From The Archives

Way back when Now&Then #4 was churned out in 1955, the year 2000 seemed in the remote future. And now it's here already, but decidedly not so radically marvellous as fans optimistically envisioned. Still, there are welcome advances in technology, and thanks to the computer we bring you a recycled version of the original fanzine.

Not quite a facsimile: back then the mag was duplicated in vari-coloured inks on vari-coloured quarto paper, by labour-intensive methods – all the slog of cutting and drawing on stencils, cranking and slip-sheeting, collating and stapling – that involved harnessing the energy of the whole Turner family and any visiting fans. This strictly limited edition is, mercifully, brought to you with far less physical exertion...

For some reason – probably sheer forgetfulness – we never added to the explanatory GLOSSARY started to help the new reader adjust to the pages of Now & Then. However, looking through the recycled pages of issue 4, I spot several cryptic comments that, almost half a century after publication, perhaps merit some clarification.

Dipping into the surviving archives of the Romiley Fan Veterans & Scottish Dancing Society, I've rescued bits'n'bats from contemporary OMPA sheets that cast a little more light on the tangled relations of the RFV&SDS and the dreaded Romiley Fan Dancing Society than is revealed in the pages of N&T #4.

And for good measure here are a few contemporary pics to add to the drama...

Now & Then production staff


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