Those she aided the most were innocent young girls or pathetic elderly persons, examples being poor little Judy of Volume 1, The Secret of the Old Clock, and the aged Trumbull sisters in Volume 2, The Hidden Staircase. Nancy’s mystery solving was almost always for the purpose of helping a person who had very little other recourse to aid, or who could not afford it. Right from the beginning, the Nancy Drew books were fast-paced and exciting and each chapter ended in a situation that demanded quick page turning. Nancy has her own car she dresses nicely she has wonderful friends who all defer to her judgment she is never afraid no matter how potentially dangerous the situation is she is more clever than most adults and can translate ancient texts as well as tap dance in Morse code and Nancy is very pretty. Housekeeper Hannah Gruen has no authority over the young detective either. Her father, Attorney Carson Drew, has no rules for her to follow, but it is also assumed that Nancy would only conduct herself properly anyhow. The early books in the series state that Nancy is sixteen years old, yet there were never stories dealing with school life or school problems. Supposedly the reason that the series has had so much appeal for young readers, especially girls, is because Nancy was mostly permitted to do as she pleased. It is estimated that about 100 million Nancy Drew books have been sold since 1930. Tandy whose palette was dominated by primary colors and who painted vivid scenes that “’told a story.” In 1930, when the series began, each volume cost 50 cents by 1950, they were 75 cents and, in the year 2000, the Classic hard cover volumes were less than $5.00. The art on the dust jackets was always eye catching, especially so with the books up to the late 1940s with covers by R.H. The fact that the Nancy Drew books were attractively designed and priced also helped greatly with their success. The series had to change to appeal to today’s young readers, since it is and always was written to make money, not to establish literary precedents or to make artistic statements, but the Classic books are more desired by adult collectors. This study concentrates only on the “Classic Nancy Drew’ Mysteries,” as the ones written since the last new hardback from Grosset & Dunlap (1979) have strayed farther and farther from the series conceived by Edward Stratemeyer and now bear only slight resemblance to the original volumes of the set.
The closest competitor in both years and popularity, Judy Bolton, lasted thirty-five years. The Secret of the Old Clock, was first published in 1930. It is the longest enduring girls series by many years. Many writers of popular culture have speculated about the success of the Nancy Drew series. Mildred Wirt Benson (Nancy Drew’s Writer)
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