FFB: 100 GREAT FANTASY SHORT SHORT STORIES, edited by Terry Carr, Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg (Doubleday 1984), and its peers in the vignette racket

The first thoughts I had when picking up the 1985 Avon paperback reprint of this anthology (my copy of the original Doubleday hardcover is deep in storage) were essentially extra-literary...had it really been thirty years since this book had been published and not much less since I first read it, what a nice job Avon did on the mass-market edition (nothing flashy, but not as slapdash as many paperbacks were then and remain--handsomer than the Doubleday original, which in the mid '80s wasn't too tough), and the sobering thought that all three of its industrious editors were now dead, Carr the first in 1987 (he born ten days after my mother and, at passing, only a few months older than I am now).

Then it was time to grow reacquainted with some old friends and forgotten acquaintances among the vignettes, essential jokes and shorter short stories gathered here (after two similar sf anthologies from Asimov and Greenberg with Joseph Olander):

from the Locus Index:
100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories ed. Isaac Asimov, Terry Carr & Martin H. Greenberg (Doubleday 0-385-18165-5, Apr ’84 [Mar ’84], $15.95, 311pp, hc) Anthology of short-shorts.

• xvii · The Widest Field · Isaac Asimov · in
• 1 · The Abraham Lincoln Murder Case · Rick Norwood · vi Twilight Zone Dec ’82; Three Timely Tales, gp
• 2 · A Dozen of Everything · Marion Zimmer Bradley · ss Fantastic Apr ’59
• 6 · The Anatomy Lesson · Scott Russell Sanders · ss IASFM Oct 26 ’81
• 11 · And I Alone Am Escaped to Tell Thee · Roger Zelazny · ss Twilight Zone May ’81
• 14 · Angelica · Jane Yolen · ss F&SF Dec ’79
• 18 · Apocryphal Fragment · Edward Wellen · vi Amazing Sep ’62
• 20 · A Prophecy of Monsters · Clark Ashton Smith · vi F&SF Oct ’54
• 23 · At the Bureau · Steve Rasnic Tem · vi Shadows #3, ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1980
• 26 · Aunt Agatha · Doris Pitkin Buck · vi F&SF Oct ’52
• 28 · The Boulevard of Broken Dreams · Harlan Ellison · vi Los Angeles Review #1 ’75
• 31 · But Not the Herald · Roger Zelazny · vi Magazine of Horror Win ’65
• 34 · Chained · Barry N. Malzberg · ss Specter!, ed. Bill Pronzini, Arbor House, 1982
• 39 · Chalk Talk · Edward Wellen · vi F&SF Mar ’73
• 42 · Climacteric · Avram Davidson · vi F&SF Aug ’60
• 43 · The Contest · Robert J. Sawyer · vi The White Wall Review, 1980
• 45 · Controlled Experiment · Rick Conley · vi Omni Nov ’78
• 47 · The Curse of Hooligan’s Bar · Charles E. Fritch · ss, 1976
• 52 · The Dark Ones · Richard Christian Matheson · vi Twilight Zone Jun ’82
• 54 · Dead Call · William F. Nolan · ss Frights, ed. Kirby McCauley, St. Martins, 1976
• 58 · Deadline · Mel Gilden · ss Twilight Zone Jun ’81
• 63 · Deal with the D.E.V.I.L. · Theodore R. Cogswell · vi Fantasy Book Dec ’81
• 66 · The Devil Finds Work · Mack Reynolds · ss Fantastic Adventures Dec ’50
• 70 · Devlin’s Dream · George Clayton Johnson · vi F&SF Sep ’77
• 74 · Displaced Person · Eric Frank Russell · vi Weird Tales Sep ’48
• 77 · Echoes · Lawrence C. Connolly · vi Twilight Zone Jan/Feb ’83
• 80 · Ex Oblivione [as by Ward Phillips] · H. P. Lovecraft · vi The United Amateur Mar ’21; The Phantagraph Jul ’37
• 82 · Farewell Party · Richard Wilson · ss Vanguard Jun ’58
• 86 · Feeding Time · James E. Gunn · ss Astounding Aug ’55
• 92 · Final Version · John Morressy · ss Twilight Zone Jan ’82
• 97 · Five Minutes Early · Robert Sheckley · vi Twilight Zone Oct ’82
• 99 · Freedom · Rick Norwood · vi Twilight Zone Dec ’82; Three Timely Tales, gp
• 100 · Garage Sale · Janet Fox · ss Twilight Zone Aug ’82
• 105 · Getting Back to Before It Began · Raylyn Moore · ss F&SF Aug ’77
• 109 · The Giveaway · Steve Rasnic Tem · ss Shadows #4, ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1981
• 114 · Give Her Hell · Donald A. Wollheim · ss Two Dozen Dragon Eggs, Powell, 1969
• 119 · God’s Nose · Damon Knight · vi Rogue Mar ’64
• 121 · The Good Husband · Evelyn E. Smith · vi Fantastic Universe Aug ’55
• 124 · The Handler · Damon Knight · ss Rogue Aug ’60
• 128 · The Haters · Donald A. Wollheim · vi Unknown Oct ’40
• 131 · The House · André Maurois · vi Harper’s Jun ’31
• 133 · How Georges Duchamps Discovered a Plot to Take Over the World · Alexei Panshin · vi Fantastic Apr ’71
• 135 · The Human Angle · William Tenn · ss Famous Fantastic Mysteries Oct ’48
• 140 · The Importance of Being Important · Calvin W. Demmon · vi F&SF Mar ’63
