Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries

All of this talk about the new CBS Nancy Drew pilot, has made me nostalgic for the old TV Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. Sure it ticked me off when Nancy wound up taking a back seat to Parker Stevenson and Shawn Cassidy's Hardy Boys, but I loved the show anyway. 

Here's a little bit to refresh your memory.

The new CBS show, called Drew, features Nancy all grown up and played by Sarah Shahi. Shahi is not the titian-haired girl from the books, but a grown-up detective in the LAPD. It's  an interesting take on an old favorite no matter how far from River Heights it takes us. It's too soon to tell if the new show will work or not, but we still have memories of 70s Nancy. 

A Chat with Carolyn Dyer, Author of Rediscovering Nancy Drew

Kerry Hammond has been chatting with Carolyn Dyer, author of Rediscovering Nancy Drew. She's here to tell us some things she learned.

I find that you meet people in strange, but interesting ways. I recently had a house guest named Carolyn Stewart Dyer. I found out that Carolyn was not only a Nancy Drew expert, but had written a book on the subject. Since I grew up reading Nancy Drew mysteries, I was excited to meet her, even more so when she graciously agreed to sit with me, over a glass of wine of course, and discuss her book and the research she conducted. I found out quite a few fascinating facts, not only about Nancy Drew, but the phenomena surrounding the character.

First, a little bit about the super cool author. Carolyn Dyer is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa. And now let me tell you about another School of Journalism alum, Mildred Augustine Benson. If you’re a Nancy Drew fan, you know exactly who that is. In 1927, Mildred was the first person to earn a Master’s Degree in journalism at the University of Iowa. She wrote children’ stories and published her first at age 12. Ok, for those who are not in the know, Mildred is the first person who wrote under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene, and she wrote more than 20 of the original Nancy Drew books that were published.

Now for some fun facts. Nancy Drew has been translated into several languages, but each country has its own name for the young sleuth. She is known as Kitty in Sweden, Alice in France, and Paula in Finland. Many of the people that Carolyn spoke to remember trading books with friends and using their birthday money to buy new books. Many adults even attributed their professions and interests to having read Nancy Drew. 

Nancy wasn’t as widely accepted as we may think. In the 50’s and 60’s, teachers and librarians actually opposed series books for kids. Thankfully they came around. Many of the books were given to nieces by childless aunts (this is a category that I myself fall into, and yes, I have purchased Nancy Drew books for my 5 year old niece). Reading Nancy Drew had an influence on readers’ professions as well. It led people to become librarians, police officers, and other male dominated professions. Go Nancy. It kind of started a new trend, and if you think about it, a lot of adventurous girls in fiction have absent mothers and great dads.

Another thing I found interesting, was that the fans and the scholars had more of a contentious relationship. The scholars thought the fans idolized Nancy Drew without any analysis. The fans believed that the scholars didn’t know the history or appreciate all that the fans had done. Carolyn Dyer’s work on the book has brought her many great things. Her absolute favorites was the chance to lecture in Sweden.

Lastly, there are two kinds of Nancy Drew readers: ones that remember everything they read and ones that just remember the warm fuzzy feeling they got from reading the books. I have to admit, I am the warm fuzzy kind. Which are you?

Mystery Lunchboxes

Kerry Hammond is here today to talk about and show us where to buy Literary Lunchboxes. They’re not just for kids.

I recently purchased an Edgar Allen Poe Lunchbox. It’s the old fashioned metal kind, so I don’t think I’ll use it for lunches. I will, however, use it in my crafts closet, to hold different craft related supplies. Maybe my collection of crime scene tape?

I decided to check online to see what other lunchboxes I could find. One of my favorites is a flashback to my youth. The Hardy Boys lunchbox is something I would have used back in the day.

Nancy Drew is always a favorite, and like the Hardy Boys, this lunchbox is truly retro.

For a more modern appeal, with a lot of function, you can go with Sherlock Holmes. This is soft-sided and insulated.

Lastly, I thought I would show you the lunch bag I actually use. I love my Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine soft-sided lunch container, and I use it whenever I take lunch to my office.

Crafty Thursdays: Detecting Drew Table Quilt

Dru Ann Love, from Dru's Book Musings, is visiting Mystery Playground today to tell us how to make this wonderful Nancy Drew Table Quilt.  Dru Ann makes all kinds of quilts and you can see her other creations here. But for now, let's get back to Nancy Drew. Take it away Dru Ann...

