Furry History

[slycat]

To all those who are arguing about what event will be the first UK Furry Convention, you might want to have a look at this article. Specifically starting with this entry:

July 1994: The first annual UK Fur CON is held 9-11 July, organized through FurryMUCK by Adam Moss as an informal house party at his home in Colchester, Essex. About fifteen fans attend, including one each from Germany and the U.S. Furry Housecon 4 is the same weekend (8-10 July), and accusations of "trying to hijack our con" against the Housecon are later put down to an innocent lack of communication between Britain's FurryMUCK and non-Internet furryfans. The two series of house parties are mutually coordinated today.

Makes for quite an interesting read. Furry drama existed even back then :P I suppose technically these events could be regarded as furmeets rather than cons... but still :)

Comments

[frysco.livejournal.com]

I remember that. I was there at that Essex gather ;>

[slycat.livejournal.com]

You're proper old school :P

My first furry gathering was in 1999!

[catwoman69y2k.livejournal.com]

That is probably the argument (cons vs house parties) and I would be more tempted to go along with that. As for the first formal get together, than the event you talked about would be the first.

As for as drama....drama exists everywhere and has been around for a long time

[werepanther.livejournal.com]

"Furry drama existed even back then :P"

That happens when people want to be in the center of attention all the times.
But meh, "WHO CARES ANYWAYS." ;)

[caleb-badger.livejournal.com]

May 1987: The Electric Holt is started by Richard Chandler (sysop), Mitch Marmel (assistant sysop), John DeWeese, and Seth Grenald at Drexel University in Philadelphia. It is the first east coast BBS with an extensive furry users' group, thanks to Chandler and Marmel. (It also features ElfQuest, animé, and general SF storyboards.) It lasts until 1990, when the four graduate from Drexel.

Me and Mitch Marmel are coworkers.

[beaitchtwo.livejournal.com]

WOW! July 1994....I was doing the last of my GCSE exams back then!! I was a young 16 year old.

[dingotush.livejournal.com]

I think the whole argument is rather pointless, and the important thing is that the events happen, and people have a good time. Which event is the first is always going to depend on what you consider to be the definition of a furry con. If you just want a furry gathering that was called a con then the UK fur CON is the first. If you want it to be residential, then Utlah's Eurohowls (depending on how wide your definition of furry is), or the lifestyle meet I ran in Oxford might suit. If size, or costuming is important, then Therians (but again its were, more than fur). There are a whole bunch of things to choose from.

But, if you want the typically features of a US con (tracked programming, art show, auction, dealers den, fursuiting, masquerade, dances, residential), then its going to be RBW (depending on how the schedule pans out) or Confuzzled. I just wish RBW was at a different time of year, so I could go.