• 142 · Interview with a Gentleman Farmer · Bruce Boston · ss City Miner #1 ’76
• 146 · Judgment Day · Jack C. Haldeman, II · vi Twilight Zone Mar/Apr ’84
• 148 · Just One More · Edward D. Hoch · ss Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine Aug ’80
• 153 · The Lady and the Merman · Jane Yolen · vi F&SF Sep ’76
• 156 · The Last Unicorns · Edward D. Hoch · vi Science Fiction Stories Feb ’59
• 158 · The Last Wizard · Avram Davidson · vi EQMM Dec ’72; F&SF Oct ’73
• 160 · Letters from Camp · Al Sarrantonio · ss Space Mail Vol. II, ed. Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, & Charles G. Waugh, Fawcett, 1982
• 164 · L is for Loup-Garou · Harlan Ellison · vi F&SF Oct ’76; From A to Z, in the Chocolate Alphabet, gp
• 165 · Love Filter · Gregg Chamberlain · vi, 1982
• 167 · The Maiden’s Sacrifice · Edward D. Hoch · vi Famous Science Fiction Fll ’68
• 170 · Malice Aforethought [as by David Grinnell] · Donald A. Wollheim · ss F&SF Nov ’52
• 175 · The Man Who Sold Rope to the Gnoles [as by Idris Seabright] · Margaret St. Clair · ss F&SF Oct ’51
• 180 · Miranda-Escobedo · James Sallis · vi F&SF Jul ’76
• 183 · Mr. Wilde’s Second Chance · Joanna Russ · vi F&SF Sep ’66
• 186 · Mortimer Snodgrass Turtle · Jack C. Haldeman, II · vi F&SF Jun ’78
• 189 · Mouse-Kitty · Rick Norwood · vi Twilight Zone Dec ’82; Three Timely Tales, gp
• 190 · Naturally · Fredric Brown · vi Beyond Fantasy Fiction Sep ’54; Double Whammy, gp
• 192 · Night Visions · Jack M. Dann · ss Shadows #2, ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1979
• 196 · Once Upon a Unicorn · F. M. Busby · ss Fantastic Apr ’73
• 201 · $1.98 · Arthur Porges · ss F&SF May ’54
• 205 · Opening a Vein · Bill Pronzini & Barry N. Malzberg · vi Shadows #3, ed. Charles L. Grant, Doubleday, 1980
• 207 · The Other · Katherine MacLean · ss New Worlds Jul ’66
• 211 · The Other One · Rick Norwood · vi Twilight Zone May ’82
• 213 · The Other Train Phenomenon · Richard Bowker · ss Twilight Zone Feb ’82
• 217 · The Painters Are Coming Today · Steve Rasnic Tem · ss Other Worlds #1, ed. Roy Torgeson, Zebra, 1979
• 221 · Paranoid Fantasy #1 · Lawrence Watt-Evans · vi The American Atheist, 1975
• 223 · Perchance to Dream · Katherine MacLean · vi New Worlds of Fantasy #2, ed. Terry Carr, Ace, 1970
• 226 · Personality Problem · Joe R. Lansdale · vi Twilight Zone Jan/Feb ’83
• 228 · Pharaoh’s Revenge · C. Bruce Hunter · vi Sorcerer’s Apprentice #15 ’82
• 230 · Pick-up for Olympus · Edgar Pangborn · vi The Supernatural Reader, ed. Groff & Lucy Conklin, Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1953
• 233 · The Poor · Steve Rasnic Tem · ss Terrors, ed. Charles L. Grant, Playboy, 1982
• 237 · Prayer War · Jonathan V. Post · vi The New Satirist, 1981
• 238 · The Prophecy · Bill Pronzini · vi Fantastic Dec ’68
• 241 · The Rag Thing [as by David Grinnell] · Donald A. Wollheim · ss F&SF Oct ’51
• 246 · The Recording · Gene Wolfe · ss F&SF Apr ’72
• 250 · Red Carpet Treatment · Robert Lipsyte · vi Fantastic May ’65
• 252 · The Sacrifice · Gardner R. Dozois · vi F&SF Mar ’82
• 255 · Santa’s Tenth Reindeer · Gordon Van Gelder · ss *
• 259 · The Second Short-Shortest Fantasy Ever Published · Barry N. Malzberg · vi F&SF May ’73
• 260 · Sleep · Steve Rasnic Tem · ss Twilight Zone Mar ’82
• 264 · Some Days Are Like That · Bruce J. Balfour · vi Twilight Zone Jun ’82
• 266 · Temporarily at Liberty · Lawrence Goldman · ss F&SF Feb ’51
• 270 · The Thing That Stared · Richard Wilson · vi, 1959
• 273 · Thinking the Unthinkable · Wil Creveling · vi Fantasy Book Feb ’83
• 275 · The Third Wish [“Omnia Triste”] · Rick Norwood · vi Clarion II, ed. Robert Scott Wilson, Signet, 1972
• 276 · Those Three Wishes · Judith Gorog · vi A Taste for Quiet, Putnam, 1982
• 278 · Thus I Refute · Terry Carr · ss Fantastic Apr ’72
• 284 · The Toe · Phyllis Ann Karr · vi Eerie Country #7 ’82
• 287 · Tommy’s Christmas · John R. Little · vi Twilight Zone Jan/Feb ’83
• 290 · The Tower Bird · Jane Yolen · vi Ariel v4 ’78
• 292 · Vernon’s Dragon · John Gregory Betancourt · vi *
• 294 · Voodoo · Fredric Brown · vi Beyond Fantasy Fiction Sep ’54; Double Whammy, gp
• 296 · Weather Prediction · Evelyn E. Smith · ss Fantastic Universe Oct ’55
• 300 · Who Rides with Santa Anna? · Edward D. Hoch · vi Real Western Stories Feb ’59
• 303 · Wisher Takes All · William F. Temple · vi Other Worlds Science Stories Jul ’50
• 305 · The World Where Wishes Worked · Stephen Goldin · vi Protostars, ed. David Gerrold & Stephen Goldin, Ballantine, 1971
• 308 · Your Soul Comes C.O.D. · Mack Reynolds · ss Fantastic Adventures Mar ’52

