https://reactormag.com/when-did-sff-get-too-big/
On 9/28/2024 9:33 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
On Thu, 26 Sep 2024 16:09:33 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
Nicoll) wrote:
https://reactormag.com/when-did-sff-get-too-big/
My desk had a hole for an inkwell, but we kept our ink in the bottles
it came in.
The inkwells were used in the days of dip pens. In the late 60s, I was >probably in 4th grade when we graduated to fountain pens. Since they
didn't need to be constantly reloaded with ink, the desk inkwell became >obsolete.
Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:
On 9/28/2024 9:33 PM, Joy Beeson wrote:
On Thu, 26 Sep 2024 16:09:33 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
Nicoll) wrote:
https://reactormag.com/when-did-sff-get-too-big/
My desk had a hole for an inkwell, but we kept our ink in the bottles
it came in.
This is good. Too many kids would not keep the ink where it belonged but >would instead use fountain pens to squirt one another in the face.
The inkwells were used in the days of dip pens. In the late 60s, I was >>probably in 4th grade when we graduated to fountain pens. Since they
didn't need to be constantly reloaded with ink, the desk inkwell became >>obsolete.
I never used a dip pen except in art class, but I can see it would have
major advantages over fountain pens with bladders that could be used to >squirt people with.
On Thu, 26 Sep 2024 16:09:33 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
Nicoll) wrote:
https://reactormag.com/when-did-sff-get-too-big/
My desk had a hole for an inkwell, but we kept our ink in the bottles
it came in.
Some people the same age as me find writing exhausting because their
schools used pencils or ballpoints for their penmanship exercises, and
they learned to engrave their writing, pressing hard enough to make
fifteen carbons.
If I pressed too hard while writing, I broke my pen point and had to
spend two cents of my candy money to buy another one.
I've been addicted to keyboards for well over six decades, but I can
still jot down a legible note whenever I please. And I please nearly
every day. Spouse consideres writing his name in a guestbook an
intolerable chore.
On a more serious note, Earl Kemp's comment:
I knew everything that was being published and read everything up
until the 1940s
makes a good deal of sense. As I wrote back in March, there were only 3 stable science fiction monthlies between mid-1930 and mid-1938:
*Amazing*, *Astounding* and *Wonder* (*Thrilling Wonder* after 1936.)
Things began to change in mid-1938 with the launch of *Marvel* and then
the Golden Age started in 1939: *Planet Stories*, *Captain Future*, *Startling Stories*, *Dynamic*, *Famous Fantastic Mysteries*, *Science Fiction*/*Future Fiction*, *Strange Stories*, *Uncanny Tales*, *Marvel Science Stories*, *Fantastic Adventures*, *Science Fiction Quarterly*,
*Super Science Stories*, *Astonishing Stories*, *Cosmic Stories*,
*Fantastic Novels*, *Stirring Science Stories*, *Unknown*.
Even if you skipped the reprints (some magazines specialized in
reprints), there was a significant amount of SF content being published
every month.
On Thu, 26 Sep 2024 20:02:52 -0400, Ahasuerus wrote:
On a more serious note, Earl Kemp's comment:
I knew everything that was being published and read everything up
until the 1940s
makes a good deal of sense. As I wrote back in March, there were only 3
stable science fiction monthlies between mid-1930 and mid-1938:
*Amazing*, *Astounding* and *Wonder* (*Thrilling Wonder* after 1936.)
Things began to change in mid-1938 with the launch of *Marvel* and then
the Golden Age started in 1939: *Planet Stories*, *Captain Future*,
*Startling Stories*, *Dynamic*, *Famous Fantastic Mysteries*, *Science
Fiction*/*Future Fiction*, *Strange Stories*, *Uncanny Tales*, *Marvel
Science Stories*, *Fantastic Adventures*, *Science Fiction Quarterly*,
*Super Science Stories*, *Astonishing Stories*, *Cosmic Stories*,
*Fantastic Novels*, *Stirring Science Stories*, *Unknown*.
Even if you skipped the reprints (some magazines specialized in
reprints), there was a significant amount of SF content being published
every month.
Looking at the Google Ngram for the category English Fiction
(using "planet" as a proxy for SF) I see a distinct bump at 1940.
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph? >content=planet&year_start=1900&year_end=2019&corpus=en- >fiction&smoothing=0&case_insensitive=false
Shortened: https://tinyurl.com/c67kwdj2
Could that be explained by what you have listed? Then I wonder
what the bump at 1930 is.
On Thu, 26 Sep 2024 20:02:52 -0400, Ahasuerus wrote:
On a more serious note, Earl Kemp's comment:
> I knew everything that was being published and read everything up
> until the 1940s
makes a good deal of sense. As I wrote back in March, there were only 3
stable science fiction monthlies between mid-1930 and mid-1938:
*Amazing*, *Astounding* and *Wonder* (*Thrilling Wonder* after 1936.)
Things began to change in mid-1938 with the launch of *Marvel* and then
the Golden Age started in 1939: *Planet Stories*, *Captain Future*,
*Startling Stories*, *Dynamic*, *Famous Fantastic Mysteries*, *Science
Fiction*/*Future Fiction*, *Strange Stories*, *Uncanny Tales*, *Marvel
Science Stories*, *Fantastic Adventures*, *Science Fiction Quarterly*,
*Super Science Stories*, *Astonishing Stories*, *Cosmic Stories*,
*Fantastic Novels*, *Stirring Science Stories*, *Unknown*.
Even if you skipped the reprints (some magazines specialized in
reprints), there was a significant amount of SF content being published
every month.
Looking at the Google Ngram for the category English Fiction
(using "planet" as a proxy for SF) I see a distinct bump at 1940.
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph? content=planet&year_start=1900&year_end=2019&corpus=en- fiction&smoothing=0&case_insensitive=false
Shortened: https://tinyurl.com/c67kwdj2
Could that be explained by what you have listed? Then I wonder
what the bump at 1930 is.
So, should all SFF writers become government registered [snip]
I knew everything that was being published and read everything
up until the 1940s
On a more serious note, Earl Kemp's comment:
I knew everything that was being published and read everything
up until the 1940s
makes a good deal of sense.
On 9/26/2024 4:30 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
[snip]
So, should all SFF writers become government registered [snip]
How else would ISFDB editors know whether the latest "Andrew Smith"
story was written by:
Andrew Smith - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179138
Andrew Smith (I) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179140
Andrew Smith (II) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179139
Andrew Smith (III) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?213355
Andrew Smith (IV) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179142
Andrew Smith (V) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?179141
Andrew Smith (VI) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?261371
Andrew Smith (VII) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?280123
or Andrew Smith (VIII) - https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?309023
| Sysop: | Keyop |
|---|---|
| Location: | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK |
| Users: | 546 |
| Nodes: | 16 (2 / 14) |
| Uptime: | 07:39:47 |
| Calls: | 10,386 |
| Calls today: | 1 |
| Files: | 14,058 |
| Messages: | 6,416,644 |