The Star Trek Historical Calendar

Calendar
Title:	The Star Trek Historical Calendar
Publisher:	DataZine Publications
Contributors:	prepared by Atlanta Star Trek Rediscovery Association (ASTRA)
Date(s):	1985-1990
Medium:	print
Size:
Fandom:	Star Trek
Language:
External Links:
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The Star Trek Historical Calendar was a monthly calendar annotated with various dates associated with the people and events related to the production of the Star Trek series and movies, supplemented with dates from history, science and technology as they related to Star Trek.

There were cartoons interspersed throughout the calendar. It was staple-bound with stiff paper covers.

The first calendar was published in 1984 (for 1985) and available at several cons. This first calendar, however, was a proto-type of sorts, and not the calendar that most fans are familiar with. During late summer, early fall 1984, the fan club that published it made an agreement with the editors of Datazine to reissue it in a more polished form.

Starting in 1987, the name changed to 'The Star Trek Hysterical Calendar'.

In 1988, a separate Star Trek: TNG calendar was published, and the Star Trek: TOS calendars were renamed to "Classic Trek".

Cartoonists

1984/1985: unknown

1985: Tim Farley and Don Harden

1986: Don Harden

1987: Don Harden

1988: Michael C. Goodwin

1989: Michael C. Goodwin

1990: Michael C. Goodwin (ST: TOS and ST: TNG), Michael Fisher (science fiction movies)

Its Origins

As many of you know, ASTRA has produced it’s own Calendar, the 1985 ASTRA Star Trek Historical Calendar. We printed a limited run (about 45 or so) of these during the spring [of 1984], and sold them at Dixie-Trek and Space Trek III (in St. Louis). Although we sold all the calendars that we printed, ve were hampered by the fact that ASTRA cannot get to the number of cons that a typical dealer can. So, we have made a deal with Steve and KathB Walker, of DATAZINE Publications, to print and market the calendar for ASTRA. The Walkers have contracted with Glenwood Distributing to print the calendar for them.

The Calendar with be printed on blue paper in a much more professional style than the original calendars, and will sell for $4.95. All of the fantastic historical information, and Don Harden’s cartoons will be there, along with a brand new centerfold!

To cover set-up costs, etc., the Walkers will need to make back approximately $200.00 from the calendar—beyond that, a percentage of ail the profits goes to ASTRA! The initial press run should be about 5000 copies, so ASTRA should be able earn some good money from the Calendar. When it becomes available, we will offer it to members, of course. (It should be available by Creation Con, if not sooner.

From the Back of the 1985 Issue

"This calendar is the result of many months of research and effort on the part of members of the Atlanta Star Trek Rediscovery Association (ASTRA), Atlanta's finest and fastest growing Star Trek organization.... This calendar is our latest project. The material in this calendar was researched and the pages laid out by Tim Farley, with thanks to Don Harden, Randy Landers, Alex Rosen, and Ruth Breisinger for material and ideas. The cartoons were drawn by ASTRA's own Don Harden, with thanks to Tim Farley, Randy Landers, Alex Rosen, Anson Kennedy, Tony Gray and the correspondents of Interstat for idea and material... The information in this calendar is not intended as an exhaustive history of the Star Trek phenomenon. We concentrated on people and events closely related to the production of the Star Trek series and movies, but even some of these dates were less than simple to track down. These were supplemented with dates from world history and the history of science and technology which were considered significant to Star Trek."

Looking Back: The 1985 Issue

From one of its creators, Tim Farley:

In the 1980s I was a college student and in my spare time I was involved in Star Trek fandom, including running a local fan club. In order to raise money for the group, for a couple years we printed a commemorative calendar featuring the cartoons of Don Harden and historical dates relating to Star Trek on the calendar pages. The dates and the page layout were my work.

In those pre-Internet days, researching the material for the calendar was quite tedious. It involved hundreds of note cards and many trips to the library. And creating the page layout was even more tedious, involving an IBM Selectric typewriter and literal cutting and pasting.

Each daily fact had to be sliced from a typewritten sheet and glued into place on the appropriate date. (You may notice that some of the text is not perfectly aligned.)

1984/85

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  1984-85 issue

1985

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  front cover 1985

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  inside page from 1985, a Muppet moment

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  inside page from 1985

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  inside page from 1985, commentary on a scene in the last movie that many fans found offensive and out-of-character

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  inside page from 1985, a very tasteless joke regarding the Space Shuttle Challenger; it was Scotty who removed the O-rings from the shuttle

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  inside page from 1985, another commentary on a scene in the last movie that many fans found offensive and out-of-character

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  inside page from 1985

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  back of 1985

1986

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  front of 1986 issue

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  inside page from 1986

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  inside page from 1986, Han Solo requires a nametag in this cartoon, just in case the Trek fans were unsure who the character was

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  inside page from 1986

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  inside page from 1986, commentary on the rumor that Eddie Murphy was going to be in the next Star Trek movie

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  inside page from 1986

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  inside page from 1986

1987

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  1987 issue (front)

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  1987 issue (back)

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  1987 issue

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  1987 issue

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  1987 issue

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  1987 issue

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  1987 issue

1988

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  1988 issue, front cover

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  1988 issue

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  1988 issue

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  1988 issue

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  1988 issue

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  1988 issue, back cover

1989 (TOS)

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  1989 issue, the Star Trek: TOS version

1989 (TNG)

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  1989, the Star Trek: TNG version, cover

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  1989, the Star Trek: TNG version, inside

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  1989, the Star Trek: TNG version, inside

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  1989, the Star Trek: TNG version, inside, "She's a nice Beta, but I think VHS is a little better." This cartoon was reprinted in 1994 without permission in Critical Mass, and to add insult to injury, the caption was slightly altered.

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  1989, the Star Trek: TNG version, inside, poor Wesley Crusher

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  1989, the Star Trek: TNG version, inside

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  1989, the Star Trek: TNG version, back cover

1990 (TOS)

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  1990 issue, TOS version, front cover

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  1990 issue, TOS version, inside

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  1990 issue, TOS version, inside

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  1990 issue, TOS version, inside

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  1990 issue, TOS version, inside

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  1990 issue, TOS version, inside

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  1990 issue, TOS version, inside

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  1990 issue, TOS version, back cover

1990 (TNG)

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  1990 ST:TNG issue, front cover

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  1990 ST:TNG issue

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  1990 ST:TNG issue

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  1990 ST:TNG issue

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  1990 ST:TNG issue

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  1990 ST:TNG issue

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  1990 ST:TNG issue

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  1990 ST:TNG issue, back cover

1990 (science fiction movies)

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  1990 science fiction movie issue, front cover

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  1990 science fiction movie issue

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  1990 science fiction movie issue

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  1990 science fiction movie issue

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  1990 science fiction movie issue

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  1990 science fiction movie issue, back cover