# Children's Mystery Series (Pre-1970), Who read them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2005, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618 "2005-04-16T10:13:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/41 "2005-04-16T21:32:36Z")
I loved the Three Investigators and wanted my own secret junkyard hideout with three entrances. I read them all, and my library here still has some of them–old editions, too. I read a lot of Trixie Belden, even though I thought she was lame. I picked one or two up used, so I can still read them. I just read **Space Cat and the Kittens** to DangerGirl, and she wants more, but they aren’t easy to come by now. In this one, the whole family goes along on the first hyperdrive flight–to Alpha Centauri, 9000 light years away! Which only takes a few hours. And they go to a miniature planet, where everything is teeny, but evolution is on the same track, so it’s all tiny dinosaurs and miniscule eohippus-es (eohippoi?). It was rotten, but we had fun with it. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/42 "2005-04-16T21:51:26Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Help me here: I had one I got from school (one of those book sale forms). It was set in Florida with a bunch of kids (and teens) who ended up having mystery and science adventures…one of the scenes that stood out was where a ‘spy’ who was looking for a secret that was hidden in an old car part was outed by the crew because he claimed to be a native Floridian but was sweating in 85 degree weather. Damn, I remember reading this too, but I’m f\*cked if I can remember the title. Digging deep into memory, here’s an additional clue: The kids formed a spy organization they called V.A.C.U.U.M. (must have been the mid-sixties, huh?). And the token girl was dubbed the Beautiful Assistant Gangbuster, making her the V.A.C.U.U.M. B.A.G. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/43 "2005-04-16T21:56:36Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > And wasn’t there a series with a protagonist by the name of Alvin Fernald? Yeah…I think there was _The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald_ and some others, but I don’t remember much about them except that he and his best friend called each other “Old Bean” and “Old Man.” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/44 "2005-04-16T22:39:48Z")
**Harry Reed** had great illustrations by Robert McClusky (Make Way for Ducklings, etc.). In most of these pictures, disaster is either just an instant away, or in full swing – look at the one where all the illegal fireworks he had brought cross-country went off at once. McClusky also illustrated the **Homer Price** series. The doughnut machine that wouldn’t shut off… doughnuts piled EVERWHERE and the piles just an instant away from total catestrophic collapse… I remember an Alvin Fernald story about cryptography… pretty good stuff. There was a book about a group of kids who, among other things, created a fake lake monster, and recovered a treasure from inside an old Civil War canon… in the last tale, they drilled holes in the concrete plug using a battery-powered drill. I remember reading this in 1970 or so and thinking I had never seen such a thing… ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/45 "2005-04-16T22:50:29Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > Yeah…I think there was _The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald_ and some others, but I don’t remember much about them except that he and his best friend called each other “Old Bean” and “Old Man.” I remember those! I looked them up–they’re by Clifford B. Hicks. My library still has several, so go looking, people. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/46 "2005-04-16T22:56:57Z")
Does anyone else remember the McGurk mysteries? And how about those chemistry set books by Scott Corbett–they were always The \_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_ Trick. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/47 "2005-04-17T00:30:15Z")
Oh, I **love** Scott Corbett! And am I the only one who read [Judy Bolton](http://www.judybolton.com/)? She was so much better than Nancy Drew, because she was fallible, and she got older as the series went along. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/48 "2005-04-17T00:46:21Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > How about Mrs Piggly-Wiggly, not an adventure series so much as a screed against ill-mannered children. She lived in an upside-down house and was stinking rich. And there was Miss Pickerel (I think that was her name), an old bitty who managed to hook up with bush pilots and astronauts and go with them to Antarctica and the Moon, respectively. I read both Mrs. Piggly-Wiggly and Miss Pickerel in the mid-to-late '60s. They were in our school library along with the Beverly Cleary books. I also Encyclopedia Brown which we could order from Scholastic Books. And lot’s of old Hardy Boys that I would buy one at a time from a used book store. They were the type with rather plain brownish covers with a silhouette of some kind on them. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/49 "2005-04-17T01:45:02Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > … > > There was a book about a group of kids who, among other things, created a fake lake monster, and recovered a treasure from inside an old Civil War canon… in the last tale, they drilled holes in the concrete plug using a battery-powered drill. I remember reading this in 1970 or so and thinking I had never seen such a thing… These are a couple of the adventures of the Mad Scientist’s Club which a few other people have been discussing in this thread. I am the only person I know in real life who read those books! Oh, and _Henry_ (not Harry) Reed rocked. Odd…I loved that series and ended up working in Research in real life. Count me among those who can remember the guy-sweating-in-Florida mystery but can’t remember any other details. Big help, I know. Oh, and \*\*Otto \*\* I remember the “ecret club” book too but not the title. Is that the one where the boys throw their homemade spears at the mysterious monster one night, and find them the next morning stuck in a bush? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/50 "2005-04-17T01:51:44Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I remember an Alvin Fernald story about cryptography… pretty good stuff. The [Alvin](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/104-1530018-7872700) books were by Clifford B. Hicks. The “Superweasel”. (This series was, if it isn’t already clear, that which has the story about the kids who make candy and win a vacation to which **Otto** was referring. I believe it was [Alvin, Foreign Trader](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0007DEU6K/qid=1113702345/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_6/104-1530018-7872700?v=glance&s=books), but I could be mistaken. > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > There was a book about a group of kids who, among other things, created a fake lake monster, and recovered a treasure from inside an old Civil War canon… in the last tale, they drilled holes in the concrete plug using a battery-powered drill. I remember reading this in 1970 or so and thinking I had never seen such a thing… That would be the **The Mad Scientists Club** as noted above. Trivia question: What was the name of the dog that regularly appeared in the stories, and to whom did he belong? Oh, and what was the name of the truck that the dog owner drove? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/51 "2005-04-17T02:02:29Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > I need bookshelves for all my old books. I have a bunch of old books that were my mom’s and grandmother’s and all my old Raggedy Ann books and Scholastic bookclub books from the early 70s that I’d love to have out. I love my old Scholastic paperbacks! Instead of shelving them, I keep them in the bottom drawer of the bathroom vanity, because they’re the perfect length-- you can knock one off during a nice soak in the tub. Oh, and **dangermom** , I always thought I was the only person who read the McGurk mysteries, because I’ve never come across anyone else who even heard of them. There are some parts of the first books in the series that I still think are laugh-out-loud funny (of course, it helps that I have the sense of humor of a nine year old). And the _Trick_ books are downright hysterical, I still think about them every time I hear “Onward Christian Soldiers” because one of the books was about a Sunday school recital. My favorite Corbett though is the stand-alone book, _Here Lies the Body_, which is a mystery about a graveyard on Nantucket. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/52 "2005-04-17T02:12:18Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > There was a book about a group of kids who, among other things, created a fake lake monster, and recovered a treasure from inside an old Civil War canon… in the last tale, they drilled holes in the concrete plug using a battery-powered drill. I remember reading this in 1970 or so and thinking I had never seen such a thing… That would be the \*\*Mad Scientist’s Club \*\* books that have been mentioned up above **Brother**. [The Mad Scientist’s Club Website](http://www.madscientistsclub.com/) is worth a visit. Hey **Morgyn**!!! I went on the website and you were correct. Charlie didn’t have a last name until _The Big Kerplop_. It is Finckledinck. I thought I should share that. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/53 "2005-04-17T02:16:48Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > Trivia question: What was the name of the dog that regularly appeared in the stories, and to whom did he belong? Oh, and what was the name of the truck that the dog owner drove? > > Stranger Oooooooooo…this just isn’t right! I was reading that the other day and for the life of me I can’t effing remember. If I look it up is that considered cheating? ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/54 "2005-04-17T02:19:22Z")
I think I got the name of the truck **Stranger**!!! Richard the Deep Breather, right??? Huh??? Yeah??? ::panting with excitment:: And I swear I didn’t look it up. The dog however is a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/55 "2005-04-17T02:22:19Z")
That was supposed to read “panting with excitement”. Stupid smilies. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/56 "2005-04-17T02:22:36Z")
> [@Kolak of Twilo](#): > > We all know The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew Of them, got the Nancy Drew originals (bluecover, starting copyrights in the early 1930s, working their way gradually to circa 1970-something for _The Invisible Intruder_ where I stopped). Hardy Boys I have the 60s-era editions (non-original through to the point where they first came out in the 60s). > [@](#): > > and The Bobbsey Twins. check — read a few > > What about these series: > > The Happy Hollisters ?check — read at least one. > > Brains Benton > > Danny Dunn — Oh yeah > > Ginny Gordon > > The Power Boys — that was _The Haunted Skyscraper_, I had that. > > The Three Investigators — Definitely. The Seven Wrong Clocks, etc. Lessee, what else? Dana Girls. Penny Parker. Kay Tracey. Trixie Belden. (all young female detectives in the Nancy Drew tradition). Encyclopedia Brown, of course. And a couple with much younger kids, akin to the Bobbseys, called Honey Bunch and Norman, read a couple of those. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/57 "2005-04-17T02:28:59Z")
Anyone connect with the “Herbert” series by Hazel Wilson? (I came up with it while hijacking Rilchiam’s fine thread, but can’t seem to track much specific information. I loved the Homer Price series (if two books can be considered a series.) Excellent eccentric characters. In the Danny Dunn series, I’d forgotten what a charming misogynistic young Joe was. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/58 "2005-04-17T02:34:59Z")
Many a Sunday morning I would skip my Sunday School class, sneak off to the stair well and go down to the church library. There I found a whole series of Tom Swift books that I devoured till time to “re-appear” upstairs before my parents came looking. He always had some great inventions. “Tom Swift and his Atomic Can Opener”, or some such. Ahhh. Great stuff ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/59 "2005-04-17T02:51:49Z")
> [@Kolak of Twilo](#): > > I think I got the name of the truck **Stranger**!!! Richard the Deep Breather, right??? Huh??? Yeah??? > > ::panting with excitment:: > > And I swear I didn’t look it up. The dog however is a mystery. Yep. And before you have an asthma attack: The dog’s name was Kaiser Bill and his owner, who owned a junkyard, was Zeke (who was always rolling an unlit stub of a cigar around his mouth while lying in his hammock, too lazy to actually go out and make the millions he could if he wanted to.) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/60 "2005-04-17T03:26:21Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > IMy favorite Corbett though is the stand-alone book, _Here Lies the Body_, which is a mystery about a graveyard on Nantucket. Yes! Count me in as another fan of the Three Investigators. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618.md?page=4)