Fingolfin’s Findings LXVII: LonCon 1957 - first Tolkien cosplay (?) and the ‘rocket’

The 1957 LonCon (Opens in a new window) was a first in a lot of ways. It was the first WorldCon (Opens in a new window) outside of the United States (the fifteenth in total), it was the first of its kind in the UK - obviously -, and there is a chance that the first ever Tolkien-inspired cosplay was shown there.

A nazgûl.

And it was the last time that the International Fantasy Award (Opens in a new window) was handed out - to J.R.R. Tolkien.

The committee had decided that the trophy should be a handsome desk ornament in the symbolic shape of a spaceship (pre-Trek style, and not always appropriate!).... Unfortunately there was no photographer present on this occasion but I relish the memory of the bemused expression on the distinguished man’s face when receiving the spaceship.

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