editorial commitment:

You may, or may not, have heard, of the old Melbourne Science Fiction Club journal, ETHERLINE. When it finally folded in 1959 it had run for a total of no less than one hundred and one issues, and it would have lasted longer if the then editor, Ian Crozier, had not married.

Social Lives

Mrs. Garbutt, our only female fan, was in an auto accident last Saturday evening. She was taken to hospital, no further information available. We wish you a speedy recovery, Betty.

In spite of the sudden onslaught of winter, fifteen fans stayed the whole session. Of the others, Race Mathews brought in a potential femme fan... Geraldine McEwan, introduced her all around, and then the two vanished into the night.

At 11 PM on Saturday, December 18th, 1954, prominent British author, Arthur C. Clarke arrived in Melbourne per Himalaya - 48 hours later he departed. His stay could be described as hectic. With him was Mike Wilson, ex paratrooper, ex actor, ex-trovert and a jolly good fellow. The Melbourne Group had sent a greeting in the name of Australian fandom and an open invitation. Sunday morning was spent with the manufacturers of undersea equipment - Arthur is out here to do an exhaustive book on the Barrier Reef, to be published by Mullers.

In spite of Mike's expressed wish to collect the insurance on Arthur, we are all sure that these two happy partners will do a good job and get some wonderful underwater colour shots around the Barrier Reef and Thursday Island.

On Friday, October 21st., a film evening was held at the home of Merv Binns. There was a small, but select, audience. Films were WONDER JET (development of jet engines), THIRD SIDE (electronic sound recording), WATCH OVER JAPAN (the BCOF), and SOME LIKE IT ROUGH (Rugby versus Gridiron football)... Mrs. Binns turned on a fine supper, and our thanks to her.

Due to the Convention organising no extra activities were started, life going on at its even tenor, with chess taking up the main part of the group nights. Difficulties are envisaged shortly regarding a clubroom, but we are sure that these will be overcome.

Margaret Duce's 21st birthday in December 1962, with friends from the MSFC (from left): Chris Bennie, Jill Dudding, Keith McLelland, Margaret, and John Foyster (caption source)

Helena and Merv Binns, Continuum convention, 2009 (photo by Cat Sparks)

This last example of socialisation would prove to be somewhat significant:

On January 14th, Margaret Duce of Alexandria visited the Club, with a friend. It was unfortunate that so few were present. Margaret is a petite redhead

Margaret Duce became a dedicated science fiction fan. She later changed her name and, over forty years later, as Helena Roberts, she married MSFC founding member Merv Binns.

The Australian Science Fiction Conventions

The Second Australian Science Fiction Convention received feedback in Etherline #5 (May 1953?) and Etherline #7 (14 June 1953):

The main impression gained from this convention was that of bad organization. It reeked of it...

… After a little delay, MC Ken Martin introduced the first speaker, Mr Vol Molesworth, whose address was titled "Science Fiction and Modern Literature". This was very interesting and was warmly received by those present. Doug. Nicholson came next and delivered a very good address or "Science Fiction and Specialist Literature", in which he elaborated on several points made by the previous speaker...

Next Speaker was Mr Phineas (Bluey) Glick, who discussed "Science in Science Fiction", and caused much amusement by pulling the "science " employed by quite a few writers to pieces. His address was, in my opinion, one of the best of the afternoon in that Mr Glick knew what he was talking about. Mr Rex Heyer spoke on "Biology in Science Fiction and stressed that in his opinion the possibility of us finding another humanoid race anywhere in the galaxy is extremely unlikely, as it entails an identical evolution with man's for a period of over 900,000,000 years.

The attendance at the recent Australian Science Fiction Convention held in Sydney (around 85), while being an improvement on the attendance at last year's gathering (around 60), is nothing like the number which could be collected around the banner of science fiction in Australia...

The next Australian Convention site is again in Sydney, as decided by the attendees of the recent gathering. The reason for choosing Sydney for the 3rd time being that there were no other fan groups large enough to take on the job of entertaining fifty to a hundred fans over a three day period...

In Australia, there is an open slather for future programmes in that there is no established tradition follow. While in Australia there are a few stf selling locally and to the States, and there are a number of prominent fans of long standing; there is just not a vast number to choose from.

