The Bobbsey Twins are the principal characters of what was, for 75 years, the Stratemeyer Syndicate's longest-running series of American children's novels, written under the pseudonym Laura Lee Hope. The first of 72 books was published in 1904, the last in 1979, with a separate series of 30 books published from 1987 through 1992. The books related the adventures of the children of the upper-middle-class Bobbsey family, which included two sets of fraternal twins: Bert and Nan, who were eight years old, and Flossie and Freddie, who were four when the first book was written. The two sets of twins aged as the series went on. As the series continued, the two sets of twins were perpetually aged at 12 and 6.
Edward Stratemeyer is believed to be the writer of the first volume in its original form in 1904.[1] When the original series was brought to its conclusion in 1979, it reached a total of 72 volumes. At least two attempts to restart the series were launched after this, but neither effort saw the popularity the original series achieved.
Speculation that Stratemeyer also wrote the second and third volumes of the series is believed to be incorrect; these books are attributed to Lilian Garis, wife of Howard Garis, credited with volumes 4–28 and 41. Elizabeth Ward is credited with volumes 29–35, while Harriet Stratemeyer Adams is credited with 36–38, 39 (with Camilla McClave), 40, 42, 43 (with Andrew Svenson), and 44–48. Volumes 49–52 are attributed to Andrew Svenson, while 53–59, and the 1960s rewrites of 1–4, 7, 11–13, and 17, are attributed to June Dunn. Grace Grote is regarded as the author of 60–67 and the rewrites of 14 and 18–20, and Nancy Axelrad is credited with 68–72. Of the 1960s rewrites not mentioned, volumes 5 and 16 are credited to Mary Donahoe, 6 and 25 to Patricia Doll, 8–10 and 15 to Bonnibel Weston, and 24 to Margery Howard.[2]
In the original editions, the first books in the series (like those in previous Stratemeyer series) took place in a clear chronology, with the characters aging as time passed. The Bobbsey Twins: Merry Days Indoors and Out took place over the course of a school year, with Nan and Bert described as eight years old and Freddie and Flossie four. The second book, The Bobbsey Twins in the Country is set at the beginning of the following summer. The second part of the summer is chronicled in The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore, which is written as a direct sequel to the previous book, tying up some plot threads. The fourth book, The Bobbsey Twins at School, begins the next autumn, with Nan and Bert "nearly nine years old" and Freddie and Flossie "almost five." Editors at the Stratemeyer Syndicate quickly realized, at this rate, their young heroes would quickly age beyond their readership, so the later books in the series (and revised editions) take place in a sort of chronological stasis, with the older twins perpetually 12 years old and the younger set 6.
The earliest Bobbsey books were mainly episodic strings of adventures; with the growing popularity of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, detective plots began to dominate the series. Few of the mysteries involved violent crime, and quite a few did not involve any crime.
While many of the early volumes were constructed from whole cloth, with little or no connection to the real world, by 1917 (The Bobbsey Twins in a Great City, vol. 9, rewritten in 1960 as The Bobbsey Twins' Search in the Great City) they visit real places, and by the 1950s (The Bobbsey Twins at Pilgrim Rock vol. 50), those visits to real places were as well-researched as any fictional visits to real places. By 1971, when the Bobbseys visited Colonial Williamsburg (The Bobbsey Twins' Red White and Blue Mystery, vol. 64), real places were depicted in meticulous detail, down to the names of well-known hotels and restaurants (and, in that particular case, the color of Colonial Williamsburg shuttle buses).
It is said vol. 68, The Bobbsey Twins on the Sun-Moon Cruise, was the result of a research trip for a proposed Nancy Drew book: Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Nancy Axelrad (her personal assistant at the time) took an eclipse cruise but, when they returned, the publisher was more interested in a new Bobbsey title.
In 1960, the Stratemeyer syndicate rewrote most of the older volumes, many of which became almost unrecognizable in the process. This was concurrent with the release of a new edition of the series, with picture covers, no dust jackets, and a lavender spine and back cover (replacing earlier various green bindings). Many of the cover paintings were dust-jacket paintings added in the 1950s (for earlier versions, a single common dust-jacket painting was used throughout an edition), but most were new with the "purple" edition. In all, twenty were completely rewritten, all but two with modernized titles, while sixteen were never released in this edition, evidently deemed to be dated beyond repair.
