tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75209625725495113222023-11-16T03:26:49.748-08:00Booksleuth's Series Book CollectionTimothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-1711910185877321372020-10-19T09:31:00.001-07:002020-10-19T09:31:31.083-07:00Rare find of an even rarer Tom Swift Jr. Cosmotron ExpressIt is not very often you find the last book of a series, especially in the picture-cover era of series books. In this case, a few years ago I found the next-to-last volume of Tom Swift Jr., And His Cosmotron Express, #32 of the 33-book series. Since it is near the end of the series, and thus fewer printings were done, it is very difficult to find the book. For years, a book of this type would command high prices on eBay and other internet sites.
I found this book in an Oklahoma City antique store that I bet only had 20 books altogether. I bought it for $1 and to make it even more valuable, I found inside a card from the publisher, Grosset & Dunlap, asking the person who received the book to send two copies of the review to them. I was told these reviewer copies were sent out as "press notice" books, with the idea of perhaps generating some publicity.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz9bJVjyzK6mu137vAAfDRpB8eo-3N-bjiK4v9i88QTyAyncuCVZmYljIf41hjrsLOsrEAYywr3SXeEQM1irhUyYgBY6_UJaZQLx32EDqJMk6XalDzFMp1jxiMxxHoKL04YXVbYOvXwZSd/s1428/IMG_20201019_0003_NEW.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="1428" data-original-width="920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz9bJVjyzK6mu137vAAfDRpB8eo-3N-bjiK4v9i88QTyAyncuCVZmYljIf41hjrsLOsrEAYywr3SXeEQM1irhUyYgBY6_UJaZQLx32EDqJMk6XalDzFMp1jxiMxxHoKL04YXVbYOvXwZSd/s400/IMG_20201019_0003_NEW.jpg"/></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWrb91n7E2PkXA9y4WSSU5ukktkvtRlBep2lYT8qin2kZpLLJMyH6FldftRBVG3x1CnBjR0UNvnJWaCF8Fy9ZrmxO6tR50hdhaKKr72QkEryjVCfAtdNvZJ0j3yFXTH82K9CGmiRdVEhTJ/s2048/IMG_20201019_0004_NEW.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="400" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWrb91n7E2PkXA9y4WSSU5ukktkvtRlBep2lYT8qin2kZpLLJMyH6FldftRBVG3x1CnBjR0UNvnJWaCF8Fy9ZrmxO6tR50hdhaKKr72QkEryjVCfAtdNvZJ0j3yFXTH82K9CGmiRdVEhTJ/s400/IMG_20201019_0004_NEW.jpg"/></a></div>
Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-48697604769038301582018-06-24T12:17:00.000-07:002018-06-24T13:55:15.437-07:00BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY MOVIE WRAPPERThis blog records my children's series book collecting over 50 years and I have been fortunate to have many unique items to feature, but in the last six months I found an item that is perhaps the ultimate find. Last February I was going through a local antique mall, one that I have visited often, when I found Bomba The Jungle Boy (vol 1) on a shelf with a few other non-series books. I don't know why I even looked at it as I do not collect the series and have no other books from it. This book is a reprint from about 1949 and the important thing about it is it contained a wrapper around it that promoted the then recently released movie of the series by Monogram Pictures. I paid about $15 for this book and could not believe the wrapper was still attached. It is difficult enough to find books with dust jackets, and even less likely that the djs will be in pristine condition, but in this case I hit the jackpot. The book appeared to have never been read and the dj and the promotional wrapper were in very good condition.
I posted my find on a Facebook group that discusses series books and I found out from other collectors that no one even knew this wrapper existed. Similar wrappers have adorned Nancy Drew (1939) and Hardy Boys (mid-1950s) and there are probably countless movies that have been promoted this way, too. A few months later I sold this book on eBay to a collector who specialized in this type of collectible. I sold it for $425. I sold it because I do not have any sentiment for the series; I could use the money; and frankly I wanted someone who did appreciate it to enjoy it in their collection. If this had been a promotion for the Happy Hollisters, my favorite series, I would have kept it. I hope you enjoy these pictures of one of the most fantastic collectible finds I have ever had.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjxoTGTrvho7sadMpKZ08rC5plx8dkxPGSj5zP4qAu9B-h4CiVGyClbJ0GEWYN3W134h82pXpnKjvFpCXdyZU-nYjvh_uuPMbEogEX6MpVixhLhYIjx6FSGoEYg0IebpPqxTDKnk07t_3/s1600/Scan_Pic0047+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjxoTGTrvho7sadMpKZ08rC5plx8dkxPGSj5zP4qAu9B-h4CiVGyClbJ0GEWYN3W134h82pXpnKjvFpCXdyZU-nYjvh_uuPMbEogEX6MpVixhLhYIjx6FSGoEYg0IebpPqxTDKnk07t_3/s400/Scan_Pic0047+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" height="266" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1065" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmmNjk9KKqmDdc5XCirL3aanKKuiE85__v5iRUBJEGKeqxJ9FTY1jAReYeWUxQynON5RmV_iNMWFHUh-MeiH69u9zMh-AUPevZAf-YYn-dOE-riTPOTP-zSDz-_SBiZTDbCyGQKsP7eFc/s1600/Scan_Pic0048+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmmNjk9KKqmDdc5XCirL3aanKKuiE85__v5iRUBJEGKeqxJ9FTY1jAReYeWUxQynON5RmV_iNMWFHUh-MeiH69u9zMh-AUPevZAf-YYn-dOE-riTPOTP-zSDz-_SBiZTDbCyGQKsP7eFc/s400/Scan_Pic0048+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" height="264" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="1054" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNKIyIArCkHn-Z_iFz4V-TttY91rd-sLKNjjMoTsiDrQzC5_pFMfDPrVtiC0b95HoRMNJKIznZs7_hwdaOeS4G8hzpvz9_4uMyOfmoCwlWLWoJR1rcx1H_6ZdWsEXZLRptm_-Fh3keKkaj/s1600/Scan_Pic0049+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNKIyIArCkHn-Z_iFz4V-TttY91rd-sLKNjjMoTsiDrQzC5_pFMfDPrVtiC0b95HoRMNJKIznZs7_hwdaOeS4G8hzpvz9_4uMyOfmoCwlWLWoJR1rcx1H_6ZdWsEXZLRptm_-Fh3keKkaj/s400/Scan_Pic0049+%25282%2529.jpg" width="267" height="400" data-original-width="1016" data-original-height="1522" /></a>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-3830911166393597332011-02-19T15:29:00.000-08:002011-02-19T20:57:14.925-08:00THE ULTIMATE HAPPY HOLLISTERS BLOGCheck out my special entries on THE HAPPY HOLLISTERS through my archive section to the right or hit this link to <a href="http://booksleuthseriesbookcollection.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=5">SPECIAL NOTES ABOUT THE HAPPY HOLLISTERS</a> where you will see letters from Andrew (Jerry West) Svenson, Happy Hollister book club promotional material and special pictures.Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-81980009411429515022011-02-16T09:13:00.000-08:002011-02-16T09:38:58.499-08:00MORE FOREIGN EDITION COVERSAs an illustration of my series book interests, besides The Happy Hollisters, I present here a gallery of foreign editions of some of my favorite book series. I have collected these books over some time, primarily obtaining them through eBay auctions or contacts I made through the auction site. It still amazes me how many different series are represented here and surprisingly some are not products of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, such as the Brains Benton or Tom Quest series. If you enjoy this entry or any of my blog entries, please make a comment, even if it is a brief word or two. Click on any of the pictures for better views. Thanks!<br />
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CHRISTOPHER COOL MISSION: MOONFIRE, FRENCH<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdsqSUkno6d1pWRkBhXYzsFxh18i35jR0q9pthlUicTChmMKci0vY29yWXpGo0gEXDnUMYo_wmQXlDWsmz9MIBn_X_xTv4aL9V4gDT6RFdCoKtd6k9dDtGeeJ1TAmICJLWW-gNLv886Qhb/s1600/scan0013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdsqSUkno6d1pWRkBhXYzsFxh18i35jR0q9pthlUicTChmMKci0vY29yWXpGo0gEXDnUMYo_wmQXlDWsmz9MIBn_X_xTv4aL9V4gDT6RFdCoKtd6k9dDtGeeJ1TAmICJLWW-gNLv886Qhb/s320/scan0013.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">BIFF BREWSTER, NORWEGIAN<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRkRJXthQgJfSFgIPJ8FU-UumEEuLkRjB-VtgormvW-XexUyKQdJSOUEp3TbVRrHHXDHU1QdtMwXsX1BagZA3zt-D1-B89MNkvoHJ1rXUG4eGhdgI4-bppjcgbjvHR33TqKlkT7mkSUDi/s1600/scan0028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRkRJXthQgJfSFgIPJ8FU-UumEEuLkRjB-VtgormvW-XexUyKQdJSOUEp3TbVRrHHXDHU1QdtMwXsX1BagZA3zt-D1-B89MNkvoHJ1rXUG4eGhdgI4-bppjcgbjvHR33TqKlkT7mkSUDi/s320/scan0028.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuoF0poj1a9Oe55f3BMZNu3kj3xCpP0gW3TCxJcBE-9aAV5QO9AQhO8qRs-eM0yJ_-vzZR11PcN-eOyPUe6aCkaKBld4s35bb3i4QcMcyzX3zB6j0Qz8ptCcvhmtltYGD-CzQcWTELKy9t/s1600/scan0036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuoF0poj1a9Oe55f3BMZNu3kj3xCpP0gW3TCxJcBE-9aAV5QO9AQhO8qRs-eM0yJ_-vzZR11PcN-eOyPUe6aCkaKBld4s35bb3i4QcMcyzX3zB6j0Qz8ptCcvhmtltYGD-CzQcWTELKy9t/s320/scan0036.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">BRET KING, NORWEGIAN</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4aB3hTpZzEi2O9C7i-zDyaHMW0b_VykhhmVjaRY_itEPWLZcel1oItqX9PmnXub3liRiQNTzBgWKzYPePNcd85Ud3R2FoI7hislj3TJuV1NsT6XGvC75hwM7fbY1JPWc8NvDM8N-kjstz/s1600/scan0012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4aB3hTpZzEi2O9C7i-zDyaHMW0b_VykhhmVjaRY_itEPWLZcel1oItqX9PmnXub3liRiQNTzBgWKzYPePNcd85Ud3R2FoI7hislj3TJuV1NsT6XGvC75hwM7fbY1JPWc8NvDM8N-kjstz/s320/scan0012.jpg" width="203" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">BIFF BREWSTER, MYSTERY OF THE CHINESE RING, NORWEGIAN</div><br />
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TOM QUEST, THE CLUE OF THE CYPRESS STUMP (L) THE TELLTALE SCAR, NORWEGIAN<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WrsdtsovsHGHug254Og4mKRmYDxS5ZlEw3XGTcIdjK1jj2O5aT9jbUxHToMSHn8_GhKGGJ0sXv6u6bangb9wfPdIy-x8NNagSW6oQOYaCwQ6_yxSjWITvWItyP2sybsygYTHv4V45ZGs/s1600/scan0023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; height: 238px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 437px;"><img border="0" height="238" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WrsdtsovsHGHug254Og4mKRmYDxS5ZlEw3XGTcIdjK1jj2O5aT9jbUxHToMSHn8_GhKGGJ0sXv6u6bangb9wfPdIy-x8NNagSW6oQOYaCwQ6_yxSjWITvWItyP2sybsygYTHv4V45ZGs/s320/scan0023.jpg" width="320" /></a> <br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37HOmcVqsu_6KXNmpxuYu1-qbKfkPYquTRDP25pmjHkNx6WX8gU4FVR4rAyKrPihQ63U6Bw8KhuloK0QVbRzNM6U7tNZYL-EH8oF-c24iQXeCX1Vvh1kvvkZYZppn8EwHYk23EDXeRpj2/s1600/scan0027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37HOmcVqsu_6KXNmpxuYu1-qbKfkPYquTRDP25pmjHkNx6WX8gU4FVR4rAyKrPihQ63U6Bw8KhuloK0QVbRzNM6U7tNZYL-EH8oF-c24iQXeCX1Vvh1kvvkZYZppn8EwHYk23EDXeRpj2/s320/scan0027.jpg" width="320" /></a>BACK OF TOM QUEST BOOKS</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheDRECf-nBKGB7AGObzT0hia5U05pg58e0vweKQdo1PmUHW9dqGvVlqoGgbMwGnVj_sdfrIFrIInzAFurNgMrvvs3-dW3VIcebyxzO4-yiCCgyXmdEPonhA09_8NiKWHuL7D8IhPNDIrGl/s1600/scan0022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheDRECf-nBKGB7AGObzT0hia5U05pg58e0vweKQdo1PmUHW9dqGvVlqoGgbMwGnVj_sdfrIFrIInzAFurNgMrvvs3-dW3VIcebyxzO4-yiCCgyXmdEPonhA09_8NiKWHuL7D8IhPNDIrGl/s320/scan0022.jpg" width="320" /></a>BRAINS BENTON, FRENCH</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsZU3zqHv7uuVllcwXykre9d3ydwb49QbOdi6F5-dZGpXJBGG8-6RHxppolp6fc7b7s4h74wlOLOdv1G_gQKLXagPZTjdN-PkfosbBTTJfQnsXJIaXFRltHAeTqhs1nMmdndVKZUUXawt-/s1600/scan0020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsZU3zqHv7uuVllcwXykre9d3ydwb49QbOdi6F5-dZGpXJBGG8-6RHxppolp6fc7b7s4h74wlOLOdv1G_gQKLXagPZTjdN-PkfosbBTTJfQnsXJIaXFRltHAeTqhs1nMmdndVKZUUXawt-/s320/scan0020.jpg" width="237" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4mfaxetddwWjAxcKVlLNekpBQUYMuOpkaCX7SqR6HJUiIIXM0Oz1KV7BjJUtfMU4D2-HFhmwj4TQMJeTFv-BE_NljzZuyDTXd648WF_BniiFqOE5L-jFWiRt5_m6o5n6ENO6ixSvnpipQ/s1600/scan0034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4mfaxetddwWjAxcKVlLNekpBQUYMuOpkaCX7SqR6HJUiIIXM0Oz1KV7BjJUtfMU4D2-HFhmwj4TQMJeTFv-BE_NljzZuyDTXd648WF_BniiFqOE5L-jFWiRt5_m6o5n6ENO6ixSvnpipQ/s320/scan0034.jpg" width="220" /></a>DON STURDY BIG SNAKE HUNTERS, UK</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">KEN HOLT, RIDDLE OF THE STONE ELEPHANT, NORWEGIAN</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXHd3ddDPKbYj0nNvK3Xsa6QUxLUvAN4VYl0dUf6JCMIlwpWcUGgZbIHBZvHFVjQ4oLaB1HHlmKLvKUj4pQgp7sjCe-lB7KQHkeYUB1Q30wPJXItS9MjstFyrkuRyYQ5xOZFkOBKbyuS9F/s1600/scan0021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXHd3ddDPKbYj0nNvK3Xsa6QUxLUvAN4VYl0dUf6JCMIlwpWcUGgZbIHBZvHFVjQ4oLaB1HHlmKLvKUj4pQgp7sjCe-lB7KQHkeYUB1Q30wPJXItS9MjstFyrkuRyYQ5xOZFkOBKbyuS9F/s320/scan0021.jpg" width="211" /></a>X BAR X BOYS IN THUNDER CANYON, UK</div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-50518093525218174112010-11-19T10:48:00.000-08:002010-11-23T19:01:35.840-08:00THE HAPPY HOLLISTERS ARE BACK!!!!!<span style="font-size: large;">It is old news now that <strong>THE HAPPY HOLLISTERS</strong>, volume one of the popular children's mystery series, has been reprinted this year and is being distributed through Amazon. I recently received the paperback and it is really neat, as one of the Happy Hollisters might say, probably Ricky! The paperback version is new and a perfect complement to the history of the series, which was also reprinted in the 1980s for four volumes.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This new entry is published by "THE SVENSON GROUP, INC, on behalf of The Hollisters Family Properties Trust" as printed on the bottom of the title page. There is also a wonderful Dedication that notes that 2010 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Andrew Svenson, the creator and author of The Happy Hollisters book series. The reprint is also dedicated to his wife Marian and their children who inspired the author, too.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Anyone who has read this blog knows Andrew Svenson created The Happy Hollisters in the 1950s writing under the name of Jerry West. Mr. Svenson became a partner of the Stratemeyer Syndicate and through them wrote or edited many other books including some Hardy Boys. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Many years ago I corresponded with Jerry West as a fan and book club member. Through the years of maintaining blogs about series books and my fondness for The Happy Hollisters, I have also corresponded occasionally through emails with members of his family. His six children were the models for the 5 Hollister children. One of the most significant emails I got from his family came recently from his grandson Andrew:</span><br />
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<strong>Hi Tim,</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>I wanted to drop you a quick note to get reacquainted. You sent me a kind condolence note after my father died in late 2005 and I appreciated that. For some time now I've been enjoying your BookSleuth's Series Book Collection blog and posts on Facebook, etc. I know you are a huge fan of my grandfather, Andrew Svenson, the Happy Hollisters series, and all things related to the Stratemeyer Syndicate. </strong><br />
<strong>So, I wanted to let you know my wife and I have been combing through my grandfather's extensive work files and have found many "buried treasures" such as a hand drawn map of Shoreham, chapter plots from circa 1950, a HH pseudonym vote tally, and hundreds of letters of correspondence/documents between the Syndicate partners and/or various publishers, executives and fans. I know you'll love these newly-found treasures and we will let you and the world know about them shortly. But, for now, we found this little nugget and wanted to share it with you now. See attached. It's a copy of a note my grandfather sent to Doubleday asking them to make good for a "dissatisfied customer." I'm positive this customer was you! Apparently your original letter of complaint was transcribed for my grandfather and, in translation, your last name became O'Werin! But I'm hoping they corrected the shipping error and you were able to remain a Happy Hollisters Book Club customer.</strong><br />
<strong>Tim, I hope you enjoy this blast from your past! </strong><strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>Thank you so much for your support and enthusiasm regarding the Happy Hollisters. As you know we plan to relaunch the series in paperback in the very near future. Whatever you can do to get the word out about this will be appreciated. Any questions please contact me directly. </strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>All the best,</strong><br />
<strong>Andy Svenson III</strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I was thrilled to see this transcription of a letter I sent to Jerry (Andrew Svenson) West some 43 years ago. Here is a reproduction of that letter from Svenson to the publisher:</span><br />
<br />
<strong>July 6, 1967</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>Mrs. Terry Lundberg</strong><br />
<strong>Doubleday & Company</strong><br />
<strong>Garden City, Long Island</strong><br />
<strong>New York</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>Dear Mrs. Lundberg:</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>Enclosed is a copy of a dissatisfied Happy Hollisters </strong><strong>Club fan, I contacted Mr. Mills and he said there was</strong><strong> probably some mistake in shipping. I will leave </strong><strong>it up to you to contact our friend Tim O'Werin.</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>Sincerely,</strong><br />
<strong></strong><strong><br />
</strong><strong>Andrew E. Svenson</strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What is really funny is my letter to Jerry West. I have always wanted to see one of my letters to Andrew Svenson or Harriet Adams, and this reproduction from a transcribed letter of mine is the next best thing: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<strong>Dear Jerry West, </strong><br />
<strong> </strong><br />
<strong>I would like to know why you sent me Peter Pan and My Friend Flicka instead of my Happy Hollisters book. I only have 22 Happy Hollister Books. Please inform me if you don't have any more Happy Hollister books. I would like to have all the Happy Hollisters books. I only have 8 more books to get and I like them. If I can't get all the Happy Hollisters Book </strong><strong>I would like to quit. Please write me soon.</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>Your friend,</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>Tim O'Werin</strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Elsewhere on this blog are some samples of a few of the letters I received from Andrew Svenson over several years. One of them is related to this exchange. Dated October 10, 1967, is a letter signed by Jerry West that states:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">"<strong>I am sorry that you have not been getting the Happy Hollister books you were expecting. I have called the Book Club headquarters at Doubleday and Co. and they have promised to get the matter straightened out. You will be hearing from them.</strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>It pleases me to know that you are eager to read more about the Hollister family. I always enjoys hearing from my fans,</strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>Your friend,</strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>Jerry West</strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: large;">My next letter from Andrew Svenson was dated November 22, 1967. It is the letter reprinted elsewhere that shares information about traveling to Yucatan before writing THE MYSTERY OF THE MEXICAN IDOL.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8t7e9KLyskoH3_6jKX-iVftHjvB4n23E393dndWiwwaYNCgjYzmjbjxO4qgitK8n3Nw_zmKZ4XqJFPabd61QmAJEBu-tiN3XjYXQVsd9p6_aQfbHOIrI9pJJrLDKbJPuocKgY1Nk2IYe/s1600/HH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV8t7e9KLyskoH3_6jKX-iVftHjvB4n23E393dndWiwwaYNCgjYzmjbjxO4qgitK8n3Nw_zmKZ4XqJFPabd61QmAJEBu-tiN3XjYXQVsd9p6_aQfbHOIrI9pJJrLDKbJPuocKgY1Nk2IYe/s1600/HH.jpg" /></a>For more information about the new reprint of <strong>THE HAPPY HOLLISTERS</strong>, go to <a href="http://www.thehappyhollisters.com/">http://www.thehappyhollisters.com/</a> and also check out their Facebook link in my list of Favorite Places to the right! The Facebook site is full of Happy Hollisters material never before seen including pictures of the Svenson family home and the entire family during holiday celebrations. You can also express your ideas on what titles should next be reprinted.</div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-12940805384762632862010-06-06T11:31:00.000-07:002010-06-07T16:23:11.446-07:00THE HAPPY HOLLISTERS & COPYRIGHT DATES<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL6ZsXzJI5BZLjxqp-t9cxeWyD1d3xOxtT-0rHNYE26B7Qbg3MEqPcjnHeyCdlseYugL5mRUi4Tj7fRsz2Jc5zcm-XhwUfRKvMLu6epQS34H-Nrp9tZsusVQfbxhpLgIR3iydGfiSkl9Be/s1600/scan0011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL6ZsXzJI5BZLjxqp-t9cxeWyD1d3xOxtT-0rHNYE26B7Qbg3MEqPcjnHeyCdlseYugL5mRUi4Tj7fRsz2Jc5zcm-XhwUfRKvMLu6epQS34H-Nrp9tZsusVQfbxhpLgIR3iydGfiSkl9Be/s320/scan0011.jpg" /></a>Back of book club promotion envelope:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisLIAKA3V1k1ULQJC2OS2_Z4y5iVzC9NhTZ8I4_i_BLD2sPRoN9jfxTd09lpcaRxK8APfkG9P_yhifSwIhD4C2Vv9fTFv5i8xH5tVfw2_nJkDpc1Ak-VHATr9-6_3HmmRbAnQbGFCo9nzQ/s1600/scan0013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisLIAKA3V1k1ULQJC2OS2_Z4y5iVzC9NhTZ8I4_i_BLD2sPRoN9jfxTd09lpcaRxK8APfkG9P_yhifSwIhD4C2Vv9fTFv5i8xH5tVfw2_nJkDpc1Ak-VHATr9-6_3HmmRbAnQbGFCo9nzQ/s320/scan0013.jpg" /></a>I am listing the Happy Hollisters books for the first time in my blog, which is nothing extra-ordinary, but my list includes one additional piece of information. I am not sure I have ever seen a list of Happy Hollisters books with copyright dates for each volume listed. So this list will include copyright dates to illustrate how frequently these books were published in a particular year. Note in particular the fact that the first four volumes were all copyrighted in the same year, 1953. That is quite an achievement in series book history, although not unmatched by other series. I am also, by copyright dates, listing the series in order and correcting an error repeated over and over again in the series. That error is the placement of Pony Hill Farm before Merry-Go-Round Mystery on most book lists for the series since those books were first published. The problem started, I assume, when Pony Hill Farm is listed as volume #10 on its dust jacket even though that book is copyrighted in 1956 and Merry-Go-Round Mystery is listed as #11, even though its' copyright is 1955. I have recently seen a first edition of Pony Hill Farm that has that error on the dust jacket. And my copy of Merry-Go-Round Mystery, published by Garden City, lists it as #11 on the dust jacket spine, but on the dust jacket back flap and inside it is listed as #10 in order. So this list will correct the order of Happy Hollisters books.</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Included in this blog entry are some additional photos of Happy Hollister book club promotions and the mailing cards from the club to myself. Note one of the mailing cards came with my gold metal book holder. More about these items are availble in other earlier blog entries</div><br />
