Nancy Drew Blog Party Day 6 - Highlights in Nancy Drew's History

Nancy Drew History Highlights

Whether you're familiar with the entire 81+ year history of Nancy Drew or maybe you picked up somewhere in the middle when you started reading them in the 1970s or maybe you just discovered Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew for your kids at your local book store, one things for certain--it's a very mysterious history indeed!

My website delves into this topic in the Nancy Drew History section and you might check that out--it's got a nice timeline of events as well at the bottom of the page.

Here, I'd like to highlight some key or pivotal moments in Nancy Drew's history that I feel are important. They're important in some cases because something was new and exciting, sometimes because they were pivotal events that changed the course of Nancy Drew history--sometimes for the better, sometimes not, and in some cases the jury's still out.

10 Key Moments in Nancy Drew's Mysterious History:

1. After creating Nancy Drew, Edward Stratemeyer hires ghostwriter Mildred Wirt Benson to write the series.

2. Edward Stratemeyer dies on May 10, nearly 2 weeks after the first three Nancy Drew books debuted on April 28, 1930.

3. Edward Stratemeyer's daughters Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Edna Squier take over their father's Syndicate after failing to find a buyer and carry on the business at hand.

4. While other series falter during the Great Depression, Nancy Drew increasingly becomes a strong seller, outselling many of the popular boys' series.

5. The Stratemeyer Syndicate sells the rights to Nancy Drew to Warner Brothers for a series of four movies which debuted in 1938 and 1939. This agreement would later impact the ability to get Nancy Drew on to radio and television for many years...

6. By the mid-1950s, Harriet Adams began ghosting the Nancy Drew books.

7. Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys debut on TV in 1977.

8. Harriet Adams switches publishers in 1979 from Grosset & Dunlap to Simon & Schuster and a major lawsuit between the parties ensues.

9. After Harriet Adams passes away in 1982, the Syndicate is sold to Simon & Schuster in 1984.

10. The classic Nancy Drew paperbacks which continued after the first 56 hardcovers from 57 onward, ends in 2003 with the final book at #175. The Nancy Drew Girl Detective series is then launched in its place.

Jenn:)