Once upon a time there was a man named Edward Stratemeyer who wrote children’s books. Lots and lots of children’s books. He supposedly wrote 150 books himself and created many of the series you probably read yourself as a kid. He realized there was an untapped market for fun children’s books and, by golly, he got to work. Then his daughters got into the act. Harriet Stratemeyer Adams outlined (and possibly wrote) many of the books in the Nancy Drew series and some of the Hardy Boys. Her sister Edna also wrote outlines. The Stratemeyer Syndicate as it became known was basically a book packager which during the 20th Century created more than 1600—yes, 1600!!!—books, mostly for children.
Just some of the series (and pseudonyms) created by the syndicate are (and these are just the ones I’ve personally heard of):
- The Bobbsey Twins by Laura Lee Hope (1904-1979)
- The Dana Girls by Carolyn Keene (1934-1979)
- The Happy Hollisters by Jerry West (1953-1970)
- The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon (1927-1985)
- Honey Bunch by Helen Louise Thorndyke (1923-1955)
- Kay Tracey by Frances K. Judd (1934-1942)
- Linda Craig by Ann Sheldon (1962-1984)
- Moving Picture Boys also known as the Motion Picture Chums or the Movie Boys by Victor Appleton (1913-1922)
- Moving Picture Girls by Laura Lee Hope (1914-1916)
- Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene (1930-1985)
- Ruth Fielding by Alice B. Emerson (1913-1934)
- Rover Boys by Arthur M. Winfield (1899-1926)
- Tom Swift by Victor Appleton (1910-1941)
Each pseudonym was ghost written by multiple authors. In total, there were 50 ghost writers who wrote under approximately 100 different pseudonyms.
My regular post will be later today.
Thank you for writing this up. I was very curious and now see why you call them a ‘Syndicate’! I had no idea about all those series!
Thanks!
Comment by Brandy — September 2, 2008 @ 2:18 pm
That’s so COOL! I knew a little of that, but not all of it.
Comment by Marianne — September 2, 2008 @ 4:34 pm
My goodness — I remember reading books from a number of those series when I was a child. “Syndicate” is right!
Comment by Caro — September 4, 2008 @ 10:44 am