# 1 The Happy Hollisters, 1953<br />
<br />
# 2 The Happy Hollisters on a River Trip, 1953<br />
<br />
# 3 The Happy Hollisters at Sea Gull Beach, 1953<br />
<br />
# 4 The Happy Hollisters and the Indian Treasure, 1953<br />
<br />
# 5 The Happy Hollisters at Mystery Mountain, 1954<br />
<br />
# 6 The Happy Hollisters at Snowflake Camp, 1954<br />
<br />
# 7 The Happy Hollisters and the Trading Post Mystery, 1954<br />
<br />
# 8 The Happy Hollisters at Circus Island, 1955<br />
<br />
# 9 The Happy Hollisters and the Secret Fort, 1955<br />
<br />
#10 The Happy Hollisters and the Merry-Go-Round Mystery, 1955<br />
<br />
#11 The Happy Hollisters at Pony Hill Farm, 1956<br />
<br />
#12 The Happy Hollisters and the Old Clipper Ship, 1956<br />
<br />
#13 The Happy Hollisters at Lizard Cove, 1957<br />
<br />
#14 The Happy Hollisters and the Scarecrow Mystery, 1957<br />
<br />
#15 The Happy Hollisters and the Mystery of the Totem Faces, 1958<br />
<br />
#16 The Happy Hollisters and the Ice Carnival Mystery, 1958<br />
<br />
#17 The Happy Hollisters and the Mystery in Skyscraper City, 1959<br />
<br />
#18 The Happy Hollisters and the Mystery of the Little Mermaid, 1960<br />
<br />
#19 The Happy Hollisters and the Mystery at Missile Town, 1961<br />
<br />
#20 The Happy Hollisters and the Cowboy Mystery, 1961<br />
<br />
#21 The Happy Hollisters and the Haunted House Mystery, 1962<br />
<br />
#22 The Happy Hollisters and the Secret of the Lucky Coins, 1962<br />
<br />
#23 The Happy Hollisters and the Castle Rock Mystery, 1963<br />
<br />
#24 The Happy Hollisters and the Cuckoo Clock Mystery, 1963<br />
<br />
#25 The Happy Hollisters and the Swiss Echo Mystery, 1963<br />
<br />
#26 The Happy Hollisters and the Sea Turtle Mystery, 1964<br />
<br />
#27 The Happy Hollisters and the Punch and Judy Mystery, 1964<br />
<br />
#28 The Happy Hollisters and the Whistle Pig Mystery, 1964<br />
<br />
#29 The Happy Hollisters and the Ghost Horse Mystery, 1965<br />
<br />
#30 The Happy Hollisters and the Mystery of the Golden Witch, 1966<br />
<br />
#31 The Happy Hollisters and the Mystery of the Mexican Idol, 1967<br />
<br />
#32 The Happy Hollisters and the Monster Mystery, 1969<br />
<br />
#33 The Happy Hollisters and the Mystery of the Midnight Trolls, 1969<br />
<br />
Letterhead of Happy Hollisters book club:<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEdmKw6uOSrU_zP7-Qq6lW9_y-7gj9BZ-0mlloYLSB0LoIT-vb48UGmajIxMhM6Glrc7OYCnnoJrLYcpiEwRUzuCXfGdE9opIHuTGyAdij_HDqwJcXeBogFES0jHRiVY0TNqPaaR9fRupR/s1600/scan0023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEdmKw6uOSrU_zP7-Qq6lW9_y-7gj9BZ-0mlloYLSB0LoIT-vb48UGmajIxMhM6Glrc7OYCnnoJrLYcpiEwRUzuCXfGdE9opIHuTGyAdij_HDqwJcXeBogFES0jHRiVY0TNqPaaR9fRupR/s320/scan0023.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9aoXUuwhhdn3I8efNhUovIM4VIOEA42-ggbazuWwDzfD4C7adGieP5QD_8bvltgPJxjJvQA5B9j5yiBqfhJpJzRjjwNxIXythllGRBzjAxGkWJm-NKUIuGCNCFDUz8IKZt763_SWD0nWR/s1600/scan0022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9aoXUuwhhdn3I8efNhUovIM4VIOEA42-ggbazuWwDzfD4C7adGieP5QD_8bvltgPJxjJvQA5B9j5yiBqfhJpJzRjjwNxIXythllGRBzjAxGkWJm-NKUIuGCNCFDUz8IKZt763_SWD0nWR/s320/scan0022.jpg" /></a></div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-64158648944878648722010-05-10T19:54:00.000-07:002010-07-02T19:27:29.876-07:00HAPPY HOLLISTER FIRST EDITIONS & MOREOn a separate part of this blog is a section of special notes about The Happy Hollisters. One of the notes is about a first edition of Mystery of the Little Mermaid. In all my many years of collecting The Happy Hollisters, it was only recently that I found a 1st edition of that book that has an error on the dust jacket. That error is the fact that the scene of the Hollister children playing along a yard fence on the spine of the dust jacket is missing. Till this day, this is the only such error I had ever seen on the dust jackets of this series. <strong>And that was a serious error</strong>. The funny thing about this is that until a few years ago, I had never seen this book with that error, but since the first time I noticed this, I have seen similar first editions of that book on eBay and now in an antique mall.<br />
<br />
I just finished a weekend trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area and at the Montgomery Street Antique Mall in Fort Worth, I found several first editions of the Happy Hollisers, including Little Mermaid. I was with a friend who noticed that the previous owner, Yvonne, had marked on the dust jacket of Little Mermaid. In the list of Happy Hollisters volumes on the back flap of the dust jacket, there was a mistake that Yvonne corrected. The sixth volume of the series, at Snowflake Camp, is misspelled to read: at <strong>Snowflake</strong> <strong>Cave.</strong> I missed this on the volume I own, which didn't have the luxury of having Yvonne correct it. Here is a picture of the error from the back flap of the dust jacket of The Mystery of the Little Mermaid. Hit the link for a closer look:<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">NEW: I recently noticed on an eBay auction that some editions of the Happy Hollisters and the Castle Rock Mystery had a title page with no pictures of the Hollister children. This book was a dust jacketed version, but I have the same thing in a picture cover edition. I believe later printings corrected this, so I am guessing this happened in only a few early printings. I cannot recall ever seeing this before, so it is another unique mistake Doubleday & Company made.</span></div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzvw_7rabL4Nosr3BGo7UsqAIb5BEnYmFd8vS6x1of9IQGp8EpRrGWXipLS6KXEhvfieHTMrfvBTgq2IYQNBysokqfCZNlVlZc4sHlT4h-lgJV_w1bQQ7aRVeyewMiwvMKl5Vm_AU7WAf/s1600/scan0005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzvw_7rabL4Nosr3BGo7UsqAIb5BEnYmFd8vS6x1of9IQGp8EpRrGWXipLS6KXEhvfieHTMrfvBTgq2IYQNBysokqfCZNlVlZc4sHlT4h-lgJV_w1bQQ7aRVeyewMiwvMKl5Vm_AU7WAf/s320/scan0005.jpg" tt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYqPZN8wqISUie5tJY-1Au9vCRj-e70m78MZmpOhL-6zbgNbEihenOP-O2b45DYI4icNr5b8hlaqofsKNI4hfNhCkck0HoUZtmCDNBvFVXKvpl2va-m9tzMDcKoeWWXlaVRBmg_yUeNAu7/s1600/scan0033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYqPZN8wqISUie5tJY-1Au9vCRj-e70m78MZmpOhL-6zbgNbEihenOP-O2b45DYI4icNr5b8hlaqofsKNI4hfNhCkck0HoUZtmCDNBvFVXKvpl2va-m9tzMDcKoeWWXlaVRBmg_yUeNAu7/s320/scan0033.jpg" /></a></div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-14552311131781023742010-03-18T07:50:00.000-07:002010-03-19T21:18:02.394-07:00SERIES BOOK CATALOG AND MAGAZINE ADSThrough all the years of collecting children's mystery series books, I have seen very little promotional material about them and that is one reason I find the tri-fold "Who's Who" ad that was included in some Grosset & Dunlap books in 1964 very appealing (see prior article on the famous ad). Here are a few more items that I found on eBay that came from magazines or catalogs. Obviously, these ads go back some years, so those who enjoy antiquing for books, might take another look at those stacks of Sears or Penney's catalogs in the local antique mall that date in the 1940s-1970s. You might find some ads similar to these. (note, Google blogs allow any photos placed in this section of the blog to be enlarged when you click on them, so be sure to enjoy the up close view by doing so.)<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOgBbDxSnoNF7N5QfUhb4CBBzcfBDFZ1v9thRcNhCNIDnYG80wT-cpBZeQFYtvFJ6oUUeWqCYZ9cUueMSH9S9yDDcEbrGOB4fu-Khs4WqgecyDt2P3eMIQZ2pkT9Lxa6TqpERL3PPbNG7j/s1600-h/scan0011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOgBbDxSnoNF7N5QfUhb4CBBzcfBDFZ1v9thRcNhCNIDnYG80wT-cpBZeQFYtvFJ6oUUeWqCYZ9cUueMSH9S9yDDcEbrGOB4fu-Khs4WqgecyDt2P3eMIQZ2pkT9Lxa6TqpERL3PPbNG7j/s320/scan0011.jpg" vt="true" /></a>This is from a Wards catalog.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">This one is dated September 1942 from a magazine called Playthings.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-PmDG1iykJ1tlav55VMLno7IswvnbsKDnCm-yK1tiRtIuYW1yBeax-NyBW-rWxYLt9g4M3dHkm-Y-OoDFA_xmxHZx9wrQMKEfWLHEbFiqTBmEbT7Sk-hq_8Yorwdg41JwhyslGZHKLNKM/s1600-h/scan0010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-PmDG1iykJ1tlav55VMLno7IswvnbsKDnCm-yK1tiRtIuYW1yBeax-NyBW-rWxYLt9g4M3dHkm-Y-OoDFA_xmxHZx9wrQMKEfWLHEbFiqTBmEbT7Sk-hq_8Yorwdg41JwhyslGZHKLNKM/s320/scan0010.jpg" vt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5t0btvVjslrBS20H_PPHD69O-zp5YeR0hrc9cEALZqL6BfcosqUkaVdYKWmazXKYs5hb_dWvtm_YZ2h-QYJYf4FZQgoQRz4s8asPlYjzPiCqcfxwapLZSswGJc6yVaS2YaM4HRCVz89m/s1600-h/scan0009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5t0btvVjslrBS20H_PPHD69O-zp5YeR0hrc9cEALZqL6BfcosqUkaVdYKWmazXKYs5hb_dWvtm_YZ2h-QYJYf4FZQgoQRz4s8asPlYjzPiCqcfxwapLZSswGJc6yVaS2YaM4HRCVz89m/s320/scan0009.jpg" vt="true" /></a>This is also a Wards listing and note the Mildred Wirt books on the right side, advertising Brownie Scout and Dan Carter Cub Scout books.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyV9ncAsN-tWClqYNRnLnM_DHvCanoqDaybMIIbLessztFMMH152qwRNvcYdIJtJwtK0SR0P5OvssW7xP2kSc2E2vT2ClL-Y1RLvpEy3X2uxBSl57j9TG_7D4vuPayR0Q5I9VK3rln9wLO/s1600-h/IM001694.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyV9ncAsN-tWClqYNRnLnM_DHvCanoqDaybMIIbLessztFMMH152qwRNvcYdIJtJwtK0SR0P5OvssW7xP2kSc2E2vT2ClL-Y1RLvpEy3X2uxBSl57j9TG_7D4vuPayR0Q5I9VK3rln9wLO/s320/IM001694.jpg" vt="true" /></a>Finally, these are photos of a Grosset & Dunlap catalog from the early 1970s. I had this in my collection for a good 30 years and sold it a few years ago for about $50. Considering this was a free catalog, that is a pretty good investment for saving it all those years. The interesting thing about it is some of the books in the catalog are very hard to find books because they were books issued at the end of the particular series, so there are few copies out there to find and thus they have a higher value today. This is particularly true of the Rick Brant books for sale in this catalog. I wish the photos were better, but these were take by a camera and not a scanner. Still it is an interesting item. And in case you were wondering, I am the one who marked up the list to indicate what books I had at that time. I guess I didn't think much of it being a collectable then or I wouldn't have marked on it, but I was a kid then and we all know how kids like to mark in their books.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3nuOgOGN1FuGmNSZBJ4xBiFirctwr9KLZGwr6-jVZ7O4_Bt2HrVPZPmFBHDn8D9M4lbOYxDuCF1REVd46Jy-lAocpa0AB5wA1dpXOl_utiziw_y1L1MDF4S2fcTAH_mw1bRXteYlT5ii/s1600-h/IM001695.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3nuOgOGN1FuGmNSZBJ4xBiFirctwr9KLZGwr6-jVZ7O4_Bt2HrVPZPmFBHDn8D9M4lbOYxDuCF1REVd46Jy-lAocpa0AB5wA1dpXOl_utiziw_y1L1MDF4S2fcTAH_mw1bRXteYlT5ii/s320/IM001695.jpg" vt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2w9Bn7G-gIAeisPHVEEgoiY8UkqUG4zb3IJrnBd6RZ7xN3LEk5Pk7WUYXrbHqaiRgjgXSl-2jVyeErDutokUOb53kEzgCZebvZE_opKHzuPzErkWuagZ42Jqh2Pi1Xt6WzKe8Jg6Gdcph/s1600-h/IM001696.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2w9Bn7G-gIAeisPHVEEgoiY8UkqUG4zb3IJrnBd6RZ7xN3LEk5Pk7WUYXrbHqaiRgjgXSl-2jVyeErDutokUOb53kEzgCZebvZE_opKHzuPzErkWuagZ42Jqh2Pi1Xt6WzKe8Jg6Gdcph/s320/IM001696.jpg" vt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPA3iFgr5CQ2AAvSCTe5ObOvLjOwXMREr4FwlE2TzvQSm5kXthy-mTOAkXY6ATSV0etAOaU6TEx01CsqevjOH4pW8iNFmn1A5sIo1yaACV_SFZamIpZ42gXU8WmfSk5uCbLTSV4l5jWgKH/s1600-h/IM001697.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPA3iFgr5CQ2AAvSCTe5ObOvLjOwXMREr4FwlE2TzvQSm5kXthy-mTOAkXY6ATSV0etAOaU6TEx01CsqevjOH4pW8iNFmn1A5sIo1yaACV_SFZamIpZ42gXU8WmfSk5uCbLTSV4l5jWgKH/s320/IM001697.jpg" vt="true" /></a></div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-9220691448877285752010-02-14T10:19:00.000-08:002010-02-14T12:56:10.687-08:00SERIES BOOK TREASURES ARE STILL OUT THEREMany of our favorite children's mystery series books involve searching for a treasure, whether it is valuable stamps, gold, lockets or weathervanes, our heroes are usually involved in the search of some item that will make them rich or, more likely, help out someone in need.<br />
Now for most of series book collectors, we never have the chance to do such searching and probably that is why we enjoy reading about Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the Bobbsey Twins or the Happy Hollisters doing so. But many of us are treasure seekers, and our treasure is series books to complete our collection or enhance it.<br />
Over my many years of searching out series books, I have had many successes and many more failures, but much of the joy is the searching and when you succeed you feel a great thrill.<br />
Most of my searches involve old book stores, but these days I am more likely to find a series book at an antique mall. In this column I will devote some time to some of my best or most unique treasure finds.<br />
Let me start with the most recent one, which happened about a year ago.<br />
<strong><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT I AM SEEING?</span></strong><br />
In my home city of Oklahoma City, we have a fair amount of book stores, less than a mere 10 years ago, but there still are a few left.<br />
I walked into one about a year ago and upfront was a push cart containing a lot of Rover Boys books. On the side of the cart was a sign that simply said: "$2 each". Before I even began looking at these books, I asked the store clerk if this was a true price, not a mistake. It was not a mistake!<br />
There must have been at least 70 Rover Boys, many early and many later editions, and only about 20 with dust jackets. I went through the dust jacketed books and they were all in very good condition. I didn't hesitate a second to take those books to the front desk and I went through the others, looking for the earliest editions and noting their condition.<br />
I am no expert on the Rover Boys and I have about 15 of them right now, some with dust jackets, but in all honesty, I have never read one. I have so many more books of interest and I just never got around to enjoying one of them. So my interest in these books was not to complete a collection, but rather offer them to other collectors for resale on eBay. I estimate I spent about $100 on these books and probably have made about $300 in profit. Some of these books went for $10, a few went for $50 each, but most somewhere in the middle. Had these books at the bookstore been Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, or Don Sturdy, I would have gone through them and added them to my collection as either an upgrade in condition or to complete my collection.<br />
I did a little study of the history of the Rover Boys and discovered that they were actually written by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of a syndicate that was responsible for the creation of Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift and many more series. Most of those series were written by hired writers who worked from storylines and characters created by Stratemeyer. But the Rover Boys were strictly the product of his imagination. Created in the early part of the 20th Century, they were very popular and highly read by America's youth of the time.<br />
This collection of books I bought was from the estate of a man who was very active in the field during his lifetime and who was an expert in Horatio Alger's books. I don't know how this gentleman, from Ohio, had his books transported to Oklahoma for resale.<br />
While not a fan of the Rover Boys, I enjoyed going through the books and checking their condition. While doing so, I found a small, yellow pennant that read: "BATAVIA OLD HOME WEEK, SEPT. 19-24, 1921". I did a little research on the internet and could not determine if this was a college or high school. I also found some correspondence from the original owner. But my greatest thrill was the discovery of a inscription on the title page of THE ROVER BOYS WINNING A FORTUNE. It read: <strong>"Harriet Stratemeyer Adams daughter of Edward Stratemeyer"</strong>. Now if you know anything about my interests in series books you will know I corresponded with Harriet Adams as a child in the 1960s. Elsewhere on this blog you will see copies of my correspondence and her autographs. But to find a book inscribed by her, and using her maiden and married name, is very thrilling. This book (see photos) is apparently a first edition and one I will keep in my collection till I die.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvkOxvprdP6x9LsKvsKnsXgIYfLof92RnOm67F_INjTTCt456EcpFQppBadO-DKHiZjL5t7LACvi-JDA9CeBT-pjj-bDM8lRh-Y_B63bMZ7LrC_H8w77GI7osaf8BrQKeWXa6AR6WGie4/s1600-h/scan0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvkOxvprdP6x9LsKvsKnsXgIYfLof92RnOm67F_INjTTCt456EcpFQppBadO-DKHiZjL5t7LACvi-JDA9CeBT-pjj-bDM8lRh-Y_B63bMZ7LrC_H8w77GI7osaf8BrQKeWXa6AR6WGie4/s320/scan0003.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1ni4UCsk5GDSEBgciJrAW7PKXpH4yc1kh2GgNYygF6MrETaiR_s7v_23zJSeMuK2XqDEU-bzqh99HVa1lWnGuSZA_QThZC13aq_AYu_5vONxs0SENxi_kSSjm9XFAyUDlyma1gTgRZv9/s1600-h/stratemeyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv1ni4UCsk5GDSEBgciJrAW7PKXpH4yc1kh2GgNYygF6MrETaiR_s7v_23zJSeMuK2XqDEU-bzqh99HVa1lWnGuSZA_QThZC13aq_AYu_5vONxs0SENxi_kSSjm9XFAyUDlyma1gTgRZv9/s320/stratemeyer.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuZasLpzx6XHiYOijikrH-knttnnHAMlFito-X8ZpA47hJrHFU5N2bzx2c6NFAZxIp4Pal4x1d2OFVX9HBrXHOWq4clinb4ZoMQZzHRGSNAqCvWVVNFtbNEOHeustFOft-9x0IICqVgxN_/s1600-h/scan0006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuZasLpzx6XHiYOijikrH-knttnnHAMlFito-X8ZpA47hJrHFU5N2bzx2c6NFAZxIp4Pal4x1d2OFVX9HBrXHOWq4clinb4ZoMQZzHRGSNAqCvWVVNFtbNEOHeustFOft-9x0IICqVgxN_/s320/scan0006.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVBkypVZmo-5S06aUsRqpgCEAUM1_p3c5LdDmvYQHkoLS5mCcGgknOb6WuhTw0WHGetBPFJjuyAfD0d-IDo5z18Nhg_7xCRg0DxRjQAoAiQI3J_LY5w4nzcBlKreA89irOazZbTD2yGhhM/s1600-h/batavia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVBkypVZmo-5S06aUsRqpgCEAUM1_p3c5LdDmvYQHkoLS5mCcGgknOb6WuhTw0WHGetBPFJjuyAfD0d-IDo5z18Nhg_7xCRg0DxRjQAoAiQI3J_LY5w4nzcBlKreA89irOazZbTD2yGhhM/s320/batavia.jpg" /></a></div>Getting back to the subject of this column, these kind of treasures can still be found out there if you hunt long enough and hard enough. I never dreamed of this kind of find. In the future I will add to this column with a few more stores of similar finds.Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-84027982028476041102010-02-08T19:41:00.000-08:002010-03-20T18:11:45.639-07:00UNIQUE NANCY DREW ITEMS<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDqVYEIGDl3NNll51I__9n4g51uITqE4nf2snD9od4W_z7S59A-iLF6T7LJSo_95cZ9lu-YFi-uHi9m8HsOMlxp7Zgvkg5hGQzDmFJ4Ix_9t6avLOPbK0Ir4tYNXVrZ2r_EK1HdVRmDyd/s1600-h/scan0033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeDqVYEIGDl3NNll51I__9n4g51uITqE4nf2snD9od4W_z7S59A-iLF6T7LJSo_95cZ9lu-YFi-uHi9m8HsOMlxp7Zgvkg5hGQzDmFJ4Ix_9t6avLOPbK0Ir4tYNXVrZ2r_EK1HdVRmDyd/s320/scan0033.jpg" vt="true" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Here are some photos of some interesting Nancy Drew items, some from my collection. Enjoy! Click on the images for a better view.