Most of the rewrites were motivated by changing technology (automobiles replacing horses and buggies) or changing social standards, particularly in how Sam and Dinah, the black cook and handyman, were portrayed. The Bobbsey Twins and Baby May received the most extreme rewrite; it is a story about the Bobbsey family's adventures searching for the parents of a foundling baby. Since, by the 1960s, sheer numbers of government agencies rendered the original story utterly implausible, an entirely new novel was written about the twins' adventures with a baseball-playing baby elephant (The Bobbsey Twins' Adventures with Baby May). This, however, had a ripple effect, because the original The Bobbsey Twins at Cloverbank was a sequel to the original Baby May. Thus, a second book, The Bobbsey Twins and the Four-Leaf Clover Mystery, was written. It incorporates little material from the original.
Starting in 1987, a numbered series of paperback originals branded The New Bobbsey Twins were released by Minstrel Books, an imprint of Pocket Books. Featuring all-new stories, the series ended with volume 30, The Mystery of the Mixed-Up Mall, in 1992.[3]
In her book The Rhetoric of Character in Children's Literature, Maria Nikolajeva refers to the twins as a "simple duplication of protagonists".[4] Bobbie Ann Mason, in The Girl Sleuth: A Feminist Guide, differs, agreeing the books afford the child-reader an opportunity to imagine "a union with someone just like her, but of the opposite sex", but arguing the distinction between boy-twin and girl-twin "makes a world of difference": Bert "acts out his manhood by winning contests and beating the town bully, Danny Rugg", while his twin Nan – throughout the series "too old for dolls and pranks, too young for boys and barred from their games" – spends most of her time in the books "wagging her finger at Freddie and appearing to enjoy it", acting as "mini-parent, non-child, serious-minded little manipulator".[5]
| Volume | Original Published Title | Year of Original Publication | Revision History | New Title | Year of Retitled Publication | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Bobbsey Twins, or Merry Days Indoors and Out | 1904 | ET 1928, NE 1950, CR 1961 | The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport | 1961 | |
| 2 | The Bobbsey Twins in the Country | 1907 | NE 1950, CR 1961 | The Bobbsey Twins' Adventure in the Country | 1961 | |
| 3 | The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore | 1907 | NE 1950, CR 1961 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Secret at the Seashore | 1961 | |
| 4 | The Bobbsey Twins at School | 1913 | UR 1941, CR 1962 | The Bobbsey Twins' Mystery at School | 1962 | |
| 5 | The Bobbsey Twins at Snow Lodge | 1913 | © 1941, CR 1960 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Mystery at Snow Lodge | 1960 | |
| 6 | The Bobbsey Twins on a Houseboat | 1915 | © 1943, CR 1955 | |||
| 7 | The Bobbsey Twins at Meadow Brook | 1915 | © 1943, CR 1963 | The Bobbsey Twins' Mystery at Meadow Brook | 1963 | |
| 8 | The Bobbsey Twins at Home | 1916 | © 1944, CR 1960 | The Bobbsey Twins' Big Adventure at Home | 1960 | |
| 9 | The Bobbsey Twins in a Great City | 1917 | UR 1945, CR 1960 | The Bobbsey Twins' Search in the Great City | 1960 | |
| 10 | The Bobbsey Twins on Blueberry Island | 1917 | © 1945, CR 1959 | |||
| 11 | The Bobbsey Twins on the Deep Blue Sea | 1918 | © 1946, CR 1965 | The Bobbsey Twins' Mystery on the Deep Blue Sea | 1965 | |
| 12 | The Bobbsey Twins in Washington | 1919 | © 1947, CR 1962 | The Bobbsey Twins' Adventure in Washington | 1962 | |
| 13 | The Bobbsey Twins in the Great West | 1920 | © 1948, CR 1966 | The Bobbsey Twins' Visit to the Great West | 1966 | |
| 14 | The Bobbsey Twins at Cedar Camp | 1921 | © 1949, CR 1967 | The Bobbsey Twins: the Cedar Camp Mystery | 1967 | |
| 15 | The Bobbsey Twins at the County Fair | 1922 | CR 1960 | The Bobbsey Twins: the County Fair Mystery | 1960 | |
| 16 | The Bobbsey Twins Camping Out | 1923 | UR 1955 | |||
| 17 | The Bobbsey Twins and Baby May | 1924 | CR 1968 | The Bobbsey Twins' Adventures with Baby May | 1968 | |