The Third Australian Science Fiction Convention received attention in Etherline #28 (28 April 1954) indicating that a proposal had been put forward and debated:

Mrs. Molesworth said that it would be a good thing for fandom if Melbourne took the next Convention. Mr. McCubbin thanked the speakers, and stressed the fact that Melbourne wanted the Convention in 1956, to be run at the time of the Olympic Games, and it was intended to put on a large show. Owing to the large amount of work involved, it was thought that two years would be required for this purpose.

Arthur C Clarke appeared at the Fourth Australian Science Fiction Convention in Sydney in March 1955:

Mr. Clarke disclosed that the Americans were advanced in their plans for an Earth Satellite Vehicle, and in his opinion, they should be one in operation within 10 years. One Sydney newspaper apparently got carried away, as they reported him as saying that man would be on the Moon within 10 years. It just goes to show you never want to say much when the reporters are around, or you'll surprise yourself in the morning.

Norma Hemming's play at Olympicon, Melbourne, in 1956

The following year, Melbourne hosted the Olympic Games – and, in a somewhat more humble effort, Melbourne fans hosted the Fifth Australian Science Fiction Convention:

The 'Official Olympicon Report' appeared in Etherline #80 (December 1956) and reported on Olympicon held over the 7th and 8th December 1956. 147 people attended, including 24 from the USA, 19 from New South Wales, 1 each from New Zealand, the UK and Canada; with a smattering from the other states and territories of Australia.

The Guest of Honor was Frank Bryning, an Australian author who reportedly would have been well known to readers of FANTASTIC UNIVERSE. His speech concluded:

And as time goes on, and new scientific achievements are consummated, there will be found, looking back along the way, certain literary items which must be classified as SF, which for many years before were pointing the way to those achievements.

The second speaker was Wynne Whiteford, who pondered aloud:

This idea of telling a story at the margin of possibility probably goes back as far as campfire tales spun during the Stone Age. It seems to be a very basic human habit.

Last speaker was radio script writer Harvey Blanks, who retold his story of being asked to write a radio serial called 'Captain Miracle' and who summarised the experience:

Writing space opera (or science fiction) for the radio is not easy, because basically the medium is unsuitable. Ordinary serials happen against a background everyone recognises, such as a living room, a city street, an automobile, or a ship. But space opera depends for its appeal on a constantly altering background of fantastic settings and characters.

Club Changes Its Name

Leigh Edmonds reports that in May 1957, the Melbourne Science Fiction Group was renamed Melbourne Science Fiction Club. He later reported: "This was apparently done because (Merv Binns) felt that the name 'group' did not sound as official as 'club' and started to call the group a club when they were looking for a new meeting room. Nobody seems to have noticed or cared about the change and it had no effect on the group's activities"

The 1960s

Club News

After its disappearance in 1959, Etherline was finally reborn as Etherline II in December 1967, and editor Leigh Edmonds spoke of aspirations in the new first issue:

It is felt that fans should have some way of being made aware of any important developments in the local sphere, that they should be able to inform others of their activities and that there should be a market place for fans outside personal contact sale.

Others soon also spoke of aspirations for the years ahead:

Let’s hope that 1968 will be as prosperous a year as 1967 was for the club. Over the last year many new members joined us and things started moving with fan publication and the conference coming up, New fans have been grabbing up many bargians [sic] from the shelves.

Others presented a reality that was inspiring in and of itself:

The club library is probably the biggest lending library of SF in the southern hemisphere with at least 3,000 SF and fantasy books made up of hardcover and paperbacks.

Conventions and Conferences

The MELBOURNE SCIENCE FICTION CONFERENCE was held in Melbourne over the Easter of 12th, 13th and 14th April 1968.

Somewhere about this time I joined the Melbourne Science Fiction Club. If the clubroom, with its water-powered lift and decadent atmosphere, was astonishing, the club members were no less so. I don’t quite know what I expected — a bunch of schoolboys, perhaps. Instead I found school teachers, engineers, clerks, housewives, university lecturers, and, presiding over their activities, a city bookseller, the redoubtable Mr Mervyn Binns.

