STRATEMEYER SYNDICATE

The 'Stratemeyer Syndicate' was the producer of a number of series for children and adults including the Nancy Drew mysteries, the Hardy Boys, the various Tom Swift series, the Bobbsey Twins and others.

Contents

History

Series

References

External links

History

The Stratemeyer Syndicate was the creation of Edward Stratemeyer, whose ambition was to be a writer ''à la'' Horatio Alger. He succeeded in this ambition (eventually even writing eleven books under the pseudonym "Horatio Alger"), turning out inspirational, up-by-the-bootstraps tales. Stratemeyer's business acumen, however, was in realizing that there was a huge, untapped market for "children's" books. Of course, boys devoured Horatio Alger, but they also read dime novels and penny dreadfuls. Here was an underground market waiting to be brought into the open and made even more profitable. In Stratemeyer's view, it was not the promise of sex or violence that made such reading attractive to boys; it was the thrill of feeling "grown-up" and the desire for a series of stories, an "I want some more" syndrome.
Accordingly, Stratemeyer began writing a series called ''The Rover Boys,'' in which he established some key practices:

★ The books would, of course, be in a series; and to more quickly see if the series was likely to be successful, Stratemeyer had several volumes published at once, referred to as "breeders" (turning out multiple books posed him no problems).

★ The books would be written under a pseudonym. Edward Stratemeyer might die, but "Arthur M. Winfield" didn't have to -- and "Carolyn Keene" and "Franklin W. Dixon" were then still alive.

★ The books would look as much like contemporary adult books as possible -- same bindings, same type-faces.

★ The books would be of a predictable length.

★ Chapters should end mid-situation, as should pages in as much as it is possible, to increase the reader's desire to turn pages -- and thus his reading speed. Of course, one volume finished, the reader would want to turn to the next, and be assured it would be the same type of story.

★ Each book would begin with a quick recap of all previous books in that series.
''The Rover Boys'' was a roaring success, and Stratemeyer began writing other series books -- ''The Bobbsey Twins'' appeared in 1904 and ''Tom Swift'' in 1910. Some time in the first decade of the twentieth century Stratemeyer realized that he could no longer juggle multiple volumes of multiple series, and he began hiring ghostwriters, such as Howard Garis.
As it became apparent that mysteries were increasingly popular (this was in the golden age of the detective story), Stratemeyer decided to add mystery series to his repertoire. ''The Hardy Boys'' appeared in 1927, ghostwritten by Leslie McFarlane and others, and ''Nancy Drew'' appeared in 1930, ghostwritten by Mildred Wirt Benson and others.
In 1930 Stratemeyer died and the Syndicate was inherited by his two daughters, Harriet and Edna (ironically enough, Stratemeyer had been a firm believer that a woman's place was in the home). Edna showed little interest and sold her share to Harriet within a few years. Harriet energetically took up the helm. She introduced such series as ''The Dana Girls'' (1934), and ''Tom Swift, Jr.'', as well as ''The Happy Hollisters'' and many others, often short-lived. In the 1950s, Harriet (by now Harriet Stratemeyer Adams) began a project of substantially revising old volumes in the ''Nancy Drew'' and ''Hardy Boys'' series, mainly to bring them up-to-date by removing references to "roadsters" and the like; racial slurs and stereotypes were also removed, and in some cases (such as ''The Secret of Shadow Ranch'' and ''The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion'') entire plots were cast off and replaced with new ones.
In the early 1980s, Adams decided it was time for Nancy and the Hardys to go into paperback; the hardcover market was no longer what it had been. Grosset & Dunlap, however, loath to lose massive profits, sued, and the ensuing case let the world know, for the first time, that the Syndicate existed. The Syndicate had always gone to great lengths to hide its existence from the public; ghostwriters were contractually obliged never to reveal their authorship. Many ghostwriters remain unknown.
Grosset & Dunlap lost the suit, and in 1987, after the death of Adams in 1982, Simon & Schuster purchased the syndicate from the syndicate partners - Edward Stratemeyer Adams, Camilla Adams McClave, Patricia Adams Harr, Nancy Axelrod and Lilo Wuenn.

Series

Some of the series produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate. All authors' names are pseudonyms.