| 18 | The Bobbsey Twins Keeping House | 1925 | CR 1968 | The Bobbsey Twins': The Play House Secret | 1968 | |
| 19 | The Bobbsey Twins at Cloverbank | 1926 | CR 1968 | The Bobbsey Twins: the Four Leaf Clover Mystery | 1968 | |
| 20 | The Bobbsey Twins at Cherry Corners | 1927 | CR 1971 | The Bobbsey Twins: the Mystery at Cherry Corners | 1971 | |
| 21 | The Bobbsey Twins and their Schoolmates | 1928 | ||||
| 22 | The Bobbsey Twins Treasure Hunting | 1929 | ||||
| 23 | The Bobbsey Twins at Spruce Lake | 1930 | ||||
| 24 | The Bobbsey Twins' Wonderful Secret | 1931 | CR 1962 | The Bobbsey Twins' Wonderful Winter Secret | 1962 | |
| 25 | The Bobbsey Twins at the Circus | 1932 | CR 1960 | The Bobbsey Twins and the Circus Surprise | 1960 | |
| 26 | The Bobbsey Twins on an Airplane Trip | 1933 | ||||
| 27 | The Bobbsey Twins Solve a Mystery | 1932 | ||||
| 28 | The Bobbsey Twins on a Ranch | 1935 | ||||
| 29 | The Bobbsey Twins in Eskimo Land | 1936 | ||||
| 30 | The Bobbsey Twins in a Radio Play | 1937 | ||||
| 31 | The Bobbsey Twins at Windmill Cottage | 1938 | ||||
| 32 | The Bobbsey Twins at Lighthouse Point | 1939 | ||||
| 33 | The Bobbsey Twins at Indian Hollow | 1940 | ||||
| 34 | The Bobbsey Twins at the Ice Carnival | 1941 | ||||
| 35 | The Bobbsey Twins in the Land of Cotton | 1942 | ||||
| 36 | The Bobbsey Twins in Echo Valley | 1943 | ||||
| 37 | The Bobbsey Twins on the Pony Trail | 1944 | ||||
| 38 | The Bobbsey Twins at Mystery Mansion | 1945 | ||||
| 39 | The Bobbsey Twins at Sugar Maple Hill | 1946 | ||||
| 40 | The Bobbsey Twins in Mexico | 1947 | ||||
| 41 | The Bobbsey Twins' Toy Shop | 1948 | ||||
| 42 | The Bobbsey Twins in Tulip Land | 1949 | ||||
| 43 | The Bobbsey Twins in Rainbow Valley | 1950 | ||||
| 44 | The Bobbsey Twins' Own Little Railroad | 1951 | ||||
| 45 | The Bobbsey Twins at Whitesail Harbor | 1952 | ||||
| 46 | The Bobbsey Twins and the Horseshoe Riddle | 1953 | ||||
| 47 | The Bobbsey Twins at Big Bear Pond | 1953 | ||||
| 48 | The Bobbsey Twins on a Bicycle Trip | 1954 | ||||
| 49 | The Bobbsey Twins' Own Little Ferryboat | 1956 | ||||
| 50 | The Bobbsey Twins at Pilgrim Rock | 1956 | ||||
| 51 | The Bobbsey Twins' Forest Adventure | 1957 | ||||
| 52 | The Bobbsey Twins at London Tower | 1959 | ||||
| 53 | The Bobbsey Twins in the Mystery Cave | 1960 | ||||
| 54 | The Bobbsey Twins in Volcano Land | 1961 | ||||
| 55 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Goldfish Mystery | 1962 | ||||
| 56 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Big River Mystery | 1963 | ||||
| 57 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Greek Hat Mystery | 1964 | ||||
| 58 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Search for the Green Rooster | 1965 | ||||
| 59 | The Bobbsey Twins: Their Camel Adventure | 1966 | ||||
| 60 | The Bobbsey Twins: Mystery of the King's Puppet | 1967 | ||||
| 61 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Secret of Candy Castle | 1968 | ||||
| 62 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Doodlebug Mystery | 1969 | ||||
| 63 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Talking Fox Mystery | 1970 | ||||
| 64 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Red, White and Blue Mystery | 1971 | ||||
| 65 | The Bobbsey Twins: Dr. Funnybone's Secret | 1972 | ||||
| 66 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Tagalong Giraffe | 1973 | ||||
| 67 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Flying Clown | 1974 | ||||
| 68 | The Bobbsey Twins: On the Sun-Moon Cruise | 1975 | ||||
| 69 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Freedom Bell Mystery | 1976 | ||||
| 70 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Smokey Mountain Mystery | 1977 | ||||
| 71 | The Bobbsey Twins in a TV Mystery Show | 1978 | ||||
| 72 | The Bobbsey Twins: The Coral Turtle Mystery | 1979 |
From Weinstein's Bobbsey Twins Bibliography (list last revised September 18, 1999)[6]
Re-imagined versions of the Bobbsey twins appear in The CW drama Nancy Drew, an adaptation of another Stratemeyer Syndicate series. In the series, the twins are given the full names of Amanda and Gilbert "Gil" and are respectively played by Aadila Dosani and Praneet Akilla.[7]