>
> Being relatively new to the scene, i wanted to ask
> this. As a fandom or sub-culture or whatever buzzword
> seems to fit, How long ago did furry groups and
> related activities become an almost sentient entity?
> Put simply, how long has this furry cultre been here?
> I am aware of the existance of old fables and what
> not, dating back to archaic China, the old Gods of
> Egypt as well, but at what point did it become such a
> close knit orginization? I'd love to get a furry
> history lesson if anyone feels like lecturing.
> Cheers, jim
The idea of mixing human and animal traits goes back about as far as recorded
history. It's a convienent metaphor to help and understand ourselves. You
can talk about a clever person all day long, but if you just say that they're
a fox, it gets the idea across almost instantly.
As far as the furry community as it exists today, well, i think it grew up
with the BBS's, little local message boards that people would dial into.
anywhere that there was a decent concentration of furries (who tend to be
heavily slanted toward technical geekdom) they'd find each other though
common interests, word of mouth (hey, ed.. joey said that he really loved
that naked squirrel you drew and posted, here's his address..) etc. There is
a lot of crossover between furry and other fandoms, too. SF and Fantasy,
most notably, and since those have had conventions for decades, furries would
meet there, as well. It was old fashioned person to person networking to
find each other, Once a bunch of folks had the first ConFURence, and more
and more people were getting onto usenet, newsgroups, webpages, email lists,
etc.. the thing just started growing exponentially, as people who'd always
felt sort of 'out of place' found out about the furry fandom and said "holy
shit... people like me!" In my case, it was Steve Galacci's story
"birthright" running in the last issues of the furry anthology comic
"critters" that really caught my eye, and catapulted me into the avid search
for "more of this stuff" Upon getting to college in '95, and getting free
internet access, i quickly was able to find some of these other folks, and
become more than a passive member of the furry fandom. The rest, sordid as
it is, is history. (mine, anyway.. i doubt that it's interesting enough to
entertain more than the most voyeristic of you folks)
I think that part of the reason that it's so closely knit, is that it really
did start out so small. Friends meeting friends, etc. We tend to look out
for each other, because we know that very often, nobody else will. It's a
long standing tradition at furry cons to have a charity auction to benefit a
worthy cause. We've helped out Wolf Park (cool place, check them out)
greyhound rescue centers, and at the last Anthrocon, we raised over twelve
thousand dollars for a place that trains and supplies assistance dogs for the
disabled. (i think that's about twice what any other furry con ever raised
for a charity. impressive, huh?) With the exception of a few notable
assholes who do their best to make up for their low numbers and ruin things
for everyone else, we're a fairly intelligent, kindhearted and giving group.
Maybe it's the fact that a lot of us were the geeks who got made fun of when
we were younger, and we know how valuable a real friend can be, and how
important it is to help that person out when they need it, because they'll do
it for you.
Maybe it's more basic. nobody else will put up with us. if you're willing,
you're part of the club.
I submit that just about all of this is my opinion, dredged up out of short
and long term memory, with little or no research to verify the reccollections
of my battered brain. I will take little or no offence at modifications,
corrections, or outright denials of any of my statements. I'm no historian,
just a guy who's been around a little while.
-SirFox
Artist, Scientist, Punster, and General Wiseass.
http://www.solfire.com/yna/browse_artist.php?Artist=SirFox
Received on Tue Aug 20 2002 - 18:39:35 CDT