vilakins | Big Name Fan

In her post about the circular nature of fandom kerfuffles,veritykindle mentioned this article from 1954 about the conflict between BNFs (big name fans) and 'neofen'. I was amazed. I only learned the meaning of 'BNF' last year, and here's this ancient article about them, fen, fanzines, fandom--and even egoboo! I even wondered if it was faked, but veritykindle said that someone on another thread remembers that the author was well-known (a BNF in fact) back then.

The 'neofen' are now called 'newbies' but I'm still stunned. I know that Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Arthur Conan Doyle had large numbers of fans, some of whom even wrote fanfic (hell, Homer doubtless had them too), but I didn't know the terminology predated Star Trek: The Original Series which was when I'd thought Fandom As We Know It had started.

I suppose these 'fen' were fans (fanatical enthusiasts) of SF magazines like the ones I bought recently, rather than a particular TV or book series as we tend to be now. But still: 52 years ago!