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">As you can see, this is a promotional packet for the Nancy Drew Twin Thriller Book Club sent out in the 1970s.These are photo copies of the packet, which I sold many years ago. Only a real collector would understand the thinking of another collector in saving this type of material. In the year this was mailed out I was working in the mailroom of my university dorm<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzM-TtsB3pTTzXAvIKyZPjFrNxo1Ynf5WHzohpbeg1WUlcoUQ5lN6LJtFyO6xFwFaYXQ8s_cjCbym8PJiGqdRhPeLws82QjWmRIgVqJcdgZSOo2mOpZB8wf8sQAAlslELFd3pMHzIKsYEE/s1600-h/scan0034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzM-TtsB3pTTzXAvIKyZPjFrNxo1Ynf5WHzohpbeg1WUlcoUQ5lN6LJtFyO6xFwFaYXQ8s_cjCbym8PJiGqdRhPeLws82QjWmRIgVqJcdgZSOo2mOpZB8wf8sQAAlslELFd3pMHzIKsYEE/s320/scan0034.jpg" vt="true" /></a> when this item came through. It was addressed to a non-resident and thus was junk mail. I kept the piece since I recognized the value of such an item for Nancy Drew collectors. The promotional piece below is for another book club.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkKa0pi1Z2ZBEHPagqCZNCuVp8XoeK0yeNrgm2bf1PV210rB8jO_J-rIPtYhlWHdzNwGQ3UlF0yf6EMAmDLTOk4GK9Z-65Q1ypPcyuvZ38goFzvC7DK9MVhnn7CR_UAxWI0dbPqakKEYbn/s1600-h/scan0035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkKa0pi1Z2ZBEHPagqCZNCuVp8XoeK0yeNrgm2bf1PV210rB8jO_J-rIPtYhlWHdzNwGQ3UlF0yf6EMAmDLTOk4GK9Z-65Q1ypPcyuvZ38goFzvC7DK9MVhnn7CR_UAxWI0dbPqakKEYbn/s320/scan0035.jpg" vt="true" /></a>This is the insert that came from the packet, and immediately below is the envelope's front and back.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4yiRtkpJwDOSh9-fYyFVwWTGG2im9DDBoldEdYWOxGMWqv_OjRwiz-pz9WmNcBB_uoFh8rBs0Mwrbb_gJjntA8j8a9Hy2VwqdsFsF6fPfdAuw8qb9amo-rlpewBOwb3Wj3L7orGSW3EK_/s1600-h/scan0036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; cssfloat: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4yiRtkpJwDOSh9-fYyFVwWTGG2im9DDBoldEdYWOxGMWqv_OjRwiz-pz9WmNcBB_uoFh8rBs0Mwrbb_gJjntA8j8a9Hy2VwqdsFsF6fPfdAuw8qb9amo-rlpewBOwb3Wj3L7orGSW3EK_/s320/scan0036.jpg" vt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVLSoitYaR1_GwlsEt4cFSaWtbppdxVGL_ZAafDJAOxlCxYrlcdshE0JRjkT3HQQx8HFAQJXNkrrb8-HmAM_XQ6WXkyjx8lxgmlUELOuAa3wd5IJFSZBJ4IWewDd440ocPIVbzaUG3fpZ/s1600-h/scan0038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVLSoitYaR1_GwlsEt4cFSaWtbppdxVGL_ZAafDJAOxlCxYrlcdshE0JRjkT3HQQx8HFAQJXNkrrb8-HmAM_XQ6WXkyjx8lxgmlUELOuAa3wd5IJFSZBJ4IWewDd440ocPIVbzaUG3fpZ/s320/scan0038.jpg" vt="true" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjqXX3bFcSGbLxl9DgImSv85iNvkTZ4wn3o_rnggpxmbzYS9YzwHqrHh7Dy3dRVLjEe2XpF213BazFrDR72ieDucXUUkLMNOR0C2z06W9yVUMiDvbiRyGel0vHFJgKJp04XLyVP6KVDyBP/s1600-h/Nancy+Drew+cameo+ad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjqXX3bFcSGbLxl9DgImSv85iNvkTZ4wn3o_rnggpxmbzYS9YzwHqrHh7Dy3dRVLjEe2XpF213BazFrDR72ieDucXUUkLMNOR0C2z06W9yVUMiDvbiRyGel0vHFJgKJp04XLyVP6KVDyBP/s320/Nancy+Drew+cameo+ad.jpg" /></a>Another Nancy Drew book club promotion.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip7DtYpAhyphenhyphenZI9_BBtfBIuIPU09_uuhDLquxh0rnT9cGwbCp0y6gwV_dcitUVU5YEc-f231zgZn2D3Uav2UAx2gobhscDTdXSDZfaReo77-5hAM_dfapvI82_5byX9p5pKlA2jyJ9wFwDG3/s1600-h/Nancy+Drew+Board+game.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip7DtYpAhyphenhyphenZI9_BBtfBIuIPU09_uuhDLquxh0rnT9cGwbCp0y6gwV_dcitUVU5YEc-f231zgZn2D3Uav2UAx2gobhscDTdXSDZfaReo77-5hAM_dfapvI82_5byX9p5pKlA2jyJ9wFwDG3/s320/Nancy+Drew+Board+game.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNKCfG8QIpS7xa3e0vb8d9TzjbdJZzcI6PpBJzJQapfk99LEPMTWhCw5O_Au-tvIPVk-2h9e0Zqqh7Jw6QCCIgg-LSGrO5nxWRT2WGs6RwunFM3EQMVZhvfCP1fS8kj7c4S2vbsH9mtqPm/s1600-h/ND+early+Board+game.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNKCfG8QIpS7xa3e0vb8d9TzjbdJZzcI6PpBJzJQapfk99LEPMTWhCw5O_Au-tvIPVk-2h9e0Zqqh7Jw6QCCIgg-LSGrO5nxWRT2WGs6RwunFM3EQMVZhvfCP1fS8kj7c4S2vbsH9mtqPm/s320/ND+early+Board+game.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Nancy Drew game from late 1950s.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghMtcURtChQN_19HlB_2eDlZIZVul-7Luzsami9iXjcGJpQRogwTVw8Qk4K0ZMlfBFbr_h4YdfypfVldelzbE53XSGP7sLo3WqLCgxtHyjbttJHaZ8fHCBKHhdxfgorj-BD1fyqjDugKzK/s1600-h/Nancy+Drew+game+board.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghMtcURtChQN_19HlB_2eDlZIZVul-7Luzsami9iXjcGJpQRogwTVw8Qk4K0ZMlfBFbr_h4YdfypfVldelzbE53XSGP7sLo3WqLCgxtHyjbttJHaZ8fHCBKHhdxfgorj-BD1fyqjDugKzK/s320/Nancy+Drew+game+board.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOne-M-SCtENTLcqIjuWaVkPrCCZ1renqw737UWu7GiAnlj3b8B70WNXHO9F0EA6i6FbRxaJAj7xUhfEPhj9gyThy-e_YrNR7eiw7BCDLMNf8jgNwfHG1sL-QniKz20U2OIKCVrJBYAH2q/s1600-h/IM000265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOne-M-SCtENTLcqIjuWaVkPrCCZ1renqw737UWu7GiAnlj3b8B70WNXHO9F0EA6i6FbRxaJAj7xUhfEPhj9gyThy-e_YrNR7eiw7BCDLMNf8jgNwfHG1sL-QniKz20U2OIKCVrJBYAH2q/s320/IM000265.JPG" /></a>I have had this Nancy Drew movie poster for about 30 years and have it displayed on my office wall next to my Nancy Drew collection. It is a very rare piece. I put this image in this section, too, because the photo items along the side of my articles will not allow for enlargement.</div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-74206278559574373062009-07-05T10:32:00.000-07:002009-07-05T19:37:07.756-07:00SECRET OF THE TRI-FOLD "WHO'S WHO?" QUIZ AD<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnx3TdPG4SpQzvzKTaIm2PudAjoUcZw8rx0uhZOfeHIjbDkORWYoJz1gHb3_8nITDMneEGO-Z-xIYwWFcnsHca21tfuL4GCZSizY7uxKUxe6XSlUaDWciFESgSHAuhMIo5wma2ql1h01Ud/s1600-h/June+7+ebay+013.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 230px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355057425565776290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnx3TdPG4SpQzvzKTaIm2PudAjoUcZw8rx0uhZOfeHIjbDkORWYoJz1gHb3_8nITDMneEGO-Z-xIYwWFcnsHca21tfuL4GCZSizY7uxKUxe6XSlUaDWciFESgSHAuhMIo5wma2ql1h01Ud/s320/June+7+ebay+013.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilOwsGHkp2SHB52Z27JdWZqghPMTAkd9C0yCCE4PAtpRfMHbEMd3_Nl-L1JxHfTibkz4_kJ9KBwP9yoVY15JiBZEy3GMvgmjHLZM4Y_Ad-xFA3MTd2QJa-xqbX6MSUPPpbOxEPJckwvkB0/s1600-h/June+7+ebay+011.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 222px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355057420731072978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilOwsGHkp2SHB52Z27JdWZqghPMTAkd9C0yCCE4PAtpRfMHbEMd3_Nl-L1JxHfTibkz4_kJ9KBwP9yoVY15JiBZEy3GMvgmjHLZM4Y_Ad-xFA3MTd2QJa-xqbX6MSUPPpbOxEPJckwvkB0/s320/June+7+ebay+011.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_vmr8yia-zpV795nU_gtJp3n8WxdohcGzS5BQeWFJ0KFDFRCgOh5qB93Clso6MBZbB76oCKaquydn5jE3Pu5J_bMh1eem88SIhP7vNT_Dr8k36oRPAjP2p0R-2CFauVmVInjAZGyDrY0o/s1600-h/June+7+ebay+009.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355057409979975874" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_vmr8yia-zpV795nU_gtJp3n8WxdohcGzS5BQeWFJ0KFDFRCgOh5qB93Clso6MBZbB76oCKaquydn5jE3Pu5J_bMh1eem88SIhP7vNT_Dr8k36oRPAjP2p0R-2CFauVmVInjAZGyDrY0o/s320/June+7+ebay+009.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgICQy3wOdWWRnP8jIgIgsn8ej3E3lDXKE3lT8NJKDUDxbavAPvDPWDujRi6lAtsMNhjON9kzFgoX0Ud5m7K47qwGxrgA-TJNJSPyIPlRylFzdiZ-I68hB2tP8I00PG_jLKE54yIGL0r5Rk/s1600-h/June+7+ebay+010.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 250px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355057419979735874" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgICQy3wOdWWRnP8jIgIgsn8ej3E3lDXKE3lT8NJKDUDxbavAPvDPWDujRi6lAtsMNhjON9kzFgoX0Ud5m7K47qwGxrgA-TJNJSPyIPlRylFzdiZ-I68hB2tP8I00PG_jLKE54yIGL0r5Rk/s320/June+7+ebay+010.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPraxxlqxNX8j40ewmgMEbQkeZcsW1qehoNIIcbTuZ09jlkq19EiFjBXAaWI8fGe0GkaZ9JFRc2NRP4Q1QA6xaSm9J_iATUJB9Lk2Os9_CasIVdshgXLVImZvj77Ya11CQgksVOG_5Bu4d/s1600-h/June+7+ebay+008.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 234px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355057402168517410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPraxxlqxNX8j40ewmgMEbQkeZcsW1qehoNIIcbTuZ09jlkq19EiFjBXAaWI8fGe0GkaZ9JFRc2NRP4Q1QA6xaSm9J_iATUJB9Lk2Os9_CasIVdshgXLVImZvj77Ya11CQgksVOG_5Bu4d/s320/June+7+ebay+008.jpg" /></a><br /><div><br /><br /><div><div><br /><div>Most vintage children's mystery series book fans are aware of the pull-out, tri-fold ad featured in select volumes of the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift Jr., the Bobbsey Twins and Cherry Ames published in 1964. The cardboard advertisment measures about 11 inches by 7 1/2 inches and is printed with orange and black on white. It features tiny illustrations of 19 different book series characters published by Grosset & Dunlap at that time. With each illustration is a clue to the name of the character and the answer to the quiz is on the bottom right side of the lineup printed upside down.</div><br /><div>I first discovered this advertisement in the mid-1960s and like most kids might do, I tore it out and cut it up into sections. I still have those cardboard cutouts and display them on a magnet on my refrigerator. When I became a serious book collector many years later, I started searching for books that had the ad and I still enjoy doing so. In fact, recently I found a set of Hardy Boys books at a book store that had the ad in the 1964 edition. A few years ago I found a set of Nancy Drew that had the ad in one of the books.</div><br /><div>So I have become slightly obsessed with finding books with the ad. And I am curious as to how many more books may have had the ad that I don't know about.</div><br /><br /><div>What is unique about the ad is that there is not alot of promotional material about the Grosset & Dunlap books out there and this ad stands out as one of the few pieces readily available for collectors today. You can find books with the ad on eBay occasionally and those books will sell at high prices and sometimes at low. Sometimes seller's are not aware the ad is in the book they are selling and many times buyers inquire through the eBay messaging system.</div><br /><div>The books with ads that sell higher on eBay are the volumes in the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and that is because those books are first editions, too, and the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew have more devoted fans. However, not every edition with the tri-fold ad is a first edition, but every edition is a picture cover edition. Here is the list of books with the tri-fold ad that I am aware of and most I have in my collection:</div><br /><div><strong>THE HARDY BOYS, THE MYSTERY OF THE AZTEC WARRIOR (43)</strong> Any volume of this book with the ad is a true first edition. This book will sell for more than $100 many times on eBay, but usually only with the ad in it. I have seen several eBay auctions where the seller will mention that there is sign the ad was torn out of the book. Note, the ad is always at the back of the book after the last page of text and always before the endpapers. As in the Nancy Drew volume with the ad, Aztec Warrior is the last title of Hardy Boys books on the back cover, but the Hardy Boys always lists its' detective handbook right afterward.</div><br /><div>I recently found another Aztec Warrior with the back cover titles that match a first edition, but the ad was not present and I could not detect any signs the ad was ever in that book. But there is one strange thing about this book, on the copyright page it has "11/64" printed under the Grosset & Dunlap trademark, and my copy with the ad does not have that notation. I don't know what that means or its' significance, but possibly this edition was printed months after the initial printing with the ad.</div><br /><div><strong>NANCY DREW THE CLUE OF THE WHISTLING BAGPIPES (41).</strong> Because of the immense popularity of Nancy Drew, this book will always garner high prices on eBay, but again as long as the ad is present. This is another first edition book that ends with itself as the last title on the back cover.</div><br /><div>It should be noted that the tri-fold ad has a list of titles for several series and the user of the ad could cut off a post card to buy the books ($1.25 each). The ad that appears in girls books lists only books for girls. Every reader of series books has found a book with check marks next to the list of books in that series, indicating which books the owner had read. This tri-fold ad has a convenient set of titles with boxes one can check. Many times you will find an ad with boxes checked or the post card detached. Collectors desire copies of the ad that are mint and untouched!</div><div> </div><div></div><div>The girls series listed on the ad for one to check include Nancy Drew, Dana Girls, Vicki Barr, Peggy Lane, Judy Bolton, Connie Blair and Cherry Ames. The boys series listed in boys books are the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift Jr., Fury Horse Stories, Rick Brant, Bret King, Chip Hilton, Biff Brewster, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet, Bronc Burnett and Ken Holt.</div><br /><div><strong>TOM SWIFT AND HIS AQUATOMIC TRACKER (23).</strong> Last title on the back cover is #22, Tom Swift and His Repelatron Skyway. This is another first edition and I believe that another TSJR book had the ad, possibly #1 Flying Lab, but I can't document this. More on this at the bottom.</div><br /><div><strong>CHERRY AMES STUDENT NURSE (1)</strong> and <strong>CHERRY AMES COMPANION NURSE (24).</strong> The latter title was published in 1964 and is a first edition. I have a copy of Student Nurse with the ad but was only aware of the latter book in a recent eBay auction. I thought I had seen an ad in Jungle Nurse, but that can't be because it was published in 1965. Student Nurse lists to Country Doctor's Nurse and Book of First Aid and Home Nursing.</div><div><br /></div><div><strong>THE BOBBSEY TWINS AND THE GREEK HAT MYSTERY (57)</strong> It is another first edition and lists to And the Big River Mystery on the back cover. On this book, the list of series books you can check include the Bobbsey Twins, Honey Bunch and Norman, and books by Thornton W. Burgess Books, and in doing this article, I notice for the first time that there is room for listing some Dana Girls titles under the heading of: "Are you ready for the Dana Girls?"</div><div> </div><div>It is interesting and obviously smart that Grosset & Dunlap varied the tri-fold ads for the assumed readers of the book the ad came in. Thus, in boys books, the list of titles to check and order were boys books and girls books for girls and in this case, the Bobbsey Twins ad was aiming at children who wanted similar titles, yet there was some room left so the marketing department of G&D decided to include the Dana Girls under the headline "Are you ready for the Dana Girls?"</div><div> </div><div></div><div>This article is a summation of what I know about the tri-fold ad that appeared in one year, 1964, and was never seen again. I do have questions of whether any more books had the ad, such as in the Ken Holt, Rick Brant, Dana Girls, Judy Bolton and the other series that this ad promoted. I hope anyone reading this and knowing of other examples will contact me. I have recollections that one more TSJR book had the ad. But I can't verify that. The finding of Cherry Ames Companion Nurse recently on eBay with the ad was very pleasing.</div><div> </div><div></div><div>In the future I will be placing ads on my blog featuring department store ads for children's mystery series book (such as in catalogs) and I will place pictures from a G&D catalog I once owned that came out in the late 1960s. Stay tuned! </div></div></div></div></div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-77268018609388836832009-02-07T08:27:00.000-08:002011-02-26T19:23:11.992-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP0HIhe5zKTxunHS-ecXQqJjFEcfBbiqIR3kKLs066CjhXaHfeFPeOqjbQkDa8ZWkxRDHk85jnkpupE7agtpO3F_Qg0DzbF7K9nAVh3QAQdZofW3-2J18ZPY25SnOauV6d-Kp9IK34UHpn/s1600-h/Runaway+Caravan.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300127062707377890" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 211px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP0HIhe5zKTxunHS-ecXQqJjFEcfBbiqIR3kKLs066CjhXaHfeFPeOqjbQkDa8ZWkxRDHk85jnkpupE7agtpO3F_Qg0DzbF7K9nAVh3QAQdZofW3-2J18ZPY25SnOauV6d-Kp9IK34UHpn/s320/Runaway+Caravan.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0a2aj7AvgsxNfphIkH3paktx_T0I-6LBDEDxDZybl-o8i2QVI-tVotNeRn3j7nz1Gz6w5uSHmIIaZtc_aymhFa81DLIj4EXwNxkEhC_8aalrvHfr6f5n5-h_9QwJ7WvPhAID-6fll3gXy/s1600-h/website+028.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300127060269204818" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 262px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0a2aj7AvgsxNfphIkH3paktx_T0I-6LBDEDxDZybl-o8i2QVI-tVotNeRn3j7nz1Gz6w5uSHmIIaZtc_aymhFa81DLIj4EXwNxkEhC_8aalrvHfr6f5n5-h_9QwJ7WvPhAID-6fll3gXy/s320/website+028.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />
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<div><em>Not all are sugar and spice....<br />
</em><span style="font-size:180%;">Unique and Incredible Series Book Plots</span><br />
<span style="font-size:180%;"><br />
</span>Any fan of juvenile mystery-adventure books will admit that there is little resemblance of real life in most of them. Characters never age; parental oversight is lacking and mostly unnecessary; and there is always a happy ending with the treasure found in the end.<br />
In fact, many of the series books we enjoy are downright sappy (Bobbsey Twins, Honey Bunch) and even the more serious books such as the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, etc., oftentimes stretch the boundaries of believability. There is, more often than not, too much coincidence and a helpful hand always there when our hero is bound and gagged in the basement.<br />
There are exceptions, though. Judy Bolton actually ages through the series, eventually marrying and carrying on adventures as an adult. Tom Quest is another series that actually borders on being an adult series because the story line is so realistic and grim. In the <strong>Mystery of the Timber Giant</strong>, the last book in the series, I was surprised that two of the bad guys are killed while being held in jail (poison in their food) and another bad guy kills himself.<br />
After being arrested and forced to confess, villain Jonathan Smythe agrees to reveal the head of the evil syndicate seeking to control the lumber trade in the Pacific Northwest. To write out a confession, he asks specifically for the pen in his desk, brought to the jail along with his other belongings:</div><div><br />
<strong><em>“A few minutes later, Sheriff Lawson passed a pad of ruled paper and the bulky fountain pen through the bars of the cell door. A curious, farway look came into Smythe’s eyes as he gripped the pen.<br />
“Now, Sheriff, “ he said, “I’ll show you a trick that may surprise you.”<br />
“Eh?” said the unsuspecting lawman. He watched Smythe unscrew the cap of the pen. Then he realized that he had been duped. Smythe stuck the pen into his mouth and lifted the little gold lever that depressed the rubber sac.<br />
Lawson yelled, “Hold on!” He unlocked the cell door and jerked it open.<br />
The Pen dropped to the floor as he grabbed the lawyer. “You crazy fool!” Lawson shouted. “What’d you do? What was in that pen?”<br />
The lawyer smiled without mirth. “Sheriff,” he said slowly, “the poison is painless.” His eyelids fluttered and his legs went limp. He dropped to the floor – dead by his own hand.</em></strong></div><em><div><br />
</em><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Tom Quest, Mystery of the Timber Giant, page 162-163</strong>.</span></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><div><br />
</span>In the same book, Tom Quest and friends conduct a “sting” operation to save a timberman from losing the value of his land. The plot is very cleaver and plays out over several chapters, allowing the same Jonathan Smythe to be duped, just as he sought to dupe others.<br />
For every villain that dies in a series book (and heroes or their friends would never die), there are countless scoundrels that are simply jailed and never heard of again.<br />
While the plots of the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Rover Boys, etc., are seldom truly realistic, they linger on the border of realism and can be enjoyed for the fun they do bring. But sometimes these books stray too far in the things that occur to and for our heroes.</div><div><br />
In Mildred Wirt’s Trailer Series, volume 1, <strong>The Runaway Caravan</strong>, the story is fun but hard to believe. In the plot, three siblings are adopted by their uncle when their parents die and when their uncle Nathan is incapacitated, a self-proclaimed distant relative takes over the household and rules with an iron fist, even going so far as to give away one of the kid’s dog. This storyline is not unrealistic and is even very dramatic. This is territory most of these books never walk. Our heroes are not supposed to have meddlesome relatives who prevent adventures, much less give away one of their pets. But when Barbara, Ginger and Jimmy Gibson escape in a trailer and car, and hit the open road for several weeks, it is hard to believe three kids ages 13-16 could do this, even in 1937, the year the book was written. Even so, Mildred Wirt writes a great story that was fun to read.</div><div><br />
In an interesting story written by E.J. Craine, <strong>The Mystery of Black Eagle Island</strong> (not a series book), the author tells the story of the family of cartoonist George Kimbell Ingram. Along with his wife Florence, they have six children, referred to as: The Half Dozen.<br />
At the beginning it is revealed that Mrs. Ingram “must, absolutely must, have a rest and change.” With six kids, it is understandable, but it is not clear whether this means mama has had a nervous breakdown.<br />
