# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![kevlaw](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kevlaw/32/2281_2.png) [@kevlaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevlaw)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/21 "2002-12-06T00:51:46Z")
> [@](#): > > 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 And the treasure was hidden at 222b baker st. One of the parrots seemed to have a stutter when he said “To to to be, or not to to to be”. Those were my favorite ones … the ones with an elaborate collection of clues that they had to piece together like the Case of the Screaming Clocks - the villain always turned out to be the international art thief who would elude the police at the last moment My wife and I were debating what books to buy our seven year old. I guess we have an answer. > [@](#): > > Was it Pete or Bob who had suffered from a crippling disease in early childhood It was Bob. ---
**Author:** ![Iguana\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@Iguana\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iguana_Boy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/22 "2002-12-06T00:54:14Z")
Yeah - I loved those guys, and the hideout was so cool! Well, it was to me as a kid! I didn’t know they’d updated them though. I’m not sure I like the sound of that- getting _girls_ involved and everything… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/23 "2002-12-06T01:14:09Z")
Well, does anyone here remember the name of their arch-nemesis?? And what happened to him?? _I do…_ heheheheh… ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/24 "2002-12-06T01:37:30Z")
I remember several of the first original series. The first one, The Green Ghost I think, was cheesecloth over a balloon. The one where the thief hid the silver spider on the real spider’s web. The one where acrobatic midgets disguised as boyscouts (I kid you not) made a human ladder with the lights out to steal something from a museum (Jupiter remembered that one of them had a gold tooth which kids never have!) The one where the green stamp (representing hidden money) was under the 4¢ stamp and it turned out the guy had a speech impedement and couldn’t say the ‘L’ sound so the money was hidden under the “floor” not four! The screaming skull, where it turned out that it was just a mike & speaker but _it was hidden in the base the skull sat on._ We didn’t have no fancy vid’yo games, and we liked it!!! (Actually, we did. I’m not **that** old!) ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/25 "2002-12-06T01:52:31Z")
Read every one of them. Loved 'em. In fact, recently I used several facts from the series to create a baffling set of trivia questions on Pyroto. Very cool. ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/26 "2002-12-06T01:54:25Z")
Homebrew - > [@](#): > > I had such a crush on the muscle guys that worked for his Aunt. (What were their names? Hans and Konrad?) (One of these days I’ll learn how to do quotes and spoilers). Homebrew, that is a wierd coincidence…I’m assuming you’re _female?_ I didn’t know too many girls who read T3I, but from what I’ve seen in this thread, apparently there were! (Where were these chicks when I was a teenager and dating??) Oh, and their arch-nemesis was: SKINNY NORRIS… and he went to military school at the end of the “Headless Horse” book. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/27 "2002-12-06T02:26:55Z")
Loved 'em. Loved Jupiter Jones. I wanted to live in a junkyard. ---
**Author:** ![UWmite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UWmite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UWmite)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/28 "2002-12-06T02:32:52Z")
I utterly devoured these books. Nancy Drew was a tool compared to those guys. But I can’t come up with a single plot either. Nice to see other women who read 'em. All the other girls I knew at the time were reading books about horses or those awful sweet valley high things. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/29 "2002-12-06T02:55:35Z")
I have a collection of old hardcovers. (15 at present count.) There are so many things that I first learned about from these books, like rhyming slang (“Dead Man’s Riddle”) and the fact that “corn” in Europe used to just mean grain (“The Dancing Devil”) and lots of other things… perhaps not all correct (the Port Out, Starboard Home thing is up for debate), but I still have a warm spot in my heart for these books. My family was once playing our own version of “Scattergories,” where we each get to choose a letter and make up a category. One of our categories was “places that don’t exist,” and for R my brother and I both put “Rocky Beach.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/30 "2002-12-06T03:14:47Z")
My middle school library had most of the original series. Once I ran through them, I dragged my mom to every bookstore within range of her station wagon to get the rest of them. And I can’t remember a damned thing about them. I do remember that the first book was about a haunted house, and was great because it was really scary until you got to the end, and then it turned out that the “ghost” was a silent movie star with a speech impediment who’s career was ruined by the talkies. And he was actually a nice guy, so it wasn’t really so scary, after all. And I seem to recall that Jupiter’s uncle had a fondness for the Blue Danube. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/31 "2002-12-06T03:24:55Z")
I also loved them. I also loved the junkyard hideout (An innocuous looking old door opens into an underground chamber. Kewl! 🙂 I also didn’t know about the updates, but I’m glad I missed them IIRC, Jupe had been a child actor on a tv show when he was little. Does anyone remember anything more about that? ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/32 "2002-12-06T03:28:12Z")
Hey, I just remembered the name of the guy they replaced Alfred Hitchcock with! Hector Sebastian. Am I right? ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/33 "2002-12-06T04:45:58Z")
As a child, Jupe played a character on TV called “Baby Fatso”. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/34 "2002-12-06T05:00:58Z")
Baby Fatso, that’s it. Thanks, **Banger** , I thought it was “Fatty” something. I was close. Was that how he knew Alfred Hitchcock? (I haven’t read these books in over twenty years, i’ve forgotten a lot.) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/35 "2002-12-06T05:24:22Z")
He, **DirkGntly** you will be interested to know that there were also fans who read those books in Spanish. I was glad they decided not to change their names to more Spanish sounding ones. I guess Spanish translators learned their lesson after having embarrassments like, for example, Flash Gordon being called for ages “Roldan el temerario”! Embarrassing because when serials and movies came on TV\* Flash Gordon was popular and I wondered what the heck was Ming the Merciless doing in a Roldan comic! \*[sub]Traduced, and shown on Central American TV in the 70’s, don’t think I am older that necessary :)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/36 "2002-12-06T14:11:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DirkGntly \* > \*\*Homebrew, that is a wierd coincidence…I’m assuming you’re _female?_ \*\* Nope. Sorry to disappoint. ---
**Author:** ![Nightingale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Nightingale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightingale)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/37 "2002-12-06T14:21:15Z")
I loved these books!! I also read every single Hardy Boys book from the original series, too, but the Three Investigators were always my favorite. And for what it’s worth, I’m a girl, and I thought Nancy Drew was a weenie. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/38 "2002-12-06T14:28:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Silentgoldfish \* > \*\*Read 'em all, loved 'em all and never want to see them again just in case they suck now that I’m an adult :). > \*\* Oh, and they do. Sadly. It almost inspires me to start a thread about things that were really cool then, but with hindsight suck. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. comes to mind, as does High Chaparall (sp?). Geez, when I stumble on a re-run of one of these shows today, it almost hurts. The three investigators series got a bit mechanical after a while. I too devoured the books, up till #13 or 14. The it went downhill. Fast. And I could even see that, being 12 at the time. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/39 "2002-12-06T14:43:15Z")
For some reason which I can’t remember now, I either inherited or had bought for me at a yard sale or auction a box of old hardcover books when I was about 10. Besides the Three Investigators, there were also a few Brains Benson and Hardy Boys in that box. I devoured all three series. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2002, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784/40 "2002-12-06T14:55:33Z")
I forgot completely about them. This really brings back memories…they were my Harry Potter:) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-am-i-the-only-one-who-read-the-three-investigators-as-a-kid/140784.md?page=3)