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Nancy, Frank, Joe and more— sometimes it seems like we’ ve all encountered these famous“ kids.” Perhaps the most famous books of the 20th century weren’ t written by Steinbeck or Tolkien but a world of children who, for some reason, appeared to be unable to go to the grocery store without tripping over a dead body.
Let’ s talk about these famous series and their long-lasting effects.
While Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys are the most famous of the“ teen detective” genre, they weren’ t the first. That’ s the Rover Boys by Edward Stratemeyer, from 1899-1926, about three brothers solving mysteries at a military boarding school.
If his last name sounds familiar, that’ s because Stratemeyer moved from
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writing to commissioning books in 1904, with the Stratemeyer Syndicate. These books were formulaic, with Stratemeyer controlling everything from plots to page numbers.
No one can say Stratemeyer didn’ t understand the media landscape he was in. In an America newly literate and hungry for cheap books, the Stratemeyer Syndicate fed children a steady stream of excitement. The books weren’ t high art, priced high enough to make a profit and low enough to keep the reader coming back, giving them the nickname“ the fiftycenters
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” in a time before“ children’ s literature.”
To make sure no one figured out the authors were different people, Stratemeyer used pseudonyms: Everyone had them and had to sign over the rights to their work.
The Bobbsey Twins did this in 1904. Stratemeyer wrote the first book, but the series bounced around nine other authors. Tumbling into and out of scrapes, the books were aimed young, but they lasted: The last book was published in 1992.
In 1927 Stratemeyer tapped Canadian Leslie McFarlane to write under the name Franklin W. Dixon. The new mystery series was to be about“ two brothers of high school age who would solve such mysteries as came their way.” The mysteries came their way,
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starting with“ The Tower Treasure.”
While conventional wisdom at this time said boys’ books sold and girls’ didn’ t, Stratemeyer gave us the“ Nancy Drew Mystery Stories.” Mildred Wirt Benson wrote as Carolyn Keene out of her research at the Cleveland Public Library. Benson’ s signature“ flip” style gave life to Nancy.
The first three books came out as a set in 1930, starting with“ The Secret of the Old Clock.” These were some of the first books that appealed first to children as readers, not first to parents who would give the books to their children.
When Stratemeyer died in 1930, his adult daughters— Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Edna Stratemeyer Squier— took over.
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The Stratemeyer sisters had rough seas to sail through the Depression, but Nancy, Frank and Joe’ s plucky attitudes kept the syndicate afloat on children’ s dreams.
The post-World War II world changed publishing. Where once it had bent to the ear of children instead of parents with Nancy’ s introduction, Bennett Cerf, founder of Random House Publishing, said,“ The tail is now wagging the dog.”
The American Bandstand generation warranted special attention, buying music and books
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in record numbers. Up to three-fourths of book sales went to“ under 18-ers.” In a 1968 Chicago Tribune article, they could only find one woman under 50 who hadn’ t read Nancy Drew.
The full program on this theme will premiere at the Coshocton County District Library on Wednesday, Aug. 13 at 6:30 p. m. Registration will open Sunday, July 13. For more information visit Coshocton County District Library in person, online at www. coshoctonlibrary. org or call 740- 622-0956.
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