“MORE THAN 2.2 MILLION COPIES of The Tower Treasure, the first book in the HARDY BOYS detective series, have been sold.”

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 5,000 AWESOME FACTS, fact # 2 on Famous Detectives

Just as he had with Nancy Drew, Edward Stratemeyer developed the Hardy Boys before Nancy Drew in 1927. The 2 Hardy Boys, Joe and Frank, were to be the sons of a professional private detective, Fenton Hardy. Their mom’s name was to be Laura.

Other players in the series were their 3 friends. Chet was the chubby boy humorist of the group. Biff Hooper was the athletic guy who used his fists if needed. Tony Prito was to represent ethnic minorities.

It was to be set in a small city called Bayport on Barmet Bay, “somewhere on the Atlantic Coast.” They would go to Bayport High. (https://crimereads.com/the-birth-of-the-hardy-boys/)

They also had 2 re-occurring girls, Iola Morton, who was the sister of Chet, and Callie Shaw. Joe took a fancy to Iola while Frank liked Callie. No funny business ever occurred between them, though, even though they were in high school. Now that’s kinda funny.

The books were a huge success from the get go, obviously, selling 2.2 million copies on the first book.

The first book was called “The Tower Treasure.” Leslie McFarlane wrote it under the name of Franklin W. Dixon. Leslie McFarlane was a Canadian journalist that wrote 21 tales of the Hardy Boys. Born in 1902, he died in 1977. He had started his writing career in high school. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_McFarlane)

I happen to own a copy of “The Tower Treasure” but it’s mass produced and probably not worth much.

Edward Stratemeyer had other ideas for the names of the Hardy Boys. These included The Keene Boys, the Scott Boys, Hart Boys, and the Bixby Boys.

The rarest Hardy Boy book is the 1st Edition of Volume 11, “While the Clock Ticked.”

Now, The Hardy Boys are featured in a HULU t.v. story book series, and graphic novels by Papercutz. (https://papercutz.com/?s=hardy+boys), (https://www.simonandschuster.com/series/Hardy-Boys-(All-New)-Undercover-Brothers) A free e-book is available.

The Hardy Boys have lasted the test of time, and I hope their story lives on. They are fun, good clean feel good books. We need more of that for kids.