Booksleuth's Series Book Collection: WHERE IT ALL BEGAN: THE HAPPY HOLLISTERS BY JERRY WEST

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN: THE HAPPY HOLLISTERS BY JERRY WEST

JERRY WEST LETTERS

From September 1965 through May 1969, I corresponded with the author of The Happy Hollisters series, Jerry West, pseudonym for Andrew Svenson, a former newspaper writer and then partner in the Stratemeyer Syndicate of East Orange, NJ. Part of my correspondence with Mr. Svenson involved problems with obtaining books from the Happy Hollisters Book Club of Garden City, New York. These were problems he actually had little ability to solve. But for this 10 to 13-year-old, he seemed the proper person to clear up any problems. Actually, I was probably a pest to him, but whether he was able to solve a particular problem or not, I enjoyed receiving letters from him.

In the correspondence came details of his life and a few pieces of information about his writing methods. My favorite part of his letters were the times he mentioned a particular Hollister book just completed or about to be released.

In a Nov. 1967 letter he wrote:

Thank you very much for your letter. I thought you'd enjoy THE MYSTERY OF THE MEXICAN IDOL.
Yes, Tim, I always spend some time at a place when I plan to write about it, and I flew down to Yucatan before I started this story.

The following January he mentioned his latest Happy Hollisters edition:

I am working on a new story now, called THE HAPPY HOLLISTERS AND THE MONSTER MYSTERY. And I am planning to write more Hollisters. It takes me about 6 weeks, once my outline is finished. The characters are usually modeled after someone I know.

The interesting part of that last note was that he only created one more Happy Hollisters book after the MONSTER MYSTERY(see scans). In a March 1968 letter, Mr. Svenson wrote of his educational background.

Since Spring is right on our doorstep, I couldn't be better. Springtime always makes me feel great.
You asked what college I went to--the University of Pittsburgh. Then I attended Montclair State College in New Jersey for pedagogy courses, because I really wanted to become a teacher. As it turned out, I was sidetracked and worked as a journalist and editor for some fifteen years, before I started writing children's books.
Education is very important, Tim, and I do hope you will work hard in school.

In a June 1968 letter, he noted that the "Monstery Mystery is finished in manuscript, but not published yet." It is interesting to note that in my last letter from him, received in May 1969, he notes:

Thank you very much for your nice note. I am planning to write more books; as a matter of fact I just started a new one called THE MYSTERY OF THE MIDNIGHT TROLLS.
THE MONSTER MYSTERY is now available at book stores.

As most Happy Hollisters fans know, Mystery of the Midnight Trolls was the last Happy Hollisters book, at volume 33. The end of the 1960s saw the slow demise of series books with only such series as the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins and Tom Swift Jr., and a few others, continuing to be published. Most that remained were published as paperback books. Till this day you can still buy the original Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books in most bookstores. These include the revised text and exact duplicates of the 1930 editions.

(Below in a separate part of my blog are material from a Happy Hollisters Book Club mail promotion including the envelope it came in. The scene on the envelope is from The Happy Hollisters and the Haunted House Mystery, probably one of the best selling volumes of the series).

2 comments:

AnonymousMay 17, 2012 at 7:47 AM
Thanks for sharing this, Timothy. I never grew up on the Happy Hollisters, but I found a few of their books at a garage sale, and my sons (then 6 and 4 now) loved them. So I scoured the Internet and was able to track down first editions all the original titles (w/dust jackets) except MIDNIGHT TROLLS (H-33). We're about halfway through the series. For a while, I was on an Andrew Svenson kick, trying to find out anything I could about him. I was particularly interested in the fact that he wrote all 33 installments himself, unlike the Hardy and Drew books, and like my boys, I wanted to know if he had many kids himself and if he traveled to all of the places he wrote about. Thanks for filling in a few blanks with your post. Also, the picture...what a find! Again, thanks.
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Timothy O'HerinMay 19, 2012 at 8:24 AM
Thank you for the kind comments. It is always rewarding to know someone is enjoying your material. If you are on Facebook, please check the Happy Hollisters site, where other fans share the joys of collecting the Happy Hollisters and Andrew Svenson's grandchildren discuss their grandfather's career. And tell them I sent you! Good luck on finding Midnight Trolls...I have found it 3 to 4 times in antique malls and book stores at great prices, so be persistent and if you're not lucky to find it, someday the Svenson grandchildren will reprint it.
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DEDICATION

In September 1996, I spent a week's vacation touring from Oklahoma City through Kansas to Kansas City, then across Missouri to St. Louis, and then south from St. Louis to New Madrid, Mo., my hometown and still the home of my parents.

