# The Official " Identify from a vague desciption" thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2002, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690 "2002-09-20T00:52:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![xcheopis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bc8723/32.png) [@xcheopis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xcheopis)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/21 "2002-09-20T20:18:46Z")
**Doubting Robert** , are you thinking of _Peter Graves_ by **William Pene du Bois**? ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/22 "2002-09-20T20:19:37Z")
**Morgainelf** , is [this](http://www.txla.org/groups/tba/annotations/dollhouse.html) the dollhouse book? ---
**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:** [September 20, 2002, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/23 "2002-09-20T20:28:27Z")
Here’s my stumper (I think I tired to start a thread on it not long ago, but the seach function is being weird on me): A **TV show** , 1978-ish, a boy name Timothy was running from a bully (who always threatened him for “five bucks! five bucks!”) He hides in a big, old trunk. When he opens the trunk, he finds himself about 100 years in the past where the trunk (then new looking) is owned by an rather unsuccessful “elixir” salesman. The show was centered around their unlikely friendship (“elixir” selling guy had a heart of gold and became like a father figure). The show was about their adventures, both in the “present” and the “past” (horse and buggy era). The trunk was the gateway to and from each time period and they could both fit in it. The show started with a young boy’s voice yelling “Hey, Timothy!” and a close up of the Timothy’s face ad he turned to face the camera suddenly. The music of the opening credits was acoustic guitar (no vocals). The show was either American or Canadian (don’t recall any other accents). **Legomancer** I vaguely recall that book coming up in previous thread… I’m not sure if it was identified or not… ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/24 "2002-09-20T20:38:47Z")
Here’s mine…a girl from 19th century America finds a mirror in her attic and steps into modern-day America. Or is it the other way around? And there’s some sort of evil girl on one side of the mirror or another. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/25 "2002-09-20T20:43:42Z")
**Charmian** Is it “Adventures of Timothy Pilgrim” ?? [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0212638](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0212638) ---
**Author:** ![Doubting\_Robert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@Doubting\_Robert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubting_Robert)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/26 "2002-09-20T20:48:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xcheopis \* > \*\ ***Doubting Robert** , are you thinking of _Peter Graves_ by **William Pene du Bois**? \*\* Judging by the description at [http://www.logan.com/loganberry/solved3.html](http://www.logan.com/loganberry/solved3.html) , I believe that is the correct answer. My memory of the book is obviously pretty vague. All I really remember is the young hero going to the house of the frightening but not really evil inventor, and an illustration of small anti-gravity balls hanging upward on straps, while the hero pushes down on one of them. Thank you, **xcheopis**! ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/27 "2002-09-20T20:51:01Z")
**Gundy** I think I know that book. give me minute to do some searches. If it’s the one I’m thinking of, I loved it. Maybe a Lois Duncan book? ---
**Author:** ![Doubting\_Robert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@Doubting\_Robert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubting_Robert)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/28 "2002-09-20T21:08:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Morgainelf \* > \*\*A great place to research forgotten children’s books is [http://www.logan.com/loganberry/solved.html](http://www.logan.com/loganberry/solved.html) \*\* Great web site! Thanks, **Morgainelf**. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/29 "2002-09-20T21:14:34Z")
No luck on **Gundy’s** book yet. I may be able to try some more resources over the weekend. This is fun! ---
**Author:** ![BottledBlondJeanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/0ea827/32.png) [@BottledBlondJeanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BottledBlondJeanie)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/30 "2002-09-20T21:46:22Z")
OK here’s mine… Childrens book… Several siblings stay the summer with relatives and explore the local area, they meet a boy who traps animals out of season for his family to eat. He shows them a maze and they meet an old lady and her retarded son…there’s a lot of stuff about the confederates and the old lady tells them about a secret rock where there is trewasure buried. Turns out the rock which was supposeed to be in a river is now in a lake and it’s called the “painted rock” underneath is confederate gold. ---