In 1965 the Melbourne Science Fiction Club was running more strongly than ever. In 1961 the club had moved from McKillop Street to the third floor of McGills warehouse in Somerset Place, the Melbourne Fantasy Film Group was expanding, a number of published (or almost published) writers (Damien Broderick, Stephen Cook, Lee Harding, Wynne Whiteford) would drop in occasionally at club meetings. Early in 1965 I was still publishing my fanzine THE GRYPHON (although it rarely had any contributions from Melbourne fans) although Lee Harding and John Bangsund were having fanzine-like thoughts...

The MSFC was a pretty comfortable place to lounge around in, but eating didn't work out so well. As a result, some of us used to meet before or after (or both) club meetings for a snack. We tried a range of places until, at last, we began to settle down for longer meals at JENNY'S CELLAR, a downstairs restaurant in Degraves Street later somewhat infamously known as the DEGRAVES TAVERN. With longer meals we found ourselves ranging in subject more widely over topics of conversations and one topic that eventually arose in 1965 was "what about those crispy SF conventions you used to get before the war?"

It became clear that several of us were interested in such a thing, even though only a few of us had ever been to such a thing. It also because clear that economic feasibility was not to be worried about, because the MSFC rooms were quite large enough to hold any expected numbers of people (say around 75).

And so at Easter 1966 the first Australian SF convention since 1958 was held in the MSFC clubrooms. There were in fact a few interstate visitors - Doug Nicholson from one side of the great wars that divided Sydney fandom in the early 1950s, John Baxter, and his guest Charles Higham, for example. It was basically like a party running for a couple of days, although Dick Jenssen demonstrated his skills (and set the standard for later attempts) at auctioneering. There were a couple of movies.

In 1966 we had a good time without anything spectacular happening, everything went smoothly due to the able organisation of John Foyster. We learnt a few things and decided that we should hold more such events. 1967 rolled by but nothing happened. However, towards the end of that year we finally got around to organising the Conference and discussing future SF Conventions in Australia. By the new year things began to take shape. The enthusiastic committee soon had a full three (and possibly four) day program arranged.

Taking it all round, the 1968 Melbourne Conference went quite well, it even made a profit. Melbourne will be the focal point for SF in again in 1969, possibly it will be Sydney or Hobart in 1970, but in 1975, it just has to be MELBOURNE for the WORLDCON.

Mainly it was the people, bald, bearded, young or old. There was a genuine atmosphere that conveyed itself to almost everyone there. It gave you a privilliged [sic] feeling as you displayed down the street, that crumpled yellow badge with your number and name on it.

"You know John, I wouldn't be suprised [sic] if Jack Wodhams turned out to be a woman." These were when there was an aura of mystery surrounding "The Sage of Caboolture", but ... I found out to my pleasure that (for once) I had been wrong.

One is tempted to wonder what this Conference will be remembered for. Possibly it will be the attempted forming of a national SF society. At the Con a great deal of time and thought was given to the forming of a society, which has now bombed out. There has been plenty of material written about that, so I would only be recovering ground to mention it in detail.

Philosophies

A WELL KNOWN Australian philosopher once made the succinct comment; "Fandom begins in the home." (It was Leigh Edmonds! Giggle!) I have oft times wondered on the validity of this truism. Why is it that only one SF fan at the most, is produced in each family, even though the family might range from three/persons to twenty-six persons?

CONFERENCES ARE GOOD FOR YOU (but not if you are on the committee)

It would be grossly wrong to claim that any reader of SF could learn what the world of tomorrow would be like form [sic] his readong [sic], it is the habbit [sic] of thought that he might acquire which may permit a reasonable prediction.

Apollo 11 Moon Landing 21 July 1969

By Universal Time, man first landed on the Moon on July 20 1969. In Australia it was early in the morning of July 21: not so early that one had to stay awake all night to be sure of being alert at the time, but still sufficiently early to ensure that our street was not lit up at the time. I wasn’t sure whether I should try to wait up all night, but decided on setting our dilapidated alarm clock and giving a special charge to my own mental clock. The result was that I woke up six times between 10pm on July 20 and 5am July 21. And even then the mechanical alarm failed... Head clogged with ‘flu I found it frustrating as the high-gain antenna cut out and was painfully retrained on Earth: I hardly felt alive, and static cutting in with such ferocity and so unexpectedly didn’t help.