Tools:
24 5-inch pre-cut squares
Three quarter yard of backing material
Three quarter yard of batting
Cutting mat 
Quilting ruler
Rotary cutter
Basting spray
Pins
Basting spray

Step 1
In my Nancy Drew fabric pack, there were eight different patterned fabrics with blue, red, yellow, black and white backgrounds and I chose the six that would pair nicely. Each pile contains 4 squares, two of which complement each other.  

Step 2
I will be creating six “four-patch” quilt blocks which comprises 4 squares. Example I will use is the Black and White patterned fabric. Piece together the contrasting fabric – making sure when you stitch the two pairs, the same color touches diagonal.  Make sure the middle seams are aligned.  Continue for the other fabric pairings until you have six separate four-patch quilt blocks.  

Step 3
Once you have all the quilt blocks, stitch the blocks together, again making sure the middle seams are aligned.  Once this is complete, you now have what is called the top quilt. 

Step 4
Now it is time to pick your backing material.  I had five to choose from and I picked the one that would best complement the top quilt.  You will also need batting for your quilt project. 

Step 5
Place top quilt on batting and trim the batting along the outside of the quilt right to the edge of the quilt top.  Place the paired top quilt on top of the backing.  Do not trim backing yet. This is known as the quilt sandwich. You can either pin or use basting spray to keep all three pieces together.  If you plan to use a label on your quilt, stitch the label only using the backing and the batting. Do not stitch onto the top quilt.  

Step 6
You’re almost finished with the quilt. Now you stitched all three pieces (top quilt, batting and backing). You can stitch diagonal or straight line stitch along the seams making sure each square has a quilt stitch running through it. Trim backing to ONE INCH all the way around the quilt. 

Step 7
You are now ready to do the binding.  Fold the backing in half so that the edge lines up with the edge of the quilt top.  Fold backing again so that it overlaps the quilt top by half an inch and in pin in place. Repeat folding and pinning around the entire quilt. 

Step 8

Stitch on backing around the entire quilt until complete.  

Mystery Playground also has other Nancy Drew related craft tutorials:

• Nancy Drew Coasters
• Nancy Drew photo album
• Nancy Drew Notecards

Come back next Thursday for more bookish craftiness. 

Literary T-Shirts

These literary t-shirts from Out of Print are super fun and cut for women. These are just a few of the designs. 

Well Read Women: Portraits of Fiction's Most Beloved Heroines

The book, Well Read Women: Portraits of Fiction's Most Beloved Heroines, just landed on my doorstep courtesy of my friend Paula Smail. The book features illustrations of famous fictional women - everyone from Alice in Wonderland to Thackeray's Becky Sharpe - and their famous quotes. Although I have to say that Becky Sharpe is more obnoxious than beloved. 

I've shared three of my favorite portraits from the book here Nancy Drew (above); Patrick Dennis' Auntie Mame and Victor Hugo's Cosette (below).

Friday Drinks with Reads: The French Nancy Drew

On Fridays Mystery Playground is having fun by matching some of our own and some of our friend's favorite books with drinks. Today we have The French Nancy Drew paired with, Alice Et Le Fantome (Alice and the Bell) or as it was called in English, The Mystery of The Tolling Bell, courtesy of Ingrid Willis, the chair of the world's largest mystery convention, Bouchercon 2014. Her copy of Alice Et Le Fantome was published in 1960 by Librairie Hachette. 

Our old friend Nancy is called Alice Roy in France and in fact all of the other characters and even Carolyn Keene have different names including George Fayne who is called Marion Webb and Hannah Gruen who is called Sarah Berny. 

I am sure there are more differences have to admit that I didn't read this book because I can't read french and it's been awhile since I've read The Mystery of The Tolling Bell in English but I can show you another drawing of Alice:

Nancy seems stronger to me and Alice more delicate. What do you think?

I can also tell you that we have a fabulous drink to pair with this book, or just drink anytime, created for Mystery Playground at the Portola Hotel & Spa by bartendress extraordinaire Tuyet Vitacca. Here's the recipe (it contains alcohol and is not for anyone under 21 years of age):

The French Nancy Drew

St. Germain Liqueur                 3/4 ounce
X-Rated Blood Orange Vodka   3/4 ounce
Fresh Lemon, squeezed           1/2 lemon                 
a dash of simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar, dissolve sugar in boiling water)

Here's Nancy Drew Lemonade for Kids:

1 glass of lemonade
1 sprig of mint
lots of ice

Nancy Drew fans may want to check yesterday's Mystery Playground post to enter a giveaway for Nancy Drew coasters.

