The next in our series of posts in support of the 1946 Project at Chicon 8.

What was it like to be a science fiction fan in 1946?

There was a lot of new material to read. With the end of the war, Science fiction and fantasy pulps had proliferated. Classics genre novels from pulps of prior years were issued in book form. Just keeping up was a challenge.

Fan activity was also resurgent. The club scene remained most active in Los Angeles and New York, but fans from other corners also made their voices heard. Several clubs formed prior to the war resumed meeting in 1946, often attracting a mix of old and new members.

The timeline presented here is drawn from a variety of sources. Primary among them is Joe Kennedy’s 1946-1947 Fantasy Review, the second in his series of yearbooks covering the field. Eleven pages were dedicated to the doings of fans.

Date	Fan event
Jan 1	Ten fans gather at Sam Moskowitz’s house in New Jersey, dub themselves the “Null-A Men” and begin planning what would become the First Post-War Eastern Science Fiction Convention.
Jan 10	The “Atomic Conference” convenes, sponsored by the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS) and attended by 35 local fans and authors. A.E. van Vogt speaks on the application of atomic power.
Jan	Russ Hodgkins is elected as the new Director of the LASFS.
Jan	The article “Ten Cent Ivory Tower” appears in Esquire, a detailed account of the early history of publishing the stories of H.P. Lovecraft.
Jan	The National Fantasy Fan reports that the National Fantasy Fan Federation (NFFF or N3F) has 184 members. Walter Dunkelberger is the new President.
Jan 26	Leading fan Sgt. Forrest J Ackerman leaves the Army for civilian life.
Jan 26	Philip Wylie’s atomic-Armageddon story “Blunder: A Story of the End of the World” appears in Collier’s.
Feb	Jack Speer’s poll in Stefnews reveals that the average fan among his readers reads two pro genre magazines per month, receives ten fanzines per month and writes forty-three letters per month.
Feb	Leading Philadelphia fan Milton A. Rothman is released from military service. Captain David A. Kyle is discharged from the Air Force.
Feb	Long-standing UK fan Walter Gillings issues Strange Tales, a short-lived pulp.
Mar 3	The First Post-War Science Fiction Convention convenes in Newark, attended by as many as 100 fans and pros. The theme: “Is science catching up to science fiction?” A. Langley Searles, L. Sprague de Camp and Sam Merwin, Jr. speak.
Mar 31	Sam Moskowitz reads the first two chapters of “The Immortal Storm” at a meeting of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society (PSFS). Chapters of this detailed history of early fandom would continue to appear in Fantasy Commentator over the next five years.
Apr	Turmoil at the LASFS leads to factions and a new constitution.
Apr 6	Sixteen mid-west fans attend the First Post-Radar-Contact-With-the-Moon Conference in Chicago.
Apr 21	Los Angeles fan Abby Lu Ashley wins on the “Carnival of Cash” radio program and promotes the upcoming World Science Fiction Convention — the “Pacificon” — on the air.
Apr 28	Organization meeting of the Eastern Science Fiction Association (ESFA), led by Moskowitz..
May	Edward J. “Ted” Carnell launches the pro pulp New Worlds in the UK.
May	Gerry de la Ree’s poll on the future of space flight reveals that 66 of the 67 respondents believe that interplanetary travel will eventually happen. The lone skeptic: Raymond A. Palmer. The average estimated date for the first moon rocket is August 18 1976 — but guesses range from 1948 to 2145.
May 17	Prolific early science fiction author Francis Flagg dies.
May 30	Los Angeles fan Tigrina (Edythe Eyde) promotes the Pacificon on the national “Queen for a Day” radio broadcast.
Jun 16	Quoting Ackerman who cites a letter from William L. Hamling, Jack Speer announces in Stefnews that Raymond A. Palmer is confined to the Dunning Asylum in Chicago due to “a mental crack-up.”
Jun	The PSFS establishes a new clubroom at the southeast corner of 56th and Pine Streets, Philadelphia.
Jul 4-7	The Fourth World Science Fiction Convention — the Pacificon — convenes in Los Angeles. Kennedy writes: “Consensus of opinion was that the affair as a whole was enjoyable if somewhat slowly-paced. It did serve, at any rate, to show that enough cooperation could be obtained for many more Worldcons in the future.”
Jul 27	Jack Speer hosts the “Third Seattle Confabulation” at his home. Four fans attend.
Aug	The Fantasy Amateur Press Association (FAPA) elects Milton A. Rothman as President, Norman F. Stanley as Vice-President, Art Widner as Secretary-Treasurer and Elmer Perdue as Editor.
Aug 11	The Golden Gate Fantasy Society meets at the San Francisco home of Aubrey McDermott, (arguably) founder of the first-ever science fiction fan club in 1929.
Aug 13	Seminal science fiction master H.G. Wells dies at his home in London.
Aug	Gerry de la Ree’s fourth “Beowulf” poll reveals that respondent’s favorite authors are A. Merritt (still), H.P. Lovecraft, A.E. van Vogt, John W. Campbell, Jr., L. Sprague de Camp and John Taine. Top fans are Kennedy, Ackerman, Tucker, Speer, Laney, Moskowitz, de la Ree, Dunkleberger, E.E. Evans and Searles.
Sep 8	First meeting of the “New Queens Science Fiction League” takes place at the home of William S. Sykora.
Sep	Harper’s Magazine publishes “Little Superman, What Now?” by William S. Baring-Gould — a revelatory article about science fiction focused on fandom.
Sep	The PSFS begins planning for the 1947 Worldcon in Philadelphia, with Milton A, Rothman and Oswald Train leading the effort.
Oct 6	The Strangers Club of Boston holds its first post-war meeting.
Oct 17	R.W. MacCarthy, secretary of the Pacific Rocket Society, addresses 34 members attending a meeting of the LASFS.
Oct 20	William S. Baring-Gould and 28 others attend the October meeting of the Queens SFL. The groups votes to oppose the publication of works by Richard Shaver in Amazing Stories as fact rather than fiction.
Oct 24	Prominent science fiction author Otis Adelbert Kline dies at age 55.
Oct 27	About 70 fans attend the Philadelphia Conference, revived after a six-year lapse. Attendees include delegations from the ESFA and the Queens Science Fiction League.
Nov	In Amazing Stories, Raymond A. Palmer denies that he’s ever been mentally ill. Hamling writes to Fantasy Times describing the Palmer mental breakdown as a hoax. Some remain skeptical. Palmer is promoted to Editor of all Ziff-Davis pulps.
Nov 9	About 25 fans and pros gather at “Centracon” in Chicago, including Robert Bloch, E.E. Smith and Cyril Kornbluth. Attendees spend the night at the home of Erle Korshak.
Nov 10	The monthly meeting of the PSFS draws 29 fans to hear L. Sprague de Camp’s address on “extra dimensions and various concepts of time travel.”
Dec 1	At their meeting, members of the Eastern Science Fiction Association join the protest against Amazing Stories representation of the Shaver stories as fact.
Dec 12	The Colorado Science-Fantasy Society re-forms at the home of Roy Hunt in Denver. Thirteen fans attend.
Dec	The National Fantasy Fan Federation elects Art Widner as President and Walter A. Coslet as Vice President.
Dec	The Minneapolis Fantasy Society re-forms under the leadership of Clifford D. Simak.
Dec 26	The LASFS elects E. Everett Evans as Director at their annual Christmas party.
Dec 31	Leigh Brackett and Edmond Hamilton are married in Los Angeles. Ray Bradbury serves as “First Man.”

