The World Changes

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Title:	The World Changes
Creator:	Sam Moskowitz
Date(s):	Jan. 1939
Medium:	Print
Fandom:	Science Fiction
Topic:	History of science fiction fandom
External Links:	Hosted online by fanac.org. Spaceways #2 pg. 4-6. Jan. 1939.
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The World Changes was a 1939 essay by Sam Moskowitz that ran through the history of science fiction fandom as Moskowitz saw it.

While many of the claims can be verified by other sources, the essay should be taken with a grain of salt, as Moskowitz was describing a period of time that started when he was 10 years old, and some of the zines he mentions had already completely vanished by 1939. Moskowitz was also accused by several other fans of bias and errors in his scholarship, even many years later when fandom was more well-documented and club memberships, etc., could be looked up very easily.

Definite Errors

• The idea that Donald A. Wollheim and David A. Kyle had retired from fandom was wishful thinking on Moskowitz' part. Their club, the Futurians, had briefly stepped back from planning Worldcon after Moskowitz' New Fandom seized control of the committee, but both were active fans in 1939 and would remain in fandom for the rest of their lives. (See Timeline of the New Fandom-Futurians Feud.)
• John V. Baltadonis, the other fan Moskowitz named as retired, had recently suspended the Science Fiction Collector after matriculating in college. After reading Moskowitz' comments, he returned to fandom and started printing the Collector again.
• Moskowitz vastly overstates the influence of his own club, New Fandom. New Fandom was already starting to aggravate other fans with its controlling behavior over Worldcon, and after the Great Exclusion Act in July 1939, it became a laughingstock. By 1941 it was defunct due to lack of funds and membership.
• Several fans are misnamed: for example, Jerome "Jerry" Siegel's name is given as Jerome Seigal.

Text

It seems almost strange to begin an article by saying that the science-fiction fan world has a definite cycle of era's, but the facts are evident. History is said to repeat itself, and it is obvious that it does, although the repetition is usually in psychology only.

I said at the beginning of this article that its writing seems strange to me, and here is the reason. To all facts and appearances I am writing to an entirely to an entirely new fan world. I have written dozens of articles in the past, but in almost every case I could tell just who was going to read that particular article and how they would react to it. I knew in advance what to expect. Now it is different. My work, I am certain, is appearing before a large new audience. An audience whose acquaintance with the fan world of the past era has been short and fleeting. They are not familiar with the long fan history that has preceded them, and, as I do not know my audience, I do not know whether or not they are interested. I presume that they are.

The matter of just how many era's the fan world has undergone is more a matter of personal opinion anything else. We know that fan mags thrive when professional magazines are at their poorest. We know also that generally speaking, the more fan magazines there are, the poorer they are, and the more fan magazines there are, the smaller their audience. Working from these more or less concrete facts I take my first step and outline the first fan era of science-fiction.

From what I can see it dates back to 1930. At that period fan magazines were few and far between. The most prominent one of the time was THE PLANET, published by the old SCIENCEERS of New York. Forrest J. Ackerman was around even then, and in one of the old issues we come across a fairly complete list of fan magazines compiled by Ackerman. Mort Weisinger was prominent in many circles and a fellow named Jerome Seigal was to publish two carbon-copied fan magazines titled COSMIC STORIES & COSMIC STORIES QUARTERLY, respectively, which are today the rarest fan magazines in the world. No copies are known to exist. At that time the organization which to this day holds the unofficial record for membership in any fan organization was formed. It is believed that at one time their membership, official and unofficial climbed close to 1,000. That fan organization was the old International Scientific Association responsible for the publication of COSMOLOGY, a club organ which is quite hard to obtain nowadays. McDermott, Dennis, Ray Palmer were the prominent names heading that particular organization. It is noticed that there was actually only one large fan organization, and its membership roster was very large. There were a few small endeavors which did not amount to much. Generally though, the fan magazines of that day contained a preponderance of science, with limited fan items.

The year 1933 marked the dawn of the second era. THE TIME TRAVELER marked the encore of that era and the SCIENCE FICTION DIGEST was its actual beginning. THE SCIENCE FICTION DIGEST digested the entire field of the past. It carried over Mort Weisinger, Forrest J. Ackerman, ISA. Ray Palmer was the only one of that organization to survive the turn of the era. THE SCIENCE FICTION DIGEST gained in power until it is recognized, even to this day, as the finest fan magazine ever published. It discarded science as a subject for fan magazines almost into oblivion. It featured information about the professional publications and authors with a very small smattering of fan news. SCIENCE FICTION published by Jerome Seigal (another surviver) featured fictoin, some by professional authors. It introduced many of the new fans of that time: Clay Ferguson, Bernard J. Kenton. Henry Hasse, Charles D. Hornig, Conrad H. Ruppert also had their beginning in this era. Such organizations as THE JULES VERNE PRIZE CLUB for the best science-fiction stories of the year & the organizing of ARRA publishers to publish such booklets as THRU THE DRAGON GLASS by A. Merrit, THE PRICE OF PEACE by Mort Weisinger, WOLF HOLLOW BUBBLES by David H. Keller, and others made their appearance.