The vignette form lends itself to notional stories, of course, but there's no reason that much larger matters can't be suggested (even insisted upon, usually preferably subtly) in the short form...some folks even come to make a pocket specialty of them, and so it's almost surprising that there are so few examples above from Fredric Brown and Barry Malzberg and Edward Wellen (and none here from Saki and Maupassant) (only slightly less surprising that there are as many from Edward Hoch). But it's hard to complain too much about what is here, a cross section of work from folks well established (such as Hoch and Bill Pronzini, even if they are not best-known for their work in fantastic fiction) and those then still up and coming (James Sallis, Joe R. Lansdale), others from when they had been so (Joanna Russ, Calvin W. Demmon in his eccentric way,"William Tenn"), and a few (Gordon Van Gelder, Donald Wollheim, Gardner Dozois) who have been most productive as editors through their long careers (editors have at least one extra-literary reason to write very short forms...to fill holes in their projects). But even the briefest stories here can make a lasting impression...the Demmon is barely a few hundred words long, but so haunted a correspondent (of a writer of my acquaintance) over the years that he assumed the rather more famous Cyril Kornbluth had written it, and the correspondent was very much in search of the story again...which was remembered very clearly, just not its title nor author. (I assume the correspondent read it this book first, as I probably did, though I picked up the back issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction it was in at about the same time, and Demmon is one of my favorite writers whose published fiction [I know of] might just fill a thirty-page chapbook...it was an odd coincidence that I meant to write up this anthology last week, but couldn't efficiently spare the time, only to have that query come through a discussion list a day or three later.) Notable also are folks above who went onto careers outside of fiction, for the most part, such as Robert Lipsyte (primarily a sports journalist; his son Sam has picked up the ball of writing mostly fiction, some of it fantasticated).  If you'd asked, I would've guessed I'd first read Jerome Bixby's memorable fantasy "Trace" in this book, as well, as pure a fantasy as it is, but instead, it was in one of Asimov and Greenberg's not purely sf predecessors: 

100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories ed. Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg & Joseph D. Olander (Doubleday, 1978, hc)

