Happy 92nd birthday to Nancy Drew! The first volume in the long-running girl detective series, “The Secret of the Old Clock,” was published 92 years ago under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. In a tribute to the iconic sleuth, author Theodore Jefferson writes, “Agency. It is that which forms the foundation for any hero’s ability to save the day. In America, agency for teenage girls in literature made its debut in 1930 in the person of Nancy Drew.” This original Mighty Girl character paved the way for many more heroic female characters and inspired generations of real-life girls and women.
Ghostwritten by Mildred Wirt Benson and later revised by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, the first volume of Nancy Drew had a huge influence on young readers. Nancy Drew provided them with “stories of someone like themselves who had a positive effect on the world instead of passively sitting at home… She is a character with that magical ‘what if’ question woven into her identity, and one that effortlessly captures the imaginations of readers by allowing them to participate in a world where the answers to that question are just as entertaining as the stories themselves.”
At the time, some viewed Nancy Drew as a poor role model, “contradicting adults while she squared off with the villains… she is mechanically inclined and at the same time doesn’t act like most people in the 1930s would have expected a teenage girl to act.” In fact, many libraries and bookstores refused to carry the Nancy Drew stories. Despite — or because of — that disapproval, kids collected the books voraciously, and in the midst of the Depression, used copies were shared and traded like trading cards are today. As a result, “any kid, even those who couldn’t afford new books, would very likely get to read every adventure starring their favorite character.”
The tremendous influence of Nancy Drew continues to this day asserts Jefferson: “It is difficult to overstate how powerful Nancy Drew’s presence remains in literature and in other media. She has influenced film, comics, video games and animation for [90] years, and will continue to do so as long as teenage girls take the lead as our heroes in the imaginative worlds of adventure.”
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i loved this book series and it inspired me to be part of a neighborhood gang of childhood detectives
(the four crows – see my post below)
and i am still a huge fan of true crime, not as a criminal,
but in trying to solve the who’s, why’s, and how’s.
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https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/?s=four+crows
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On leaving work, at work…
“I don’t promise to forget the mystery, but I know I’ll have a marvelous time.”
-nancy drew
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credits: theodore jefferson, the mary sue, mighty girl
I have never read a Nancy Drew book. Not sure they were around over here when I was young.
Best wishes, Pete.
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it was a very popular series in the states
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I never knew the back story to this tremendous gift of literature. How important a piece this was to empowering young women. And now I know exactly how many crows it takes to solve a mystery!
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right on both counts!
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She’s weathering well. 🙂
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she is indeed. it must all that adventure –
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Happy Birthday and thanks for the adventures! You may be 90 ish but you are timeless.
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she is!
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This post brought up sad memories.
My mother gave away all my Nancy Drew books when I left home. 😦
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Me too. I bought some of my favs at a used book store recently
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I recall watching some N. Drew film/movies. But they had modernized the character and ruined it. 😦
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Wow so she is 92. She is always 16 for me. We used to get one book on Mondays in our school library and would rush to get her story that was 35 years ago 😀. She was my first women detective and will remain in my heart forever.
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Same!
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A new Nancy Drew book was the best birthday or Christmas gift I could have received when I was a kid. So glad she continued to “contradict adults” (in the best way, of course) and be a Mighty Girl for generations of girls.
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Yes to all of that!
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I loved the Nancy Drew books as a child and I’m sure they influenced my Amanda Travels series. 92 is a good run, and she is still being read today!
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Though I am familiar with Nancy Drew I am not certain I ever read any of the series!!!! I read as much as I breathed but I can’t recall reading ND. I feel a bit shocked to realize this.
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Always loved Nancy:)
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Cheers to this iconic sleuth, Beth!
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Interesting…
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Love this history! I am a huge Nancy Drew fan as well. I’ll have to read about your sleuth club, Beth!
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I so loved this series!
