# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/61 "2005-04-17T03:37:46Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > 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 I hadn’t remembered the dog’s name. But I remember that Zeke’s last name is Boniface. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/62 "2005-04-17T03:52:18Z")
Homer Price and the Donut Machine. I still can’t believe this was the first book I voluntariily read that wasn’t about flying saucers and ghosts. I guess I must have had a thing for donuts back then!! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/63 "2005-04-17T04:23:47Z")
> [@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. The built a submarine once and went into their local lake. > > I only remember the one book. And 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. It was written by Donald J Sobel. I know exactly what book you’re talking about. The bad guys were COBRA and the good guys were MONGOOSE. The lead boy’s father turns out to work for MONGOOSE. There’s a plot to drug a water supply and the drug is hidden in a dummy coil of an old car (COBRA…coil…get it?). The smart kid figures it out because the engine only fires on four cylinders instead of eight. ---
**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, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/64 "2005-04-17T06:07:36Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > 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. OK. I went on a Google hunt and found this -[Secret Agents Four](http://www.bethlehembooks.com/adventure/Agents_4.htm) by Donald J. Sobol. He also wrote the Encyclopedia Brown books. Look at the link **Ike** and see if the description is the one you remember. **Otto** , part of what led me in this direction was your post above about MONGOOSE and COBRA and your mention of Sobol. It doesn’t seem like this is the book you and **Jonathon Chance** are talking about. At least not from the synopsis shown on the above link. ---
**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, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/65 "2005-04-17T06:10:44Z")
Oops. I guess I need to learn to read further down the page before I speak. Ignore the last part of my prior post. It is the same book. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/66 "2005-04-17T06:21:32Z")
I read “Nancy Drew” & “The Dana Girls” by Carolyn Keene, & the Bobbsey Twins (those were the two pairs, one dark-haired & one blond, right?). ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/67 "2005-04-17T06:26:02Z")
Of the Series mentioned, I was a fan of Encyclopedia Brown, the Mad Scientists Club, and the Great Brain. I remember reading the one about the V-8 that sounded like a four cylinder, too. 'Course I was doing this reading in the late 70’s, not the 60’s. I had a goodly collection of Hardy Boys, too. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/68 "2005-04-17T06:40:00Z")
Oh, yeah, & “Freddy the Detective” (who was a hog–a literal farm porcine), & “Alfred Hitchcock & the Three Investigators,” & of course “Encyclopedia Brown.” I also read Tom Swift books, but that’s more science fiction. And there was something else with a little old lady. Besides Mrs. Pollifax, which my mom liked, so I read one. Hm. I loved mysteries when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/69 "2005-04-17T06:48:46Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > I was also crazy about the “Sprockets, the Little Robot” series, because I was robot-crazy as a kid. THOSE, I know, are OOP, rare, and expensive. Was that Alexander Key’s little robot? I never got into that. When I was about 10, I was into his darker (& very Jain-themed) stuff: The Golden Enemy, Escape to Witch Mountain, The Forgotten Door. > [@Otto](#): > > 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. Yeah, her! That’s who I was trying to think of! I thought, something like “Pickering.” I also read one of the Black Stallion books that was kind of a mystery. I think it was even called _The Black Stallion Mystery_ ---
**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, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/70 "2005-04-17T11:34:24Z")
> [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#): > > In the Danny Dunn series, I’d forgotten what a charming misogynistic young Joe was. That was just in **Homework Machine**. He was probably only one stage of development from thinking girls had cooties, and when it seemed that anyone, let alone a “dame”, was getting between him and his longtime best friend, naturally his defenses went up. He did say some crummy things to Irene, but when she responded in kind, “he felt that he had been a pig, but it was too late to do anything about it.” And as I said in the other thread, he did come around and even wrote a poem to Irene, and in later books, you’d never know there had been any friction between them. ---
**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, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/71 "2005-04-17T11:57:47Z")
All right; fair enough. 😉 ---
**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, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/72 "2005-04-17T11:59:03Z")
:d ---
**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, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/73 "2005-04-17T12:00:23Z")
Er…that would be 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/74 "2005-04-17T12:18:32Z")
It would appear that Children’s Mystery Series are dangerous “gateway books,” which leads to chronic Straight Dope addiction. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/75 "2005-04-17T13:07:23Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > 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. I’ve got a nice little collection of Scholastic books that are hardbacks - they’re about the size of trade paperbacks, and have no dustjacket. The cover art is printed right on the hard cover. Any PBs I had probably fell apart from numerous re-readings. The Raggedy Ann books I have are the same way. Smallish hardbacks, with no dustjacket, but a full-color picture on the front. ---