• · Introduction: The Science Fiction Blowgun · Isaac Asimov · in *
• · A Loint of Paw · Isaac Asimov · vi F&SF Aug ’57
• · The Advent on Channel Twelve · C. M. Kornbluth · vi Star Science Fiction Stories #4, ed. Frederik Pohl, Ballantine, 1958
• · Plaything · Larry Niven · ss Worlds of If Jul/Aug ’74
• · The Misfortune Cookie · Charles E. Fritch · vi F&SF Nov ’70
• · I Wish I May, I Wish I Might · Bill Pronzini · vi F&SF Sep ’73
• · FTA · George R. R. Martin · vi Analog May ’74
• · Trace · Jerome Bixby · ss, 1961
• · The Ingenious Patriot · Ambrose Bierce · ss San Francisco Examiner Oct 30, 1891
• · Zoo · Edward D. Hoch · vi Fantastic Universe Jun ’58
• · The Destiny of Milton Gomrath · Alexei Panshin · vi Analog Dec ’67
• · The Devil and the Trombone · Martin Gardner · ss The Record Changer May ’48
• · Upstart · Steven Utley · ss F&SF Feb ’77
• · How It All Went · Gregory Benford · vi Amazing Mar ’76
• · Harry Protagonist, Brain-Drainer · Richard Wilson · ss Galaxy Feb ’65
• · Peeping Tommy · Robert F. Young · ss Galaxy Aug ’65
• · Starting from Scratch · Robert Sheckley · ss F&SF Nov ’70
• · Corrida · Roger Zelazny · ss Anubis v1 #3 ’68
• · Shall the Dust Praise Thee? · Damon Knight · ss Dangerous Visions, ed. Harlan Ellison, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1967
• · Bug-Getter · Reginald Bretnor · vi F&SF Jan ’60
• · The Deadly Mission of Phineas Snodgrass · Frederik Pohl · ss Galaxy Jun ’62
• · Fire Sale · Laurence M. Janifer · ss Fantastic Sep ’64
• · Safe at Any Speed · Larry Niven · vi F&SF May ’67
• · The Masks · James Blish · ss F&SF Nov ’59
• · Innocence · Joanna Russ · vi F&SF Feb ’75
• · Kin [“Show Your Might”] · Richard Wilson · ss Fantastic Universe May ’56
• · The Long Night [“The Exploits of Argo”] · Ray Russell · ss Rogue Apr ’61
• · Sanity Clause · Edward Wellen · ss F&SF Jan ’75
• · If at First You Don’t Succeed, To Hell with It! · Charles E. Fritch · ss F&SF Aug ’72
• · The Question · Laurence M. Janifer & Donald E. Westlake · ss F&SF Mar ’63
• · The Perfect Woman · Robert Sheckley · vi Amazing Dec ’53/Jan ’54
• · The System · Ben Bova · vi Analog Jan ’68
• · Exile to Hell · Isaac Asimov · ss Analog May ’68
• · Inaugural · Barry N. Malzberg & Bill Pronzini · vi Galaxy Nov ’76
• · Martha · Fred Saberhagen · vi Amazing Dec ’76
• · Kindergarten · Fritz Leiber · vi F&SF Apr ’63
• · Landscape with Sphinxes · Karen Anderson · vi F&SF Nov ’62
• · The Happiest Day of Your Life · Bob Shaw · ss Analog Oct ’70
• · The Worlds of Monty Willson · William F. Nolan · vi Amazing Jul ’71
• · Punch · Frederik Pohl · ss Playboy Jun ’61
• · Doctor · Henry Slesar · vi Playboy Jun ’60; After, gp
• · The Man from When · Dannie Plachta · vi If Jul ’66
• · Crying Willow · Edward Rager · ss Analog Sep ’73
• · January, 1975 · Barry N. Malzberg · vi Analog Jan ’75
• · Mail Supremacy [Chap Foey Rider] · Hayford Peirce · vi Analog Mar ’75
• · Mistake · Larry Niven · vi Stellar #2, ed. Judy-Lynn del Rey, Ballantine, 1976
• · Half-Baked Publisher’s Delight · Jeffrey S. Hudson & Isaac Asimov · ss Worlds of If Jul/Aug ’74
• · Far from Home · Walter S. Tevis · ss F&SF Dec ’58
• · Swords of Ifthan · James E. Sutherland · ss Omega, ed. Roger Elwood, Walker, 1973
• · Argent Blood · Joe L. Hensley · ss F&SF Aug ’67
• · Collector’s Fever · Roger Zelazny · vi Galaxy Jun ’64
• · Sign at the End of the Universe · Duane Ackerson · vi Alternities, ed. David Gerrald, Dell, 1974
• · Stubborn · Stephen Goldin · ss Generation, ed. David Gerrold, Dell, 1972
• · The Re-Creation · Robert E. Toomey, Jr. · ss Generation, ed. David Gerrold, Dell, 1972
• · The Better Man · Ray Russell · ss Playboy Jul ’66
• · Oom · Martin Gardner · vi The Journal of Science-Fiction Fll ’51
• · Merchant · Henry Slesar · vi Playboy Jun ’60; After, gp
• · Don’t Fence Me In · Richard Wilson · ss F&SF Apr ’56
• · The Die-Hard · Alfred Bester · ss Starburst, Signet, 1958
• · The First · Anthony Boucher · vi F&SF Oct ’52
• · Eripmav · Damon Knight · vi F&SF Jun ’58
• · Feeding Time · Robert Sheckley · ss Fantasy Fiction Feb ’53
• · The Voice from the Curious Cube · Nelson S. Bond · ss Top-Notch Mar ’37
• · I’m Going to Get You · F. M. Busby · ss Fantastic Mar ’74
• · The Room · Ray Russell · ss Playboy Feb ’61
• · Dry Spell · Bill Pronzini · vi Amazing Sep ’70
• · Bohassian Learns · William Rotsler · vi Amazing Jul ’71
• · Star Bride · Anthony Boucher · vi Thrilling Wonder Stories Dec ’51
• · Latest Feature · Maggie Nadler · vi Amazing May ’72
• · Chief · Henry Slesar · vi Playboy Jun ’60; After, gp
• · After You’ve Stood on the Log at the Center of the Universe, What Is There Left to Do? · Grant Carrington · ss Amazing Apr ’74
• · Maid to Measure · Damon Knight · vi F&SF Oct ’64
• · Eyes Do More Than See · Isaac Asimov · vi F&SF Apr ’65
• · Thang · Martin Gardner · vi Comment Fll ’48
• · How Now Purple Cow · Bill Pronzini · vi Fantastic Apr ’69
• · Revival Meeting · Dannie Plachta · vi Galaxy Sep ’69
• · Prototaph · Keith Laumer · vi Analog Mar ’66
• · The Rocket of 1955 · C. M. Kornbluth · vi Escape Aug ’39
• · Science Fiction for Telepaths · E. Michael Blake · vi, 1977
• · Kindergarten · James E. Gunn · vi Galaxy Apr ’70
• · A Little Knowledge · Paul Dellinger · ss, 1975
• · A Cup of Hemlock · Lee Killough · vi *
• · Present Perfect · Thomas F. Monteleone · vi Fantastic Sep ’74
• · A Lot to Learn · Robert T. Kurosaka · vi
• · The Amphibious Cavalry Gap · J. J. Trembly, as told to James E. Thompson · vi Analog Feb ’74
• · Not Counting Bridges · Robert L. Fish · vi F&SF Apr ’63
• · The Man Inside · Bruce McAllister · vi Galaxy May ’69
• · The Mars Stone · Paul Bond · ss Vertex Feb ’74
• · Source Material · Mildred Downey Broxon · ss Vertex Dec ’74
• · The Compleat Consumators · Alan E. Nourse · ss F&SF Apr ’64
• · Examination Day · Henry Slesar · ss Playboy Feb ’58
• · The Man Who Could Turn Back the Clock · Ralph Milne Farley · vi The Omnibus of Time, FPCI: Los Angeles, 1950
• · Patent Rights · Daniel A. Darlington · vi Vertex Dec ’74
• · The Sky’s an Oyster; the Stars Are Pearls · David F. Bischoff · ss Perry Rhodan #66 ’75
• · Alien Cornucopia · Walt Liebscher · ss Science Fiction Stories Jul ’59
• · The Last Paradox · Edward D. Hoch · vi Future Oct ’58
• · Course of Empire · Richard Wilson · ss Infinity Science Fiction Feb ’56
• · Synchronicity · James E. Thompson · ss
• · Sweet Dreams, Melissa · Stephen Goldin · ss Galaxy Dec ’68
• · The Man on Top · Reginald Bretnor · ss Esquire Oct ’51; F&SF Sep ’60
• · Rejection Slip · K. W. MacAnn · vi *