Era three marked the beginning of the decline of the old group. Into the field came dozens of small clubs, publications, what nots that were JEALOUS of the renamed FANTASY MAGAZINE. They had neither the ability, or resources to turn out such worthwhile endeavors. This group fought tooth and nail against all of the old guard. It admitted FANTASY MAGAZINE as the superior of the field yet hated it because of its excellence. However, the old guard were strong, probably the strongest group the fan world has yet produced. Instead of immediately declining they had such publications as THE FANTASY FAN still operating, they had brought into existance through William Crawford MARVEL & UNUSUAL. Two of the finest fiction mags ever produced in the fan field. It is really amazing the fierceness of which the newcomers fought against what they begrudgingly admired. Such inconsequental clubs as THE TERRESTIAL FANTASCIENCE GUILD with the first hektographed fan magazine titled THE TFG BULLETIN. The new INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATION publishing THE INTERNATIONAL OBSERVER. The BROOKLYN REPORTER, the 14 LEAFLET (first of the club publications) & numerous others appeared. Such names as Donald A. Wollheim, Wilson Shepherd, William S. Sykora, George G. Clark, began to gain signifigance.

Era four was the most active the fan world had ever know. It took place almost entirely during the year 1936 & a few months of 1937. The professional magazines were extremely poor. Fans were driven to fan magazines for some bit of pleasureable reading. Fan magazines popped up by the hundreds. Some good, most bad, few lasting more than a very few issues. During this era the last remnants of the old guard disappeared. FANTASY MAGAZINE combined with the new, fresh SCIENCE FANTASY CORRESPONDENT. MARVEL TALES, UNUSUAL STORIES were both being aimed at the newsstands and appeared no more in the fan field. FANTASY FAN had long since gone under. Prominent at the time were such publications as THE SCIENCE FICTION CRITIC then making its inception. THE SFAA appearing with TESSERACT. The one, excellent issue of FANCIFUL TALES; the publication of THE PHANTAGRAPH. And hundreds of small publications popping up all over. To mention a few THE SCIENCE FICTION COLLECTOR, beginning of the hektographing era, THE SCIENCE FICTION FAN, FANTASY FICTION TELEGRAM, THE SCIENCE FICTION NEWS, & innumerable others. Such names as Donald A. Wollheim, Morris S. Dollens, William H. Miller, Jim Blish, Dan McPhail, C. Hamilton Bloomer, Willis Conover, Jr., Walter Gillings popped into prominence.

The fifth scientifictional era was the one directly preceding the present one. It began with nothing. Just plain nothing. It is remarkable how many fans FANTASY MAGAZINE dragged to oblivion with it at its demise. The field was hollow. All the old-timers had been combed out. It was composed largely a few (not more than fifty) younger fans who had been just coming in when the old bunch went out. It was a group aided by no one. A group that knew it had no audience to speak of, but invented, to satisfy its own insatiable appetite for more science-fiction, the hektographed fan magazine. It was a group marked by no outstanding talent, either in literary, artistic or mechanical way when it began. But when it closed it had contributed an amazing batch of talent to the fan world, not to mention the professional. Prominent at the time were the AMATEUR CORRESPONDENT (new shade of SCIENCE FANTASY), THE SCIENCE FICTION CRITIC, THE SCIENCE FICTION COLLECTOR, THE SCIENCE FICTION FAN, COSMIC TALES, HELIOS, & numerous others. It boasted such names as John V. Baltadonis, Sam Moskowitz, Donald A. Wollheim, James V. Taurasi, Olon F. Wiggins, & others. It was a group that for a time displayed a remarkable sense of fairness and co-operation. It reached its peak February, 1938 and declined sharply thereafter. Its decline was forshadowed by a number of vicious arguments taking place in the FAPA, THE SCIENCE FICTION FAN & numerous other places. However, it was inevitable. Progress had to made, and it wasn't being made by hektographed journals.

