The Hardy Boys: Secret of the Old Mill

[David Conwill]

Apologies if this should go elsewhere, we’ve got a radio and a movie theatre in this joint, but no library!

I grew up reading the 1959-revised Hardy Boys novels (and to a lesser extent the Casefiles books, but I found those less appealing). I’ve always had an interest in the original books, but they’re hard to find without buying them (I do own The Tower Treasure).

As I recall the plot of the 1959 Secret of the Old Mill, it involves the boys investigating a counterfeiting scheme and stumbling upon some espionage at a rocketry factory using the Old Mill as a gatehouse. I suspect this is a major revision from the 1920s version, as rocket technology was the stuff of science fiction back then, and the Hardy Boys novels have usually stayed fairly well within reality for the era.

So does anyone know the plot of the original Secret of the Old Mill?

-Dave

 

[cptjeff]

Goddard, the father of modern rocketry, published his big work in 1920 and launched the first liquid fueled rocket in 1926, and he had been working on rocketry issues since 1912. During the 1920s, a lot of people were experimenting with them, including several german car companies. Opel even built a prototype rocket powered car. They also built an airplane. BTW, that predated german research into military applications for rockets.

Soild fuel rockets date back to the ancient Chinese.

It's really not a strech for me to think that rockets could have made it into a 20's book. I don't know all of what's involved in the plot having not read a hardy boys book in years, but a generic rocket is not a strech at all.

 

[David Conwill]

I knew someone was going to bring up Goddard, but I really don't believe that in Billy Mitchell's era there were serious defense applications being considered for rockets. Besides, who would be the spies, Weimar Germans?

-Dave

 

[Geesie]

I knew someone was going to bring up Goddard, but I really don't believe that in Billy Mitchell's era there were serious defense applications being considered for rockets. Besides, who would be the spies, Weimar Germans?

-Dave

The rockets' red glare was well before Goddard.

William Congreve weaponized rockets in 1804.

 

[David Conwill]

Well, I certainly hope to find a plot involving rocket weapons in the twenties, but that’s not what I expect given that the U.S. military barely developed tanks and airplanes between the end of the Great War and the buildup to WWII. I really think the rocket plot was added in a Cold War context.

I knew that the Chinese developed rockets hundreds of years ago, but I would be interested to know more about rocket weapons in the United States between the War of 1812 and the 1940s. I was under the impression that very little was done in that respect until we started exploring the V1 and V2 programs late in WWII (the Calliope Sherman notwithstanding).

-Dave

 

[Dinerman]

Unfortunately the wiki entry for it is lacking in detail.

 

[Shangas]

I grew up reading the Hardy Boys!! I remember the "Old Mill" story well, it was one of my favourites...in fact I still have the book!

I don't recall anything about rockets, although yes, the mill was used as a base or hideout for a group of counterfeiters. That much I do remember.

 

[Geesie]

Well, I certainly hope to find a plot involving rocket weapons in the twenties, but that’s not what I expect given that the U.S. military barely developed tanks and airplanes between the end of the Great War and the buildup to WWII. I really think the rocket plot was added in a Cold War context.

I knew that the Chinese developed rockets hundreds of years ago, but I would be interested to know more about rocket weapons in the United States between the War of 1812 and the 1940s. I was under the impression that very little was done in that respect until we started exploring the V1 and V2 programs late in WWII (the Calliope Sherman notwithstanding).

-Dave

It's really hard to guess isn't it. Science fiction definitely was talking about rocketry for all of the 20th century. The groundbreaking work of Oberth, Goddard, and Tsiolkovsky was done before 1920. But (caveat: I am not that old) other than Popular Science and Amazing Stories, I didn't think that the public much cared. So the real question would be, would a Hardy Boys novel be influenced by cutting edge technology and pulp science fiction trends or not?

 

[Geesie]

Okay, reading more about the >1959 rewrites, it looks really likely that the rocketry was added in. I had earlier thought that the rewrites were mostly to eliminate racist parts and update slang and so on. Turns out that they were far more in-depth, sometimes keeping nothing but the title.

 

[ron521]

There was a home-made rocket powered car which was demonstrated at county fairs during the 1930's. It was built on an old-even-then Chevrolet chassis, and had a "Flash Gordon" looking body constructed of wood and tin.
I don't know much about the mechanical details of the motor, but it did achieve speeds of 70 mph or so, much faster than the original Chevy 4 cylinder engine could achieve, but not so great compared to what other cars of the 30's were capable of.

 

[David Conwill]

A bump in case the board has picked up any collectors of vintage youth fiction.