which they followed up with (also with more than a dash of utterly non-sf fantasy, such as Boucher's "Nellthu"--another editor and crime-fiction amphibian heard from):

Microcosmic Tales ed. Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg & Joseph D. Olander (Taplinger 0-8008-5238-9, 1980, $12.95, 325pp, hc); 100 Wonderous Science Fiction Short-Short Stories.

• · Introduction: A Quick Dip · Isaac Asimov · in
• 1 · The Last Answer · Isaac Asimov · ss Analog Jan ’80
• 8 · Package Deal · Donald Franson · ss *
• 13 · Lycanthrope · Norman E. Hartman · ss Omelas #2 ’76
• 15 · Gemini 74 · Jack Ritchie · ss The Diners Club Magazine Feb ’66
• 18 · Geever’s Flight · Charles E. Fritch · ss The Pseudo People, ed. William F. Nolan, Sherbourne, 1965
• 22 · Lost and Found · Phyllis Eisenstein · ss Analog Oct ’78
• 27 · Pattern · Fredric Brown · vi Angels and Spaceships, Dutton, 1954
• 28 · Discovering a New Earth · Robert Mattingly · ss *
• 32 · Varieties of Technological Experience · Barry N. Malzberg · ss Analog Oct ’78
• 37 · Listen, Love · George Zebrowski & Jack Dann · ss New Worlds Quarterly 2, ed. Michael Moorcock, London: Sphere, 1971
• 41 · That Strain Again · Charles Sheffield · vi *
• 43 · Take Me to Your Leader · George Henry Smith · ss *
• 45 · Put Your Head Upon My Knee · Jack Ritchie · ss The Diners Club Magazine Aug ’67
• 48 · The Big Fix · Robert F. Decker · ss *
• 51 · Speed of the Cheetah, Roar of the Lion · Harry Harrison · ss F&SF Mar ’75
• 55 · Just Call Me Irish · Richard Wilson · ss Future Jun ’58
• 59 · Renaissance Man · T. E. D. Klein · ss Space #2, ed. Richard Davis, 1974
• 65 · Pulpworld · R. K. Lyon · ss *
• 68 · The Other Tiger · Arthur C. Clarke · vi Fantastic Universe Jun/Jul ’53
• 71 · Little William · Patricia Matthews · ss Topper, 1975
• 75 · Steel · Alan Brennert · ss Cobblestone, 1977
• 81 · Appointment on the Barge · Jack Ritchie · ss *
• 85 · And So On, And So On · James Tiptree, Jr. · ss Phantasmicon Jun ’71
• 89 · Nellthu · Anthony Boucher · vi F&SF Aug ’55
• 90 · Taste of Battle · Donald Franson · ss *
• 95 · Deflation 2001 · Bob Shaw · vi Amazing Sep ’72
• 98 · Do Androids Dream of Electric Love? · Walt Liebscher · ss Strange Bedfellows, ed. Thomas N. Scortia, Random, 1972
• 100 · Dog Star · Mack Reynolds · vi Science Fiction Quarterly Nov ’56
• 102 · The Great Judge · A. E. van Vogt · ss Fantasy Book #3 ’48
• 107 · 2001: A Love Story · Paul Dellinger · ss, 1976
• 110 · Answer · Fredric Brown · vi Angels and Spaceships, Dutton, 1954
• 111 · Hadj [revised from Science Fiction Adventures, Dec ’56] · Harlan Ellison · ss *
• 116 · Good Morning! This Is the Future · Henry Slesar · ss Rogue Aug ’62
• 121 · A Shape in Time · Anthony Boucher · ss The Future Is Now, ed. William F. Nolan, 1970
• 124 · Linkage · Barry N. Malzberg · ss Demon Kind, ed. Roger Elwood, Avon, 1973
• 128 · Murder in the Nth Degree · R. A. Montana · ss *
• 132 · Useful Phrases for the Tourist · Joanna Russ · ss Universe 2, ed. Terry Carr, Ace, 1972
• 136 · The Burning · Theodore R. Cogswell · ss F&SF Jul ’60
• 140 · One Small Step · Eric Vinicoff & Marcia Martin · ss *
• 143 · Dead End · Mack Reynolds · vi Tales of the Frightened Aug ’57
• 144 · Paths · Edward Bryant · ss Vertex Apr ’73
• 148 · Woman’s Work · Garen Drussaï · ss F&SF Aug ’56
• 152 · Death Double · William F. Nolan · ss Impact-20, Paperback Library, 1963
• 156 · Tag · Helen Urban · vi *
• 157 · Nightmare in Time · Fredric Brown · vi Dude May ’61; Five Nightmares, gp
• 157 · The Nature of the Place · Robert Silverberg · vi F&SF Feb ’63
• 160 · True Love · Isaac Asimov · ss The American Way Feb ’77
