An interesting frustration...

[tikatu]

I've been fiddling around with the Thunderbirds page at FanHistory, trying to set up a timeline of when various sites came and went. I figured it'd be difficult in the case of Thunderbirds World, seeing as the place has been defunct for two years and more. But I was hoping to find some info from The Wayback Machine to help out. I've been able to access various spots in the site's snapshots that at least have some dates on them. Seems that there aren't as many of those pages left as I figured. At least I have dates for when the owner pulled the plug!

Then there's the issue of Tracy Island IR. It was started as a replacement for Tracy Island when that site was accidently deleted. But on questioning Phoenix Sparrow, I couldn't get the date when the first site was started - it might have been six months to the day before the new one was, but she doesn't remember.

And even my own site IR:TNP has some date issues. Since I've basically killed all the boards except the General one I can't find out what day we actually opened at the new site. The issues we had with the first forum script sort of killed all the evidence of when the first post was written there. I've got a letter in my files dated June 28, and something else dated July 6... but nothing that definitively gives that magical day when we moved over. 

How detailed do we have to get here? I feel like I should have realized this problem a long while ago, and tried to save what evidence I could of the fandom's history - but who'd a thunk there'd be an actual place to put it all! Not only that, but there are over forty years to consider and I've only been in the fandom for five. How much of that lost - and it is lost - history should be dug up? Or is just the history of what's been going on here, on the internet, be considered? 

A difficult question, and one I have no answers for. 

One other fronts, the Hubby is home and digging fence posts. And the Girl and I will go in further search of a strapless bra for Saturday - then make brownies for the art show tomorrow evening.

Edited August, 2008: Slightly edited as the former owner of Thunderbirds World wanted this flocked, and I won't do that since it was quoted in

metafandom 

 

Comments

[partly-bouncy.livejournal.com]

I don't think you necessarily need to be super specific date wise. If you need to speak in uncited but semi-accurate ballpark dates, that is better than nothing. (And then just toss a {{fact}} at the end of a statement if you're uncomfy with it.)

For me, half the interest is trends and ideas for what is happening. Was there a period where fansites were being actively updated? Was there a period when they died off? Where did they go? For fansites, what did they host? What were the policies of those fansites? How big and active of a community did they have?

If there are things that you think are worth saving, one thought might be to say create an article [[Thunderbirds/Front page text for a thunderbirds fansite dated May 2, 2004]], toss {{Preserving history}} at the top and then get some one to lock it so that some of that history can be saved. (That or screen cap the page on the wayback machine and upload that image.)

? Or is just the history of what's been going on here, on the internet, be considered?

For me, I think you need the pre-internet history. It is important as some of those behaviors were taken on-line. And they're just as important because they explain transition periods. For some fandoms, like Star Trek, this becomes really, really important. Unless you're involved though, it can be hard to see how this all makes sense in a broader context.

[tikatu.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure where to get info on the pre-internet history, except possibly some of the memoirs and auxiliary materials written early on. I have some of that material, but a lot of it is either expensive or hard to get. This was a primarily British phenomenon, which means the majority of hard-core fans are in Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia. There's also a really large following in Japan as well, with books about them, but they're in Japanese, which I don't read.

I'll keep plugging away at it, and hope that those with more knowledge of the fandom from when the show came out will pipe up - if only to correct my mistakes.

[partly-bouncy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the pre-Internet stuff is a pain in the arse. :/ I spent about two years tracking down information once. And another year and half tracking down other information. It gets frustrating.