But at last I heard the words I was waiting for, and I had been waiting for with all mankind. The description of the Moon’s surface, and the television transmission which followed, no matter how informative and stimulating, were anti-climactic for me. Getting there was what counted.

Of course, I couldn’t help being excited as I watched Neil Armstrong put his foot on the moon, in the immediate company of several thousand students at Monash University who were able to watch one of the many television sets installed for the purpose. Some lectures were cancelled, but I really didn’t bother too much about that.

And as I write they are back on Earth and the first medical check has failed to reveal any moonbugs, which is a relief, if only momentarily. If they brought any viable ones back we are in big trouble.

...A class of people does exist who literarily [sic] want the moon, and most of them try to get close to it by reading science fiction, a literary form which has always presented space flight as almost the antithesis of the flight of Apollo 11. Science fiction has had nothing to do with Apollo 11, but many of the people who read science fiction started to do so because there was no Apollo 11.

Ultimately getting men to the moon is worthwhile, because here at last is something that 20th century man can point to with pride, though admitting to himself that he does so solely because this is one of the few things he had done in this century which have not been either destructive or completely fouled up.

Aldrin on Moon 1969 (NASA Photo)

The Moon walk was astonishing ... I suppose. Our day and all. Lee Harding up before 8am to watch the touchdown which didn’t come through because of technical trouble in Madrid. Spending a day at Dandenong Technical School to find out how to run a Humanities Department, and instead spending much of the day trudging over to the Hall to see if They had Stepped Down yet. And even then I missed the actual big event. During the part I saw, the two glowing space suits looked like experimental amoebas being pushed around in the liquid inside a test-tube by a glass rod controlled by God or NASA or NBC television. To think of it ... and we have thought of it ... and I’ve still got to go to school tomorrow. They couldn’t care less, so why should I. We are all Commander Floyds or Bowmans and Pooles. May the HALs have pity upon us.

The 1970s

Space Age Books in 1976 (photo believed to be from Helena Binns, who had changed over to colour photography by 1978 when she photographed Trekcon 1).

MSFC faced the 1970s with an optimism possibly borne from the era of Moonwalkers and space flights. Science fiction had – for a moment in time at least – become mainstream. The early 1970s saw the birth of Space Age Books in Swanston Street, which served as a headquarters for the club. Merv Binns was a leader of much of this change.

Merv later reflected:

When I opened SPACE AGE BOOKS with Lee Harding’s and Paul Stevens’ help, the World Con bid was also in full sway. The two things grew together and Space Age was able to help publicise the bid and all the cons that would be held in Melbourne. The MSFC was, you might say, “in recess” and suggested meetings in Space Age’s cramped upper premises were impractical. However, when we moved to larger premises a few doors away we had a lot more room. The club library was brought in from Paul Stevens’ and John Breden’s flat and established in the upstairs lunchroom.

Rebirth

Etherline returned in (at least) its third incarnation, this time edited by Merv Binns in November 1973, who spoke of great things ahead. He referred specifically to the newsletter and the Aussiecon convention, but his article inferred that he was using his resources to escalate the promotion of science fiction in Australia:

For a number of reasons I think it is a good time to resurrect old ETHERLINE. For those who have never heard of it before. it was the first fanzine published by the Melbourne Science Fiction Club. It kept members and fans in other states in touch in the 1950s and thanks to the editor Ian Crozier helped lay the foundations of the present SF Fandom in Australia.

A couple of half-hearted attempts have been made to start ETHERLINE again, but as I consider this the first serious go at it I will start the numbering off from the last issue done by Ian Crozier. This is just a preliminary notice to all my friends and acquaintances that things are happening.

... Although the MSFC itself has been inactive recently Melbourne fans certainly have not. Melbourne and Australian fans all over have been working very hard on a very special project. They have been keeping in constant touch with overseas fans through fanzines, letters and by attending the Conventions overseas. Their efforts have been richly rewarded.