★ Betty Gordon (unknown) Alice B. Emerson

★ Bobbsey Twins (72 volumes, 1904-1979) Laura Lee Hope

★ Bomba, the Jungle Boy (20 volumes, 1926-1938) Roy Rockwood

★ Bret King Mysteries (9 volumes, 1960-1964) Dan Scott

★ Bunny Brown and his Sister Sue (unknown) Laura Lee Hope

★ Christopher Cool (6 volumes, 1967-1969) Jack Lancer

★ Clues Brothers (17 volumes, 1997-2000) Franklin W. Dixon

★ The Dana Girls (34 volumes, 1934-1979) Carolyn Keene

★ Dave Fearless (15 volumes, 1905-1927) Roy Rockwood

★ Don Sturdy (15 volumes, 1925-1935) Victor Appleton

★ Girls of Central High (at least 6 volumes) Gertrude W. Morrison

★ Great Marvel (9 volumes, 1906-1935) Roy Rockwood

★ The Happy Hollisters (33 volumes, 1953-1970) Jerry West

★ Hardy Boys (190 volumes, 1927-2005) Franklin W. Dixon

★ Hardy Boys Casefiles (127 volumes, 1987-1998) Franklin W. Dixon

★ Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers (7+ volumes, 2005-present) Franklin W. Dixon

★ Honey Bunch (32 volumes, 1923-1955) Helen Louise Thorndyke

★ Honey Bunch and Norman Stories (12 volumes, 1957-1963) Helen Louise Thorndyke

★ Kay Tracey (18 volumes, 1934-1942) Frances K. Judd

★ Linda Craig (11 volumes, 1962-1984) Ann Sheldon

★ Moving Picture Boys also known as the Motion Picture Chums or the Movie Boys. (17 volumes, combined, 1913-1922) Victor Appleton

★ Moving Picture Girls (7 volumes, 1914-1916) Laura Lee Hope

★ Motor Boys (22 volumes, 1906-1924) Clarence Young

★ Nancy Drew (175 volumes, 1930-2003) Carolyn Keene

★ Nancy Drew Girl Detective (13+ volumes, 2004-present) Carolyn Keene

★ Outdoor Chums (at least 8 volumes) Captain Quincy Allen

★ Outdoor Girls (23 volumes, 1913-1933) Laura Lee Hope

★ Pee-Wee Harris (at least 7 volumes) Percy Keese Fitzhugh

★ Radio Boys (13 volumes, 1922-1930) Allen Chapman

★ Railroad Boys (at least 8 volumes) Allen Chapman

★ Ruth Fielding (30 volumes, 1913-1934) Alice B. Emerson

★ Rover Boys (30 volumes, 1899-1926) Arthur M. Winfield

★ Six Little Bunkers (at least 10 volumes) Laura Lee Hope

★ Ted Scott Flying Stories (20 volumes, 1927-1943) Franklin W. Dixon

★ Tom Slade (at least 13 volumes) Percy Keese Fitzhugh

★ Tom Swift (40 volumes, 1910-1941) Victor Appleton

★ Tom Swift, Jr. (33 volumes, 1954-1971) Victor Appleton II

★ Tom Swift III (11 volumes, 1981-1984) Victor Appleton

★ Wynn and Lonnie (6 volumes, 1975-1978) Eric Speed

★ X Bar X Boys (22 volumes, 1926-1941) James Cody Ferris

★ Sons of the Hardys (yet to be published) Franklin W. Dixon

References

★ Carol Billman. ''The Secret of the Stratemeyer Syndicate: Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and the Million Dollar Fiction Factory'', New York, Ungar, 1986, ISBN 0-8044-2055-6

★ Ilana Nash and David Farah. ''Series Books & the Media: Or This Isn't All'', SynSine Press, 1996, hardcover, 404 pages, ISBN 0-9639949-7-2

★ Book Safari

External links

★ James Keeline's Stratemeyer Syndicate Homepage

★ Series Books for Girls

★ The Hardy Boys Unofficial Home Page FAQ

★ The Bayport Gazette - Hardy Boys site

★ Victor Appleton books available free at Project Gutenberg.

★ Allen Chapman books available free at Project Gutenberg.

★ Alice B. Emerson books available free at Project Gutenberg.

★ Laura Lee Hope books available free at Project Gutenberg.

★ Roy Rockwood books available free at Project Gutenberg.

★ Arthur M. Winfield books available free at Project Gutenberg.

★ Clarence Young books available free at Project Gutenberg.

★ Guide to the Stratemeyer Syndicate records at the University of Oregon