1969: Birth of Trek Fandom

The story of Star Trek did not end when the series is cancelled. Paramount began offering Star Trek's 79 episodes to syndication in 1970, Star Trek began making its presence known all over the world, in time slots never attempted before.

Fanzines, or fan-created magazines actually made its debut during the period the show was still on the air. Written by fans for fans, they continued the Star Trek mythos with no official sanction or support. Some of them are very professionally produced with a lot of care, and looks like a real publication, others are just mimeographed sheets of paper stapled together. They contain just about anything about Star Trek, from character analysis to speculative history, from discussion about government of Vulcan to how the warp drive works, they also included a lot of original artwork. Some of the best known fanzines includes T-Negative (named after Spock and Sarek's blood type), Eridani Triad, Spockanalia, and Impulse (pardon to other famous fanzines of the time).

Indeed, fans promoted Star Trek in any way they can. Two fans did a radio show in the Denver area, and received an overwhelming response that the local TV station invited them for the local news, and started re-runs of Star Trek.

Star Trek fans appeared at all science fiction conventions and attracted a lot of attention.

Then in 1971 someone came up with an idea: why not have a convention about Star Trek and only Star Trek?

 

To learn more:

The Star Trek fandom takes many different forms. You can join the official Star Trek Fan club (see back of any Star Trek novel for details), or there are plenty of unofficial fan clubs that you can join, and plenty of newsletters on-line for your perusal.

Star Trek has spread far beyond the borders of United States, and you will find plenty of Star Trek fan pages out there on the Internet, making Star Trek a truly International phenomenon. There are even international fan clubs for those of you not in the United States.

The beginning of Star Trek memorabilia and collectibles started at about this time. Majel Barrett started Lincoln Enterprises to satisfy the need, and the company remained even today. It has inspired many other memorabilia and collectible stores for Star Trek.

Probably the single most important book about Star Trek fandom ever written was _Star Trek Lives!_ by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sondra Marshak, and Joan Winston. The book is subtitled "personal notes and anecdotes", and that's exactly what it is: recordings of early efforts to restore Star Trek, then fandom growth, and the phenomenon of fandom itself. It's a little sugary, but worth reading.

 

Back to Top of Page

The 1972 Convention Classic Trek years