**Author:** ![MrVisible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MrVisible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrVisible)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2002, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/31 "2002-09-20T22:01:32Z")
**xcheopis** , you are completely, exactly correct! It was indeed _The House With The Clock in its Walls_. I even found this excerpt from it online: > [@](#): > > Around sharp curves they went, lurching dangerously far over and squeling the tires. Up hills, down hills, then seventy or eighty miles an hour on the straightaway, which was never straight for long on these winding country roads. Lewis had never seen Jonathan drive so fast, or so recklessly. But no matter how fast he drove, the two gold circles of light still burned in his rear-view mirror. I am off to the bookstore. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![haardvark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@haardvark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/haardvark)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/32 "2002-09-21T00:19:09Z")
okay, so I saw **Mr Visible’s** post today at work, and had a pretty good idea that I knew the answer, but my corporate firewall won’t let me post. So I emailed the link home and figured I would reply around dinner time. **xcheopsis** beat me to it!! dwat you you wascally wabbit! (side note, the girl sidekick I think didn’t come to be until the second book…in the first book the protagonist (lewis) was buddies with a bully (tarby), and lewis lived with his uncle jonathan and mrs {something} the witch. so then I kept reading and saw **Charmian** ’s thread…and I got all excited again cos I knew that one. Kept reading, and got scooped again by **Motorgirl**. I mean, it’s very disillusioning. At work, I’m the guy that knows all the useless crap that no-one knows (except current tv trivia - haven’t had tv in ten years) but around the 'Dope I get scooped in no time flat! _sigh_ kindred spirits. So now I am trying to think of ill-remembered childhood stories and am coming up blank. So I shall just throw out some random book references from my childhood… - Jupiter Jones and the Three Investigators series - Danny Dunn and the {random futuristic widget} - books by Scott Corbett (particularly The Red Room Riddle) - Potlatch’s _Canadian Children’s Annual_ that’s all for now… 'vark, Bibliophile from Childhood on… ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/33 "2002-09-21T01:06:29Z")
Okay, this is a song and it may win for most-vague award since I can’t remember any of the lyrics: It got heavy radio airplay in the late 70’s, early 80’s. I’ve always assumed that it was by Steely Dan, although I’m not familiar with their stuff and I haven’t found it on any of the clips at [amazon.com](http://amazon.com) or [cdnow.com](http://cdnow.com). The “chorus” was a saxophone solo, a **wailing** saxophone solo, and I don’t know from music but I’m pretty sure it’s all in a minor key. Before and after each chorus, there was this creepy keyboard interlude. The song stands out just because every time it came on it gave me the creeps so I had to change the station. And that’s all I’ve got to go on. Anybody know a way to hum over the internet? ---
**Author:** ![xcheopis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bc8723/32.png) [@xcheopis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xcheopis)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/34 "2002-09-21T02:17:50Z")
**SolGrundy** , some possibilities are: _Baker Street_ by **Gerry Raffert** or _Turn The Page_ by **Bob Segar and the Silver Bullet Band** ---
**Author:** ![xcheopis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bc8723/32.png) [@xcheopis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xcheopis)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/35 "2002-09-21T02:27:44Z")
**Gundy** , that almost sounds like _The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden_ by… I don’t remember the author. Mary someoneorother. I think. **haardvark** , you will not be the master until you, too, can randomly quote children’s books in everyday conversations. 😉 [SUB][SUB]Bibliophile? I scoff at you. Biblioholism rules![/SUB][/SUB] ---
**Author:** ![Crispy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Crispy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crispy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/36 "2002-09-21T03:00:09Z")
Okay, here goes… Made for TV animated children’s movie. C. 1988. Probably on the Disney Channel. Had talking, variously colored magic dogs from another dimension. The alpha dog was blue. There was a green dog that was good at sniffing out these portals into other dimensions. The dogs had a key (or glowing crystal thingie) that made the portals appear. They were searching all over town for the door that led to their world. This little boy and girl helped. There was an evil exotic animal collector that caught the dogs at some point. Not very much to go on, I know. But this has been bugging me for weeks. For some reason I really want to see that movie again. ---