Don't forget to come back next week when the fabulous Catriona McPherson has a special Scottish drink for us. 

Judy Bolton Covers

These fabulous Judy Bolton Mysteries live at my friend Ingrid's house (she's the chair of the world's largest mystery convention this year, but more on that later.) An avid Nancy Drew fan as a girl, I knew about the Dana Girls and Trixie Belden, but I had never picked the books up because I was so focused on Nancy. I didn't even know about Judy Bolton until I saw these at Ingrid's house. The series was published Grosset and Dunlap starting in 1932 and Judy gets married halfway through the series. 

Did you read the Judy Bolton mysteries when you were a kid? What did I miss? 

Nancy Drew End Papers

I recently pulled out some of my ancient Nancy Drew's from the 40s and 50s to take a look at the illustrations and wound up focusing on the fabulous end papers. The end papers above come from a 1954 edition of The Scarlett Slipper Mystery.

The end papers below are from a copy of The Hidden Staircase from 1930. The scan is a little blurry but since the book is so old (some pages are crumbing) I didn't want to press it down too hard on the scanner. According to NancyDrewSleuth.com there are earlier Nancy Drew's that have this design here but in an orange color. 

The papers below came from the 1943 edition of The Clue in the Jewel Box. Again, I didn't want to press too hard on the scanner. 

These are the end papers that I remember most in my Nancy Drew books from childhood. This comes from the 1974 edition of the Mystery of the Glowing Eye. My grandfather gave me this book. You can see the binding is separating a little. It was put to good use by my friends and me. 

Last but not least, well maybe they are least, they have always been my least favorite of all the end papers because Nancy seems to have lost her look of steely eyed determination that you can see in the drawings above. And her pupils are so dilated they look like she's just gotten back from the eye-doctor. These end papers came from the 1979 edition of The Thirteenth Pearl. Which end papers are your favorite? 

The Hardy Boys Detective Handbook

One of the reasons I grew up loving Nancy Drew was that even though she is a girl, she gets to solve mysteries for the most part without any help, except for occasional aid from Bess and George and even more occasional aid from Ned and his friends. 

And now I find this detective handbook for the Hardy Boys that was produced not only by the Franklin W. Dixon ghost writer, but also an FBI agent (first printing 1959, second 1972). Although this is a really interesting book, I am annoyed that there was no Nancy Drew Detective Handbook during that time with real investigative techniques or anything close. Nancy would have been more than up to the job back then. When the series was first conceived and written, Nancy even carried a gun. She wouldn't have shied away from forensics or police procedure.  Good thing our intrepid detective is making up for that now. 

Still it is a cool books for kids and there's nothing to prevent girls from reading The Hardy Boy Detective Handbook.

Turning an Old Nancy Drew Book into a Photo Album

We have been known to get a wee bit crafty at Mystery Playground and recently I turned a damaged Nancy Drew hardback book into a photo album cover and gave it away on the site (congratulations to our winner, Kathleen, thank you to everyone who entered). Several people asked how I made it, and so here's how...

Materials:

- Serious glue, I prefer Gorilla Glue

- One C.R. Gibson Photo Clutch, dimensions 7x5 (If you can find another one the same size, go for it, but I haven't been able to. I also have not been able to find this one in stores, you need to search online.)

- One Nancy Drew hardback - I used damaged Nancy Drews. I found some water damaged Nancy Drews at a Goodwill store about a year ago and use these in my crafts.

- An exacto knife 

This is what your final product should look like (your cover will most likely be a different title)

Step One:

Open your hardback. Take the Exacto knife and carefully cut away the pages as one group making a slice on each side. Remove pages and reserve for next craft (see below, I turn the pages into note cards.)

Step Two:

Apply Gorilla Glue to one side of the inside of the hardcover. Quickly slide the photo album clutch into the hardback with the hardware facing up. Hold the book closed like you want it to look when your done. Like the photo below until the glue sets - this should take 30 seconds to a minute.

Step Three: 

Apply glue to the other interior side and repeat holding the book until dry. 

And you are done. Ridiculously easy once I found the exact size photo album. 

In true waste not, want not fashion, I use the left over pages from the Nancy Drew book to make note cards. I will post how to do this tomorrow. 

Feel free to ask questions in the comment section below. I'd also love to hear about your bookish crafts.