• 164 · The Game of the Name · Alice Laurance · ss *
• 168 · Down the Digestive Tract · Robert Sheckley · ss Galaxy Feb ’71
• 170 · Upon My Soul · Jack Ritchie · ss The Diners Club Magazine Jan ’65
• 174 · Drawing Board · Charles Spano, Jr. · vi *
• 175 · Shell Shock · Donald Franson · ss Vertex Apr ’74
• 180 · Speak · Henry Slesar · vi The Diners Club Magazine, 1965
• 182 · Your Cruel Face · Craig Strete · ss Computer Decisions, 1976
• 186 · The Best-Laid Plans... · Rick Conley · ss *
• 189 · Devil to Pay · Mack Reynolds · ss Good Humor, 1957
• 194 · Who Else Could I Count On? · Manly Wade Wellman · vi Who Fears the Devil, Arkham House, 1963
• 195 · The Rat and the Snake · A. E. van Vogt · ss Witchcraft & Sorcery Jan/Feb ’71
• 198 · The Finest Hunter in the World · Harry Harrison · ss Prime Number, Berkley Medallion, 1970
• 201 · Life · Dennis R. Caro · ss *
• 203 · Love Story · Eric Frank Russell · ss Astounding Aug ’57
• 207 · Exile in Lakehurst · Robert Payes · ss *
• 209 · The Bait [Fafhrd & Gray Mouser] · Fritz Leiber · vi Whispers Dec ’73
• 212 · The Humanic Complex · Ray Russell · ss F&SF Dec ’78
• 218 · Friends? · Roberta Ghidalia · ss More Little Monsters, ed. Roger Elwood & Vic Ghidalia, Manor, 1973
• 222 · Take a Deep Breath · Arthur C. Clarke · ss Infinity Science Fiction Sep ’57; The Other Side of the Sky, gp
• 226 · The Quest of the Infidel · Sherwood Springer · vi *
• 227 · Legal Rights for Germs · Joe Patrouch · ss Analog Nov ’77
• 230 · Blood · Fredric Brown · vi F&SF Feb ’55
• 231 · The Diana Syndrome · R. A. Montana · ss *
• 235 · Emergency Rations · Theodore R. Cogswell · ss Imagination Sep ’53
• 240 · Buy Jupiter! · Isaac Asimov · ss Venture May ’58
• 244 · The Old Man · Henry Slesar · ss The Diners Club Magazine, 1962
• 248 · Exile’s Greeting · Roland Green · ss *
• 253 · The Biography Project [as by Dudley Dell] · H. L. Gold · vi Galaxy Sep ’51
• 256 · The Grapes of the Rath · Jan Howard Finder · ss *
• 258 · Mr. Lupescu · Anthony Boucher · ss Weird Tales Sep ’45
• 263 · What I Did During My Park Vacation · Ruth Berman · vi *
• 264 · A Fragment of Manuscript · Harry Harrison · ss *
• 267 · The Boy with Five Fingers · James Gunn · vi Startling Stories Jan ’53
• 270 · The King of Beasts · Philip José Farmer · vi Galaxy Jun ’64
• 272 · Displaced Person · Eric Frank Russell · vi Weird Tales Sep ’48
• 275 · A Clone at Last · Bill Pronzini & Barry N. Malzberg · vi F&SF Oct ’78
• 277 · X Marks the Pedwalk · Fritz Leiber · ss Worlds of Tomorrow Apr ’63
• 282 · The Mission · Arthur Tofte · ss *
• 285 · Proof · F. M. Busby · ss Amazing Sep ’72
• 291 · Dreamworld · Isaac Asimov · vi F&SF Nov ’55
• 292 · The Reunion · Paul J. Nahin · ss Analog Apr ’79
• 299 · The Futile Flight of John Arthur Benn [as by Edward Halibut] · Richard Wilson · vi Infinity Science Fiction Feb ’56
• 300 · Servants of the Lord · James Stevens · ss *
• 302 · Mattie Harris, Galactic Spy · Rachel Cosgrove Payes · vi Vertex Apr ’74
• 306 · Changeover · Juleen Brantingham · ss *
• 308 · Hometown · Richard Wilson · ss Super Science Fiction Apr ’57
• 311 · The Penalty · Henry Slesar · ss, 1962
• 313 · The Pill · Maggie Nadler · vi Fantastic Apr ’72
• 316 · The Final Battle · Harry Harrison · vi Prime Number, Berkley Medallion, 1970
• 318 · Earthbound · Lester del Rey · vi Galaxy Aug ’63
• 320 · Rotating Cylinders and the Possibility of Global Causality Violation · Larry Niven · vi Analog Aug ’77
• 324 · The Voice in the Garden · Harlan Ellison · vi Lighthouse Jun ’67
• 325 · If Eve Had Failed to Conceive · Edward Wellen · vi Orbit 15, ed. Damon Knight, Harper & Row, 1974