**Author:** ![haardvark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@haardvark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/haardvark)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/37 "2002-09-21T03:18:29Z")
> [@](#): > > **haardvark** , you will not be the master until you, too, can randomly quote children’s books in everyday conversations. 😉 > > [SUB][SUB]Bibliophile? I scoff at you. Biblioholism rules![/SUB][/SUB] \*\* okay, so what IS the witch’s name? 'cos I’m darned if I can remember and now it’s bugging me:mad: and I CAN randomly quote children’s books, but I already have enough reasons for people to stare at me like I’m a freak… “goodnight mush” “milk! milk! milk for the morning cake!” [screamed by Oliver Hardy simulacra in chef’s hats] “are YOU my mommy?” I actually wrote “bibloholic” the first time around but bibliophile seems so much classier… but you are right, let’s call a spade a spade… “My name is Haardvark, and I’m a biblioholic” 'vark ---
**Author:** ![king\_of\_spain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7cd45c/32.png) [@king\_of\_spain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/king_of_spain)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/38 "2002-09-21T03:44:57Z")
**elfkin** , yours sounds vaguely like a book called _Shadowlight_, by Jackie Hyman, which I read a few years ago. The problem is that I don’t really remember the plot, and Amazon says it’s out of print and doesn’t have a plot summary. I still have my copy, so here’s the blurb from the back cover. It doesn’t match up in all respects to what you’ve said, but it does sound like it might be close - see if any of this sounds familiar: > [@](#): > > THE RADIANTS have long ruled in the city of Ad-Omaq through their powers as adepts. Yet they are not the only magic wielders in the land. There is an older race, a horned people born of the mountains and drawing strength from nature itself. And to the Radiants, this race is a menace to be eliminated. > > What they have not counted on is Shadow, born of both races and gifted with the special mind abilities of each, magical skills which are all that stand between her and destruction by the Radiants - all, too, that may protect her from the undead, who roam the land, hungrily claiming new souls for their ancient and evil master, the Graylord. > > Now, with the minions of the Graylord massing for invasion and the leaders of the Radiants forming an unholy alliance that could doom Ad-Omaq, Shadow’s struggle to save her land sends her on a desperate quest to a forbidden land where she must face a master of magic even mightier than her own… Anyway, here’s one I’ve been looking for: kid’s novel. It centers around a fairly large family - at least three or four brothers and sisters. All the sibs are having a rough time, so one of the kid brothers, who’s an inventor, decides to invent a machine that cheers people up. It works by capturing “particles charged with laughter” - there was some special sciencey name for these, “risible ions” or “risons” or something like that. I recall having the impression that this book came from the middle of a series, but my local library didn’t have any of the others from the series. Anyone? ---
**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:** [September 21, 2002, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/39 "2002-09-21T03:55:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Motorgirl \* > \*\ ***Charmian** Is it “Adventures of Timothy Pilgrim” ?? > > [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0212638](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0212638) \*\* **Motorgirl** Why, yes it is! I’ve actually been trying to look it up for a couple of weeks. The IMDB wasn’t really helpful due to the lack of information (it’s a long-forgotten Canadian series for children). Coincidentally, at the end of today’s workday, a film editor I know called me to say he thought knew of someone who has the TV I’m looking for on video (we’ve submitted updates to the IMDB that should appear eventually). He figured it out when I finally remembered that the “elixir” -selling guy was named “Zachariah” and it triggered my editor friend’s memory. The series was shot in 1974, although I would have seen them when they were broadcast a few years later – they were 10, fifteen minute episodes that aired around lunchtime. Strangely, Zachariah, who I remember being such a kind man, is played by David Hemblen who is best known for playing bad guys. (My editor-buddy worked on a TV series he was in.) ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2002, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690/40 "2002-09-21T04:25:30Z")
**xcheopis** : _Turn The Page_ was the first tune I thought of too from that description… **SolGrundy** , any lyrics at all that you can recall? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-official-identify-from-a-vague-desciption-thread/128690.md?page=3)