And I’m thinking seriously about writing a short story involving rockets in the ‘20s now.

-Dave

 

[Vornholt]

I have an original copy, so if you can wait a bit while I retrieve it (and perhaps the rest of the vast collection ) from my parent's house, I'll see if I can summarize for you.

 

[W4ASZ]

Hardy Boys

I grew up reading the modern Hardy Boys books, the ones with the blue covers. They were great fun, but the early books are better written. A friend of mine actually did a study of the many major differences between the earlier and later books of the same title which he published privately. He also covered the Nancy Drew books.

Franklin W. Dixon might have rolled over in his grave had he actually existed.

 

[David Conwill]

I have an original copy, so if you can wait a bit while I retrieve it (and perhaps the rest of the vast collection ) from my parent's house, I'll see if I can summarize for you.

I can’t wait! I have a reprint of the 1920s Tower Treasure, and it whetted my appetite for the early books years ago.

I grew up reading the modern Hardy Boys books, the ones with the blue covers.

I hate to say it, but those haven’t been the “modern” Hardy Boys books since the 1980s. The franchise has been updated at least twice since then. I tend to think of the blue-cover books as the “classic” stories, since the plotlines weren’t reused again, and they’ve been around unchanged for longer than the originals.

I loved Nancy Drew also, as a kid. I really hope my daughters will enjoy her (and the Hardy Boys, for that matter).

-Dave

 

[ksargent]

I can’t wait! I have a reprint of the 1920s Tower Treasure, and it whetted my appetite for the early books years ago.



I hate to say it, but those haven’t been the “modern” Hardy Boys books since the 1980s. The franchise has been updated at least twice since then. I tend to think of the blue-cover books as the “classic” stories, since the plotlines weren’t reused again, and they’ve been around unchanged for longer than the originals.

I loved Nancy Drew also, as a kid. I really hope my daughters will enjoy her (and the Hardy Boys, for that matter).

-Dave

I agree - the blue covers from the 60's are the classics for me as well. I do have a few of the books with the brown binding - the slip covers are long gone though.

Ken

 

[Vornholt]

I have two or three with original dust jackets; those don't go ANYWHERE. lol

 

[Patrick Murtha]

A bump in case the board has picked up any collectors of vintage youth fiction.

I haven't started collecting vintage youth fiction yet, but I should; I'm seriously interested in it. I too grew up with the post-1958 Hardy Boys volumes. There were 58 Hardy Boys titles in all in the original hardcover series, and the first 38 of these were published in two different versions (a 1927-1959 run and a 1959-1973 run); nos. 39-58 were published in their sole versions between 1960 and 1979. I haven't read any of the pre-1959 volumes yet, but I read many of the later books and rewrites as a boy.

 

[sportell]

Ach, I understand. I grew up on the 1960s Nancy Drew. That was good stuff. I used to even have a 1930s copy from my grandmother. Unfortunately it's long gone. But then my father bought me books from the new series back in the early 90s. They weren't nearly as good. And the new movie a few years ago? EEK! Where was our 17 year old Nancy? The girl looked and sounded like she was about 12 and not at all convincing as Nancy.

You are evil of course to start this thread. I am now searching ebay for the original Nancy Drew books.

 

[DesertDan]

I have the entire 60's version (blue back cover/ Nappi cover art) series including the "Detectives Handbook".

The Hardy Boys are what made me into the voracious reader I am today.
I also read (but didn't collect) Alfred Hitchcock's "Three Investigator's" and the "Trixie Belton" mysytery series.

I had finished all of them by the time I was 12 years old. For something different I picked up Clarke's "Childhood's End" my first exposure to science fiction, after that I was hopelessly addicted. By the time I was 14 I had read the "Dune" series, Heinlien's juveniles, Asimov's "Foundation" novels and all of Tolkien's works.

 

[Geesie]

I have the entire 60's version (blue back cover/ Nappi cover art) series including the "Detectives Handbook".

The Hardy Boys are what made me into the voracious reader I am today.
I also read (but didn't collect) Alfred Hitchcock's "Three Investigator's" and the "Trixie Belton" mysytery series.

I had finished all of them by the time I was 12 years old. For something different I picked up Clarke's "Childhood's End" my first exposure to science fiction, after that I was hopelessly addicted. By the time I was 14 I had read the "Dune" series, Heinlien's juveniles, Asimov's "Foundation" novels and all of Tolkien's works.

This summer I was going through boxes of old books in the parents' basement and I decided to read a Hardy Boys book and a Three Investigators book. The Hardy Boys book didn't hold up. The Three Investigators did.
In my opinion.