Though of course Asimov had collaborated earlier with one of the other most industrious of anthologists to produce a similar, and somewhat more purely sf, volume:

from ISFDB: 

• Publication: Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales
• Editors: Isaac Asimov , Groff Conklin
• Year: 1963-00-00

• 11 • Introduction No. 1 (Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales) • essay by Isaac Asimov
• 17 • Introduction No. 2 (Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales) • essay by Groff Conklin
• 23 • Ballade of an Artificial Satellite • (1958) • poem by Poul Anderson
• 25 • The Fun They Had • (1951) • shortstory by Isaac Asimov
• 29 • Men Are Different • (1954) • shortstory by Alan Bloch
• 31 • The Ambassadors • (1952) • shortstory by Anthony Boucher
• 36 • The Weapon • (1951) • shortstory by Fredric Brown
• 40 • Random Sample • (1953) • shortstory by T. P. Caravan
• 44 • Oscar • (1941) • shortstory by Cleve Cartmill
• 49 • The Mist • (1952) • shortstory by Peter Grainger [as by Peter Cartur ]
• 53 • Teething Ring • (1953) • shortstory by James Causey
• 61 • The Haunted Space Suit • (1958) • shortstory by Arthur C. Clarke (variant of Who's There?)
• 67 • Stair Trick • (1952) • shortstory by Mildred Clingerman
• 73 • Unwelcome Tenant • (1950) • shortstory by Roger Dee
• 79 • The Mathematicians • (1953) • shortstory by Arthur Feldman
• 83 • The Third Level • (1950) • shortstory by Jack Finney
• 88 • Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful! • (1952) • shortstory by Stuart Friedman
• 92 • The Figure • (1947) • shortstory by Edward Grendon
• 98 • The Rag Thing • (1951) • shortstory by Donald A. Wollheim [as by David Grinnell ]
• 103 • The Good Provider • (1952) • shortstory by Marion Gross
• 108 • Columbus Was a Dope • (1947) • shortstory by Robert A. Heinlein
• 113 • Texas Week • (1954) • shortstory by Albert Hernhuter
• 118 • Hilda • (1952) • shortstory by H. B. Hickey
• 123 • The Choice • (1952) • shortstory by Wayland Hilton-Young [as by W. Hilton-Young ]
• 125 • Not With a Bang • (1950) • shortstory by Damon Knight
• 131 • The Altar at Midnight • (1952) • shortstory by C. M. Kornbluth
• 139 • A Bad Day for Sales • (1953) • shortstory by Fritz Leiber
• 147 • Who's Cribbing? • (1953) • shortstory by Jack Lewis
• 155 • Spectator Sport • (1950) • shortstory by John D. MacDonald
• 161 • The Cricket Ball • (1955) • shortstory by Avro Manhattan
• 165 • Double-Take • (1953) • shortstory by Winston K. Marks
• 170 • Prolog • (1951) • shortstory by John P. McKnight
• 174 • The Available Data on the Worp Reaction • (1953) • shortstory by Lion Miller
• 178 • Narapoia • [Dr. Manly J. Departure] • (1948) • shortstory by Alan Nelson
• 185 • Tiger by the Tail • (1951) • shortstory by Alan E. Nourse
• 192 • Counter Charm • (1951) • shortstory by Peter Phillips
• 194 • The Fly • (1952) • shortstory by Arthur Porges
• 199 • The Business, As Usual • (1952) • shortstory by Mack Reynolds
• 203 • Two Weeks in August • (1951) • shortstory by Frank M. Robinson
• 210 • See? • (1954) • shortstory by Edward G. Robles, Jr.
• 215 • Appointment at Noon • (1954) • shortstory by Eric Frank Russell
• 219 • We Don't Want Any Trouble • (1953) • shortstory by James H. Schmitz
• 227 • Built Down Logically • (1951) • shortstory by Howard Schoenfeld
• 230 • An Egg a Month from All Over • (1952) • shortstory by Margaret St. Clair [as by Idris Seabright ]
• 238 • The Perfect Woman • (1953) • shortstory by Robert Sheckley
• 242 • The Hunters • (1952) • shortstory by Walt Sheldon
• 246 • The Martian and the Magician • (1952) • shortstory by Evelyn E. Smith
• 253 • Barney • (1951) • shortstory by Will Stanton
• 256 • Talent • (1953) • shortstory by Theodore Sturgeon
• 265 • Project Hush • (1954) • shortstory by William Tenn
• 272 • The Great Judge • (1948) • shortstory by A. E. van Vogt
• 277 • Emergency Landing • (1940) • shortstory by Ralph Williams
• 282 • Obviously Suicide • (1951) • shortstory by S. Fowler Wright
• 287 • Six Haiku • (1962) • poem by Karen Anderson

And while I know I've read some some anthologies collecting vignettes and nearly-as-short fiction of even more eclectic remit over the years before the 1980s, the earliest I'm finding on a quick search this morning is the Howes' volume, with the first Sudden Fiction not long after (and the power of fantastic fiction's metaphoric punch tends to make that kind of story common in the eclectic volumes as well):

From WorldCat:

Short shorts : an anthology of the shortest stories 
Author: Irving Howe; Ilana Wiener Howe
Publisher: Boston, Mass. : D.R. Godine, 1982
with an introduction by Irving Howe.

