# So, am I the only one who read "The Three Investigators" as a kid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 5, 2002, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784 "2002-12-05T22:03:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/1 "2002-12-05T22:03:41Z")
I very fondly remember these books, which almost always had an epilogue from Alfred Hitchcock. At least they did until he died when they started using Ellery Queen, I believe, though I could be mistaken. My favorite was the one where they were tracking down the lost treasure of Cortez, but there were many, many others that I read voraciously in my late pre-teens. Did anyone else read these? - Dirk ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/2 "2002-12-05T22:09:21Z")
Jupiter Jones rocked. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/3 "2002-12-05T22:11:10Z")
I read some of them, but I don’t remember them too well. I was more into the Hardy Boys, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/4 "2002-12-05T22:14:33Z")
I read ONE of those books… it involved a hidden treasure, and a group of parrots who’d each been trained to speak a riddle that would help lead to the treasure’s whereabouts. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/5 "2002-12-05T22:17:12Z")
I not only read the original 3 Investigators, but the updated /'80’s’90’s version too. I also read the original Hardy Boys and Hardy Boys: Casefiles. Also Encyclopedia Brown. And the Bobbsey Twins. I read all the great kids mystery series. ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/6 "2002-12-05T22:19:44Z")
I also remember one that was based on the months of the calendar and busts of the Caesars…they always had some good, trivial info that was worth learning, as well as entertaining. Yes, I read Hardy Boys and Encyclopedia Brown, too! I loved E. Brown because I always had the chance to see if I had deduced the same things he did. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/7 "2002-12-05T22:20:06Z")
Man, I was a Three Investigators junkie. Loved, 'em. Kinda liked the way August August gave them the limo whenever they needed to use it, but I always thought it wasn’t particularly discreet. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/8 "2002-12-05T22:46:20Z")
Another fan here. IIRC, there 33 or 34 books in the original series. Read 'em all. Didn’t know there was an updated version, though. Were they any good? ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/9 "2002-12-05T22:52:09Z")
Read 'em all, loved 'em all and never want to see them again just in case they suck now that I’m an adult :). The updated version blew chunks. Bob was a babe-magnet, Pete had a steady gf that helped them solve crimes, and the running gag was Jupiter’s wacky diets. Oh, and they were all in their teens. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/10 "2002-12-05T22:58:46Z")
I swear I thought about starting this thread this morning using the exact same title. [sub]and I live in Texas, too … Spooky![/sub] I _so_ much wanted to live in a salvage yard with a cool hide-out. I had such a crush on the muscle guys that worked for his Aunt. (What were their names? Hans and Konrad?) ---
**Author:** ![Alexei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@Alexei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alexei)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/11 "2002-12-05T23:00:07Z")
Absolutely classic. Jupiter Jones lived on a scrapyard where he made lots of cool gadgets, frequently trying new diets (that never worked) and gently pulling on his upper lip (that’s how you could tell he was coming up with a plan. Pete Crenshaw? Crawshaw? Was the tall, athletic one, in the beginning he had the car. Bob Morton? was a nerd in the beginning, who worked at the library, but later on he got contacts, and changed his clothes and suddenly started to get all the girls. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/12 "2002-12-05T23:08:13Z")
I loved Three Investigators as a kid. Like Homebrew, I always thought their junkyard hide-out was really cool. I didn’t have a crush on the muscle guys, though. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/13 "2002-12-05T23:16:57Z")
I also read the Three Investigators quite a bit as a kid. Not the whole series, I think, but enough that it made a good impressions on me. ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/14 "2002-12-05T23:31:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eats\_Crayons \* > \*\*Man, I was a Three Investigators junkie. Loved, 'em. Kinda liked the way August August gave them the limo whenever they needed to use it, but I always thought it wasn’t particularly discreet. \*\* It has been awhile since I read them, but didn’t they get extended use of the limo because Jupiter won some contest to get limo rides for a month and then he convinced the limo people that meant a month’s worth of actual driving time instead of as many rides as one wanted over the course of a month? I think I read all of the books, at least judging by the list I found [here](http://www.3investigators.homestead.com/files/t3ihome.htm). I remember all of the earlier books, but of the last ten listed, I only remember a few. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/15 "2002-12-05T23:49:57Z")
It’s strange. I’m pretty sure I’ve read 80-90% of the 3 Investigators Books. Couldn’t get enough of them as a kid. Yet now, looking back, I can barely remember a single plotline to any of them. Kinda like Knight Rider. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2002, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/16 "2002-12-05T23:55:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Banger \* > **It has been awhile since I read them, but didn’t they get extended use of the limo because Jupiter won some contest to get limo rides for a month and then he convinced the limo people that meant a month’s worth of actual driving time instead of as many rides as one wanted over the course of a month?** He did try to pursue that argument. It was premised on the wording in the contest ad that the winner was entitled to free use of the limousine “for thirty days of twenty-four hours each”. Jupiter wanted the limo company to honor that as a promise to provide 720 logged hours in one pf thier cars, which is why, during the first three or so books, the author made a point of describing Jupiter keeping careful track of the time they used up. The owner of the limo company was not friendly to this interpretation, and IIRC, was prepared to fight Jupiter’s claim in court, although as a conciliatory gesture, he did let them use the car for something like another three days (I don’t recall the details). The issue was rendered moot, however, at the end of the case, when their grateful client (I think he was the crown prince of an obscure Cental European principality) arranged with the limo service to have all their transportation usage billed to him. Was it Pete or Bob who had suffered from a crippling disease in early childhood that had him in leg braces (which he was no longer wearing later in the series, although his legs did tend to tire easily)? And do the updated books still have the lads visiting Alfred Hitchcock at his home, or did they replace him with Wes Craven, or somebody? ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/17 "2002-12-06T00:00:59Z")
Wow this is bizarre timing. I was in the library with my daughter last weekend and I pointed them out to her and told her that was one of my favorite series as a kid. SHe said she had read one and liked the secret hideout in the junkyard:) I was so happy that she had read it! ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/18 "2002-12-06T00:03:56Z")
I loved 'em too. Seems like with all these series books, you never remember the plot, but just all the setup stuff. I wanted a cool junkyard hideout… ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/19 "2002-12-06T00:32:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Enderw24 \* > \*\*It’s strange. I’m pretty sure I’ve read 80-90% of the 3 Investigators Books. Couldn’t get enough of them as a kid. Yet now, looking back, I can barely remember a single plotline to any of them. > Kinda like Knight Rider. \*\* Ditto. I remember getting so excited seeing a new one or one I hadn’t read yet on the library shelf. I read every one I could get a hold of. The only thing I remember from any of it the name “Jupiter Jones.” Cool back then… now I think it’s corny as hell. I think I’ve repressed everything else. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/20 "2002-12-06T00:34:32Z")
Another former Three Investigators reader here. Zev Steinhardt [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784.md?page=2)