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I don’know how many times I read this particular book, but I loved the entire series. I have purchased them for my granddaughters, too. Nancy Drew was every young girl’s heroine. Her mysteries were so exciting to me.
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🌻 🌞 🌝
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I couldn’t find a song for Nancy Drew, but I suppose this one about ‘Judy Blume’ by Amanda Palmer might do instead …
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Nancy Drew books were a large part of my childhood, and I believe my love of reading came from those books! I recently had the opportunity to get my hands on pristine hardback copies of the first and second stories. I wish I still had my entire series of books from my childhood! Thank you for sharing some of the history I wouldn’t have appreciated when I was younger but appreciate now!
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I loved them so much and have bought a few recently
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I am a mega Nancy Drew fan. Surprise? Not, I’m sure. To this day, my favorite genre is mystery. My love of books and of reading can be partially attributed to Nancy Drew books.
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Yes, they were certainly ‘gateway’ books for me
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Loved these books growing up. Once I started a book, I couldn’t stop until I finished it – resulting in many late nights. If I snacked on a little bit of chocolate while reading, that was heaven on earth! Thanks for your post!
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Oh,you are so right
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While I read more Hardy Boys as brother had that series – both of them taught kids to think – setting them up for real life.
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That’s right
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Huge fan of hers!!! What a legend
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She is !
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I never read her. I didn’t get hooked on mysteries until Agatha Christie, but I visited my cousin at her nursing home last week, and one of her friends there told me that to this day, her favorite mysteries were still Nancy Drew’s.
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Oh,I love that!
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In my formative years, I read all the Hardy Boys available at least twice.
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That series was hugely popular too
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I read some Nancy Drew, too. But not like Frank and Joe. I read those books in one sitting.
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they were just such great pleasurable adventures
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My aunt had all the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books!
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Timeless!
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Yes!
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💗💗
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❤️
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I read some Nancy Drew but all of the Hardy Boys (along with every dog and horse book on the planet). Always had a book in my hand.
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Another great series- I always had a book in hand too
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Loved these ❤️
>
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Same!
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Not bad for an old broad! I have followed her since I was a child.
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Me too!
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Me too !
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I remember reading every Nancy Drew book I could het my hands on!
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Me too!
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nice tribute! 👏
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She deserves it )
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Loved this backstory to the stories. Thanks for sharing.
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I’m a huge fan of backstories and thanks!
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although I never read her, I always knew she was an icon —
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that she was –
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Read every one of them. Each one was wonderful. Never read a Hardy Boy book. Boys had enough press. Nancy Drew was an inspiration to girls everywhere.
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She really was!
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She was the best! Every teenage girl secretly wanted to be Nancy Drew. I had all of her books. I think Amanda, the character in Darlene Foster’s book series, is just like Nancy Drew.
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Adventure girls continue)
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Yes, they do!
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Wow, great history of Nancy Drew. Didn’t know all of this, and didn’t realize how old she was. We had copies of her books and The Hardy boys growing up, they were very popular back then.
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I loved them
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Iconic and inspirational…love them.
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Yes!
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Really interesting. I have one on my shelf published in 1945. Some old Hardy Boys too. 🙂
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Excellent
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I always forget about Nancy Drew. Maybe it’ll be my next fun read. 🕊
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They are fun to go back and read)
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I never read any of her books, and always wanted to.
Thank you for sharing the history!
Blessings!
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you’re welcome and there’s still time )
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Wow, 90 years. Nancy is one of the few who are older than me!
That was supposed to be funny!
I read all the written books until I was around 16.
It was a marvellous time, with Nancy.
Thank you for this post, Beth!
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Me too!) and I loved the books
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Nancy Drew is such a great example of how powerful it can be for young women to see themselves in powerful roles in literature. Love the post.
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thanks!
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When a child, I loved Nancy Drew and other young sleuths. Now, I work in a children’s library and watch those same books get borrowed regularly, along with Nancy Drew as a Graphic Novel.
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that’s wonderful!
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