The three hermits ; Alyosha the pot / Leo Tolstoy -- The beggarwoman of Locarno / Heinrich von Kleist -- A little legend of dance / Gottfried Keller -- After the theatre / Anton Chekhov -- The wolf / Giovanni Verga -- An episode of war / Stephen Crane -- An old man / Guy de Maupassant -- The third bank of the river / João Guimaraes Rosa -- A Yom Kippur scandal / Sholom Aleichem -- If not higher / I.L. Peretz -- Eveline / James Joyce -- A sick collier / D.H. Lawrence -- The soft touch of grass / Luigi Pirandello -- The Hunter Gracchus ; First sorrow / Franz Kafka -- The untold lie ; Paper pills / Sherwood Anderson -- A clean, well-lighted place / Ernest Hemingway -- Joy and the law / Giuseppe di Lampedusa -- Magic / Katherine Anne Porter -- The death of Dolgushov / Isaac Babel -- The bathhouse / Mikhail Zoschenko -- The use of force / William Carlos Williams -- Swaddling clothes / Yukio Mishima -- If Grant had been drinking at Appomattox / James Thurber -- Homage for Isaac Babel / Doris Lessing -- The dead man / Jorge Luis Borges -- In the night / Varlam Shalamov -- The blue bouquet / Octavio Paz -- My father sits in the dark / Jerome Weidman -- Wants / Grace Paley -- Bitterness for three sleepwalkers / Gabriel García Márquez -- The eclipse / Augusto Monterroso -- The laughter / Heinrich Böll -- News from the world / Paula Fox -- Going to Jerusalem / Maria Luisa Kauschnitz -- The censors / Luisa Valenzuela.

Sudden fiction : American short-short stories
Author: Robert Shapard; James Thomas
Publisher: Salt Lake City : G.M. Smith, ©1986
"with a frontistory by Robert Coover ; and afterwords, about the short-short story form by forty of America's finest writers."

A Sudden Story / Robert Coover -- Mother / Grace Paley -- Can-Can / Arturo Vivante -- Even Greenland / Barry Hannah -- The King of Jazz / Donald Barthelme -- Reunion / John Cheever -- Twirler / Jane Martin -- Sunday in the Park / Bel Kaufman -- Five Ives / Roy Blount, Jr. -- Song on Royal Street / Richard Blessing -- Pygmalion / John Updike -- A Fable / Robert Fox -- The Moving / James Still -- The Cliff / Charles Baxter -- No One's A Mystery / Elizabeth Tallent -- The Merry Chase / Gordon Lish -- Yours / Mary Robinson -- A Walled Garden / Peter Taylor -- Heart Attack / Max Apple -- Thank You, M'am / Langston Hughes -- Popular Mechanic / Raymond Carver -- Turning / Lynda Sexson -- Say Yes / Tobias Wolff -- The Hit Man / T. Coraghessan Boyle -- A Questionnaire for Rudolph Gordon / Jack Matthews -- I See You Never / Ray Bradbury -- Children of Strikers / Fred Chappell -- The Bank Robbery / Steven Schutzman -- Tent Worms / Tennessee Williams -- Sitting / H.E. Francis -- The Bridge / Pamela Painter -- Dog Life / Mark Strand -- The Hatchet Man in the Lighthouse / William Peden -- Happy / Joyce Carol Oates / Dinner Time / Russell Edson -- The Anatomy of Desire / John L'Heureux -- Class Notes / Lucas Cooper -- A Very Short Story / Ernest Hemingway -- Sunday at the Zoo / Stuart Dybek -- Things I did to Make it Possible / Francois Camoin -- Noel / Michael Plemmons -- The Personal Touch / Chet Williamson -- The Vertical Fields / Fielding Dawson -- The Visitation / Tom Whalen -- The Strong Man / George Garrett -- Important Things / Barbara L. Greenberg -- Roth's Deadman / Joe David Bellamy -- Tickits / Paul Milenski -- The Coggios / Sharyn Layfield -- How J. B. Hartley Saw His Father / James B. Hall -- The Neighbor / Russell Banks -- Reading the Paper / Ron Carlson -- Thief / Robley Wilson -- Isla / Sandra J. Kolankiewicz -- Crossbones / Leonard Michaels -- Rosary / Robert Kelly -- The Sock / Lydia Davis -- Billy's Girl / Gordon Jackson -- Speed of Light / Pat Rushin -- Gerald's Song / Philip F. O'Connor -- Moving Pictures / Charles Johnson -- Any Minute Mom Should Come Blasting Through the Door / David Ordan -- The Balck Queen / Barry Callaghan -- Sense of Wonder, Sense of Awe / Craig McGarvey -- Blind Girls / Jayne Anne Phillips -- The Signing / Stephen Dixon -- The Quail / Rolf Yngve -- Sleepy TIme Gal / Gary Gildner -- The Artichoke / Marilyn Krysl -- A Lost Grave / Bernard Malamud For more of today's books, please see Patti Abbott's blog, where we celebrate six years of Friday's Books!