An event is to take place in Melbourne soon which no Australian fan would have even dreamed of a few years ago. We have won the bid to hold the AUSSIECON. The 33rd WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION at the Southern Cross Hotel in August 1975. This is a once in a lifetime achievement for Australian fandom. It will be probably a long time after before we get the chance to ever run a world convention again.

Aussiecon

Aussiecon (later known as Aussiecon 1) was the first Australian Worldcon, held in Melbourne in 1975.

The 1980s

Club News

Ethel the Aardvark

Ethel the Aardvark Issue #1 was published in March/April 1985, mentioning among other things that Phantasticon was being held on the following weekend (Easter weekend).

In Ethel the Aardvark Issue #3 (June/July 1985) it was reported that they said goodbye to Paul Stevens and his wife, who were leaving Melbourne for Perth. Paul had previously been a long-standing member of MSFC, co-proprietor of Space Age Books and involved in the Anti-Fan film for the successful Aussiecon convention bid in 1975.

In Ethel the Aardvark Issue #9 (May 1986), the MSFC memberships were listed at 44 members and 3 life members.

Ethel's Name Change

In responce [sic] to the recent reactions to the club news/fanzines [sic] name “Ethel the Aardvark” we are open for suggestions on a new name.

One reason for our sudden decision is no outsiders of the club will take the time to pick up an issue and look at it before criticizing the quality of the work inside because of the name on the cover, outside. An example of this is the recent nominations for the Best Fanzine Awards, Ethel was practically laughed out of the nominations. We received a letter, no not a letter, a note basically saying the awards committee didn't think Ethel actually existed.

Other incidents similar to this have occurred but at the moment we are just taking suggestions, yours will be greatly appreciated.

Earlier this year the club had a referendum concerning the name of the club's fanzine. It was called Ethel the AArdvark [sic] or Ethel the Aardvark does this or something similar. This was all based on the MONTY PYTHON sketch, where a long suffering bookshop assistant finally locates a book called Ethel the Aardvark goes Quantity Surveying. The committee of the MSFC when it established Ethel decided that this was a good name and ignored an earlier contest result. The contest winner was Cosmic Asylum. This has caused a certain amount of controversy over time, so to finally decide once and for all, I ran a referendum. Members were asked whether they wanted to retain the name Ethel the Aardvark and if not could they suggest an alternative. The majority of votes were in favour of keeping the name Ethel the Aardvark. Not many alternative suggestions were made, but 'Ethel' and 'Strange Device' were among the most interesting. (Ethel the Aardvark is often shortened to “Ethel” by members) I would like to thank all those who voted. So now you know why the fanzine you are reading is called ETHEL THE AARDVARK and will continue to be so called, even if the Ditmar committee doesn't believe it exists.

To the Members of the MSFC and Others: We apologise for the sabotage and deliberate sloppy copying of this issue. Please consider it as a protest against the continued careless editing and members [sic] poor attitude to our club's zine. The quality of copying now matches the contents perfectly. Ethel the Aardvark (or whatever you choose to call it – it won't make any difference) has become one of the most uninspiring fanzines around.

Away Mission

The [MSFC Camping Trip] started off with the screaming disorganisation that has made our club famous as people collected money, stowed their gear, decided to go at the last minute and tried to work out which car they would go in...

It was easy to tell the people who had not been away before by their reactions to the toilet. They ranged from “What's the matter with it? It looks alright to me,” from the more experienced bushies to the very common “I'm waiting 'til we get into town,” from the less experienced...

Sitting around the campfire that night was fun. One of the best things about the camp was the fact that you could get into a really good conversation and not be interrupted by someone wanting to go down to the local Seven-Eleven...

In amonst (O.K. So I can't spell) all this one or two actually got to see [Halley's Comet]... If anyone has any good ideas for trips or outings, mention it, the last time someone did we all had a fabulous time.

MSFC Moves Its Home in 1985

With Merv. Binns' announcement that he will be moving Space Age Books later this year, comes the inevitable news that the MSFC will have to find new accommodation.

A Special General Meeting held on the matter of the club moving has produced James Allen's proposal for a church Hall [sic] in Brunswick.

