The Hatstand Express

Are you looking for The Professionals archive The Hatstand or the term hatstand?
The Hatstand Express and The Hatstand Express Fiction Supplement are two inter-related Professionals slash zines that were published in Australia in the 1980s. The first eight issues were edited by Jill T. With issue #9 in early 1986, the zine switched to an editor in the US - Sarah Leibold. 
The name refers to the Pros fandom term hatstand that is a synonym for slash.
From the first issue: "NOTE: The Hatstand is an independent Australian production having -- no connection whatsoever with Blue Jay Press or any of the writers of 'Hatstands' distributed through the (for want of a more precise term) British 'hatstand' network."
==The Issues==
See the subpages for detailed issue summaries:
==Fiction Supplements==
The Hatstand Express Fiction Supplement collected the overflow of stories from The Hatstand Express. The supplement ran for ten issues and ended in 1987.
See The Hatstand Express Fiction Supplements.
==Letterzine==
The Hatstand Express is a letterzine published in Australia (issues 1-8) and the US (issues 9-). The zine contains both letters of comment along with fan fiction and fanpoetry. Like most letterzines, it also includes newspaper articles about the TV show and the actors. It ran for twenty-three issues starting in 1984. Eventually, a large portion of the fan fiction published in the letterzine became part of the Professionals Circuit Library in the UK and the US.
Around issue #21, the letterzine changed format and became a zine of fiction. From issue #19: "With the shift in format to all fiction beginning shortly, there is a very real need for stories, poems, limericks, etc. for THE. One statement I made in the last editorial that I wish to correct concerns the maximum page count. With the expanded format, THE will be able to accommodate stories up to 50 or so pages single spaced. (In the last issue, I stated the zine would be able to handle stories of that length double spaced.) So please all you fannish writers (and prospective writers), do keep THE in mind for your B/D creations. They will receive a loving home, I guarantee it."
The first few issues of the letterzine carried the following disclaimer:
"The Hatstand Express is an independent Australian production, having no connection whatsoever with Blue Jay Press or any of the writers of ‘hatstands’ distributed through the (for want of a better term) British ‘hatstand’ network." 
In issue #5, the editor wrote: "I've had it with the disclaimer! You all know this isn't a British zine!"
==Other Professionals Letterzines==
For a complete list of similar fanworks, see List of Letterzines.
 
* Mixed Doubles (gen and slash, Pros and Starsky & Hutch) (1984-June 1989) 
* The Hatstand Express (slash) (1984-1991)
* On the Double (heavy on slash, Pros and K/S) (November 1986- January 1996) 
* Cold Fish and Stale Chips (gen and slash) (1989-early 1990)
* Short Circuit (gen and slash) (1990-1994)
* Be Gentle With Us (slash) (March 1991-December 1993)
* Discovered In A Letterbox (slash) (1997-2002)
==Early Fandom Sqabbles==
It is alleged that when the Australian editor of The Hatstand Express put out a flyer advertising her new letterzine, a British fanzine publisher, Blue Jay Press ordered the letterzine editor to stop using the phrase Hatstand in her letterzine, claiming exclusive rights to the word 'hatstand'. Failing that, the editor reportedly stated that she would be instituting an embargo against all Australian fans and no zines or other material would be shipped to Australia. The former editorial board of Blue Jay Press does not recognise any events that resemble those alleged and would strongly refute the claim advanced here. }
From the opening editorial of The Hatstand Express #1: 
 
It is unclear whether any such embargo was attempted, or, if attempted was successful, but tensions between Australian and UK fans (and in later years UK and American fans) persisted over a wide range of subject matter See the electronic circuit library for more info on the latter.
==Topics Discussed==
* zines vs. circuit stories 
* British writers vs. American writers and the quality of their Pros fiction
* does Doyle perm his hair
* are Doyle and Bodie gay, straight, bi, gay for each other, or something else
* the lending library
* fans' favorite Top Ten stories
* is fanart very important, or is this fandom all about the fiction
* is RPS moral, ethical, desireable
* why is there so little straight Pros fiction
* the Great Australian Radio Show Fiasco
* should Pros fandom be more, or less, exclusive
* how should Huggy Awards categories deal with circuit and zine stories
* profit and fandom
* is the mainstream press "too mean" to Martin Shaw
* are you a Bodie-Sue or a Martin-Sue
==The End of the Run==
The Hatstand Express appears to have ended its eight-year run due to some fairly-common letterzine woes: fewer subscribers, financial problems, fewer letter submissions, the availability of other venues for communication, and the editor and fellow fans' weariness combined with increasingly argumentative letters. A switch in format with #21 may have also been a factor.
In 1987 (issue #14), the editor alerted fans to the decline in subscriptions and the problems the letterzine was facing regarding finances: 
 
In 1987 (around issue #13), the tone of some letters began to be less-than-cordial, prompting the editor to write in 1988 (issue #16): 
In 1990 (issue 23), the editor closes down the zine: 
==References==
Category:Newsletters & Letterzines
Category:The Professionals Slash Zines
Category:1980s