O - No brite comments occur to your lexicografer in connection with this letter, so he'll leave it in peace.
obliterine - (Australian:Ackerman) - Correction fluid. It is stuff something like nail polish (np has been used as a substitute). When a mistake is made on the mimeo stencil, the openings in the wax are closed by rubbing, as with a paper clip, and the obliterine used to seal the spot, which can be retyped after a few seconds. The bad thing about obliterine is its habit of vaporizing and thickening in the bottle, cap it quickly as you will.
The stenciler has just composed a Poem in Praise of Correction Fluid., and you're going to have to listen to it:
Obliterine, obliterine,(Here the pome breaks off, due to inability to find an appropriate rime for unmixed.)
Without you where would we have been?
To err is human and slannish too,
But we can correct our mistakes with u.
Few of man's blessings are less unmixed
Odd Tales - After Pearl Harbor, when the pro situation was looking black and fen were being drafted in considerable numbers, a strong optimistic note was introduced when FFF announced a new pro named Odd Tales, to be edited by Unger, with many famous fans on its staff of production some of the new mutant features it was to have. Unger, editor of FFF, asked Lowndes at a Scientiforum not to give away his secret, and discovered that Doc never had tumbled, tho some time back a hoax of this sort had been discussed with him. When the announced publication date as past, and people were asking "Where is Odd Tales?", Unger apologized to the many who had sent in subscription money, and other who'd sent in mss and artwork for consideration. He pointed out that in the advance fotograf FFF'd published of Odd Tales' cover by Bok, and in the announced titles for stories in the first issue, acrostics and spelled "Fake" and "Hoax". Since then it has been a gag with Strictly From to announce that the second or third issue of Odd Tales will top any given feature of any of the current pros, as for example the paginess of Palmer's pubs.
official editor - Publisher of the official organ and other official publications such as the ballots. In the FAPA he is also mailing manager. He always has considerable discretion as to what shall be included in the official organ besides the prescribed material. In the better-regulated clubs his expenses come out of the general treasury.
official organ - A fanzine which is called the official organ of some organization. In some cases the editor is appointed by the organization; usually he simply volunteers, often offering a fazine already established, to become the official organ. It may be financed out of the general treasury, but more often is paid for by subscriptions, or, when the administration is centralized, receives "membership dues" as in effect subscriptions. Myriad organization with few activities on their program have become no more than their official organ. Whether the organization survives or not, the organ almost always become dissociated from it, prints more and more miscellaneous material by non-members, and continues on its own just like any other subscription fanzine. Exceptions have been the FAPA's Fantasy Amateur and the Bulletin of the NFFF (Bonfire), which are confined almost exclusively to official reports.
officials - Generally, all persons given special duties in connection with an organization; specifically, those who are appointed as distinguished from the officers elected.
off-trail - A designation for fantasy which doesn't seem fit easily under any of the know types.
Oily Will - Oldtime nickname of Will Sykora's.
old-timers - Originally, someone who read Amazing before there were any other s-f magazines. It is now used to indicate fans who were aquatinted with fandom in the Fantasy Magazine days. More recent comers, since the Barbarian Invasion began, sometimes call themselves old-timers, compared to these of less than a year's standing. The word is not exactly synonymous with "veterans".
#1 Face - Nickname for Ackerman, for his rating as top fan in the polls.
one-shot publication - A publication which is actually and avowedly intended to have only the one issue, as distinguished from many "periodicals" which don't get beyond the first issue, and other sheets which do not indicate whether they're periodical or nonrecurrent pamflets.
order - An organization of persons who have certain characteristics in common. Two fan organizations called order are the Sacred Order of FooFoo and the Loyal and Benevolent Protective Order of Wollheim Stooges.
organizations - There are both local and general organization in fandom, with some efforts at state and regional. Fan orgs have been called clubs, leagues, fictioneers, societies, guilds, associations, federations, orders; and miscellaneous names like Scienceers, FFF, IAOPUMUMSTFPUSA Unltd, Phantasy Legion, Scientifilmakers, New Fandom, Golden Gate Futurians, Washington Worry-Warts, Intellectual Brotherhood of ProScientists, Columbia Camp, Galactic Roamers, Windy City Wampires, and Michifans.
They may have no formal setup, just be a collective name, but usually there is a written constitution and officers. Requirements for membership are usually easy or non-existent. Dues and an official organ are de rigeur for those that are formally organized. Officers may include a president, vice-president, secretary-treasurer, and official editor, which such variant terminologies as director, chairman, vice director, Dictator (spwsstfm), Grand High Cocolorum (IAOPETC), general manager (TFG), Hi Priestess (FooFooism), managing secretary, chief pilot (Galactic Roamers), coordinator, ktp. Other officials found include official critics, regional representatives, and various boards and committees. Officials in the latter group are usually appointed by the president; the first-named are ordinarily elected by the membership.
There first organizations, locals, go back at least as far as 1928. The demand for a general fan organization has been persistent, tho the path is strewn with wreckage, and with the accumulation of experience many veteran fans became fanarchistic. Fly-by-nite organizations flowered particularly in the First Transition, and became nothing but their official organs of nothing at all. The organization instinct Cannot be suppressed.
OSA - The Oklahoma Scientifiction Association. The first state organization, begun in 1939 by Dan McPhail. It never attained formal organization, but continues, in near-dormant state, as an informal group of South-Westerners, having included Hart, Sullivan, the Rogerses, Speer, and McPhail, with lesser lites. A conference called Powwow was held in 1939. The OSA was talking about joining the DFF when the latter disappeared.
Outsiders' Club - (Lovecraft ) - Name from a story by HPL. The Club was formerly the Washington Necronomicon, a Weird Tales Club. It consists of weirdists and a few submerged stfists dwelling in Washington DC, including Seabury Quinn. Old-time fantasy movies were frequently revived to be shown at meetings of the club. The Outsiders have no contact with fandom, tho they've published some issues of a club organ, The Outsider.
Data entry by Peter Barker