Luckily, a friend of the family offers his island and summer house, while his family is abroad. Mr. Ingram obtains the services of a familiar housekeeper who will go with the children while their parents rest elsewhere. The children are put on the train to the seaside village near the island: </div><div></div><div><strong><em>“That’s how it came about that one bright day late in June the Half Dozen Ingrams took affectionate leave of their mother, who smiled at them from her chair by the window, and accompanied by Dad, a Boston Bull, a black cat in a basket, numberless suitcases and boxes, climbed into the biggest taxi they could find and ordered the driver to take them to the Pennsylvania Depot, Long Island side.”<br />
</em></strong>They boarded a train without their housekeeper because “she had some things to do and will be on a later train,” their father said. The oldest child, a twin boy, is 13. The seriousness of their mother’s condition is revealed when he says:<br />
“You will let us know how Mother gets on?” Maxwell asked.<br />
“You won’t try to fool us about her, Dad?” Maxine (twin sister) whispered anxiously.<br />
It is refreshing that the author uses a realistic excuse to dispose of the problem of parental interference that so many writers handle by killing off parents and leaving our series book heroes in single-parent homes.<br />
When the children arrive at the seaside village they are met by a local man and he transports them to the island. His wife cooks a meal and the older couple help the children settle in and give them instructions on minding the house and even milking a cow. They leave early before the housekeeper arrives because of a family emergency. But as the story develops, the housekeeper never shows up, and the kids are in charge of the island for 12 weeks. They hesitate to tell their parents about the missing housekeeper, for fear it may worsen mother’s health. The story line will go on to include mystery visitors and smugglers, and some infrequent adult supervision, but for all practical purposes, the kids are left to themselves for the rest of the story. Today child welfare services would be having a fit.</div><div><br />
Finally, thanks to an internet friend, David Baumann, and his excellent <strong>X Bar X Boys</strong> web site <a href="http://home.pacbell.net/dbaumann">(hit here for </a><a href="http://home.pacbell.net/dbaumann">a </a><a href="http://home.pacbell.net/dbaumann">link),</a> I discovered this piece of story where our heroes consider killing a villain, less justice not be gained:</div><div><br />
<strong><em>“Nobody ever got anywhere by calling names,” sneered Skinny. “You fellows can’t prove anything, and if you could it wouldn’t make any difference. Anybody with any sense could get out of that jug at Hawley, so don’t fool yourselves. Skinny Judson’s a long way from getting it in the neck.”<br />
“Let’s shoot him and get rid of him,” suggested Teddy (Manley), holding his pistol in line with Skinny’s heart and causing the puncher to wince at its nearness. “Nobody would ever know, Roy, but ourselves.”<br />
“Much as I’d like to get rid of the despicable Skinny, we can’t murder him in cold blood.”<br />
</em><span style="font-size:85%;">X Bar X Boys, Riding For Life, page 179-180</span></strong></div><div><br />
Luckily for us, one half of the Manley boys got some sense.<br />
In the future I will be adding more examples to this article that points out either strange plots in mystery series books or incredible plots that are beyond normal reason in today’s world or even in the world of the 1930s and 1940s. If you have any example, please forward them.</div></div></div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-55867547813090594572009-01-17T09:55:00.000-08:002009-01-17T10:51:03.367-08:00CHILDREN'S SERIES BOOK REVIEWS & PREVIEWS<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUm5z9eC1Z2MF3iFrXg6rjtVnZA5ZBFdzEl_-aShdGa4yhrwSYmV2RKy44UVJAO3z-9vJifWyhV0PJcc-EfK6idZFBRZSnpI8bulzIqkTsdFLzibm9zkFVwaboXlVsoaHWF6C6EiF8bnU/s1600-h/website+027.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292326862955807154" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 250px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUm5z9eC1Z2MF3iFrXg6rjtVnZA5ZBFdzEl_-aShdGa4yhrwSYmV2RKy44UVJAO3z-9vJifWyhV0PJcc-EfK6idZFBRZSnpI8bulzIqkTsdFLzibm9zkFVwaboXlVsoaHWF6C6EiF8bnU/s320/website+027.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDj3XAyIblGERubk6TsuFasjsZQfSCyJIyzXhOmenNksn-lOTyXQyyb8liPIyC1BxObvwf_V12VLU2e5dpsICX2MhIhfHVAIuJUNlMcijNMpZXFIyD-rsYrcKP0E5azKLbRhk82yYqdJq/s1600-h/website+024.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292326849819133794" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDj3XAyIblGERubk6TsuFasjsZQfSCyJIyzXhOmenNksn-lOTyXQyyb8liPIyC1BxObvwf_V12VLU2e5dpsICX2MhIhfHVAIuJUNlMcijNMpZXFIyD-rsYrcKP0E5azKLbRhk82yYqdJq/s320/website+024.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkDKRzszSQaF0Btd8iI9rQ8RvyL5nBFDNW8BAg0pvB6HcsfACDzQFjiRMlQo6qma8UATRh-6IXtz8Qi6lEbKggUgY7Ie-BnfZVBCG0xxXG05S5GT50khk09v7-Eb0cQyhZFQGhdlnZzi2C/s1600-h/website+025.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292326856054436162" style="WIDTH: 215px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkDKRzszSQaF0Btd8iI9rQ8RvyL5nBFDNW8BAg0pvB6HcsfACDzQFjiRMlQo6qma8UATRh-6IXtz8Qi6lEbKggUgY7Ie-BnfZVBCG0xxXG05S5GT50khk09v7-Eb0cQyhZFQGhdlnZzi2C/s320/website+025.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMvSAfFFqjwxJM-ibTfIrB-xsomcaY8bd89_bllnhCcjujvS_Rso6_V8R0gmodV33QgaOvwwckUAcnbpaJBpvSj9fJQTEw7HOc-ELSfDEl95C9zSZd0-YrUTJY6h3b8JI9d8nVvKGWTIs/s1600-h/88_1_b.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292326844842267058" style="WIDTH: 223px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMvSAfFFqjwxJM-ibTfIrB-xsomcaY8bd89_bllnhCcjujvS_Rso6_V8R0gmodV33QgaOvwwckUAcnbpaJBpvSj9fJQTEw7HOc-ELSfDEl95C9zSZd0-YrUTJY6h3b8JI9d8nVvKGWTIs/s320/88_1_b.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div><div><div><br /><strong>You know it's a juvenile series book by....<br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Those Quaint Reviews and Previews Unique To Series Books</span></strong><br /></div><div><br />One of the hallmarks of children’s mystery series books is the sometimes-brief introduction by the author of the characters and their previous exploits in earlier volumes. Often this occurs in the first few pages and is part of the character description:</div><div><br /><em><strong>“The scrappy, humorous ex-marine had lived on Spindrift Island ever since he had rescued Rick from Manfred Wessel’s gang before the launching of the moon rocket…Scotty had been hired as an island guard, and he had helped Rick solve the rocket mystery and trap the Spindrift Island traitor…” </strong></em><strong><br /></div><div><br /></strong><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>Rick Brant Mystery #2, The Lost City, page 2, referring to volume 1, The Rocket’s Shadow</em></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></div><div><br /></span>Series written before 1930 are more likely to have this type of quaint narrative:</div><div><br /><strong><em>“While the boys are thus marooned by the storm in the shelter of the cliff it might be best to introduce them to new readers of this series.”</em></strong><strong><br /></div><div><br /></strong><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>The Hardy Boys, Hunting for Hidden Gold, page 13</em></span></div><div><br />After a brief introduction of the characters, the author would summarize the previous volumes as briefly as possible but with usual inclusion of previous titles. From the Hardy Boys, Hunting for Hidden Gold:</div><div><br /><strong><em>“In the first volume of this series, “The Hardy Boys: The Tower Treasure,” Frank and Joe Hardy solved this first mystery, tracing down a mysterious theft of jewels and bonds from a mansion on the outskirts of Bayport after their father had been forced to admit himself checkmated.”</em></strong> </div><div><br />Since Hunting for Hidden Gold was #5 in the series, a paragraph was used to briefly describe volumes one, two, three and four. Unlike television series that recap prior episodes at the beginning of a new episode (“Previously, on LOST.”), this recap is seldom necessary to advance the current story. While the recaps can serve to introduce the characters for a reader who has never read any of the books, it was more often than not used as a marketing tool to encourage sales of the other volumes. Most series began with an initial release of three or four volumes at one time, referred by some as a breeder series. Bookstores would offer the initial volumes as a set. If sales warranted it, more volumes would be prepared. The first three Hardy Boys were published in 1927.</div><div><br />Along with recapping previous volumes at the beginning, most series books also preview the next volume at the end of each story:</div><div><br /><strong><em>“There were to be more exciting adventures in store for the Hardy boys, and what some of these were will be related in the next volume of this series, entitled “The Hardy Boys: Hunting for Hidden Gold,” a strenuous story of the West.” </em></strong><strong><br /></div><div><br /></strong><em><span style="font-size:85%;">The Hardy Boys, The Missing Chums, page 213</span></em><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></div><div><br /></span></em>The older the series was written the sillier some of these recaps can be:</div><div><br /><strong><em>“Leaving Stella to nurse her resentment against the unpleasant Mrs. Renton, a few moments will be taken to tell new readers something about the Outdoor Girls and their activities up to the present time.<br />In the first volume of the series, entitled “The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale,” the girls embarked upon a camping and tramping trip which brought in its train many interesting and thrilling adventures.<br />There followed other good times at Wild Rose Lodge, at Cape Cod, and at Spring Hill Farm, a summer resort in the mountains. There had been a never-to-be-forgotten vacation at New Moon Ranch as the guests of Daniel Tower, the guardian and self-styled uncle of the Bronson Twins, Meg and Lota.” </em></strong><strong><br /></div><div><br /></strong><span style="font-size:85%;">The Outdoor Girls On a Canoe Trip, page 12-13</span></div><div><br />The Outdoors Girls were published between 1913 and 1933, covering more than 20 volumes. It is interesting to note that this series was unique in that at the end of the series the original characters were replaced with new characters:</div><div><br /><strong><em>“The four original Outdoor Girls, Betty Nelson, Mollie Billette, Grace Ford, and Amy Blackford had, one by one, deserted their beloved club in favor of matrimony.”</em></strong><strong></div><div><br /></strong><em><span style="font-size:85%;">The Outdoor Girls on a Canoe Trip, page 12.</span></em><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></div><div><br /></span></em>It should be noted that The Outdoor Girls series ended three volumes later. Apparently the new outdoor girls were not as interesting as the earlier outdoor girls. If a series covers several decades, like the Outdoor Girls, it can be rather tedious to try to recap every volume.</div><div><br />Not every series book will feature this amusing recap or even the ending preview. Most likely this feature was more common in books produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, famous if not infamous for their marketing techniques of their books. But this technique was not reserved to them only:</div><div><br /><strong><em>“Readers of the Sign of the Spiral will remember how these two friends and Gulliver followed clue of the ring’s pattern to capture an outlaw gang in a ghost town.<br />The spiral figured importantly in Tom Quest’s life a second time during an adventure among the headhunters of Ecuador, as related in The Telltale Scar.”</em></strong> </div><div><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Tom Quest, Mystery of the Timber Giant, page 11</span></em></div><div><br />Author Fran (Lone Ranger) Striker was no Stratemeyer ghost writer, but still used this technique to not only market his books, but establish the credentials of the characters and their relationship. As related on another page of my web site, the Tom Quest series is one of my most favored series because of its more adult, realistic storylines. See accompanying article on “strange scenes in series books.” I highly recommend the Tom Quest series.</div><div><br />After many years of enjoying these books, and sometimes wading through these reviews, I found a most unique marketing technique I have ever seen. In the Trailer Series books written by Mildred Wirt in 1937 and 1938. In volume one, The Runaway Caravan, the author promotes other books she wrote not related to the Trailer Series:</div><div><br />“<strong><em>Barbara’s tower room was lined with a wealth of books. On a small center table she kept her favorite stories, The Twin Ring Mystery, The Clue at Crooked Lane, and the Hollow Wall Mystery, which she had read so many times she could almost repeat whole pages from memory.” </em></strong><strong><br /></div><div><br /></strong><em><span style="font-size:85%;">The Runaway Caravan, page 6.</span></em><em><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></div><div><br /></span></em>I have never known an author to use one series to promote another series, much less one character to promote another series in such a blatant way. Can you imagine this scene:<br /><strong><em>“Before ending her exciting day, Nany Drew relaxed on the couch with her favorite book series, the Dana Girls.”</em></strong></div><div><strong><em></em></strong><br />Finally, another form of promotion that rarely occurs in series books occured in the Ken Holt and Rick Brant series. In one Ken Holt book, the author refers to an invention of another series hero, Rick Brant. And in a Rick Brant book, “The Flying Stingaree“, the author John Blaine uses the resources of Ken Holt, a newspaperman, to identify a villain in the story, and in fact the author titles Chapter X: .“<strong>Ken Holt Comes Through</strong>." These two series were written by different authors, but they were obviously friends.</div><div><br />These previews and reviews add a fun element to series books that I enjoy, no matter what the motive of the author or their publisher.</div></div></div></div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-74906536462619163672009-01-13T12:53:00.000-08:002009-01-13T13:02:37.680-08:00AN AFTERNOON WITH THE STRATEMEYER ARCHIVES<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJm5RDRR4pul_i_555lTPygTsriRTzzzgX_W3RuUF-wV03di6F1o14QqFhPCXBrQL8HCG0b_pOEWpyZT6CEZKNoUUEhsUxUQxWhgb1TpQmbEmStphdhBwu4Oc75uJKkZtn_uCYNgybpaR/s1600-h/website+018.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290886527919912018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWJm5RDRR4pul_i_555lTPygTsriRTzzzgX_W3RuUF-wV03di6F1o14QqFhPCXBrQL8HCG0b_pOEWpyZT6CEZKNoUUEhsUxUQxWhgb1TpQmbEmStphdhBwu4Oc75uJKkZtn_uCYNgybpaR/s320/website+018.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="center"><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>An Afternoon With The Stratemeyer Archives</strong></span></div><span style="font-size:180%;"></span><br /><div><br /><strong><em>The following article appeared in the Dec. 1999 issue of Yellowback Library</em></strong></div><br /><div><br />By Timothy P. O'Herin<br /></div><br /><div>In April 1999, I had the privilege of being one of the first series book collectors to browse through the archives of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, housed in the famous New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue, Midtown Manhattan.</div><div><br />Although I only spent a few hours at the library one afternoon, and I went through three boxes and one scrapbook, I found a few interesting items of interest to Stratemeyer series collectors, especially fans of Nancy Drew and her author, Mildred A. Wirt.</div><div><br />My visit to the library occurred during a week-long trip to the East Coast, which culminated in attending the annual meeting of the South Jersey Series Collectors in Sea Bright, NJ. At that meeting I met James D. Lawrence Jr., son of the late Jim Lawrence, one of the syndicate’s writers in the 1950s and 1960s. Jim’s son works for the Chubb Insurance Company, which made a substantial financial grant to the library for the initial cataloguing.</div><br /><div><br />The day before the Sea Bright meeting, I visited the library in hopes I could go through some of the Stratemeyer archives. I was not certain I would be given permission, particularly since I am only a fan, not a researcher. The only information I had about the archives was obtained from the NYC Public Library web site, which had a few details about the collection. I wasted a good hour at the library just trying to determine where the files were kept and how to get permission to go through them. I finally determined that one gentleman, working in a small office off a large exhibit room, was the person to see. He was very friendly and helpful. I filled out a small identification form that allowed me room to explain my academic credentials. I was afraid my credentials might be insufficient. But he was very kind and after looking over my information, gave me a 24-hour pass to the archives room.</div><br /><div><br />The archives room and the main research library are easy to find, I believe on the third floor. The archives room is secured by a door that can only be opened when you flash your pass to the attendant. Once inside, I explained my mission and I was given a simple catalog of about 60 pages listing the archives by material. You may only acquire four boxes of items at one time. They also require that you give them several hours to find the material. Since the time was approaching noon, I said I would be back after lunch. I used that time to attend an antiquarian book fair being held nearby. The book fair was very disappointing. There were book dealers from around the world, and I only recall seeing some early Tom Swifts in dust jackets. Otherwise very little children’s mystery series books. The South Jersey Series Collectors meeting was a treasure chest of books and most at reasonable prices.</div><br /><div><br />Returning to the library, my requests were waiting for me. Since I was allowed only four items, these were my requests:</div><br /><div><br />1) Letters between the Stratemeyer Syndicate and Mildred Wirt, the original author of the Nancy Drew Mystery Series. Also letters with other syndicate writers.</div><br /><div><br />2) Correspondence of Andrew Svenson, a syndicate partner and employee from 1948 to his death in the mid-1970s.</div><br /><div><br />3) A scrapbook covering a 30-year period from about 1940 to 1970.</div><br /><div><br />4) Fan letters from the 1930s to the 1970s.</div><br /><div><br />I had several motives in my search. I am a big fan of Mildred Wirt, and surprisingly not because of her work with Nancy Drew, but rather her own Penny Parker series, which I tremendously enjoy. Besides, she is one of the main freelance contributors to the syndicate.</div><br /><div><br />I also have a special interest in Andrew Svenson since he wrote the Happy Hollisters, and that was my first series to read and collect as a child. I also corresponded with him over several years in the 1960s. I hoped to run across my own fan letters, but I was not successful in that venture.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>During the 1960s, I also corresponded with Harriet Adams, daughter of Edward Stratemeyer, who founded the syndicate and passed on it ownership to daughters Harriet and Edna. I read about Harriet in a newspaper article and contacted her. In one of her letters to me, she asked for a copy of the newspaper article to include in her scrapbook. Since I have always enjoyed putting together scrapbooks, I used to think what a thrill it would be to see one of the syndicate’s scrapbooks.</div><br /><div><br />I went to the public library that day not knowing if I would be successful, so I was not prepared for the treat that was in store for me. I did not have any type of writing material and even had to borrow a pencil from the library. I also used small strips of paper the library provided to write down details as I came across them. Therefore some of the details below are from small notes I took, or from my memory. So I stand to be corrected.</div><br /><div><br />The Mildred Wirt letters were a real joy to read. They consisted of her correspondence to the syndicate and the syndicate’s return letters. One of the earliest letters I saw was dated Dec. 15, 1929, and regards payment of $125 for a manuscript. I believe this may be in reference to her work on the Nancy Drew book, “The Hidden Staircase. “ I cannot recall if this letter was from Edward Stratemeyer, but I did see actual correspondence from him to her. Stratemeyer died a short time after the Nancy Drew books were published. An interesting note about “The Hidden Staircase” is that the story outline Stratemeyer gave Mildred was for the mansion the “staircase” was in was to be from revolutionary times. Mildred wrote back in Dec. 1929, that it would be unlikely for the house to be from revolutionary times, since the region Nancy lived in was the Middle West. In the book, on page 34, she wrote vaguely the mansion “was built before civil war time.”