From: jsl@athena.mit.edu (J. Spencer Love)
Subject: Re: Mathoms, Gracey?
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 10:39:13 GMT

I may have started the latest outbreak of this word because I used it at
ConChord in reference to an item I bought at the Interfilk auction for
Bob Laurent (which item was subsequently adopted by Jordi Sears, Lindy's
3-year-old daughter).

This word was used (and probably invented by) J. R. R. Tolkein in the
Lord of The Rings (probably Volume 1, The Fellowship of the Ring) in a
description of Hobbit culture.  I don't have a copy handy (there is a
copy of The Hobbit in the SIPB office and I just reread it to make sure
it wasn't mentioned there), so my description is from memory.  I believe
it come from the description of a farewell party hosted by Frodo.

Hobbits love parties, and they love to give presents, and they seize
upon the slightest excuse for either.  Because giving the gifts is more
important than getting them, and selecting appropriate gifts can be
quite difficult, many gifts stay in circulation, being given away again
at the next party by their recipent.  The Hobbits call such a gift a
mathom.

While on a road trip, I once bought a large bamboo fan in the shape of a
heart, or maybe a spade (from playing cards) about three feet across.
My remark at the time was, "There will never be an appropriate time to
buy this, so it might as well be now."

With somewhat the same sentiment, I bought the item, and inflicted it
upon Bob with the thought that it could be sold *again* at the next
Interfilk auction (thus: mathom, a reusable gift).  Although if Jordi
won't part with it, it won't qualify.

Someone (Debra Weiss?) is to be commended for the excellent and amusing
marketing idea that the peculiar gift be auctioned with the buyer
specifying who was to receive it.  It was the sort of thing that few
people in their right minds would buy for *themselves*: as I recall,
possibly incorrectly, it was a plastic box containing something festive
(a doll?)  with a music box in its base.  Sort of maximally tacky.

And, not to pass up this opportunity for a plug, Interfilk is a fan fund
to raise money for cultural cross-contamination between different
regions and filking traditions.  (I could have said cross-pollination,
but in the '90s I thought it best to resist the sexual metaphor.)

Fan funds are an old tradition, and some have lasted a long time, such
as TAFF (the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund) and DUFF (the Down-Under Fan
Fund).  Interfilk specifically limits itself at bringing filkers to filk
conventions (there are annually 8, world-wide).

Interfilk is still waiting for 501(c)(3) status from the IRS, which will
make gifts to it tax-deductible and eligible for some employers'
matching-gift programs.  Meanwhile, it has held auctions at filk
conventions and worldcons (I think Chicon V and definitely Magicon).  So
far, it has brought Mike Whitaker from Cambridge, England to San Jose,
CA for Consonance, and Randy Farran from Tulsa, OK, to Westboro, MA, for
ConCertino, both in 1992.

There will be more postings about Interfilk in the future.  If you have
questions or comments meantime, e-mail me or post on a new topic.

---    J. Spencer Love    ---    jsl@mit.edu    ---    508-478-4343    ---