Conventions and Conferences

Galactic Tours - 7th to 10th March 1986

After some hassle with the convention timetable, the MSFC actually managed to put a panel together at Galactic Tours. It was a fun panel. Well I enjoyed it. James Allen read from HG Wells' The Time Machine... A talk on time travel and alternative futures with strips of toilet paper being used as a model for demonstrating related concepts was also included...

The club made over $150.00 at the auction... Club secretary and Nova Mob trendy Alan Stewart, won a prize for the best poem in a competition at the con. Jodi Willis did her bit to promote not only the Melbourne SF Club but also the Doctor Who Club of Victoria as well. Flyers, Ethels and other things were distributed throughout the con.

Wolfgang Peterson's version of Enemy Nine was especially screened at Galactic Tours. I enjoyed the first two thirds of the movie but found the climax to be typical trashy BIG budget Americana. More like Indiana Davidge and the Mine of Doom than SF to me.

I enjoyed Galactic Tours. It was a bit too uneven for my tastes - catering as it did for the media side of things.

Kingkon II - 7th to 9th June 1986

Kingkon 2 – KINGKON 2 had about 175 registered members, but many of these were only part-time attendees. About 100+ people were fully involved and of these 21 were MSFC Members [sic] and half a dozen former MSFC members, plus Richard Freeland (when are you going to become a paid-up member, Richard?)

The video room was a delight as the video signal was fed into a projection system which projected the picture onto a fair sized screen at least four times bigger than a large normal TV screen. 'Five Dog Night' was helkd in here with 'SuperMonster' [sic], 'Basket Case', 'Toxic Avengers', 'Chud', and started showing 'Mars Needs Women' but everyone was nauseated enough by then, so the final half dozen surviving viewers departed, and besides the video machine needed cooling, The movie 'FX' was, I consider, a good fun movie which I recommend to both lovers of SF and comedy (irrespective of whether or not Bryan Brown 'acted' in it), even though it isN't [sic] really SF.

On Sunday morning the committee in the guise of Angus Caffrey proved a blessing to the hungry amongst us who missed out on breakfast by distributing free pies (plus sauce) as they were given 8 dozen pies by Four 'n' Twenty Pies.

Everyone's program book included a copy of 'Video and Cinema' magazine (No. 55 July 1986, normally $1) which contains information of use to video fans plus a review of FX. Incidentally the MSFC had a half page ad in the program book.

The * KINGKON 2 * Trivia Quiz featured Angus Caffrey in the Tony Barber role (there was electronic equipment to simulate the lights/buzzers like in 'Sale of the Century' but with 6 teams instead of 3 individuals) and the tall Andrew Brown in drag as Delvene Delaney...

The panels were good and had a lot of audience participation, and a number were of interest to literary fans. The Masquerade featured some good costumes... As Guests of Honour the con had well known fan artist Marilyn Pride and Lewis Morley.

The number of MSFC members there was a good showing, nearly half our listed members or almost all of our regularly attending members; the MSFC certainly showed its support for * KINGKON 2 *. Everyone who was at *KINGKON 2 * is looking forward to being at ** KINGKON 3 **.

I enjoyed Kingkon 2, it was fun, I even still had money when I went home. Oh, cons can be such fun!

… Would I do it again? Yes!

After a while going to cons becomes adictive [sic] – at least so far I haven't had to be an organiser.

Kingkon 2 shows that a con can be a great success without expensive overseas “stars”, elaborate costly banquets and being spread over hotels with lifts that don't work.

Where do I sign up for Kingkon 3?

Conviction - 11th to 13th June 1988

See Ethel the Aardvark #19 for the convention program.

1988 National Convention - Conviction was the Australian National convention for 1988 and was held over the Queens birthday long weekend in a motel in Artarmon (a suburb 8 km north of Sydney).

The best fun of cons is meeting people and this con was great for that. With a large variety of people from Sydney (of course) and Melbourne, but with a fair smattering of people from elsewhere. Including a couple over from Perth representing the con committee.

Now the con itself was a very good blend of SF, fannish and hard science. With the hard science being done by scientists and people with knowledge of the area they were talking about. Which is a change. I like this blend and it seems to work well with both of the 'Hard Science' panels coming close to filling the room...

