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The Hardy Boys vs. Nancy Drew
L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library ^ | October 10, 2022 | by Charlie, Reference Services

Posted on 08/14/2025 5:48:57 PM PDT by kawhill

I then asked him if he also read the Hardy Boys as a kid, and he certainly did. He then asked me how many of these books were published, and when I researched this, I discovered that the first Hardy Boys books came out in 1927, and ended their run after 190 titles in 2005.

(Excerpt) Read more at ecpubliclibrary.info ...


TOPICS: Books/Literature; History
KEYWORDS: author; books

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1 posted on 08/14/2025 5:48:57 PM PDT by kawhill
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To: kawhill

I read many a Hardy Boys novel as a teen. Frank and Joe.... Had no idea they lasted into the new century.


2 posted on 08/14/2025 5:50:31 PM PDT by Rummyfan ( In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.👨 )
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To: kawhill

I’ve got a raging clue…


3 posted on 08/14/2025 5:50:54 PM PDT by pburiak (You really think we can vote our way out of this? That's so cute...)
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To: pburiak

Before SP jumped the shark.

4 posted on 08/14/2025 5:51:50 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: kawhill

In 1956, the Mickey Mouse Club did a serial version of the Hardy Boys “Tower Treasure” story. There are many differences from the book, the main one being that the boys are several years younger than in the book. But it captured my imagination as a young kid, and I have it on DVD.


5 posted on 08/14/2025 5:53:04 PM PDT by Steve_Seattle
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To: kawhill

I read most of the Hardy boys, and some of the Nancy Drew books.

I noticed that the Hardy boy books had multiple sub plots or diversions whereas the Nancy Drew had none.

kind of like taking the freeway instead of the backroads.

I personally preferred the Tom Swift books as did Elon obviously


6 posted on 08/14/2025 5:53:11 PM PDT by algore
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To: algore

Anyone remember Encyclopedia Brown?


7 posted on 08/14/2025 5:55:29 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: kawhill

I was lucky enough to find a full set of the Doc Savage paperbacks when I was 13. What amazing adventures I had!


8 posted on 08/14/2025 5:56:57 PM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
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To: kawhill

Boy detectives and girl detective.


9 posted on 08/14/2025 5:58:25 PM PDT by SkyDancer ( ~ Am Yisrael Chai ~)
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To: algore

“I personally preferred the Tom Swift books as did Elon obviously.”

An older cousin was a regular purchaser of the Tom Swift series so I was always checking his bookshelf for new ones to read when visiting. I may have read a couple of Hardy Boys along the way but the Tom Swift was more entertaining and stimulating for my mind.


10 posted on 08/14/2025 6:01:01 PM PDT by T-Bird45 (It feels like the seventies, and it shouldn't. )
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To: Rummyfan

Especially without one of them becoming trans


11 posted on 08/14/2025 6:02:04 PM PDT by bigbob (If thou doth eff around, thou wilt findeth out)
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To: dfwgator
How about ...

By Jacques Futrelle (who went down with the Titanic)

12 posted on 08/14/2025 6:02:45 PM PDT by BlueLancer (Orchides Forum Trahite - Cordes Et Mentes Veniant)
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To: kawhill

I read some of the Hardy Boys books. Also liked watching the 1970s Nancy Drew TV series with Pamela Sue Martin, lol.


13 posted on 08/14/2025 6:03:56 PM PDT by OttawaFreeper ("The Gardens was founded by men-sportsmen-who fought for their country" Conn Smythe, 1966 )
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To: kawhill
There was yet another young adult detective series, "Ken Holt". I only had one of the books. It didn't click like "Hardy Boys" or "Nancy Drew".

Then there were two series of "Tom Swift" books, the first featuring what became the senior Swift, the second featuring his son. When I was in grade school, I found only one title in the first series, buried in the school library: "Tom Swift and his Submarine". The front plate describes additional titles, none of which I ever found, let alone read.

14 posted on 08/14/2025 6:04:55 PM PDT by asinclair (Indict DNC for RICO?)
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To: OttawaFreeper

Pamela Sue Martin


Another one of my early crushes. She was also in The Poseidon Adventure.


15 posted on 08/14/2025 6:05:12 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: kawhill

Who can forget the Boxcar Children? 160 titles!


16 posted on 08/14/2025 6:09:09 PM PDT by Fractal Trader
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To: dfwgator

I loved that series.

Does anyone remember the Alvin Fernald books?


17 posted on 08/14/2025 6:09:10 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: kawhill
The Stratemeyer Syndicate is an interesting look at how one man can steer the reading of generations of children.

If you can find them you want the older versions of the books before they were rewritten in the 1960s. The books were longer, the plots more complex, the vocabulary richer and they had not removed every non-WASP side characters.

And none of the MC's qualified for sainthood the way they did in the rewritten versions. They were petty, they made mistakes, they did things they probably shouldn't have. They were more like real teens in other words. Good hearted but not in any way perfect.

If you have a child that is learning late 19th and early 20th century American history the books are a great way to give your kids a feel of what life was like.

18 posted on 08/14/2025 6:11:06 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Not my circus. Not my monkeys. But I can pick out the clowns at 100 yards.)
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To: algore

“the Hardy boy books had multiple sub plots or diversions whereas the Nancy Drew had none.”

But she had that cool little roadster. I think that’s why I wanted a Miata when they came out decades later.

I also read Cherry Ames, a nurse who really got around.


19 posted on 08/14/2025 6:11:09 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam (It's hard not to celebrate the fall of bad people. - Bongino)
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To: asinclair

read al the books for free
find them here - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3005


20 posted on 08/14/2025 6:14:44 PM PDT by ASOC (This space for rent)
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