Where Can You Learn about Furry History?

Hello Papabear,

I have been in the fandom for the longest time since I was 15 years old. One of the thing I really love about the fandom is the golden age of the fandom. I love hearing stories of the past when the furry fandom was a new concept, seeing classic artists and art that shape the fandom for what it is today.. My question is, I really find it hard to find info of the past. Do you know any sites or good links that have a history of furry knowledge and classic art. 

Lighten

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Dear Lighten,

I sure do! There is a growing number of good online sources for you to check out to learn about the fandom's history. Here are a few of them:

​For Starters:

• Fred Patten's Furry Retrospective (https://www.flayrah.com/4117/retrospective-illustrated-chronology-furry-fandom-1966%E2%80%931996) is a great place to start to get a short summary of the history of the fandom. 
• The documentary The Fandom, directed by Ash Coyote, which is available for free on YouTube. This also serves as a good introduction to furry history in video form https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv0QaTW3kEY&t=3197s

After you've digested the above overviews, delve deeper with...

• Wikifur.com. As you can guess, this is a wiki devoted to furry. You can find information about almost anything here. The only trouble is that in order to get some use out of it you need to know what you're looking for. For example, if you've never heard of Robert Hill, you won't know to look him up and find out he was the first fursuiter; and if you've never heard of an APA, you wouldn't know to look that up, either. That said, you can go directly to the History entry for a nice overview.
• Fang, Feather and Fin: A Furry History Blog and Archive (https://www.fangfeatherandfin.com/): This incredible website by a nonprofit organization needs to get more attention! And I'm happy to do that here! The mission of this page is to archive print and online sources of furry history, as well as conduct and post interviews. It is a treasure trove of information!
• The YouTube channel Culturally F'd https://www.youtube.com/@CulturallyFd is dedicated to exploring the history of the anthropomorphic arts. Lots of info to be learned here.
• Confurence.com https://confurence.com/: The online archive of con books from the first furry convention from 1989 to 2010. Also includes fliers and other publications from the era.
• Furry Times archive https://furrytimes.net/downloads/: An archive of conbooks, APAs, and fanzines.
• Conhistory.com: An online resource of furry con history, as well as comic cons, sci-fi, and other conventions.

As a bonus, I would also suggest you take a look at the recent memorial video Rod O'Riley created on YouTube that is all about the late-great Father of the Furry Fandom, Mark Merlino. You will learn a LOT about the fandom's origins by watching this at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLfNdhHmh1Y&t=14837s.

There are also some excellent books out there for you to read, including:

• Patten, Fred. Funny Animals and More: From Anime to Zoomorphics. Theme Park Press, 2014.
• Patten, Fred. Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989<en>2015. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 2017.
• Stoddard, Tim. Furtannia: The History of the Furry Fandom in the United Kingdom. Uncle Bear Publishing, 2023.
• Strike, Joe. Furry Nation: The True Story of America’s Most Misunderstood Subculture. Cleis Press, 2017.

There are, of course, other sources online and in print, but the above represents your best bet to get the information you want.

Happy Researching!

Hugs,
Papabear