</div><br /><div><br />Many of the letters were simple acknowledgment of receipt of story outlines or payment for completed manuscripts. Mildred’s letters were always typed, and usually carried little notes about the weather, and other general, passing comments. I don’t recall her having personal stationary. They were usually typed on plain typing paper. I believe Mildred was living in Ohio during this time.</div><br /><div><br />In one letter, Mildred wrote that she enjoyed writing for the Stratemeyer Syndicate because the plots are “ready made.” And in a letter dated March 26, 1934, she wrote: “I have always been rather partial to Nancy. It will seem quite like old times to be writing about her again.”</div><br /><div><br />In a letter dated June 11, 1936, she wrote of mailing the manuscript for Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the Ivory Charm the day before. On June 20th, she writes of receiving the check for the book “several days ago.”</div><br /><div><br />In a letter dated September 20, 1936, Harriet Adams writes about Mildred visiting the syndicate headquarters, although I don’t recall whether it was an invitation or in reference to a past visit. One letter noted a payment of $125 for the Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk. In my notes I recorded something regarding a Christmas Bonus in a letter dated Dec. 19, 1929, so I suppose the syndicate rewarded her work with something extra.</div><br /><div><br />I came across some comments about the Nancy Drew movies, starring Bonita Granville, produced and released in the late 1930s.</div><br /><div><br />One letter from the syndicate noted that “we have not found that having Nancy Drew on the screen has increased sales of the books.” Mildred wrote on Aug. 5, 1939, that, “as yet I have seen only the first Nancy Drew picture.”</div><br /><div><br />Not all the letters concerned Nancy Drew stories. One letter concerned the Doris Force books Mildred wrote for the syndicate. And in another, regarding “Ruth Fielding and Baby Jane,” either Mildred or the syndicate wrote that upon seeing the book, they thought “the artist did not do justice to Ruth’s infant.”</div><br /><div><br />One of the more interesting correspondence I saw was between Harriet Adams and Julie Campbell Tatham, co-writer of such popular series as Trixie Belden, Vicki Barr and Cherry Ames. The letters occurred around 1957 and they consisted of Ms. Tatham seeking a writing position with the syndicate. Mrs. Adams responded with glowing praise for her work, but questioning whether Julie would want to relocate for the job. Julie indicated she would be willing to commute. There were only a few letters in this brief correspondence, and best of my knowledge no position was ever open to her at the syndicate. It was a brief correspondence and I suspect Harriet had no position to offer and was only being cordial in replying to her.</div><br /><div><br />In going through the Andrew Svenson letters, I came across a handwritten letter on yellow legal paper addressed to Harriet. This was written by Svenson during a trip to Europe in the early 1960s. This trip prepared him for his Happy Hollisters books in Europe, including the “Cuckoo Clock Mystery” in Germany, the “Swiss Echo Mystery” in Switzerland, “Punch and Judy Mystery” in Italy, and “Mystery of the Midnight Trolls” in Iceland. It is well known the syndicate partners enjoyed taking summers off to travel. It is amusing that while traveling he found some syndicate series books that were not copyrighted and therefore the syndicate was not getting paid for these books. He inquired if he should approach the publishers himself about this.</div><br /><div><br />I also went through many fan letters covering a 30-year period. One fan of the Ted Scott Flying Stories (1927-1943) suggested an elaborate storyline where Ted is killed after a plane crash in the mountains, but on his deathbed he turns over his interests to one of his buddies.</div><br /><div><br />In reading through some of the fan correspondence of Christopher Cool, Teen Agent, one boy asked for a description of the author. The return letter from “Jack Lancer” was highly descriptive and suggested some strong, military type of person. Not aware of the history of the series, and knowing all too well the author’s names were fictional, I suspected the description was probably as fake as the name Jack Lancer. However, upon meeting Jim Lawrence in Sea Bright the next day, and recounting the story, Jim said the description could have been of his father, who created the series and wrote the initial volumes.</div><br /><div><br />The scrapbook I went through was fun to look at, and some of the articles I saw in it I had seen before.</div><br /><div><br />I hope by this article to bring to Yellowback Library readers information about the syndicate collection at the New York Public Library and hopefully stimulate others to pursue information at the library, either for personal or research reasons. Also I believe series book collectors need to make an effort to encourage the library to seek more funding to complete the work done in opening the files and presenting a major exhibit of the books, letters, artwork, etc. that they hold. I intend to contact the company I work for and encourage a grant to this effort. Perhaps some Yellowback readers might be in a position to do something similar with companies they are affiliated with.</div><br /><div><br />Jim Lawrence played a major role in bringing the Chubb Insurance Company and the library together. But he is quick to credit others. In an email from Jim he wrote:<br />“Several prominent Stratemeyer researchers deserve credit as well. Jack Dizer, Deidre Johnson, Ilana Nash, James Keeline and Kathleen Chamberline flew in to New York to preview some of the collection and have lunch with one of the officers of Chubb.”</div><br /><div><br />And he says there is still much to do to preserve the syndicate’s archives for future generations.<br />I would suggest all Yellowback Library readers consider sending letters to the library encouraging more work be done with the Stratemeyer Syndicate archives.</div><br /><div><br />In a related effort, I sent a letter to the chief Chubb Insurance Company official responsible for obtaining the $75,000 grant to the library. I thanked him for his efforts.<br /><br /><strong><em>Yellowback Library is a publication devoted to the collector, dealer, and enthusiast of juvenile series books, dime novels, and related literature. It was founded in 1981 and is published monthly. For more information about Yellowback Library, contact publisher Gil O'Gara, P.O. Box 36172, Des Moines, IA 50315 or call (515) 287-0404.</em></strong></div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-16696966472192132922009-01-05T20:05:00.000-08:002010-07-05T17:08:13.340-07:00AUTOGRAPHS OF SERIES BOOK AUTHORS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbF4voXzDpcQqGu0ICjT2b5OW-dY6W4To0_NSqrxVgSo3-Nl9F4I1GlVHTbCxgxsSFu78RofOLIalvtk4294GVrkFxxwj1YgLrVwaotzEv1stLeP1ZmA1gLbb90YWJsmHh-D3DlYzn-Fa2/s1600/scan0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbF4voXzDpcQqGu0ICjT2b5OW-dY6W4To0_NSqrxVgSo3-Nl9F4I1GlVHTbCxgxsSFu78RofOLIalvtk4294GVrkFxxwj1YgLrVwaotzEv1stLeP1ZmA1gLbb90YWJsmHh-D3DlYzn-Fa2/s320/scan0001.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBt9VO2IaskYIo4FgJ9mw8lfPtlxssvw_j4bMpl_N5P_Jl064L8X6D2qCD1XbMp8nrHG9bn-tReuUNVyUX48B9jA6Uyw_plsiNunJZlILlWoOoMSKUTYXX4moX4Yx37fWBGItdgiHGWW4r/s1600/scan0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBt9VO2IaskYIo4FgJ9mw8lfPtlxssvw_j4bMpl_N5P_Jl064L8X6D2qCD1XbMp8nrHG9bn-tReuUNVyUX48B9jA6Uyw_plsiNunJZlILlWoOoMSKUTYXX4moX4Yx37fWBGItdgiHGWW4r/s320/scan0002.jpg" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxt3nxox3xCmfpNV-FmSmwhbzOKJpObiU8yt4IPgU7vFtplOVqskYQdTBJJqolQdkNRkbsvd_E9T2h6oLwqJ8gdI8PQHN8LoF8VJWZsrT8-EWHDBPEP4H2xuDUMcpjrVZgHiWlZWKylTyN/s1600-h/cap.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288028083356690930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxt3nxox3xCmfpNV-FmSmwhbzOKJpObiU8yt4IPgU7vFtplOVqskYQdTBJJqolQdkNRkbsvd_E9T2h6oLwqJ8gdI8PQHN8LoF8VJWZsrT8-EWHDBPEP4H2xuDUMcpjrVZgHiWlZWKylTyN/s320/cap.jpg" style="cursor: hand; height: 320px; width: 243px;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDMFcyL3Uefh6m9hX-czSMBfZexH7O_5NW1OJD_Lh4F4lxuRyHOwDqcvVVURkPPepvrHrjEFxUd8Hq1iHqHmCKy-rW9rnmZ5UOt90cSis8kMGO7spgdCvMBM0FWOkgnp0YDKeXxypTzWUk/s1600-h/website+021.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288028078646104770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDMFcyL3Uefh6m9hX-czSMBfZexH7O_5NW1OJD_Lh4F4lxuRyHOwDqcvVVURkPPepvrHrjEFxUd8Hq1iHqHmCKy-rW9rnmZ5UOt90cSis8kMGO7spgdCvMBM0FWOkgnp0YDKeXxypTzWUk/s320/website+021.jpg" style="cursor: hand; height: 176px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyY0L8qQ42SwZ-bhQoOgowwqxPqruuoDNa0MVtAhKIeoDrGx7wqHI-juHweF7BoBBYj0sMkRoC2EmpTLSQMOSnP-TLfDJObpGiBkeOlZ5BGRjU-DTom76jNq9OW_Dsxyi5waxsi6tHEsF/s1600-h/website+022.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288028079755279522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyY0L8qQ42SwZ-bhQoOgowwqxPqruuoDNa0MVtAhKIeoDrGx7wqHI-juHweF7BoBBYj0sMkRoC2EmpTLSQMOSnP-TLfDJObpGiBkeOlZ5BGRjU-DTom76jNq9OW_Dsxyi5waxsi6tHEsF/s320/website+022.jpg" style="cursor: hand; height: 320px; width: 312px;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJIpOp0QE4rJo-2ZcHIyX-msWPtU5rWL5btaHMqZfYHhBZF4ibVNG-fJS1URuW8otm6p3Tq_Ego33xUr8o3hxRdGDlLEmoXD38kDR0JOe1WmVG3A72KD-L4YzhCrYcNNcns1ZDLX982Hr/s1600-h/website+020.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288028069474860306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJIpOp0QE4rJo-2ZcHIyX-msWPtU5rWL5btaHMqZfYHhBZF4ibVNG-fJS1URuW8otm6p3Tq_Ego33xUr8o3hxRdGDlLEmoXD38kDR0JOe1WmVG3A72KD-L4YzhCrYcNNcns1ZDLX982Hr/s320/website+020.jpg" style="cursor: hand; height: 320px; width: 240px;" /></a><br />
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<div>Autographs have always been fascinating to me, especially when they are by an author in one of their books. All of the autographs pictured above are in my collection except for the one of Capwell Wyckoff, which belongs to another collector. I wanted to include it because I greatly admire his body of work and his autograph is rarely seen. The Mildred Wirt Benson autograph I found in a Boy Scout Explorers at Treasure Mountain. It is unique in that she wrote in her pseudonym for that series, Don Palmer. It was written a few years after the book was published and she also wrote her name below the Don Palmer. There are a lot of Mildred Wirt autographs in the market, but most after she became famous in the 1990s, and most are in poor handwriting, reflecting her advancing age. The second Mildred Wirt autograph also had to have been done many years ago, perhaps when she was still writing series books. I am currently selling that book on eBay. The Harriet (Carolyn Keene) Adams autograph is in a copy of Nancy Drew Sky Phantom. I have seen many Adams autographs where she writes in the upper left corner of a blank page before the title page. Finally, the Howard Garis autograph is in a copy of Teddy and the Mystery Cat. <span style="color: red;">The newest autograph to my collection is the John (Hal Goodwin) Blaine inscription written in Rick Brant Smugglers' Reef. In all my years of collecting, I can barely ever remember seeing one of his books autographed.</span></div></div></div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-31935290722699951812009-01-04T12:25:00.000-08:002009-01-04T13:06:42.369-08:00HARRIET STRATEMEYER ADAMS<div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWOLAACZ-uziK-0vKWN-FOBJQ-wBc6-KSP78T_ItFwSljthEyEL1lIg8yTbrs9vsZfio9uZcNpsaYLWuw3sEsdQVHBsDlsyLG19pB89TLEbofFkLiwxdvjvaykinjUSE3p1kosujIYHj_/s1600-h/website+008.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287537924019900994" style="WIDTH: 233px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWOLAACZ-uziK-0vKWN-FOBJQ-wBc6-KSP78T_ItFwSljthEyEL1lIg8yTbrs9vsZfio9uZcNpsaYLWuw3sEsdQVHBsDlsyLG19pB89TLEbofFkLiwxdvjvaykinjUSE3p1kosujIYHj_/s320/website+008.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLNrxCiKXOMIxgFJryEbYD9aod8y10d3zLTbTO6KRKEpaqblgZmzZFMnU6uN1rE2rgJreKlcxInmjn1icG240pmxD4fMEazQqSXVwxeG-6aKeq92uVC5MS0ppKpbBfdjxpAdDNBaXd4Sc4/s1600-h/website+019.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287537935363456674" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 239px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLNrxCiKXOMIxgFJryEbYD9aod8y10d3zLTbTO6KRKEpaqblgZmzZFMnU6uN1rE2rgJreKlcxInmjn1icG240pmxD4fMEazQqSXVwxeG-6aKeq92uVC5MS0ppKpbBfdjxpAdDNBaXd4Sc4/s320/website+019.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7c6nCa8jQwdoiThRwrZ3UftCWXkTSbVCpXNdo-2cMHmDidFxxeVviZgtZOZ2py_ToX3HNxZTtEJG2w2ZguP4WQ2k15D6YPaITSgrCmX4LkDpRzR07LmSnDxu0Lfm9O2FItvq27EXeUJgS/s1600-h/website+007.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287537921237846466" style="WIDTH: 233px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7c6nCa8jQwdoiThRwrZ3UftCWXkTSbVCpXNdo-2cMHmDidFxxeVviZgtZOZ2py_ToX3HNxZTtEJG2w2ZguP4WQ2k15D6YPaITSgrCmX4LkDpRzR07LmSnDxu0Lfm9O2FItvq27EXeUJgS/s320/website+007.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCABNZicX555Ij7qTS7Hy1oVAIBsFwzPw-WGXIM-gA6w21ix8CnB8EXNXMOUitNh8MR03EDjc3lpGyv1DB27Avo9mdX8mzJnD2Q4P0ML1YoWpzU_HDObRwxtwMad8effBpCePU8sumQS4l/s1600-h/website+006.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287537901864035906" style="WIDTH: 156px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCABNZicX555Ij7qTS7Hy1oVAIBsFwzPw-WGXIM-gA6w21ix8CnB8EXNXMOUitNh8MR03EDjc3lpGyv1DB27Avo9mdX8mzJnD2Q4P0ML1YoWpzU_HDObRwxtwMad8effBpCePU8sumQS4l/s320/website+006.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">Harriet S. Adams Letters</span></strong></div><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><div><br /></span></strong>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.</div><div><br />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.</div><div><br />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.</div><div><br />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.</div><div><br />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.</div><div><br />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.</div><div><br />In the April 30, 1969, letter pictured on this page, Mrs. Adams writes:</div><div><br /><strong><em>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.<br />What school did I go to? Public schools first and then Wellesley College.<br />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.<br />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?</em></strong></div><strong><em><div><br /></em></strong>In May 1968, I received another letter from Mrs. Adams, in which she wrote:</div><div><br /><strong><em>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.<br />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.<br />I hope you will read the new story which is quite different from the original.</em></strong></div><strong><em><div><br /></em></strong>"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.</div><div><br />In my last letter from Mrs. Adams, May 1973, she mentioned a trip she was about to take <strong><em>"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!"</em></strong></div><div></div><div>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.</div><div><br />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.</div></div></div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-63836819280868341232009-01-02T14:27:00.000-08:002009-01-02T15:07:33.390-08:00HAPPY HOLLISTERS FOREIGN EDITIONS<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJwDxJgfBjwc4Pi79TsbMn3cX2THbTGh-zA9iWO9NnolW3dGNeIi9vKnRcaGi9zIEG8KUfqkcuwwpOZtNKU-YowStRhdWw3dSGfcWDDPjVmLGYli9dD7gWt4-nkJ3WcwQfHOHM58uUJZH/s1600-h/MISC+113.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286828706685532514" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJwDxJgfBjwc4Pi79TsbMn3cX2THbTGh-zA9iWO9NnolW3dGNeIi9vKnRcaGi9zIEG8KUfqkcuwwpOZtNKU-YowStRhdWw3dSGfcWDDPjVmLGYli9dD7gWt4-nkJ3WcwQfHOHM58uUJZH/s320/MISC+113.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLtkcd4TLdUPV-cos6klW_Gv2Ct_jfG3Clufe4XyMt2Qobwah1Jhofgf2F0bMB17cTrYbGzT4b5cV2gZiyrKzG29Q73Z0TQVGXkuLJFuEp7IlGlB5E66pYdeAEvvmlmgvO9o48aoqAsae/s1600-h/MISC+117.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286828707137787842" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 198px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLtkcd4TLdUPV-cos6klW_Gv2Ct_jfG3Clufe4XyMt2Qobwah1Jhofgf2F0bMB17cTrYbGzT4b5cV2gZiyrKzG29Q73Z0TQVGXkuLJFuEp7IlGlB5E66pYdeAEvvmlmgvO9o48aoqAsae/s320/MISC+117.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-Hs4gLsetriLn8bBo_MdKxu9hapiO8oKeSWC_5cWdgJ7jJPHiD4GBlzzUACEad2grN5qXkDpAlU3p-Af9SRyC_W2t5rVsQhWzA4lN6MgBYmdZd7kMe5QLbuiS0q2HzIHlkq3bWNerjAo/s1600-h/MISC+073.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286828703513750866" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 226px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-Hs4gLsetriLn8bBo_MdKxu9hapiO8oKeSWC_5cWdgJ7jJPHiD4GBlzzUACEad2grN5qXkDpAlU3p-Af9SRyC_W2t5rVsQhWzA4lN6MgBYmdZd7kMe5QLbuiS0q2HzIHlkq3bWNerjAo/s320/MISC+073.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13nsYAxcTRoroM-wDemCwDKIshXi-Cl2UpdQ1dL6hoknWCV1oTZSo4R4yxBWDN7Umc9vr4XM7aF6o8DTdTqKzJdiQc5zsI4sGIUplWBI0S-PG9MJOiyZdPQ-WZ65ycNKCROPwr2JGO6GD/s1600-h/MISC+072.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286828703633072674" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 235px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13nsYAxcTRoroM-wDemCwDKIshXi-Cl2UpdQ1dL6hoknWCV1oTZSo4R4yxBWDN7Umc9vr4XM7aF6o8DTdTqKzJdiQc5zsI4sGIUplWBI0S-PG9MJOiyZdPQ-WZ65ycNKCROPwr2JGO6GD/s320/MISC+072.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxczi_8LME_IiC0F1iPTtG6xR-XZiU-Y5R5D-2ImNP3gGwpEpjWSQI-FD4m7ZbP4DI5-aueNeVOrKqLQ1fxfn4-8NhGslyQzGJwUf2jvw5XWNQ_bJQ26GTjVk7KFk6pQnft9SuzDGhzge/s1600-h/IM000982.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286828694473147458" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 218px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxczi_8LME_IiC0F1iPTtG6xR-XZiU-Y5R5D-2ImNP3gGwpEpjWSQI-FD4m7ZbP4DI5-aueNeVOrKqLQ1fxfn4-8NhGslyQzGJwUf2jvw5XWNQ_bJQ26GTjVk7KFk6pQnft9SuzDGhzge/s320/IM000982.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>In all the years of collecting The Happy Hollisters, I had never seen a foreign edition until I saw the Spanish version of The Secret Fort, or "El Secreto Del Fuerte."</div><div> </div><div> Pictured in these scans are two different types of Spanish Happy Hollisters books and a set of French Hollisters. In both sets, you can see the artwork is nothing similar to the US edition, in fact the Spanish and French books pictured here are of different artwork altogether.</div><div>The French books, at the top, are of the Sea Turtle Mystery (l) and on a River Trip (r). They are very unique in size, about 5x7 inches across, and slick picture cover editions. They have black and white and full color artwork inside. Below them are two Spanish versions of at Circus Island (l) and Punch and Judy Mystery (r). They are titled simply at the Circus and in Italy.</div><div> </div><div></div><div>The white volumes below them are Spanish, too, but you can see of different artwork, although published by the same company, Ediciones Toray, S.A. The stories pictured in the white volumes are from the books, Mexican Idol, Pony Hill Farm and Ice Carnival respectively.</div><div><br />Some time ago I came across a British Happy Hollisters (through a bookdealer from Australia) and several Norwegian Hollisters. The British editions, published by World Distributors, has exact artwork as the US books, but the size of the books are roughly one-third smaller. They come with dust jackets where as the Spanish book and the Norwegian books are picture cover versions similar in style to the 1950 Whitman picture cover books. The British editions have illustrated endpapers similar to the US books, but the Spanish and Norwegian books have blank endpapers.</div><div><br />The British editions, which are not pictured, contain the same interior artwork as the US editions. The Spanish books have lots of artwork. The Norwegian books contain artwork exactly like the US books, but not every illustration is used. I counted only six illustrations in the Totem Faces book from Norway. The US books have a full-page illustration in every chapter. I will be adding pictures of the Norwegian books in the near future.</div><div><br />I would welcome input from other collectors who might know of other foreign editions of The Happy Hollisters. </div></div></div></div></div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-11649916523853852882008-12-31T18:08:00.000-08:002010-09-24T09:23:53.085-07:00SPECIAL NOTES ABOUT THE HAPPY HOLLISTERS<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX0ajoqUo0u2FS2jP0p5SeH7iVTwSVWCsHI63YO57xy0r3f1BKY0RNWQoGaZXh-nUnafwdOC-Hrga8EtMeSt0Nk-hWZp4DJPWxiAFhB0rDDMsHQ8Xagr_2py5XE9fxb7UZ2OawlfK-ipLg/s1600-h/website+016.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286147688515672578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX0ajoqUo0u2FS2jP0p5SeH7iVTwSVWCsHI63YO57xy0r3f1BKY0RNWQoGaZXh-nUnafwdOC-Hrga8EtMeSt0Nk-hWZp4DJPWxiAFhB0rDDMsHQ8Xagr_2py5XE9fxb7UZ2OawlfK-ipLg/s320/website+016.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 243px;" /></a><br />
