FIVE DECADES OF DUM-DUMS! As the summer of 2005 rolls around, we have two more Burroughs conventions on the docket, one in Chicago and one in Toronto. Information flyers are included with this issue, so we hope you can fit one or both of these events into your schedule. Meanwhile, here are some recollections by our President, Bob Hyde, on how the Dum-Dums started. This memoir was first published at the 1991 Dum-Dum in Chicago, but since some of you were not there, we publish it again. Cheers! 

... "Ye Editor"

GENESIS OF THE BURROUGHS BIBLIOPHILES
By Bob Hyde

In the beginning . . . Vernell Coriell started publishing THE BURROUGHS BULLETIN in 1947, and sent free copies to anyone who asked. Soon after this, he was asked to form a Burroughs fan club, and this became a topic of discussion with various fans he met in his travels over the next two years.

When Vern was in California in 1949, he obtained permission from ERB, Inc. to form a fan club and to call it THE BURROUGHS BIBLIOPHILES, but not to have any official connection with ERB, Inc. It was still a matter of discussion at the 1959 WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION in Detroit where our Pittsburgh S-F group won the election to hold the 18th (1960) World Con in Pittsburgh. This 1960 event got us off on a firm footing.

Since I was a member of the Convention Committee, Vern asked me to set up an organizational meeting for him at the convention. We figured this would be the logical place where a larger group of ERB fans would be gathered. He knew from correspondence with his BURROUGHS BULLETIN subscribers that most of them were also S-F fans. He had dreamed of starting an ERB fan club for ten years, and this seemed like the time and place.

But, a few weeks before the convention, he told me his commitments to his job would not allow him to be free on the Labor Day weekend, and he asked me to fill in for him. We had already published notices of our meeting in the "Convention Progress Reports" as well as in the Convention Program Book. The meeting was set for Monday, September 5, 1960 at 11:00 a.m.
We gathered about thirty ERB fans at that meeting and did, indeed, get organized. The meeting lasted for almost two hours and was spiked with lively discussions. The first subject to be discussed was the name of the club. According to Vern’s wishes, the group unanimously chose THE BURROUGHS BIBLIOPHILES. The second topic of discussion was the club’s purpose. After some pretty terrific discussion, it was decided that our purpose should be "to promote the good name of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and the many characters he had created, and to attract new fans and readers of his works, and to assist collectors in the pursuit of this hobby."

Elected offices were established and the voting for these officers began. Dues were decided on, and even the name “Dum-Dum” was voted to be used for our annual meetings. Al Howard was the one who suggested the name "Dum-Dum" and, as he put it, this will be one time every year when "the bulls get together and howl!"

The official club publications were to be THE BURROUGHS BULLETIN and THE GRIDLEY WAVE. The next Dum-Dum was set for June, 1961, in Cincinnati. It was at the Cincinnati meeting that the first officers were elected. They were:

President ……………… Bob Hyde (Pittsburgh, PA)
Vice-President ……….. Stan Vinson (Mansfield, OH)
Editor ……………..…. Vernell Coriell (Peoria, IL)
Secretary ……...……… Robert Horvath (Monessen, PA)
Treasurer ……..……… Charles Reinsel (Clarion, PA)

I've been asked to recall what my most memorable Dum-Dum experience has been. I’d have to say that this first meeting at which I was elected President was the most memorable for me. It was totally unexpected, and I felt it an almost overwhelming honor to have been elected to assist Vern in this work, and to keep the club flourishing in the years to come. So, 1961 was the year of our first Dum-Dum. Many followed, and, to the best of my knowledge, this current meeting is the 27th Dum-Dum of THE BURROUGHS BIBLIOPHILES.

For those who might be interested, the "Golden Lion Awards" began in 1962 with Mrs. J. Allen St. John as the first recipient. In subsequent years, the award has been presented to the following:

Mr. & Mrs. James H. Pierce (1965)
Hulbert Burroughs (1966)
Hal Foster & Frank Frazetta (1967)
Russ Manning & John Coleman Burroughs (1968)
William Juhre & Sam Moskowitz (1969)
Philip José Farmer & Frank Schoonover (1970)
Johnny Weissmuller (1971)
Herman Brix & Burne Hogarth (1972)
Buster Crabbe & Vernell Coriell (1973)
Joe Kubert & Mrs. Rex Maxon (1974)
Jock Mahoney (1976)
Leigh Brackett (1977)
James H. Pierce (1978)
Boris Vallejo (1980)
Michael Whelan (1981)
Denny Miller & Donald A. Wollheim (1982)
Jack Williamson & Forest J. Ackerman (1983)
Danton Burroughs & Ian Ballantine (1984)
Burne Hogarth (1990)
Erling Holtsmark (1991)

... Bob Hyde, President Emeritus;
Chairman, Executive Board