The Birth of The Time Traveller
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Birth of The Time Traveller |
| Creator: | Julius Schwartz |
| Date(s): | December 1940 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Science Fiction |
| Topic: | Early fanzines, The Time Traveller |
| External Links: | online by fanac.org. Spaceways #17 pg. 13. Dec. 1940. |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Birth of The Time Traveller was a 1940 article by Julius Schwartz that explained the creation of The Time Traveller, a science fiction fanzine sometimes considered the first-ever fan magazine. At the time fan historians did refer to TTT as the first, although the title has since been disputed.
Schwartz came up with the idea based on the club bulletin of The Scienceers, a science fiction fan club. He and his friend Mort Weisinger asked Allen Glasser to join as editor, and it was later combined with Science Fiction Digest, another of Schwartz' zines which then became Fantasy Magazine.
Text
Every once in a while some enterprising fan writes an article on the history of the fan magazine movement. It inevitably starts off with the first of these magazines, The Time Traveller, but I've read so much misinformation about the origination of this publication that I'd like to set everyone straight about the true facts.In October, 1930, I joined The Scienceers, a New York fan club for readers of science fiction. Wait, I'd better amend that: just as I was about to join The Scienceers the club broke up (one of its many dissolutions). However, I did get to know one of the members, Mortimer Weisinger, and as we had many mutual science fiction interests we became fast friends.
We both prided ourselves on our vast knowledge of science fiction, and we liked nothing better than to send postcards challenging one another with some tough question on the subject. We both had a fairly wide correspondence with many of the science fiction authors and fans of the day, and when we met we first liked to trade what news we had. We found this vastly exciting.
One of us (I forget who) thought it'd be a good idea to get out a "Who's Who in Science Fiction", and with this in mind sent dozens of letters to all the authors we could. The project was never completed; guess we just didn't have enough money.
Then we thought it might be a good idea to issue a little paper containing one of these author biographies in each issue, together with various other science fiction items we had on hand. I personally became so enthusiastic that I got out a one page, one copy, typewritten affair with a biography of Edward Elmer Smith and sundry bits of science fiction news and information. When I completed the job I suddenly realized I had no name. The title, The Time Traveller, popped into my head and I typed in on the top of the sheet. (Note to fan collectors: this original copy of TTT has been irretrievably lost, so please don't ask me for it.) Mort was just as excited with the possibilities of TTT as I was, and so we determined to get out a regular mimeographed magazine, modeled after The Scienceers' bulletin, The Planet. Although we felt capable of issuing the magazine by ourselves we wanted to have a big fan name as editor to impress our potential readers. We asked our good friend, Allen Glasser, then one of the best known letter writers, to accept the editorship, which he did. We rounded up several other of the big name fans of the day to supply us with news and gossip. These included Forrest J Ackerman, Linus Hogenmiller, and Jack Darrow.
We secured our first subscribers by sending out a circular to readers who had letters published in the various science-fiction magazines. In a short time, we received 30 subscriptions. We were well satisfied and went to work on the first issue. Philip Rosenblatt, who had mimeographed The Planet, agreed to do work on The Time Traveller. (And please observe that we always insisted it be spelled with two "l's"!) When completed it consisted of six pages, with Glasser stencilling the first two, me the next two, and Weisinger pages 5 and 6. It was dated January, 1932.
It featured a biography of Capt. S. P. Meek, a brief interview with Bob Olsen, a list of scientifilms, the first installment of "The History of Science Fiction", a science fiction contest, an article giving the inside dope on O. A. Kline's "The Planet of Peril", and dozens of news items about authors and their forthcoming stories. It also acquainted the fan world with the mystery that was to baffle them for many years to come, "Who Is Anthony Gilmore?".
All of us felt the first issue was a success and decided to keep it going. Some other time, perhaps, I'll tell you about its hectic life and how it eventually evolved into the foremost of all the fan publications, Fantasy Magazine.