<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFeuhJJJxZ-oBl3PHlapUBq-k_QComEM6g3F9T6xWx4NAGhlsOu170ja-jN_TnazttPCKDHxE8XsFBD-4GqmvIqKI0NSAe-dWHjPWMHwehCIJPIyjahhPjdnmDqBECp1xTQGDIGnAvO2lH/s1600-h/MISC+116.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286147681509946002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFeuhJJJxZ-oBl3PHlapUBq-k_QComEM6g3F9T6xWx4NAGhlsOu170ja-jN_TnazttPCKDHxE8XsFBD-4GqmvIqKI0NSAe-dWHjPWMHwehCIJPIyjahhPjdnmDqBECp1xTQGDIGnAvO2lH/s320/MISC+116.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 190px;" /></a><br />
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<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuFeQZfGzVf5QRWT0YT1kWsHScx8Ek4X-IyZCgJw_ZmxZnfo-YZ4fs09kdLxSHDeOaYK0P0lzYJniXpBme40khv4AWFrn68Fzjxsewxr7WzvJOg96o-1UX23LuEjSMr3-iYoXGyy6qtYPd/s1600-h/MISC+110.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286147682212086178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuFeQZfGzVf5QRWT0YT1kWsHScx8Ek4X-IyZCgJw_ZmxZnfo-YZ4fs09kdLxSHDeOaYK0P0lzYJniXpBme40khv4AWFrn68Fzjxsewxr7WzvJOg96o-1UX23LuEjSMr3-iYoXGyy6qtYPd/s320/MISC+110.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: right; height: 290px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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<div><strong><span style="color: red;">All things Happy Hollisters</span></strong><br />
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Anyone who has visited my website is aware of my fondness for The Happy Hollisters book series. I wish to devote this entry to that series with a few new visual items of interest and a few comments.<br />
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Elsewhere on this blog, I have shown letters I received from Andrew (Jerry West) Svenson and in all these items, I have only had his Jerry West signature. And those autographs are only on letters and one picture he sent me. In the last few years I finally found on eBay a Happy Hollister book with his signature of Jerry West inscribed in it, and in one case, I found a book that he also inscribed with his real name, Andrew Svenson. In all my correspondence with Svenson and Harriet (Carolyn Keene) Adams, I never had a book autographed by them. So I count these new additions to my collection with special fondness. (see scans)<br />
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<span style="color: red;"><strong>Happy Hollisters' Storyline Mistake</strong></span><br />
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For the past few years, I have been reading the Happy Hollisters from volume #1 forward. I recently finished reading the Sea Turtle Mystery. While reading the Happy Hollisters and the Cowboy Mystery, I found a mistake. In that story, Ricky and Pam are riding Domingo, their burro, near a highway, when it wanders onto the road and causes a car to run off the road and have a flat tire. The occupants of the car become friends of the Hollister family and invite them to Nevada for another mystery. But in these first few pages, Andrew Svenson wrote that "while the rancher, Pete, and Bunky started to jack up the car" to fix the flat, he failed to remember that Pete was not in this scene. In fact, Pete is introduced a few pages later. I think Svenson must have thought that because of Pete's age, he would be more likely to help fix the car than younger Ricky. Although, in the previous paragraph, Ricky is mentioned offering to help the new friends fix the tire.<br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Volume book order error</span></strong><br />
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I am embarrassed to admit that there is a Happy Hollisters publishing error that escaped my attention. I was brought up to date on this through another website hosted by Rachel Sanfordlyn Shreckengast at <a href="http://happy-hollisters.com/">happy-hollisters.com</a>.<br />
In her guest book section, it is written that the Happy Hollisters dust jacket spine for Pony Hill Farm is listed at #10, while the Merry-Go-Round Mystery is listed as #11, even though Pony Hill Farm has a copyright of 1956, and the other has a copyright of 1955. Copyright would seem to be the correct means of assuring what order the books were issued. And in fact, my copy of Merry-Go-Round has a list of titles across from the title page and on the back flap that shows it is #10 in the correct order, despite what it’s own dust jacket. I also have other volumes that support the correct order on titles listed inside. Several of these run through the Haunted House. So an error was made and the publishers failed to fix the error. One question I have is was the error <strong>ever </strong>corrected on the dust jacket? Any reader who has a copy with a dust jacket that is correct should contact me or Rachel. It would have to be an early edition for the numbering to be right.</div><div><strong>NEW NOTE:</strong> Recently I was contacted by a man named John who pointed out that in Pony Hill Farm, page 6, there is a quote from Sue Hollister: <strong><em>"we haven't had a 'venture since the Merry-Go-Round Mystery." She referred to a riddle the children had cleared up a month before at their school fair.</em></strong></div><div><strong><em></em></strong></div><div>Thanks John for pointing that out! I cannot recall too many times one of the Hollister children directly referred to a previous book. This example surely points out that Merry-Go-Round came before Pony Hill Farm.</div><div></div><div>Finally, on later PC versions, the error is repeated on many volumes that printed the Happy Hollisters list rather than the usual introduction of characters on the back cover. So it appears that whoever was responsible for putting together the Happy Hollisters titles on the back cover of the PC editions, went by the dust jacket version rather than other methods of listing the titles.<br />
In my copy of the last volume, a PC edition, Pony Hill Farm is listed before Merry-Go-Round. There is also another error in the volumes list. It does not include #28, Whistle-Pig Mystery. My Monster Mystery PC also does not list #28. These facts are fun to discover and discuss. If anyone knows of other errors or mistakes, please contact me about them.<br />
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<strong><span style="color: red;">Speaking of Picture Cover Editions and Mistakes</span></strong><br />
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I have always been fascinated with the picture cover editions of The Happy Hollisters, wondering why Doubleday went to that format and why only select volumes. Most of the later editions were done that way, so it must have been a publishing decision in the 1960s. This is probably backed up with the fact that the Doubleday Linda Craig series was published in a similar format as the Hollisters, with no dust jacketed editions that I know about. The first Linda Craig is in 1962, and it bears a "Copyright Stratemeyer Syndicate" on its copyright page after the title page.<br />
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I have 15 Happy Hollisters in PC version including #1, On a River Trip, Pony Hill Farm, Secret of the Lucky Coins, Cowboy Mystery, Haunted House, Castle Rock, Cuckoo Clock, Swiss Echo, Sea Turtle, Whistle-Pig, Ghost Horse Mystery, Golden Witch, Monster Mystery and Midnight Trolls. The latter two are the original copies I have of that book, mine came from the book club and were offered instead of the dust jacket versions. It is interesting that every Happy Hollisters book from Cowboy Mystery onward was published as a picture cover (pc) edition, EXCEPT Mystery of the Mexican Idol! I would love to know why that book was an exception.<br />
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As best as I can tell, these are the only Happy Hollisters editions done in picture cover format by Doubleday. If anyone has other Doubleday Hollisters in PC versions, please let me know at <a href="mailto:booksleuth@aol.com">booksleuth@aol.com</a>.<br />
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One odd note: my volume #1 pc has nothing printed on the back cover. It is just blank. Also, I am sure many Happy Hollisters readers have found volumes with blank endpapers. I even have one book that has a blank front endpapers and illustrated back endpapers.<br />
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In another scan you will see an apparent publishing mistake that I have never seen before until about November of 2008. In an eBay auction, someone was selling a set of about 7 Happy Hollisters books that included a first edition of The Mystery of the Little Mermaid. The mistake is that on the dust jacket spine, there is no scene of the Hollister children playing around a fence on their yard. This scene is a part of every book of the series. I considered buying the whole set to get this one volume, but passed on it. Within a week, another auction had the same book for sale and I inquired of the seller if they had gotten this book from the previous sale. They said they had not. I bought the book. Yet, within another week or two, another first edition of Mermaid appeared and I bought it, too, which you see pictured in the scans. This book I bought in a series of auctions by the same seller who was selling near mint first editions of the Missile Town, Skyscraper City and Lucky Coins. Doubleday made a point of printing first edition in their books, which was not the case in Grosset & Dunlap editions of their many Stratemeyer Series books such as the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">FINALLY</span><br />
In one of the accompanying scans, you see an autograph by Andrew (Jerry West) Svenson. It was in a copy of The Happy Hollisters and the Cowboy Mystery. I bought it on eBay. It is a treasure worthy of the type the Hollister children might find in a story. It contains Svenson's own signature as well as his Hollisters' pseudonym of Jerry West. And it is dated and refers to a trip he took. I note this was dated the year after the last Happy Hollisters was published. Since Svenson wrote many other books, I am not sure if the Panama trip resulted in another book, perhaps in the Hardy Boys or elsewhere.<br />
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Note in the photo of my Happy Hollisters picture cover editions, standing in the metal book holder members of The Happy Hollisters Book Club would received upon purchase of 6 books. A few years ago I saw an eBay auction that was offering some of the Hollisters and they were pictured in the metal book holder. The seller obviously had belonged to the book club. Recently, I saw another eBay auction where the seller was selling an entire collection and they had 3 book holders!</div></div></div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-25898038290934546282008-12-30T14:44:00.000-08:002008-12-30T14:56:21.173-08:00WHERE IT ALL BEGAN: THE HAPPY HOLLISTERS BY JERRY WEST<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpsn-ewuCCL1W2S3pUdx3RpWrGyKQGdNjZAhr3jdqBDtsIOelw9PGdrWPIIEbzSOAbzHd1ZPX28DamSv1KQQ8wVPp4PtZ1LVqPoKefo5MBVceN_m2xW0V83tnMvyifCfQrVjlNxQwNk1mu/s1600-h/website+013.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285720337278996386" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 233px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpsn-ewuCCL1W2S3pUdx3RpWrGyKQGdNjZAhr3jdqBDtsIOelw9PGdrWPIIEbzSOAbzHd1ZPX28DamSv1KQQ8wVPp4PtZ1LVqPoKefo5MBVceN_m2xW0V83tnMvyifCfQrVjlNxQwNk1mu/s320/website+013.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DoEmXAh-ACiP88t0ymNA8pBluVFADQZeB1kBWna10GHvR_tWPaHlaDxkprsM1LghIbM5F3ZJaGhyphenhyphen7xahjUzpUBJx-0c60_XsVdO7P_D9j1pwdULaRxvfLM5q6Wi923ec9aK3K7i_FYIp/s1600-h/website+012.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285720331515078002" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 233px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DoEmXAh-ACiP88t0ymNA8pBluVFADQZeB1kBWna10GHvR_tWPaHlaDxkprsM1LghIbM5F3ZJaGhyphenhyphen7xahjUzpUBJx-0c60_XsVdO7P_D9j1pwdULaRxvfLM5q6Wi923ec9aK3K7i_FYIp/s320/website+012.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirb0lSwWBe8pDixqZAOFlmnhCiHNw9iL_45dh7vEgWngHovTf3Y0UNRgjS5v8iN8DaEFtZVdluhZt9GAEwSrA4b5OlmA-0Tl18BRM24M_vxc-CgdI7DT_JUvch-_fCsRI0NvDOhququa55/s1600-h/website+011.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285720323977665602" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 233px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirb0lSwWBe8pDixqZAOFlmnhCiHNw9iL_45dh7vEgWngHovTf3Y0UNRgjS5v8iN8DaEFtZVdluhZt9GAEwSrA4b5OlmA-0Tl18BRM24M_vxc-CgdI7DT_JUvch-_fCsRI0NvDOhququa55/s320/website+011.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqGcranwfe_RVlLi44KzTf-YjavpwxKEBs_CAUe6GH97uIyjA2iUZBRc7ePfWcUt10bKVno7mRIb_MV66WKFD4AfAI35gfcVys4Iox9R_4hoo-CYsesFPetsD_JyfICvCVTwR-PV692ny/s1600-h/website+010.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285720319474291922" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 233px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqGcranwfe_RVlLi44KzTf-YjavpwxKEBs_CAUe6GH97uIyjA2iUZBRc7ePfWcUt10bKVno7mRIb_MV66WKFD4AfAI35gfcVys4Iox9R_4hoo-CYsesFPetsD_JyfICvCVTwR-PV692ny/s320/website+010.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4HFEHUHptSBKIc41OqHNxA3E51KC_OWqvMJ8Ff8OzEGpn-m6eAEsUufcXXP7SVDBuUzE31BUzhBhFzxAMofLqCXZRn1jKE9FOuThyjFD_fUzjz_SE2Ypd18eajz8rBIk4FdagKenEpqVI/s1600-h/website+009.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285720317636782578" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4HFEHUHptSBKIc41OqHNxA3E51KC_OWqvMJ8Ff8OzEGpn-m6eAEsUufcXXP7SVDBuUzE31BUzhBhFzxAMofLqCXZRn1jKE9FOuThyjFD_fUzjz_SE2Ypd18eajz8rBIk4FdagKenEpqVI/s320/website+009.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><strong>JERRY WEST LETTERS</strong></div><strong></strong><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br />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.</div><div><br />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.</div><div><br />In a Nov. 1967 letter he wrote:</div><div><br /><strong><em>Thank you very much for your letter. I thought you'd enjoy THE MYSTERY OF THE MEXICAN IDOL.<br />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. </em></strong><strong><em><br /></div><div><br /></em></strong>The following January he mentioned his latest Happy Hollisters edition:</div><div><br /><strong><em>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.</em></strong></div><div><br />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.</div><div><br /><strong><em>Since Spring is right on our doorstep, I couldn't be better. Springtime always makes me feel great.<br />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.<br />Education is very important, Tim, and I do hope you will work hard in school.</em></strong></div><div><br />In a June 1968 letter, he noted that the <strong><em>"Monstery Mystery is finished in manuscript, but not published yet."</em></strong> It is interesting to note that in my last letter from him, received in May 1969, he notes:</div><div><br /><strong><em>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.<br />THE MONSTER MYSTERY is now available at book stores.</em></strong></div><div><br />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.</div><div><br />(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).</div></div></div></div></div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-20113676781636626852008-12-29T21:13:00.000-08:002009-07-05T19:41:00.545-07:00HAPPY HOLLISTERS BOOK CLUB MAIL PROMOTION MATERIAL<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqms9on2RyR-0lEbjPffdxnwf9BLX7k0f1WcR7atYNEyWHTKFdCId0pzFh3f8FWI8CjVOgk_U9hh9LnYrNEo4IdUMvmHYSK3IhZDBKROeHwMLrt4Q0qSn6HO1awRjjcD2wIsDUYEysbUH3/s1600-h/website+002.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 190px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285448770536321362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqms9on2RyR-0lEbjPffdxnwf9BLX7k0f1WcR7atYNEyWHTKFdCId0pzFh3f8FWI8CjVOgk_U9hh9LnYrNEo4IdUMvmHYSK3IhZDBKROeHwMLrt4Q0qSn6HO1awRjjcD2wIsDUYEysbUH3/s320/website+002.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmd14hXs3grvg4fch64a59r2lxg2dz8LEqk7fj8qByVRxBNfMbHbfmZ6uHND9RFLw-VLyQHVeeB4uHr40jXpTb35kAYnacqP8bcxj87FEyMm5IS04JWrJJdVW3Ir8lO6XXithjVpiCn98/s1600-h/website+003.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 233px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285448764200560786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTmd14hXs3grvg4fch64a59r2lxg2dz8LEqk7fj8qByVRxBNfMbHbfmZ6uHND9RFLw-VLyQHVeeB4uHr40jXpTb35kAYnacqP8bcxj87FEyMm5IS04JWrJJdVW3Ir8lO6XXithjVpiCn98/s320/website+003.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_zlGDdP_VP_gHy84chhl1AsRurn_LCEHZgaNFBQ0knyD3ft_TKlXvB0fFQlAQ4hWfthmergFcQNGJ2JzaoHlsme4RY8ZouUP8ShcBSvM_v9xtc7-q-x-6aydooqPBhGahOnsrhsuKl8vI/s1600-h/website+001.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 229px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285448773290202386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_zlGDdP_VP_gHy84chhl1AsRurn_LCEHZgaNFBQ0knyD3ft_TKlXvB0fFQlAQ4hWfthmergFcQNGJ2JzaoHlsme4RY8ZouUP8ShcBSvM_v9xtc7-q-x-6aydooqPBhGahOnsrhsuKl8vI/s320/website+001.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLs-5zNSw8X2gY77Ic2lazJRUAqla8vFOpc_H7FMlB9oYGElXGlUcr7FMGFqmyNH21-SbARiX0eAVIMeIO_RxHZYEVojqtzMEANnOmjFd3mvSUWRy3WJ6Sc6hM1jXYXpymayAaUm2ibCWR/s1600-h/website+004.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 237px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285448767508300498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLs-5zNSw8X2gY77Ic2lazJRUAqla8vFOpc_H7FMlB9oYGElXGlUcr7FMGFqmyNH21-SbARiX0eAVIMeIO_RxHZYEVojqtzMEANnOmjFd3mvSUWRy3WJ6Sc6hM1jXYXpymayAaUm2ibCWR/s320/website+004.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTrhzcd4jmc10NOt9I5jZUo-mBhk1RaM6VtcETFlBmosibHh7SQMLmOF14gozCW0yIdg_7wduI_J5e5N4w7AGJ8w_M6WBRELzO-bZVOXlU9tojV1SZLk0XhOdHPy6iCuyKIiWBdeoh_tA/s1600-h/website+005.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285448766223044818" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWTrhzcd4jmc10NOt9I5jZUo-mBhk1RaM6VtcETFlBmosibHh7SQMLmOF14gozCW0yIdg_7wduI_J5e5N4w7AGJ8w_M6WBRELzO-bZVOXlU9tojV1SZLk0XhOdHPy6iCuyKIiWBdeoh_tA/s320/website+005.jpg" /></a> <div><div><div> </div></div></div></div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-64762498120486684652008-12-28T21:11:00.000-08:002009-01-30T20:12:36.994-08:00The Mystery of the Stolen PseudonymI am prompted to offer my thoughts about the dispute between series book collectors on who is most entitled to claim the name of Carolyn Keene, author of the Nancy Drew series, because of another article quoting research I conducted that supports the theory that Harriet S. Adams is the true Carolyn Keene, not Mildred A. Wirt.<br /><br />This article was written by Cynthia Adams Lum, a granddaughter of Harriet Adams. Titled: “Just Who IS Carolyn Keene?”, the article appears in a website maintained by <a href="http://womenshistory.about.com/library/weekly/ucnancydrew2a.htm">THE HISTORY NET (follow link</a>).<br /><br />In essence, Ms. Lum claims that her grandmother had every right to claim to be Carolyn Keene because she nurtured the Nancy Drew series over the entire course of Nancy’s publishing history; providing outlines and editing numerous ND volumes as well as outright writing many of them.<br /><br />I find myself having to agree with her, but I take her to task on the main argument she offers. In her article, Ms. Lum suggests that providing outlines and editing is more important than writing from the outlines. She suggests that Mildred Wirt, in writing most of the first 30 volumes of the series, didn’t have a difficult chore and perhaps had little to do but fill in the blanks. Ms. Lum uses a piece of information I found in the Stratemeyer Archives (follow link) to bolster her contention. In my modest perusal of some files of the syndicate, I found a letter from Mildred Wirt where she wrote that she enjoyed writing Nancy Drew books because the plots were “ready made.”<br /><br />As a journalism graduate, former professional journalist and one-time college instructor, I have the highest respect and envy of anyone who can write a novel that entertains readers and sells books. And there is no doubt that Mildred A. Wirt can do that. And she did it without having a father to give her access to a literary syndicate. Mildred also achieved success above the ghostwriting career she claimed. She was a professional journalist and author of many books with her own name on them. More importantly, she was hired by Edward Stratemeyer to bring to life his idea of Nancy Drew and her work was good enough to win the hearts of the publishers, if not Stratemeyer himself.<br /><br />I think Mildred Wirt was a far better writer of fiction than Harriet Adams, but I believe Harriet Adams has superior rights to claim the title of Carolyn Keene.