A parody of old science-fantasy pulp magazine covers from the 1930s or 40s. The magazines were large-format and usually would have garish color covers, sometimes with too much adventure activity shown. This was also a parody of the 'fan-politics' among the sf fan volunteers running competing conventions and bidding for future rights to hold national conventions.

Done for sale at a science fiction convention art show in 1973. This image is from line-work for the art, done about 'letter-size'. The actual art was colored with markers, water-color, & colored-pencils to give it some of the garish pulp-magazine look. The original art was sold at the art show auction... to the con chairman of that convention. It may have been personally appealing, for some reason....

(In 1981 this copier image was published in an informal 'art-jam-zine', subsidized & assembled at a World Science Fiction Convention, held in Denver. (This was one of the early sf conventions where the 'proto-furry-fans' got to meet and hang-out with S.A. Gallacci, the creator of the ALBEDO underground comic.) The 'jam-zine' included a lot of contributions from some of these sf/furry fan-artists.)

I was an sf fan-artist, but whenever I could make an excuse, I would cartoon sf & fantasy furry-critters. So the fantasy event shown is actually my version of possible events at a regular sf convention. The World SF Conventions would have open 'Business Meetings' usually held early Sunday mornings. A moderator of the business meeting at the left, with a copy of Roberts' Rules of Order. The giant headless chicken monster represents hotel banquet food, a constant source of annoyance (and amused drama) among the convention-attending sf fans. In Olden Times of Fable, hotels had a Food-Service Department that was financially very important to hotel profits. They ran the hotel restaurants, but also room-service, food service for meeting rooms, and also Banquet Services. Most convention-sized events had guests that were part of industrial business or professional organizations. The business would have a budget to pay for meeting-room rental and formal banquets as part of the convention. SF fans (like furry fans) were not paid to attend their social conventions. No corporate charge-card. If an amateur fan convention was not able to fill-up a convention hotel with guest-rooms, the con committee would not have much bargaining power to negotiate costs with the hotel management. Each individual meeting room used for con events could have a list-price of $100s of dollars-a-day. Unless the convention were willing to have a mandatory Official Convention Banquet. (Shows you how much the profit-margin was on Banquet Services.)

The convention members would have to pay for their own banquet ticket, which would be maybe equivalent to $100+ (at today's prices). Not all the sf fans could afford to budget that amount, but there would always be a 100 or so fans who would 'bite-the-potato', and sign-up to make up the mandatory banquet size. Usually, the food would be at about 'institutional level', usually edible, and maybe look good. But not worth $100. There were sometimes impromptu 1960s protest songs made up during the meal. "Rubber-chicken" was sometimes mentioned....

Fortunately, maybe convention events have evolved.