One of the panels they had was the fannish olympics. This panel consists of various teams competing in various events, ranging from a five question trivia quiz through Tribble putting, ego-boo, horizontal mountain climbing and onto the climax which was the Ditmar bobbing.

The Ditmar bobbing has one member of each team facing a large bowl of jelly (lime?) and with their hands behind their back they have to remove Ditmars from the bottom of the bowls, then take them to a mat at the other end of the room and drop the afore said [sic] Ditmars in a circle on the mat... The winner is the person who gets the most Ditmars in their circle within three minutes. The Ditmars, for this purpose only, are chocolate bars with the dimension ratios one by four by nine. The fan olympics are a great idea and should be held at every natcon...

Aussiecon 2

Aussiecon 2 was the second Australian Worldcon, held in Melbourne in 1986. MSFC club members debated:

Aussiecon - Advertising in the Aussiecon Program Book. Do we want to do so? - Interjection on subject of Aussiecon 'Where Do We Go From Here?' panel. We are supposed to be in it. Also question of CLUB IMAGE...

... How much has the club changed since one, two years ago? What image are we putting out at present?...

Back to Program Book advertisement. Is a full page necessary? How many new members can we cope with? A sudden influx, where would we put them? Church hall? Suburban homes? Maybe reduce to one BIG meeting each month?

Vote in favour of putting an ad in the Aussiecon Program Book passed unanimously.

The 1990s

Media Fans versus Literary Fans

In 1994, Geoff Tilley spoke aspirationally about the MSCF:

The MSFC, as its members refer to it, was the centre of the new wave fandom phenomenum [sic], most, if not all, of the members of the new wave fandom were/are from the MSFC. Why? Because we, the members not part media fandom or literature fandom. In fact both sides complain that we are part of the other side. But the truth of the matter is that we are both. Yes, we have members who are only media fans, and we have members who are only literature fans, the truth of thew matter is that e tolerate a great many fandom 'religions' and I believe that is why we are still here.

In 1996, Ian Gunn made an appeal for unity between literary and media fandoms through the establishment of one set of awards that encompass both forms of fandom:

Following the ratification at this year's combined NatCon, “Lit” fandom and “Media” fandom now have NatCon constitutions which, apart from a few minor adjectives, are pretty much word for word identical.

This marks a growing trend towards the recombining of our two allegedly diverse fandoms. The symptoms are there for all to see: the 1994, 1996 and 1997 national conventions were, or will be, combined NatCons covering both streams. Even when they aren't combined, bot NatCons attract a membership which to a great extent overlaps. Most fans' interests are diverse enough to cover SF and fandom in a myriad of forms and, besides, they are quite willing to associate with people whose fan activities are different from their own. Many of the ASFMA and Ditmar nominees are nominated for both awards, where similar categories exist...

Personally, I think combining “Lit” and “Media” fandom is inevitable. Our fannish population is too small to support two fandoms and the overlap makes and distinction irrelevant...

The only problem I could see is the awards.... My proposal is this...

Best Professional Long Fiction Best Professional Short Fiction Best Professional Artwork / Audio Visual Best Non-Professional Fan Publisher Best Non-Professional Fan Writer Best Non-Professional Fan Artist Best Non-Professional Fan Audio-Visual Presentation William J Atheling Award for Criticism or Review

I would suggest calling them the Ditmars... the Ditmars have a longer tradition and the name honours one of fandom's founding fathers, Ditmar “Dick” Jenssen.

Aussiecon 3

Aussiecon 3 was the third Australian Worldcon, held in Melbourne in September 1999. MSFC was on the program:

We all leaned forward, anticipating fabulous tales about the early days of the Melbourne SF Club. Helena Binns passed around a photo album filled with fannish photos of the fifties and sixties. Then Merv Binns read from his notes, painstakingly researched from Etherline. No fabulous stories here, but a lot of facts, which I hope Merv will publish Real Soon Now. His half-hour piece stopped the conversation dead in its tracks. Eventually Race and Dick slipped in a few stories, but many of us felt an opportunity had been lost. If only Lee Harding had been there!

