Booksleuth's Series Book Collection: HARRIET STRATEMEYER ADAMS

Sunday, January 4, 2009

HARRIET STRATEMEYER ADAMS

Harriet S. Adams Letters

For six years I corresponded with Harriet S. Adams, daughter of Edward Stratemeyer, the "Henry Ford of children series books," and creator of such literary characters as Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift and countless other children’s series books.

Mrs. Adams, along with her sister Edna, took control of the literary syndicate their father founded after his death in the early 1930s. Mrs. Adams directed most of syndicate activities till her death in the 1980s. The Stratemeyer Syndicate hired many ghost writers to write the actual books from storylines developed by the syndicate. Thus there was no actual Laura Lee Hope, author of the Bobbsey Twins, or Carolyn Keene, writer of Nancy Drew and the Dana Girls.

In the 1950s and 1960s, many of the earlier stories were revised to bring the storylines up to date with more modern trends or sensitivities. Mrs. Adams was responsible for much of the revisions, especially of the Nancy Drew and Bobbsey Twins books. And she wrote many herself. Thus she claimed to be "Carolyn Keene" or "Laura Lee Hope.

There is much debate and criticism within the series book fandom on the revisions and her part in it. Elsewhere in this blog, I offer my thoughts on the issue of whether Mrs. Adams tried to claim credit as the only Carolyn Keene, or whether her role was simply misinterpreted by media carelessness. I also offer some thoughts on her claim versus the claim of Mildred A. Wirt, the earliest author of Nancy Drew.

Two years after I started corresponding with Andrew Svenson, author of The Happy Hollisters, working under the name of Jerry West, I read a newspaper article about Mrs. Adams and her role in the creation of the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and other syndicate series. I wrote to her and she replied in a letter on "Carolyn Keene" stationary. I count this letter as one of the highlights of my series book collection.

In that letter she included a blank piece of Carolyn Keene stationary, by mistake. Along with the letter, she sent me her own "Carolyn Keene" and "Laura Lee Hope" signatures (see scans). She also later sent me a signed photo of herself. Note on the letter under the syndicate heading the name of Andrew Svenson in the upper left portion of the stationary. He was a syndicate partner by then. I did not know until the 1970s that Svenson was Jerry West, author of the Happy Hollisters.

In the April 30, 1969, letter pictured on this page, Mrs. Adams writes:

Indeed I am still writing NANCY DREW and BOBBSEY TWINS books. Not only is an additional volume to each series coming out every year, but early books are being rewritten or revised to conform with today's customs. Cars have changed, laws concerning adoption have come into vogue, and also using Negro dialect is taboo. So you see I keep very busy.
What school did I go to? Public schools first and then Wellesley College.
The name of the latest HARDY BOYS book is the Arctic Patrol Mystery. The scene is laid in Iceland. The newest BOBBSEY story is the Doodlebug Mystery.
So far as I know there aren't any clubs which you could join. Many young readers in various areas have formed their own clubs. Perhaps you would like to do this in your school or town?

In May 1968, I received another letter from Mrs. Adams, in which she wrote:

Thank you for your nice letter. In answer to your questions, I'm fine too, and a new edition of The Bobbsey Twins' Adventures with Baby May has just been put on the market.
The old story similar in name was allowed to go out of print because of new laws regarding the adoption of babies. If you find a waif on your doorstep, you must immediately notify the police, who will take it.
I hope you will read the new story which is quite different from the original.

"Quite different" was an understatement. The original The Bobbsey Twins and Baby May (copyright 1924) was changed to The Bobbsey Twins and Adventures with Baby May. Instead of the Bobbsey family finding a baby left on their doorstep, they found a baby elephant.

In my last letter from Mrs. Adams, May 1973, she mentioned a trip she was about to take "cruising the Atlantic Ocean on what promises to be a very exciting trip--to see the total solar eclipse off the west coast of Africa!"

It has been reported that she planned to use that trip as part of a rewrite for an earlier Nancy Drew story. Instead, the trip was the basis for the newest Bobbsey Twins book, The Bobbsey Twins on the Sun-Moon Cruise (copyright 1975), written by partner Nancy S. Axelrad. Mrs. Adams did edit the manuscripts. Employee Grace Grote wrote the Doodlebug Mystery.

I am fortunate to have been able to correspond with Mrs. Adams and Mr. Svenson, a contact few fans ever achieved. I am grateful they were willing to take the time to reply to my letters. I imagine they answered quite a few fan letters. See a separate section of this blog for my Jerry West Letters.

1 comment:

MiggwilsonDecember 9, 2016 at 7:43 AM
Just curious...She responded to a letter of mine back in the late 70's or early 80's before her death. Are they collectibles now? Is the autograph worth something? Just curious.
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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.