One event to which fans ascribed importance bears further exposition: the September 1946 article in Harper’s Magazine by William S. Baring-Gould titled “Little Superman, What Now?” Baring Gould had been corresponding with fans for some time, reading fanzines, and attending gatherings. Most importantly, he joined the First Post-War Eastern Science Fiction Convention in March as part of his research, and commented on the meeting in his article. This was the most accurate and deep portrayal of organized fandom to have appeared in the mainstream press to that point. We provide the full piece here.

Fans published extensively in 1946. Core members of the community returned from service to find a wide range of fanzines, many with heightened standards for prose, fiction and art. We’ve tabulated the most notable titles, omitting some one-shots and likely missing a number of more obscure publications (especially from VAPA). For these 69 fanzines, we count approximately 316 total issues for the year.

(Titles in bold italic debuted in 1946. Titles followed by Roman numerals provide disambiguation per the Pavlat-Evans Fanzine Index.)

Title	Editor(s)	Issues in 1946
a	Swisher	2
The Acolyte	Laney, Rimel	2
The Alchemist	Hansen, Martin	1
Atres Artes	Cheney	3
Black Flames	V. Daugherty	1
Bloomington News Letter	Tucker	3
B.T. – His Mag	Tucker	1
Bulletin of the British Interplanetary Society		unknown
Canadian Fandom	Taylor	3
Chanticleer	Liebscher	1
Cosmic Cuts	British; Tucker	2
Ember	Brazier	20
En Garde	Ashley	3
Falling Petals	Farsaci	1
Fan	W. Daugherty	3
Fan-Dango	Laney	4
FANewscard / FANews	Dunkelberger	60
Fantasy Advertiser	Willmorth, Squires	5
Fantasy Commentator	Searles	4
Fantasy Review	Kennedy	1
Fantasy Times (II)	Taurasi	20
Fan-Tods	Stanley	3
Full-Length Articles	Speer	1
Glom	Ackerman	3
The Grotesque (IV)	Christensen	4
Grulzak	Kennedy	1
Guteto	Morojo	2
Horizons	Warner	4
“I Bequeath”	Ackerman	1
In Memorian, H.G. Wells	Ackerman	1
Inspiration	Bridges	2
Joe’s Jottings	Kennedy	3
The Kay-Mar Trader	Carlson	1
Le Zombie	Tucker	1
Lethe	Smith, Riggs	3
The Life of the Fan	Rothman	1
Light	Croutch	4
Milty’s Mag	Rothman	1
Moonshine	Moffatt	2
National Fantasy Fan	several	10
The Phantagraph	Wollheim	2
Plenum	Rothman	4
PSFS News	Train	5
Matters of Opinion	Speer	2
The Reader and Collector	Koenig	3
Renascence	Blish	2
The Rider	Hevelin	9
Science*Fiction	Zissman (Merril)	1
The Science Fiction Savant	Washington	2
The Science Fiction World (II)	Tarr	2
The Scientifictionist	Elsner	5
Shangri-L’Affaires	Joquel, Burbee	9
Space Flight… When?	de la Ree	1
Sparx	Spelman	2
The Star Rover	Splawn	2
StefNews	Speer, Hevelin	46
Sun Spots	de la Ree	2
Sustaining Program	Speer	4
A Tale of the ‘Evans	Evans	3
Temper	Merrill	1
The Time Binder	Evans	4
Tomorrow in the March	Evans	1
Vadjong (II)	Sykora	2
Vampire	Kennedy	4
Venal	Lowndes	2
The Voice	Crouch	2
Voice of the Imagi-Nation	Ackerman	2
Without Glee	Moro, Rehm	4

Stay tuned for more highlights from our exploration of science fiction and fandom in the very busy year of 1946.