The 2000s

MSFC 50th anniversary cake cutting in 2002: Dick Jenssen, Paul Ewins (MSFC President), Helena and Merv Binns.

From Ethel the Aardvark, Issue #99, October 2001

The original Star Trek spoke of “boldly going where no one had gone before” and dared to tackle racism and equality on television. It boasted scripts that examined social issues and hid messages within allegorical stories. More than that, it inspired the hearts and souls of a generation of authors, artists, astronauts and scientists...

In this spirit, we dare to suggest that it is time (nay, it is overdue time!) to introduce a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex person as a major and continuing character in Star Trek.

Aussiecon 4

Aussiecon 4 was the third Australian Worldcon, held in Melbourne in 2010.

The 2010s

In 2016, the MSFC was forced to move from the hall which had housed their meetings and their library for many years. MSFC Life Member James 'Jocko' Allen, who had been instrumental in securing the Hall many years earlier, spoke in tribute of the venue:

For the last 27 years the MSFC has met here in St David's hall in West Brunswick. I remember when we first came here in late January 1986, it seems so long ago now, the hall seemed so big, the kitchen old and cramped and it was in West Brunswick, far away from the lights, shops and attractions of the centre of Melbourne, where we used to meet, wander off to shop or to get a coffee. How was it all going to work out here, on Friday nights, in the dark and quiet of West Brunswick?

It did, but it took time and experimentation. We had to change and adapt. Which we did. Meetings were later in the evening, rather than from 6-9 in the city. A 7.30pm start meant people could finish work or study and then catch a number 55 tram to West Brunswick. I opened and ran the kitchen for the first 9 years we were here, so people could get a drink and a snack and the club could raise some money...

So we were doing things at club meetings; next the committee gave them themes and the What's On at the Club calendar first appeared, drawn by Gunny. Now you could plan to come to a discussion night or an author talk (Did you know we had Terry Pratchett twice in the early 1990s?) or to the show and tell nights, the create an instant fanzine night, the film screenings (who can forget the night I showed a 16mm print of Stalker, the great Russian film which went for well over 3 hours!) (or Shirley Thompson Verses The Aliens—check it out, it is Bodgies and Widgies in Sydney up against Space Aliens!) and many others. When we couldn't think of anything there were cake and conversation nights. I opened and ran the kitchen for the first 9 years. Finally you could get a pretty reasonable cup of coffee and something to munch on from our own kitchen. Of course we had Twin Peaks nights with “Damn fine coffee and cherry pie, although no-one got wrapped in plastic, that I know of...

Best I can work out there have been over 1240 meetings of the MSFC in West Brunswick. There were lots of good times, but there were also arguments and disagreements. On the whole it has been a good time. I know I had a lot of innocent and not so innocent fun...

We made the club work out in the remote darkness of West Brunswick. I don't know how much of the ride you in the audience were along for, but I hope you have enjoyed being a Science Fiction fan in this place. This has been a good place for our community for 27 years. I would like to thank the congregation and elders of St David's for putting up with us for all that time. We were the people who managed to smash a window with a Teddy Bear. Gunny was swinging it around his head on a chain. The chain broke and this teddy went straight through a window. I was outside and saw it come through. Amazingly it mad a teddy bear shaped hole-head, arms, body and legs. The Callistenics club broke windows when they used the hall, but we managed something weirder.

The 2020s

MSFC President Alison Barton acknowledged the club's 70th Birthday as part of its celebrations in 2022:

Friday 15/07/2022

Good evening and welcome to the 2022 MSFC AGM; The Covid years Part 3. It looks like this has become a trilogy! Similar to last year, there is not a whole lot to report on as we still move back towards opening up, like everyone and everything else. For the most part we have been able to enjoy in person meetings once more since the beginning of 2022, with few interruptions...

… thank you to everyone for coming along to the AGM this year – our first one in person for three years I believe. Here’s to getting back to doing more of the things we enjoy. The last thing I would like to say, is congratulations to the MSFC for making it to 70 years. That really is an accomplishment for any organisation these days, let alone a fan club. I hope you will all stay around for the birthday celebrations.