<br /><br />As her granddaughter points out, Harriet had legal rights to claim the Keene name. But the question of moral rights is equal because when Harriet and the Syndicate came out of the closet, Harriet had her fingers on almost every single Nancy Drew volume, from outlining and editing the originals to rewriting or writing the later volumes.<br /><br />When most of the publicity surrounding Harriet was published, 1960-1980, Harriet had been in total control of Nancy Drew books, writing every single volume being published through those years. Now, if Harriet ever claimed she wrote the original stories, she was lying. But I have never seen evidence of this.<br /><br />The facts are, that by the 1960s, Mildred Wirt’s Nancy Drews stories were pretty much out of print. Her Nancy did not exist anymore, relegated to old book stores. In fact, as a child of those years, I suspect most of Nancy Drew stories I read were the revised. I truly can’t remember which ones I read. I know I collected the yellow spine books, long before I saw a dust jacketed one from the 30s or 40s. So, I believe a lot of today’s collectors in my generation, probably grew up on the revised stories.<br /><br />While I am in the majority opinion that the original stories were best, I doubt children growing up after me would have enjoyed the early Nancys.<br /><br />It is my opinion that Harriet Adams not only kept Nancy Drew going through the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, but she in fact kept her going through today. The revised stories appealed to a new generation that still collects Nancy Drew today.<br /><br />What I think is ironic about the whole issue is that Harriet Adams enjoyed great publicity and fame from the early revelations about the Stratemeyer Syndicate, but Mildred Wirt has claimed that fame after Harriet’s death. Miss Lum is correct in stating that public opinion has been swayed by the huge publicity about Wirt’s early writings. If Mildred Wirt took advantage of this swell of information, whether deserved or not, I think any injustice performed on her part can be excused by her advance years of age.<br /><br />I think the facts prove that Mildred Wirt didn’t think much of her work on Nancy Drew and really had no great desire to be showcased as “Carolyn Keene.” Except for protesting lower pay for her work in the 1930s, Mildred Wirt didn’t have much concern about being known as one of many people who can claim they wrote Nancy Drew.<br /><br />Harriet Adams could have been more forthright in revealing the names of the various Nancy Drew writers. She thought that it was important not to disappoint young readers with the revelation that there was more than one person who wrote the Nancy Drew stories. Frankly, the only people who care about this revelation are people of my generation, adults who are still buying children’s books and reading them.<br /><br />I imagine a young girl of 9 years walking into a Borders bookstore and seeing the Nancy Drew volumes for sale in the children’s section. I wonder which volumes she would buy: the paperback ones; the yellow spine (revised texts); or the Apple reprints of Nancy Drew written primarily by Mildred Wirt. I don’t think there is a doubt today’s young girls would be buying the newer versions. That same girl, 20 years later, who really was affected by Nancy Drew, might read internet stories about the early Nancys and Mildred Wirt. She might be led to eBay to buy some of those stories. She might even toast Mildred Wirt for her work. But in fact, it was Harriet Adams that was most responsible for bringing Nancy Drew into the 21st Century.<br />Finally, one more ironic footnote. The 2003 Nancy Drew Calendar published by Andrews McMeel Publishing, features 12 Nancy Drew cover art work mostly of the Harriet Adams’ revised or original stories. Yet, the calendar notes on the back that “Acknowledgement is made to Mildred Wirt Benson who, writing under the name Carolyn Keene, wrote the original Nancy Drew books.”<br /><br />Miss Lum has right to be upset about the downplaying of her grandmother’s role in the creation and sustenance of Nancy Drew. Hopefully, more time and research will continue to reveal the true role Harriet Adams played in maintaining the Stratemeyer Syndicate over a half century.<br />I think there is plenty of time to give appropriate credit to her and Mildred Wirt. With both ladies now deceased, fans and scholars alike should stop debating the issue and be thankful for what we have: a wealth of children’s popular fiction that still entertains today!<br /><br /><strong><em>Editor's Note: Sometime after I first posted this opinion piece, I was contacted by Cynthia Adams Lum, granddaughter of Harriet (Carolyn Keene) Adams, with some comments about my article. I responded to her and she replied again. I hope you will enjoy reading this interesting written exchange:</em></strong><br /><br /><br /><div align="left"><br />Dear Tim,<br />I hope you will allow the familiar address. I have, at last, found a spare moment in which to respond to your "aol members" article in response to mine. My excuse for not responding sooner is time-consuming book research, which final result will hopefully be the definitive personal story of the literary Stratemeyer's. This family history is long overdue and its need, precipitated by the ongoing welter of partially inaccurate or wholly fabricated published accounts of Stratemeyer Syndicate history and personal depictions of its family members, mandatory.<br />I thank you for your intelligently analyzed opinions and rather refreshing perspective; and not just because you agree with me, for the most part. Unfortunately, you are in the minority, not only in your careful consideration of available fact, but also in the conclusions at which you have arrived. Our family stoically endured this media onslaught with minimal protest until three years ago when I could no longer ignore the spreading volume of misinformation, derogatory statements, and personal attacks concerning my family. The exclamatory comment, engendered by this collection, that Harriet Adams deserved the title of "history's worst charlatan" was the proverbial, last straw. My defense of the Stratemeyer's, requiring my analysis of Mildred Benson's role in the production of Syndicate books and whose documented facts resulted in appropriate credit (although perceived as a diminution of the importance of her contributions compared to her own and the media's portrayal), has been wholly crusaded in response to this collection of articles. This was not an unprovoked defense.<br />Allow me to address our points of disagreement as these are unusually (compared to my other responses to articles) few, although necessary as you "take [me] to task on the main argument [I] offer(s)." Your academic and career credentials in assessing the importance of Syndicate outlined stories compared to manuscript "texting" are certainly noteworthy: however, as a former Syndicate Nancy Drew ghost writer and possessing copies of said Syndicate outlines, I believe I may have the more informed perspective in this particular case.<br />Speaking generally, although this applies to Benson as well as to the other ghost writers, we were all hired by the Syndicate because of our assessed ability not only to write, but also to imitate and replicate the Syndicate's writing formula and style. This uniformity in Syndicate books, as well as in the various series, was mandatory in ensuring the longevity under "brand named" pseudonyms, as ghost writers came and went. This applied to experienced writers; published authors; or novice, unpublished, aspiring writers such as 22 year old Mildred at the time of her hiring in 1926. With each outline from the Syndicate came instructions for characterizations and syntax, and any previously written books in an existing series, or with an established understanding of Syndicate requirements for new ones. All writing was meticulously edited by Syndicate members and rewritten by them, or the ghost writers depending on the extent, where necessary.<br />If you are not acquainted with what constituted a Syndicate outline, I will give a short example from the first ND outline supplied to Benson by Edward (Stratemeyer). I do not have the documented complete "cast of characters" supplied, but these are referenced in the NYPL archives as having always been sent with any outline.<br />Note: Nancy Drew, a girl of sixteen, is the daughter of a lawyer who has served as a District Attorney. Mr. Drew is a widower and often talks over his affairs with Nancy and the girl has been present during many interviews her father has had with noted detectives. An up-to-date American girl at her best, bright, clever, resourceful, and full of energy.<br />Outline for THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK<br />"It would be a shame if all that money went to the Tophams,"said Nancy Drew to her father. "They will fly higher than ever. Cannot some of the other really worthy relatives of Josiah Crowley get something?" Carson Drew, who has given up being the District Attorney and is now involved in many criminal and mystery cases, has been discussing the Josiah Crowley fortune. The old man has been a very eccentric individual. At one time, he had made a will leaving the bulk of his fortune to Richard Topham, a speculator, and his wife, Cora, and their two society daughters, Isabel and Ada. Nancy Drew has gone to school with the girls and found them arrogant to the last degree, and few people liked any of the Tophams in this small city of River Heights in the Middle West where the Drews lived. It comes out that there had been much talk of a later will drawn by a lawyer known to Mr. Drew. But this will had not come to light and many wonder if Josiah Crowley had destroyed it. But there were other relatives, and they claim that the will ought to be in existence, Mr. Drew told Nancy. "There were two girls who live down somewhere on the River Road who were great pets of Crowley's when they were young. Seems to me that they ought to have got something." The estate is valued at $300,000. "And the Tophams won't let anybody else get their hands on it if they can possibly help it," says Mr. Drew. (Crowley had lived with Tophams three years.)<br />Nancy goes out shopping and while doing so meets Isabel and Ada Topham and they treat her in their usual arrogant manner. A salesgirl confides to Nancy that Ada has said, "Oh, I guess we'll get all of Josiah Crowley's fortune as soon as the lawyers stop squabbling." and the salesgirl adds, "But I guess the Tophams are mightily worried for fear somebody will show up with the later will that may do them out of most of it."<br />Nancy is out one day in her little blue roadster to deliver some legal papers in another town on the Shore Road. These are delivered and the girl goes still further to make a circle in getting back to River Heights. A heavy storm comes up and Nancy, finding an old barn wide open, drives in. "Well, you got in just in time," said a pleasant voice, and a girl of her own age confronts Nancy. As the storm grows wilder and colder, the girl invites Nancy into the house nearby. The girls, there, are Grace Horner, aged twenty, and her sister, Allie, aged 16...........<br />Mildred Benson had been writing under Edward for three years by the time she was sent this outline in 1929. He had rejected her first attempt at a Ruth Fielding because it was so poorly written. She begged him, several months later, to give her another chance as she had been striving to improve and had taken account of his suggestions. Despite this, half of her texting for a second chance at a Fielding had to be rewritten and she was admonished for the messy state of her manuscript, as was the case with this first Nancy, and was advised that her characterizations were underdeveloped, she had a poor use of adjectives, and had not followed the plot lines adequately or consistently. However, he could see her potential and allowed her to continue, but with myriad suggestions for her writing. Benson wrote journalistic articles beginning in 1926, but she did not become a published author of her own books until the Ruth Darrow Flying Stories in 1930, the year that Nancy made its debut and four years after she had been writing under Edward Stratemeyer.<br />In appropriating sole credit for the success of Nancy Drew texting to Benson over Edward Stratemeyer's input and influence, these factors have to be considered. Namely: Benson's inexperience at the time she was hired by the Syndicate, her three year apprenticeship under the Syndicate in satisfying Edward Stratemeyer's criteria for book writing, the directions she received in imitating Syndicate book style and syntax, the extent of rewriting of her early texting and instructions for improvement, the fact of the established formula for Syndicate books, and one's proportional opinion of credit due to the author of Syndicate outlined plots.<br />This was not Shakespeare. With a roughly drafted mystery plot and subplot with character profiles, a set of instructions for dialogue and vocabulary, a few books as examples for imitation, texting for Nancy Drew is not difficult for a good writer. If anything, it would be more difficult for an established writer to perform this imitation and subjugate their own style. Even Benson, herself, admits in interviews that she found the writing of an outline for her own books, the most difficult part of mystery story writing. Benson was ideal for this task and became an excellent writer. The development of her own style over the years was the major reason for her growing battles with Harriet Adams over texting and Nancy's depiction. Her 1939 Penny Parker was Nancy, cloned and unleashed.<br />I fail to see why Mildred's having achieved her success "without having a father to give her access to a literary syndicate," is relevant. You are entitled to your opinion that Mildred was a "far better writer of fiction than Harriet;" however, book sales of Harriet's books compared to Mildred's before it was revealed that Mildred contributed to Syndicate books tend to contradict this opinion. Harriet was an accomplished writer long before 1930: wrote her first short story at age 8 (which her father praised; and he was not known for giving unearned praise); received top grades at school for her English essays, creative writing, and religious treatise; was a paid reporter and journalist for the Boston Globe while in college; wrote innumerable articles for charitable organizations; was founder, editor and journalist for several publications; was a prolific poetry writer, compiled the teaching syllabus for school classes; and with only a year's training under her father and four month's of study after his death, took over writing for the Syndicate and running the business. Harriet received three years less training than Mildred under Edward and wrote anonymously and exclusively (unlike Mildred) without name recognition under various Syndicate pseudonyms for some 30 years. Her success as a writer is judged by the 50 year longevity and popularity of Nancy under her writing. "Access" to the Syndicate in the early years was shared by both women, but both had to prove themselves as writers in an open market.<br />Having dispensed with these differences of opinion, I thank you for your article, and will direct the rest of my family to your web site as an example that there are some sensible literary folk out there who do not share the opinions of others that Benson should be solely credited (even on Harriet's book cover calendars) with the creation and success of Nancy Drew.<br />Best wishes,</div><div align="left">Cynthia Adams Lum </div><div align="center"><br /><strong>---------- </strong></div><div align="left"><br />Hi Cynthia,<br />I appreciate your comments on my article and especially enjoyed reading the partial outline you provided for Secret of the Old Clock. I had no idea the outline would be so long and specific, including providing actual quotes. I note the dialogue provided by Edward was used in the first line of the actual book.<br />It would be very informative for you to provide the full outline of Secret of the Old Clock in any book you write, so that the full impact of the importance and difficulty of writing outlines could be demonstrated.<br />I have long dreamed of writing a novel, but while the ideas for one swirl in my imagination, the actual creation of characters, names, backgrounds, etc., is overwhelming. In our debate about Mildred and Harriet, I imagine what would be the result if the world were to learn that Mark Twain only wrote Huckleberry Finn, but didn't actually create the characters or the plot? I still would profess my admiration for him and consider Twain a "great writer." But there is much to be said for the mind that can conceive the idea of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, not just put the idea into writing.<br />Perhaps the idea that one person conceives the idea and another fleshes it out in writing is basically against what should be the natural order of literature. But in your great-grandfather, Edward Stratemeyer, we had a man who just had too many ideas to handle all the writing for. His story should be the first order of any family history you write, and I assume it will be.<br />I envy your relationship to Edward and Harriet. Both are responsible for much pleasure I received as a youth. I count them among my heroes in popular literature, which includes Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason), Agatha Christie, Earl Derr Biggers (Charlie Chan). I also include in my list Howard Garis, Capwell Wyckoff and Leslie McFarlane. Of course I cannot forget Andrew Svenson. His Happy Hollisters books were the key to the joy I found later in the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew.<br />Thanks to the revelation about Mildred Wirt being the original Carolyn Keene, I have also found much enjoyment in reading her book, especially Penny Parker. I have found them as pleasurable as any Nancy Drew. Although, it has been years since I read most of the Nancy's. In my article, I point out that my original introduction to Nancy and the Hardy Boys, may have been through the rewritten books, not the original stories. I wish I could provide the answer to that quiz for my own knowledge. Today, though, I prefer to read the originals. And the fact that Harriet was most responsible for rewriting the original stories is probably the chief reason she is vilified by so many collectors. But in my article, I point out that the rewriting had to be done, and like it or not, probably saved Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys for several more generations.<br />Much of our disagreement on the Harriet-Mildred debate is about personal opinion on style. While Nancy Drew is heads above other series books in popularity, I am sure there are readers who preferred the Dana Girls, or Kay Tracy, or as we all know, Judy Bolton.<br />Writing style is also always subjected to the reader's personal preferences. I know I grew up on the revised Bobbsey Twins books, which I plan on revisiting in the near future. I started collecting the original Twins books and tried to sit down and read the first volume. But I have repeatedly quit at the end of the first chapter, because the writing style is so old fashioned. I believe a lot of Edward's books are in that style, too. I have yet to read a Tom Swift, and I intend to do so, and hope to fall in love with them. But, I am expecting I might not like them.<br />As a kid, I discovered in my grandmother's closet a box of Tom Swift Jrs. For the life of me, I could not imagine why she bought them. I suspect she intended to give them to her grandchildren, but illness might have stopped that. When I inherited the books, I gave the complete set to our local library in her memory. I never read one of them, because I prefer "mystery" stories to "science fiction" stories. Again, this was a matter of personal preferences.<br />Now, let me say right up front: I am a big fan of your grandmother. As an aspiring writer when I was in my youth, she replied to my fan letters (see my website) with much grace and encouragement. And at that time, that would be like a fan of Elvis Presley receiving a personal letter from him. I treasure the correspondence I received from her and I wish we could have met!<br />I fear I am considered a Harriet Adams apologist and therefore looked down on by other collectors. Fine, I don't care! I am also a fan of Mildred's writing and it is easy for me to see both women as great treasures for children's series book! My article states clearly my views and I think they just make common sense.<br />I regret the flippant remark about Mildred's having achieved her success "without having a father to give her access to a literary syndicate." The point was that Mildred was a true "rags-to-riches," success story. Yes, she struggled with writing, as you point out, but we all do that. I recall Edward didn't have immediate success either. And I am sure you have struggled to learn the writing style of the Syndicate.