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The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries ???

posted 7 years ago by msdemos
12 replies | jump to latest

Curious about a few things:

1.) Did you read any of these growing up (if so, how old are you now, if you don't mind sharing - For the record, I'm a 57 year old male)?

2.) Did any males read Nancy Drew, or females read The Hardy Boys ?

3.) Did anybody ever read any of the original books written in the late '20's - early 30's (Many 'Half Price Books' stores often have random copies of the older book versions, if not some of the original books themselves. And on a related note, Applewood Books released a number of 'Deluxe' reissues of some of the original books ("The Originals - Just As You Remember Them"), back in the late 90's - early 2000's, which included the original texts, rather than the "sanitized" versions that evolved over the years to remove offensive ideas/stereotypes and/or 'dated' references that became out of touch with "modern times", decades later) ??? They're incredibly fascinating !!! 

SAVE FERRIS

[–] wickedkittiesmom 7 years ago

I read the old (late 1920's & early 1930's) Nancy Drew books when I was 9-12, (I'm 67+ now) my Aunt had a big collection in her attic, they were the dark blue hardback covers with an outline of Nancy in orange on the cover. It was fun reading them because they seemed old fashion and Nancy was so "ladylike" and I envied the coupe Nancy drove. I also read the Hardy Boy mysteries , I checked those out at the library and they were the current issue of the day ( late 1950's & early 1960's).

I will never let you part, for you are always in my heart: MJ
turn to page 394: Snape (nasty woman)

[–] cold_sky 7 years ago

1. I grew up reading The Three Investigators exclusively and to this day hold those books near me as warm nostalgia.

2. I have a Nancy Drew thread (buried deep in the Books pages) http://www.imdb.com/board/bd0000052/nest/262810975 because, as a male, I was curious of the better Nancy Drew books that might be fun to read. I'm glad of your thread because of our time limit here—need to jot down some notes.

Off topic (The Three Investigators):

For any TTI fans, I prefer ordering (from the library) the first 30 titles in their original editions, with fantastic pencil-style illustrations throughout the text, and they have Alfred Hitchcock introducing the tales (except the very first book). Tbh, he's a bit of a bore.

Due to Hitchcock's death in 1980, the final 13 titles (in the American/English set) introduce a new host, Hector Sebastian, whose chapters are much more entertaining to get to because they build on his character and his rather funny Vietnamese cook/assistant.

[–] charleychicken 7 years ago

but what about Tom Swift?

I'm not a criminal Iris, I'm an outlaw.

[–] indy_go_blue44 7 years ago

I saw a Mickey Mouse Club version of "The Tower Treasure" w/ Tim Considine, Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corchoran (sp?) in the mid '50s but I never read them until I was 16; I had a severe infection (flu, then strep throat) which very nearly killed me, and I wanted something to take my mind off my misery. My mom had 3 of the original HB books, and over the 3 weeks I was bedridden I read them all then had Mom get me a couple more. Reading them gave me immeasurable relief for some reason, and to this day whenever I have a bad cold I'll put out one of the books to read (I have all 57 of the originals, but only those three I got from Mom that aren't revised. Ol' "Franklin W. Dixon" didn't care much for blacks, Jews or southern-eastern European immigrants, did he?

Generally I found the books terribly redundant and the characters in book 1 the same as those in book 57, but when I'm sick they still can't be beat. I never read any Nancy Drew though I've seen a few of her movies from the '30s and I enjoyed watching the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries with my kids back in the '70s.

Finally, I found a magazine formatted The Mysterious Case of Nancy Drew & The Hardy Boys at a book store several years ago; it was pretty interesting in tracing the history of the series, movies, and video games related to those series.

Tom Swift was mentioned; I read a few of those but finding the books is pretty difficult. Bobbsey Twins, anyone?

[–] blackflag01609 7 years ago

I'm a 47 year old female and I read every "Hardy Boys" and "Nancy Drew" book growing up. My mother was a public librarian and after camp in the summer I would sit there and read everything I could. I preferred "Hardy Boys", more action. I also enjoyed the "Bobbsey Twins" books and sitting in the window seat at that Library was the first time I ever read "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator". But I loved that they had every "Hardy Boys" book because my brother only had 5 of them.

I read mostly the blue hardback "Hardy Boys" and the yellow hardback "Nancy Drew" books. I may have read some older ones but I'm not really sure.

[–] PimpinAinttEasy 7 years ago

yes. i was a big fan of THE LAZARUS PLOT.

I get melancholy if I don't write. I need the company of people who don't exist.

[–] NxNWRocks 7 years ago

The first series I read as a kid was The Three Investigators, which I adored. The first Hardy Boys I read was The Shore Road Mystery. I think I've read about 30 of them, mostly completely forgettable and far inferior to T3I. I've read 2 Nancy Drews, the first one and I forget the other one. I am a male in my mid-forties.

Never read the original versions of Hardy Boys.

"Worthington, we're being attacked by giant bats!"

[–] shigui 7 years ago

I'm female and will be 60 this year and I read Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and several other when I was young.

Not everything has to mean something. Some things just are. Charles de Lint