Now a new era begins. Opened, I believe by the formation of NEW FANDOM (I wonder if the significance of the title is clear now?). Almost all traces of the previous era have disappeared. The CRITIC, CORRESPONDENT, PHANTAGRAPH, HELIOS, COLLECTOR, are to all intents and purposes dead. Such publications as the FAN, NEWS-LETTER, NOVAE TERRAE, seem a little more than wobbly. Fans like Baltadonis, Wollheim, Stickney, Beck, Hahn, Dollens,Kirby, Kyle, have been forced through one circumstance or another to retire from teh field. The field is brand new. The only old-timers (compartively speaking) that appear will be around for quite a while yet are James V. Taurasi, Sam Moskowitz, Jack Speer, Walter Earl Marconette, and practically no others. Yet it is significant that three of the above four were the newest in the old field. Who heads the field now? Well, besides NEW FANDOM, there is Louis Kuslan with COSMIC TALES; Harry Warner and James S. Avery with SPACEWAYS, Taurasi with FANTASY NEWS and Marconette with SCIENTI-SNAPS. The batch of fans in the field include Louis Kuslan, James S. Avery, Harry Warner, Dale Hart, Alvin R. Sandlin, William Sullivan, Hyman Tiger, Willard Dewey, Litterio B. Farcaci, N. Gilbert Dancy, Ted Dikty, C. I. Barrett and others. While such old-timers as H. C. Koenig, R. D. Swisher and Dan McPhail, are eternal and unchanging. It is interesting to see that some of the old-timers like Sykora, McPhail, Louis C. Smith, Schwartz, Ackerman, Latzer seem to like the new fan field and have made come-back of a sort. I'm not one to belittle anyone, but I believe that the new fandom (the new group of fans) are starting a step above their hektographing ancestors. A hektographed magazine is beginning to become a rarity. All of the new publications seem to have adopted mimeographing. The new group of fans looks VERY large to me. I think that there will shortly be about 200 inner circle fans. The editors of the professional magazines, mostly former fans themselves are taking great interest in the fan field, more so than any preceding group of editors. I believe that within the next year the new fan world will fairly scintillate with its own brilliance. Let's all pull together and assure ourselves of that fact.

Reactions

Bob Tucker published a humor piece called The Moon Changes, Too in the next issue of Spaceways. Moskowitz followed that with Hey! Stop! Please!, and Tucker responded once again with A Little Lesson in Tuckerology.

...To me the outstanding item in this issue was "The World Changes". Chockfull of information to the recent fan, it explained many things which were not fully clear to me.

Ted Dikty: letter printed in Spaceways #4 pg. 21. March 1939.

...Moskowitz' article, I note, has the usual combination of fairly-interesting subject, sloppy writing and generous misinformation and hearsay evidence presented as fact.

Robert A. W. Lowndes: letter printed in Spaceways #4 pg. 21. March 1939.

Somehow Moskowitz' article in the current SPACEWAYS didn't hit the spot with me. In the first place, he has no right penning articles similar to that one (and Ghu knows, he's written the same thing over and over about a dozen times!) because he, one of the four fans who he believes will be the only ones to stick around for some time to come, didn't enter the fan field until 1937!!!! I was editor of a hektoed fan magazine before he even entered the fan field! And his statement about old-timers; i. e.; Moskowitz, Marconette, Taurasi, and Speer is ridiculous. Speer is the only oldtimer of the bunch, and Marconette just entered the fan field in 1938!!!! Moskowitz and Taurasi came in in 1937. Speer, admittedly, is an oldtimer, but the other three---outch! Moskowitz should take Tucker's article to heart: the one in the the current FANTASY DIGEST [#2] I mean. So wake up, Sam. You're not kidding anyone, except some of the new fans who think you've been in the fan field for ages. And by the way, aside to Sam: so you think you four are the "only ones who will be around for some time to come."? Are you willing to back up your statement with cash? I'll bet that I outlast all of you, with the exception of Jack Speer! I've been subscribing to FANTASY MAGAZINE since 1934, so you can see that I'm an "ancient", if you're an "old-timer"! Also, I hope there are no bitter feelings, as I only am giving my ture opinion of the article. Sam is one of the best fan writers, and often turns out magnificent fan material, but please, in the name of holy Ghu and Foo, stop writing about things that you have no right to talk about!

Robert A. Madle: letter printed in Spaceways #4 pg. 22. March 1939.

Madle passed away in 2022, the last surviving member of First Fandom to stay active in the field.

For purely selfish reasons, I wish The World Changes had never been written. On account of why? On account of I have been busy (?) since last November drafting & redrafting a history of fandom for my Convention pub, and now that this history of the fanmags has been given, it somewhat anticipates me...

Jack Speer: Letter printed in Spaceways #4, pg. 23. March 1939.

Sam Moskowitz's review of the history of fan magazines extremely interesting. Some of his conclusions about fans retiring from activity seem inaccurate in the light of several advertisements in this same issue.

"John A. Bristol" (Jack Speer): Letter printed in Spaceways #4, pg. 23. March 1939.