<br />I welcome further correspondence with you, as I did with your grandmother. I would like to know more about what you conceive your book will be about. I assume you will be writing a history of the Syndicate, not just concentrating on supporting Harriet's point of view. I personally don't think you need to attack Mildred at all, to point out Harriet's successes. As an assumed defender of the Stratemeyer family, I would think it would behoove you to defend the family, but point out their mistakes when it is apparent. Again, the idea of mistakes, can be in the eye of the beholder. I understand the need to rewrite the books, but I still look down on the bland formats that followed the originals. The originals were not without fault, as I point out with my Bobbsey Twins references.<br />I would ask you to consider some of the following facts when writing your story:<br />Edward did hire Mildred and nurtured her. He did not hire Harriet. Perhaps this is partially because of a male chauvinist attitude on his part, which is understandable and regrettable, but perhaps his actions may have also been partially due to Harriet's writing abilities or lack thereof.<br />Edward kept Mildred on as a writer as did Harriet!!!! That speaks volumes on Mildred's abilities as a writer. As you point out, Mildred had her own success with Ruth Darrow, only a few years after being hired by Edward. Also, Mildred not only created many more series of her own, but she branched out to Kay Tracey, Ruth Fielding, Doris Force, Honey Bunch and Dana Girls for the syndicate. She was busy and she was creative. In addition to writing, she had to sell the ideas of Penny Parker, Brownie Scouts, Penny Nichols, Boy Scout Explorers, Dan Carter and numerous non-series books. I wonder if she had any help from the syndicate in selling her own creations?<br />Part of the legend of Mildred is her flying ability and spunk as a young woman trying to do "a man's job" at a time when women were not allowed into very many areas of business and literature. But, Harriet has her own legend of honor in taking a business after the sudden death of her father and turning it into a continued financial success for decades to come.<br />My opinion as to the greatness of her literary abilities is somewhat proved by the fact that Harriet did little writing until much later in her career. Prove me wrong if you can, but just what book can be attributed solely to Harriet and what year would that have been? Best as I can tell, her sole writing credentials did not occur until the 1950s.<br />Yes, she was busy editing and managing a syndicate, but there were fewer series to contend with after she took over and discontinued some series. It occurs to me that Harriet could have taken the Nancy Drew series over immediately after Edward died and been the sole author, had she wanted to. Instead, she chose to let others do that.<br />So, there is much your book could reveal on these subjects, but if you focus only on defending and explaining your family, and do not open your mind to being a more objective observer, your efforts will be nullified by those you try to persuade.<br />I have written too long, I fear. And perhaps I have not covered every aspect of your letter. I may continue later. I welcome further correspondence with you. And I so look forward to reading your book. You have a great challenge before you! I know you can succeed.<br />Again, it is a pleasure and honor to have made contact with you. I cherish that almost as much as I do with the correspondence I had with Harriet and Andrew Svenson.<br />Take care, Tim O'Herin </div><div align="center"><br /><strong>-------------------- </strong></div><strong><div align="left"><br /></strong>Dear Tim,<br />I am thrilled to add you to my list of "pen (Internet) pals" interested in the Syndicate's books. Since returning to the USA from the UK four years ago, I have attempted to make contact with as many as I can. Initially because of the astounding amount of misinformation that was being disseminated about my family; and currently, for book research purposes.<br />There was never any secret that the Syndicate used writers-for-hire. Neither Edward nor Harriet ever denied this fact; only their names were withheld from "public" documents. There were sound reasons for this; writers could come and go under the various pen names, but the numerous series could continue. The Syndicate deliberately protected their "brand name" author pseudonyms by eliminating actual authors' and contributors' names from the records, or having them removed where a writer attempted to have them recorded. People, such as Geoff Lapin, labelled this as some kind of "conspiracy" on the part of the Syndicate to deny their writers deserved credit after he, and "the public," learned of the existence of the ghost writers and their contributions. The media belief in this "conspiracy theory" can be explained and measured by their surprise and sense of betrayal; the very thing of which Edward warned.<br />My perceived "campaign" to diminish Mildred Benson is mostly the result of accuracy compared to her, and others', inflated and inaccurate statements concerning her contributions, and the necessity of focusing on her work because of the extent of articles extolling Mildred's early work for the Syndicate at the expense of the salience of Edward, Edna and Harriet's. My family remained silent for years in the hopes that common sense, such as yours, and the opening of archival material to the public would redress the balance. It has not. Brenda Lange's very recent book has repeated all the same old inaccuracies, having used other flawed sources instead of archival documents and the Stratemeyer family.<br />Documented fact: Harriet was "hired" by her father after college in 1914. She assisted with outlines and edited manuscripts until the birth of her first child at the end of 1916. She occasionally took over his office after this when her father was away and Harriet Otis Smith and Edna were unavailable. Edward first suggested that Harriet should publish her writing in 1910 (and he was not given to praise) after the family discovered a number of stories she had written when they cleaned out her room after her departure for Wellesley. However, a college education was the family's aim at that time, not a career with the Syndicate, and nothing was pursued. However, Harriet became a Boston Globe reporter at college and had wanted to continue this after college. Her father did not encourage this career, but did "hire" her for his Syndicate. There are documented private checks to her for her work, after Syndicate royalties came in. There is even an interesting suggestion (which I am still investigation for our book) that Harriet assisted in the production of the outline for ND number 4 and the story idea for number 5 (Edward having dictated his last story while dying in his hospital oxygen tent).<br />Edward never imagined that his Syndicate would survive his death, but by August of 1930, Otis Smith, Harriet and Edna were producing story outlines. The luxury of Harriet taking over one series exclusively (apart from story plots and manuscript editing), such as for Nancy Drew, was not possible as the girls attempted to run the Syndicate as their father had done. The cutting-down of the number of series (there were a total of 150) was only done after many years. The sisters, with the help of other ghosts, kept many series going with an astounding number of outlines. (This is really a misnomer as exemplified in the ND partial outline I sent you and which is one of the more brief examples. They were really increasingly comprehensive chapter by chapter rough drafts with suggested dialogue.) When you state that Harriet was not "writing" until the mid 50's, this would be defined by completed single authorship books, in conception, through outline, to final manuscript and editing. There are very few Syndicate books that can be described as such and were not collaborations to some degree. As far as series outlined stories are concerned, Harriet was very busy "writing." The (until I got tired of looking them up) series that were continued by the sisters through to the early 1940's before the Nancy, Hardy, Bobbsey, Honey Bunch, Kay Tracey, etc. list was agreed while the Danas, Linda Craig, Tom Swift Jr., etc were being added was:<br />Sunny Boy, ending in 1931; Billie Bradley 1932; Elmer Dawson pen named books 1932; Doris Force 1932; Julia Edward's books 1932; James Cooper books 1933; Allen Chapman books 1933; Amy Bell Marlowe's Books for Girls 1933; Sky Flyers 1933; Roy Stover 1934; Betty Gordon 1934; Ruth Fielding 1934; Perry Pierce Mystery Stories 1934; Barton Books for Girls 1937; Nan Sherwood 1937; Mary and Jerry Mystery Stories 1937;<br />Jerry Ford Wonder Series 1937; The Webster Series 1938; Tom Swift 1941; Motion Picture Chums 1941; Moving Picture Boys 1941; Movie Boys 1941; Don Sturdy 1941; X Bar X Boys 1942; Ted Scott 1943; John Cooper books 1953; Roy Rockwood books (Bamba, Dave Fearless) rewritten until 1978.<br />Harriet was far too busy to "write" Nancy exclusively until 1954. However, she did produce 48 of 61 stories and had control over her depiction from 1930.<br />As only a counter to the professed primary contribution status by Benson to the Nancy's was I forced to detail the problems with her writing. As I have stated, this was not unprovoked. Mildred's "perfect" descriptions of her writing for the Syndicate were inaccurate. Edna described Mildred as an arrogant "big head," and there are numerous letters detailing the continuous instructions Mildred had to received for her writing. Mildred had been trained by 1930 and the girls were advised by Otis Smith to continue to use her for this reason as their father had found that a new ghost took at least a year and several books to satisfy the Syndicate's requirements. Mildred became an excellent writer and any conclusions concerning my ability to be objective on this point and appropriate credit for her in our book should not be judged by my current writings in defense of the Stratemeyers as a counter to the some thousands of articles giving Mildred primary creative credit for Nancy Drew and its success. But, neither should you deny me an opportunity in such a wide forum in which to present my arguments on this subject in one of the book's chapters as a necessary rebuttal. However, this will not be the focus for my sister and me.<br />The book will be the unknown personal story of Edward, Magdalene, Edna and Harriet. The Syndicate's history is being written, and far better, by James Keeline. It is our hope that revelations concerning our literary ancestors will be sufficient to debunk inaccuracies in current media articles without giving more than a passing reference to Mildred, and others', "campaign" to add primary creative credit for Syndicate books to her own writings at the expense of the Stratemeyers.<br />As I have stated, I appreciate and value your rare perspective, and I am certain this is shared by my ancestors. One day, you will not be in the minority as the unarguable facts are documented in future writings where correct research is being done. As Edward knew, people want their favorite books' authors to be a single individual and do not seem to want to relinquish their childhood fantasies of this type such as that Santa Claus could have delivered all of those presents to every single child in the world on one night. It is a nonsense to have believed that one person could have produced all of those books despite even knowing just how prolific Edward Stratemeyer was. Hopefully, eventually, the end result of all of this will be appropriate credit for all those concerned.</div><div align="left">Best wishes and the hope of future correspondence,</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">Cynthia</div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7520962572549511322.post-23331600301181956042008-12-28T19:59:00.000-08:002008-12-29T21:13:12.415-08:00Booksleuth's Series Book Collection<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdPoS942hcxJD7uAQr-2SVeDn14Ao_WUwhc9Jk3N5mjmi_mhUcgmEVHdkl7BrR5usyHlHvWQcbNJRFnYh0QekKVpBferO_xZruNPBoizaFxQqP98tiEhOpZAEd4p3d9x66fVpqgIdDWf_/s1600-h/website+002.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285428943774243890" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 190px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdPoS942hcxJD7uAQr-2SVeDn14Ao_WUwhc9Jk3N5mjmi_mhUcgmEVHdkl7BrR5usyHlHvWQcbNJRFnYh0QekKVpBferO_xZruNPBoizaFxQqP98tiEhOpZAEd4p3d9x66fVpqgIdDWf_/s320/website+002.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><strong>or How Childhood Entertainment Became a Hobby</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />Welcome to my small part of the World Wide Web, celebrating 35-plus years of collecting children's mystery series books, including such international literary characters as the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins.<br /><br />My name is Tim O'Herin, and I am a resident of Oklahoma City, OK, a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and a serious book collector of a not-too-serious genre of books, children's mystery series books.<br /><br />Almost every American child has read a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book. Previous generations might fondly recall reading Tom Swift, the Rovers Boys, or the Bobbsey Twins. But the key word here is "fondly," for the clue to the popularity of these books is tied to the fact, most likely, that no child was forced to read these books. They were true popular reading material, perhaps with a little more stature than a comic book, but less stature than a true "classic" book.<br />Every person can recall that thrill of obtaining the latest comic book from the drug store, or the next volume of the Hardy Boys, and reading it after lights were out. Typically, if you shared a room with a brother or sister, you read by flashlight under the covers.<br /><br />My fascination with these type of books was bred through my dear mother, Zoe' L. O'Herin. She loved a good mystery and passed that passion onto her youngest child.<br /><br />That love of mystery books started with a lesser-known but still popular series, The Happy Hollisters. Oddly, it was the only series books at my local library in New Madrid, Mo., a small town on a great bend of the Mississippi River.<br /><br />The Happy Hollisters series was written under the name of Jerry West, from 1953-1970. All of my friends at Immaculate Conception Grade School read them, and like me, probably most of them several times each. While these books were never popular with educators and librarians, they did promote the good habit of reading, and I suspect prompted many young people to expand their literature horizon.<br /><br />Along with being a fan of mystery books, I also developed a serious interest in collecting books, comics and other items of memorabilia. Despite having read The Happy Hollister library books, I wanted to own them, too. Fortunately, the books were offered for sale through a book club of Doubleday & Company, Inc., of Garden City, New York.<br /><br />The following is a paragraph from a Doubleday & Company promotional letter:<br /><strong><em><br />To introduce your child to this series, we want to send him a copy of the first book in the series --</em></strong> <strong><em>"The Happy Hollisters and the Haunted House Mystery" -- for only 10 cents (to help cover shipping) and without any further obligation on your part. Your child will be thrilled to receive this handsome, hardbound book with its many illustrations and full-color jacket. And he'll be more thrilled when he starts to read it -- it's filled with action on every page and lots of fun all the way through.</em></strong><br /><br />At first I did not have an application or any idea how to enroll, so I wrote to the author, Jerry West, and he sent me an application. In his letter, dated Sept. 20, 1965, he wrote:<br /><br />It is always good to hear from fans who enjoy to read the Happy Hollisters...Keep up your good reading!<br /><br />With the encouragement and financial support of my mother, I began receiving each volume of the 33-book series. And in the four years I collected the book club volumes, I corresponded with <a href="http://www.blogger.com/booksleuth/index.html">Mr. West, receiving 12 letters</a> from him and a photo.<br /><br />Soon I expanded my reading interests to include the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins. It was then that I began a correspondence with one of the most important persons in the history of juvenile fiction, Harriet S. Adams. She had written or edited many of the most popular children's mystery series books of my generation. But I did not suspect that there was a mysterious connection between her and Mr. West. A connection I would not know of until almost ten years later.<br /><br /><strong>to be continued....</strong><br /><br /><div align="center"><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">The Stratemeyer Syndicate, a great fiction factory</span></strong></div><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><div align="left"><br /></span></strong>In the Fall of 1967, I read an article in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat about Harriet S. Adams, daughter of Edward Stratemeyer, who created such literary characters as the Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, Nancy Drew and the Rover Boys.</div><br /><div align="left">This article was probably one of the first public notices that there really was no Carolyn Keene, author of Nancy Drew, and Franklin W. Dixon, author of the Hardy Boys. Instead, these characters were brought to life by a group of writers, many with names known only by their respective families. Many were commissioned by the Stratemeyer Syndicate of East Orange, New Jersey, to write the books from mere outlines provided by the syndicate. But what most of the literary characters had in common was the creation by syndicate founder and owner Edward Stratemeyer. Upon his death in the early 1930s, he left his business to his two daughters, Harriet and Edna. Harriet maintained the syndicate through thick and thin and until her death in the 1980s.</div><br /><div align="left">I wrote to Mrs. Adams after reading the article and received a letter back with her signature, but on letterhead of "Carolyn Keene." By mistake, she included an extra piece of blank stationary. I received <a href="http://www.blogger.com/booksleuth/myhomepageindex.html">five letters from </a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/booksleuth/myhomepageindex.html">Mrs. Adams</a>, the rest on syndicate stationary. She sent me an autographed photo and two name cards with her "Carolyn Keene" and "Laura Lee Hope" signatures. Laura Lee Hope was the fictional author's name of the Bobbsey Twins, the Outdoor Girls, and several others series. It should be noted that Mrs. Adams did not write the original books of Nancy Drew or the Bobbsey Twins. She was responsible for writing many of the books in several of the series in the 1960s, and she was a key editor and writer of the syndicate series updates, which sometimes completely changed the stories of some of the early books. In this brief web site I will not attempt to defend or criticize her or the syndicate for those rewrites.<br />My love of mysteries evolved over the years to include such great fictional characters as Perry Mason, Sherlock Holmes, Charlie Chan, Hercule Poirot, and Miss Marple.</div><br /><div align="left">I am ashamed to admit, though, as a youth, I was no great detective. While corresponding at the same time with Harriet Adams and Jerry West, it never occurred to me to question why both of their letters came from East Orange, NJ. And it never occurred to question whether "Jerry West" was a real name or fictional, just like Carolyn Keene. It was not until the mid-1970s, from an article in Rolling Stone, that I found that there was no "Jerry West", and that the real West was New Jersey resident Andrew Svenson. To top off my embarrasement, Mr. Svenson's name was at the top of the Stratemeyer Syndicate stationary as one of the three partners in the syndicate, right below Harriet and sister Edna.</div><br /><div align="left">I regret that I never had the chance to meet either Mr. Svenson (he died in the late 1970s) or Mrs. Adams. I actually tried to set up a meeting with her in 1973 when I was passing through New York City from a trip to Europe. I think she would have granted me an audience, but she wrote:</div><div align="left"><br /><em><strong>"Coincidentally, the days you plan to spend in New York I will be 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! I am sorry that my schedule cannot permit a visit with you." Later, Mrs. Adams wrote a Bobbsey Twins book based on this trip titled: "The Bobbsey Twins on the Sun-Moon Cruise." It was published in 1975 by Grosset & Dunlap.</strong></em></div><br /><div align="left">In the Spring of 1999, I had the thrill of going through some of the archives of the Stratemeyer Syndicate given to the New York Public Library. In those files I read correspondence from Mr. Svenson to Mrs. Adams and I read fan mail from many young readers. In a separate section of this site will be a copy of an article I wrote for The Yellowback Library, a national magazine for series book collectors, about my "afternoon with the Stratemeyer Syndicate."</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left"> </div></div>Timothy O'Herinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06441429036386862220noreply@blogger.com2