Along with visiting my brothers in both major cities, I stopped at as many antique malls and bookstores as possible. It was at one such store near Boonville, MO, that I found a box of Happy Hollister books, half with dust jackets. They were in great shape and per book my cost was less than about $2 a book. I bought them, knowing that I could sell the dustjacketed ones for quite a bit more and recoup my investment. And perhaps, sentimentally, I hated to see them just sit on the floor of this concrete-floored antique mall.

Upon arriving in New Madrid a few days later, I put aside collecting to spend time with my parents. At some point my mother Zoe' asked me to accompany her to the local library to visit with her "girlfriends," the two local librarians. She was always proud of me and wanted to share that pride with these two fine ladies. Like any man, I hesitated, not wanting to be a part of such "silly" ventures. But I went along, knowing this would make her happy.

At the library I reminisced about the joy I had as a kid there, especially checking out the Happy Hollister books they kept. These books and my fondness in reading them started this hobby. I was surprised to learn the library still had volumes from the series, but they were in bad shape. The head librarian mentioned that recently a childhood friend of mine, who also read and enjoyed the series, had offered to cover the cost of purchasing new copies. I then offered the non-dustjacketed Hollister books I had bought to her and said if she collected the money, give it to my mother. They were pleased to have the new books. I enjoyed the rest of my visit with my parents and returned to Oklahoma City a few days later.

Within a few weeks my dear mother passed away in her sleep.
At her wake I asked the librarian to keep the money for the books and place a dedication in the books to my mother. They will serve as a reminder of her, and this dedication will, too. =

I owe my love of mystery books to her and she always encouraged me to read. Ironically, my mother had the mindset that would not have understood the internet, much less used it. Yet, now she has her "place" on the World Wide Web.

IN THE BEGINNING.....

SERIES BOOKS I COLLECT AND RECOMMEND

As related on another section of this blog, my interest in children's mystery series books began with The Happy Hollisters, because it was the only series at my local public library. I then went on to acquire and read Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew picture cover books. At sometime I sold those books and concentrated on buying the early Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books with dust jackets. My collection now consists of mostly white spine Nancy Drews and I have the orange spine Hardy Boys dust jackets.

Although I grew up with the 1960s Hardy Boys blue and Nancy Drew yellow spine picture cover books, I have no special affection for those books. I enjoy the early books because I just like the era they represent. Along with the above mentioned series I collected and read Trixie Belden, Power Boys and the Bobbsey Twins.

During my high school years I put aside children's mystery series books, but returned to collect those books sometime in college. The spark that relit my fire was oddly enough one of The Outdoor Girls books written under the name of Laura Lee Hope. While working part-time at the library of the Missouri State Historial Society, I came across one of the volumes of that series and during breaks, I would read several chapters a day. Why this book was even there was a true mystery to me. But I enjoyed the simple storylines, the slight mystery and adventure these girls enjoyed, and most of all the depiction, although very unrealistic, of the lifestyle of the years 1910-1930. A few years later I would happen upon seven or eight dustjacketed volumes of the series at an Oklahoma City antique store, and the urge to buy was impossible to resist.

Through the decade of the 1980s I would add one series after another to my list of interest including, in no particular order:
Mercer Boys, Ken Holt, Rick Brant, Tom Quest,
Walton Boys, Don Sturdy, Ted Scott

In particular, I fell in love with the stories of Capwell Wyckoff, author of the Mercer Boys, and the Mystery Hunters, and numerous unrelated book.
In the 1990s, I added the following series:
Penny Parker, Judy Bolton, X Bar X Boys, Dana Girls, Hal Keen Brains Benton, Biff Brewster, Andy Lane, Kay Tracey

I especially fell in love with the stories of Mildred Wirt Benson, the first "Carolyn Keene" and prolific author of dozens of other books. Most especially I enjoy her Penny Parker series.
Many times I would add a series just because I came across nice copies, with dustjackets. Such was the case with the X Bar X Boys. The best piece of luck I ever had was finding 12-14 Ken Holt books, with djs, at an antique fair at a local mall. Each book cost about $2.50. I rank Ken Holt among my most favorite series books. The sign of a favorite series is when I look forward to reading the next few chapters, and finish the book quickly. If a book is not as exciting, I may takes weeks to finish. Series that rank among my favorites include, as mentioned, Ken Holt, Penny Parker, Tom Quest, Rick Brant, Mercer Boys, Biff Brewster, and Brains Benton.