there were no Hugos awarded at the 1954 Worldcon (I don't know why -- maybe there wasn't a 1954 Worldcon)
There were no 1954 Awards because the Hugo Awards were only started at the 1953 Worldcon, and were originally considered one-shot awards, so 1954 didn't present any awards. The 1955 Worldcon decided to award them, and every Worldcon since then has done so.
Nowadays, the Hugo Awards are regulated by the WSFS Constitution, and are one of the very few things that a Worldcon must do. In addition, a provision added some years ago allows a Worldcon held 50, 75, or 100 years after a Worldcon for which Hugo Awards have not been presented to present Retrospective Hugo Awards. There must have been a Worldcon held in the target year, so the years before 1939 are out, as are the three years between the third and fourth Worldcons. There must not have yet been Retro-Hugos presented for those years.
This year was the last of the "fifty-year" Retro-Hugos. The next opportuntity for such awards will be 2014.
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1954 Hugos/Retro-Hugos
Date: 2004-09-08 08:55 pm (UTC)There were no 1954 Awards because the Hugo Awards were only started at the 1953 Worldcon, and were originally considered one-shot awards, so 1954 didn't present any awards. The 1955 Worldcon decided to award them, and every Worldcon since then has done so.
Nowadays, the Hugo Awards are regulated by the WSFS Constitution, and are one of the very few things that a Worldcon must do. In addition, a provision added some years ago allows a Worldcon held 50, 75, or 100 years after a Worldcon for which Hugo Awards have not been presented to present Retrospective Hugo Awards. There must have been a Worldcon held in the target year, so the years before 1939 are out, as are the three years between the third and fourth Worldcons. There must not have yet been Retro-Hugos presented for those years.
This year was the last of the "fifty-year" Retro-Hugos. The next opportuntity for such awards will be 2014.
Kevin Standlee