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Sun Spots, v. 4, issue 3, whole no. 15, February 1941
Page 29
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February, 1941. SUN SPOTS Page 29. THE 1940 PHILLY CONFERENCE, or A BEWILDERED FAN IN PHILLY. By William H. Groveman I set thses words down more as my personal impressions of the fans at the conference than as an attempt to give any significance to what may have occured at the 1940 Philly Conference while the whole affair is still fresh in my mind. It was only yesterday that the conference was held. Let us begin at the beginning. I awoke at 6, and after a hurried breakfast, went to Hempstead bus terminal and got a bus for 169th St. in Jamaica. Here I was to meet Will Sykora and his wife, but after waiting a few months, I decided he was not coming, so i proceeded on the subway to the Penn. Station.Here, Bob Thomson, came fluttering towards me in his bewildered way, and led me to Sykora. Will had gotten to the Subway terminal early and decided not to wait for me. After purchasing tickets and waiting a few minutes to see if any other fans might show up, we got the train, and as we were walking through it we saw Harry Walton, writer of "Bomb from Beranga" in FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES. Mr. Walton was also going to the Conference. Thompson and I sat together for the whole trip. I had brought along with me a copy of READER'S DIGEST, but the two of us talked and told so many jokes and recited poetry from memory that by the time Philly was reached I had read only one article. Our talk got around to the draft and here Thompson pulled a nifty one on me. It seems Don Wollheim goes to regester for the draft, but the person in charge tells Don they can't use him. Wollheim asks why and the reply is,"The Calvary's been mechanized!" [[handwriting]]I don't think that is in the least funny.[[end handwriring]] We reached Philly a bit before 11 and got off at the Broad Street Station. Thompson gave me a pained expression when I asked if there were any broads on Broad St. After Walton and Sykora had checked some stuff they had, we took the Subway for Baltadonis' place. The Philly subways are lousy. since Thompson and I are both used to NY subways, we handed the woman 5[[cent symbol]] and tried to go through the gate. But she wouldn't let us. We had to pay 10[[cent symbol]] extra before getting in. It seems in Philly one must pay 15[[cent symbol]] and for that he is allowed to go on the subway and also gets a slug good for another time. [[handwriting to right of paragraph]]neither is this one[[end handwriting]] on the subway I thought Thompson would be murdered. He got into an argument with me on the merits of New York City, and naturally the loyal Philadelphians didn't like to have the honor of their town trampled in the dust. Thompson was the recipient of many dirty looks. We got off somewhere (I really don't know where) and started to walk for Baltadonis' place. This was evidently the "Gas House" section of Philly. What a lot if tough-looking fellows we saw. Finally we arrived at Baltadonis' andfor some reason were ushered into a beauty parlor where the PSFS meets. They had met there the night before and the room was quite cluttered with fan-mags. As I mentioned before, this room was a beauty parlor, and there were hair-dryers on one side, which
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February, 1941. SUN SPOTS Page 29. THE 1940 PHILLY CONFERENCE, or A BEWILDERED FAN IN PHILLY. By William H. Groveman I set thses words down more as my personal impressions of the fans at the conference than as an attempt to give any significance to what may have occured at the 1940 Philly Conference while the whole affair is still fresh in my mind. It was only yesterday that the conference was held. Let us begin at the beginning. I awoke at 6, and after a hurried breakfast, went to Hempstead bus terminal and got a bus for 169th St. in Jamaica. Here I was to meet Will Sykora and his wife, but after waiting a few months, I decided he was not coming, so i proceeded on the subway to the Penn. Station.Here, Bob Thomson, came fluttering towards me in his bewildered way, and led me to Sykora. Will had gotten to the Subway terminal early and decided not to wait for me. After purchasing tickets and waiting a few minutes to see if any other fans might show up, we got the train, and as we were walking through it we saw Harry Walton, writer of "Bomb from Beranga" in FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES. Mr. Walton was also going to the Conference. Thompson and I sat together for the whole trip. I had brought along with me a copy of READER'S DIGEST, but the two of us talked and told so many jokes and recited poetry from memory that by the time Philly was reached I had read only one article. Our talk got around to the draft and here Thompson pulled a nifty one on me. It seems Don Wollheim goes to regester for the draft, but the person in charge tells Don they can't use him. Wollheim asks why and the reply is,"The Calvary's been mechanized!" [[handwriting]]I don't think that is in the least funny.[[end handwriring]] We reached Philly a bit before 11 and got off at the Broad Street Station. Thompson gave me a pained expression when I asked if there were any broads on Broad St. After Walton and Sykora had checked some stuff they had, we took the Subway for Baltadonis' place. The Philly subways are lousy. since Thompson and I are both used to NY subways, we handed the woman 5[[cent symbol]] and tried to go through the gate. But she wouldn't let us. We had to pay 10[[cent symbol]] extra before getting in. It seems in Philly one must pay 15[[cent symbol]] and for that he is allowed to go on the subway and also gets a slug good for another time. [[handwriting to right of paragraph]]neither is this one[[end handwriting]] on the subway I thought Thompson would be murdered. He got into an argument with me on the merits of New York City, and naturally the loyal Philadelphians didn't like to have the honor of their town trampled in the dust. Thompson was the recipient of many dirty looks. We got off somewhere (I really don't know where) and started to walk for Baltadonis' place. This was evidently the "Gas House" section of Philly. What a lot if tough-looking fellows we saw. Finally we arrived at Baltadonis' andfor some reason were ushered into a beauty parlor where the PSFS meets. They had met there the night before and the room was quite cluttered with fan-mags. As I mentioned before, this room was a beauty parlor, and there were hair-dryers on one side, which
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