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The
founding of the IJA at the 1947 IBM convention was the culmination of a
lot of dreams
As Roger Montandon said, a separate convention "would appeal to a great any jugs who have little interest in going to big cities and being pushed around by terrific crowds of magicians."
Thus
the next major move, after a furious six months membership drive, was to
hold the first IJA convention in Jamestown, N.Y., home of Harry Lind
The
three day event, held in the Jamestown Hotel and costing $5, was
attended by 38 of the 115 members, along with wives, husbands and
guests.
Having succeeded in preventing the IJA from becoming a branch of the IBM, the IJA now had to deal with its own internal give and take. At the business meeting, the constitution and by-laws proposed in Pittsburgh were adopted. This muffled the "grousing," as it had been called, of some who wanted to know by what authority the officers held their positions.
The
scope of the organization was discussed, with few believing it could
grow beyond 300 members, maximum. A question of whether an art like rope
spinning ought to be included within the domain of the IJA led to the
policy of not defining juggling. It was decided to let the membership
define itself.
Once
again, the idea of holding the convention in conjunction with magic
conventions was vetoed. A great deal of discussion centered on whether
to affiliate the "Bulletin" with the IJA, and, if so, whether
to up the dues to pay the freight. It was decided that the
"Bulletin" should remain independent. Dues were set at $1 per
year, with a $1 initiation fee, and membership only available upon the
recommendation of another member.
With business out of the way, the fun resumed. |
I948 first IJA
convention registration ribbon. Courtesy of Bobby Jute.
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