**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, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/76 "2005-04-17T15:55:22Z")
Did anyone else ever read the [Bunnicula](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0689806590/ref=pd_sim_b_5/104-1530018-7872700?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance) books? I just remembered these; basically, you have a cat (Chester) that always thinks there’s something wrong, and his faithful if dubious friend, Harold (who I believe is a bassett hound) narrating the action, which mostly consists of Chester making an ass of himself. It’s sort of a take on the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, I believe, except that Chester really doesn’t have a clue as to what’s going on. I read the first two but apparently there’s a whole series, which I’ll now have bear the suspicious looks of librarians and patrons and sneak into the childrens’ stacks to check out. Not part of a series, but I also enjoyed Ellen Raskin’s [The Westing Game](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140386645/qid=1113753324/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-1530018-7872700) and [The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel)](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140329455/ref=pd_sim_b_1/104-1530018-7872700?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance), which I see are now back in print after several years of publication limbo. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![YWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6f9a4e/32.png) [@YWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YWalker)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/77 "2005-04-17T17:02:51Z")
Oh, lots of old favorites there. I remember Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine; I had a copy of that I read several times. I don’t remember chasing down any of the other Danny Dunn’s, though. I liked it, but didn’t love it. I was a big Encyclopedia Brown fan; I’ve turned both my sons on to him as well. I liked Hardy Boys better than Nancy Drew, but I had a lot more Nancy Drews because I “inherited” a collection from an older cousin. Some of them are the old blue cover editions dating back the 30’s, where Nancy has a flapper-like hair style, and they refer to “her speedy roadster.” I like the older, anachronistic versions much better than the modernized versions. I had a couple of Bobbsey Twin books, but that was back when they were just innocent kids, and merely played rather than solved mysteries. I just checked my son’s bookshelf, and saw that I have “The Bobbsey Twins in the Country.” Very saccharine, but I enjoyed reading about Nan and Bert and Freddie and Flossie. (I always assumed that Freddie and Flossie grew up to become gangsters. Flossie just sounded like such a good gun moll name.) Homer Price? Check. (Just saw a copy on the bookshelf.) Henry Reed? Check. (I bought one at a used bookstore a while back.) I remember the Mad Investigator’s Club; there’s probably still a copy in my Dad’s basement. I had a couple of the Three Investigators club books, and I recently picked up one at a used book store. I liked those a lot. I liked the Dana Girls. I thought they were more interesting than Nancy Drew. Like the Hardy Boys, it helped to have two actual characters, rather than just one character with a couple of stereotype friends. I read and liked a couple of Trixie Belden books. The one we had, I think, was “Trixie Belden and the Mysterious Stranger.” I remember being most mystified in that book by the time they had a cookout, and one of the characters offered her brilliant tip that they set out the butter beforehand so it would be soft enough to butter their hamburger buns. (It’s a secret that it’s easier to spread butter at room temperature? And who the hell ever heard of putting butter on a hamburger bun?) I recently hunted down “Alvin’s Secret Code” for my younger son. Every quarter he has to do a book report with a project, and I thought it would be really cool to make some scytales. We’ll see if he likes the book. Oh yeah, Scott Corbett. I liked those, too, but I must’ve read library books on those, since I didn’t have any of them. I remember The Lemonade Trick, and the Hairy Horror Trick. I think he had a joke book, too. Loved Fitzgerald’s “Great Brain” series as well, though I wouldn’t classify them as mysteries. And my Santa Santa scout1222 got me “Mrs. Coverlet’s Magicians” for Christmas, after someone here remembered the title for me last December. It was an old childhood favorite that I had lost by loaning it to a friend who never returned it. Loved it. Yeah, I guess I remembered a few… ---
**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, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/78 "2005-04-17T17:51:12Z")
> [@YWalker](#): > > (I always assumed that Freddie and Flossie grew up to become gangsters. Flossie just sounded like such a good gun moll name.) Or a dental hygienist. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/79 "2005-04-17T19:02:39Z")
> [@Kolak of Twilo](#): > > We all know The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and The Bobbsey Twins. > > What about these series: > > The Happy Hollisters THAT’S IT!!! For the past several weeks I’ve been trying to recall the name of a series of children’s mystery books that had originally belonged to my mother and which were given to me to read when I was younger. I loved those books but couldn’t remember more than “a family who went places and solved mysteries, and my favorite book of the series was set in the Black Forest.” THE HAPPY HOLLISTERS! THAT’S IT! ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618/80 "2005-04-17T21:37:41Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > Did anyone else ever read the [Bunnicula](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0689806590/ref=pd_sim_b_5/104-1530018-7872700?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance) books? I just remembered these; basically, you have a cat (Chester) that always thinks there’s something wrong, and his faithful if dubious friend, Harold (who I believe is a bassett hound) narrating the action, which mostly consists of Chester making an ass of himself. It’s sort of a take on the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, I believe, except that Chester really doesn’t have a clue as to what’s going on. I read the first two but apparently there’s a whole series, which I’ll now have bear the suspicious looks of librarians and patrons and sneak into the childrens’ stacks to check out. I’ve been reading these out loud to my 6 year old; she loves them. Let’s see, there’s _Bunnicula, Howliday Inn, The Celery Stalks At Midnight, Return to Howliday Inn,_ and…OH! OH I haven’t read this one! _Bunnicula Strikes Again_! There’s also a slightly different line of books “written” by Howie the dachshund instead of Harold the mutt (he’s not a Bassett, just a big hairy lummox): [“Tales From the House of Bunnicula.”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0689839529/ref=pd_sbs_b_3/103-6602004-2074230?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance) I used to love Trixie Belden, too. Hey, [they’re reprinting them!](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375831096/qid=1113773881/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-6602004-2074230) My amazon wishlist just grew by another page. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childrens-mystery-series-pre-1970-who-read-them/299618.md?page=5)