Nancy Drew
Top Secret
Who remembers Nancy Drew?
• Think about what the name
Nancy Drew means to you.
• What do you remember about
her?
• What do you remember of the
character of Nancy Drew, how
she handled problem solving,
and how she was a role model
for girls?
The Beginnings of Nancy Drew
• Nancy Drew is a fictional
character, the heroine
detective of a popular
mystery series.
• The first manuscripts were
written by Mildred A. Wirt
Benson for the Stratemeyer
Syndicate.
• Mildred Benson wrote the
first 22 books.
The Beginnings of Nancy Drew
• Stratemeyer Syndicate was
known for publishing book
series using one invented
author's name for all books, no
matter who wrote them.
• Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Tom
Swift, and dozens of other
series books were written to
order based on a formula by
Edward Stratemeyer.
The Beginnings of Nancy Drew
• In the case of Nancy Drew, the
name Carolyn Keene was
chosen.
• Research reveals that there
was no Carolyn Keene (whom
we all KNOW was the author!).
• Edward Stratemeyer wrote
outlines for the first four stories
in the series, but died before
the books were published.
Nancy Drew
• More than 200 million books sold
worldwide.
• In the 1960s, early titles were revised
or changed completely to eliminate
outdated references such as
“roadsters," “running boards," and
“rumble seats."
• The original books have 25 chapters
while the revised editions have only 20.
• Volumes 1 through 34 were printed in
the original format.
Nancy Drew
• The original series
numbering one through fiftysix were all written by the
Stratemeyer syndicate. In the
1980s the syndicate
experienced financial
problems, and their
publisher, Simon & Schuster,
bought the company and all
of the rights to the Nancy
Drew series and other
novels.
Nancy Drew Stereotypes
• The stereotypes that the Nancy
Drew books had, including what we
now call classism, sexism, racism,
anti-Semitism, anti gypsies, and
immigrants did not depict or promote
what we now call multiculturalism.
• They were of course a product of
their times.
• It is important to note, over the years
from 1930 to today, the stories were
rewritten and continually made to
conform to their eras.
• In fact, the latest pictures of Nancy
look more like Barbie than Nancy!
Nancy Drew Fans
• Some teachers love the series
because it hooks kids on reading.
• The young sleuth is also a good role
model - she's active and smart, and
her supportive boyfriend Ned
Nickerson stands in the background
and applauds her.
• But it feeds an old debate - is it
better to give kids a book they love to
get them excited about reading, or
should class assignments involve a
higher caliber of literature?
Nancy Drew
• Most librarians of the time
considered all series books
bad, like comic books, and
the librarians who didn't
ban them at least
discouraged them.
• As far as the librarians
were concerned, the Nancy
Drew novels were not
"literature," and the books
kept children from reading
"literature.”
Nancy Drew
Original Nancy, 1930 to 1940
• From the beginning,she was
depicted as an independentminded teenager, usually sixteen,
but gradually aging to eighteen
by the mid 1940s.
• Being affluent, she maintained an
active social, volunteer, and
sleuthing schedule, as well as
participating in athletics and the
arts.
• She was never shown as working
for a living or acquiring job skills.
Nancy Drew
By end of the 1930s, Nancy was dressing along the
lines of a sophisticated young woman, with smart suits,
matching hats, gloves, and handbags.
Nancy Drew Mysteries
– Nancy lived in a three-story
brick house in the fictional
town of River Heights, a few
hours from Chicago.
– She also traveled to several
different regions in the United
States and international
destinations, including
France, Peru, Scotland, Hong
Kong and Africa.
Nancy Drew’s Cohorts
Her family and friends included:
•
father, Carson Drew
•
housekeeper, Hannah Gruen
•
her cosmopolitan Aunt Eloise
in New York
•
a dog named Togo
•
Helen Corning, a friend who
comes and goes
•
close friends, George (Georgia)
Fayne and Bess Marvin
•
boyfriend, Ned Nickerson
Nancy Drew’s Family
• She lived with her father,
attorney Carson Drew.
• The original series stated
Nancy's mother died when
she was ten years old.
• In later revisions, her
mother died when she
was three.
Nancy Drew’s Family
• Carson was a world-renowned
lawyer, who consequently had a
rather healthy income.
• Nancy was free to do her
detecting without worrying about
money.
• Carson may have supplied the
income, but that is about all he
supplied in the way of typical
parental support.
Nancy Drew’s Family
• He often helped her on cases by
doing some of the legwork, and
he imposed no parental
constraints on her.
• This made Carson appear as
more of a sidekick to Nancy.
• Since Nancy’s mother died when
she was three, the ‘‘smothering
mother’’ (over protective) role is
totally eliminated.
Nancy Drew
• Nancy pursued hobbies, art,
music, dancing, and various
athletics.
• She entered, trespassed,
sneaked about, opened
locked doors, lockers,
chests, and drawers.
Nancy Drew
• Nancy was very courageous.
• She received threats that
would terrify most people and
ignored them.
• This was related to her inability
to break a commitment.
• She was very determined in
the pursuit of the truth and
nothing, short of death, would
make her give up a case.
Nancy Drew, Sleuth
• Ropes were often a problem for
the girl detective. She has been
tied up more times than one can
count and has found an equal
number of ways to escape.
• The criminals involved usually
believed they had done nothing
wrong; the reader was always
assured that the “bad” person
had been removed from society.
Nancy Drew, Sleuth
• In many final scenes,
the audience is allowed
to see inside the
criminal’s mind.
• Usually this scene
portrays the criminal as
a person who is slightly
mentally unbalanced
and was pushed over
the edge by a certain
incident.
Nancy Drew’s Style
Nancy’s early style was in the vein of a sophisticated
young girl with immaculately curled hair, pearls, high heels,
and elegant dresses.
Nancy Drew
• Nancy was blue-eyed, bold,
and adventuresome.
• On many covers she was
shown as a blonde or
brunette.
• Her hair color, frequently
described as "strawberry
blond" and "titian," rather
than the less glamorous
“red," was due to a printing
ink error and was adopted
anyway.
Nancy Drew
• She always carried a
flashlight.
• In the originals, she
owned a blue roadster
which became maroon
in volumes 8, 9, and 10,
and then green, finally
having no description of
color for several years.
• Her roadster returned to
blue and stayed that
way.
Nancy Drew: the 1940s
• In the 1940s, Nancy began to
evolve into a less reckless, and
also less obviously affluent,
character.
• Her fashion style became a bit
more casual.
• She no longer pursued things
that greatly endangered herself
or her friends.
Nancy Drew: the 1950s
• During the 1950s,
Harriet Stratemeyer
Adams took on the
responsibility for
writing, revising, and
updating the earlier
volumes to speed up
the pacing of the
novels and remove
regional and racist
references.
Nancy Drew: Character Evolution
• Although Nancy’s occupation and
success stayed the same, Nancy
changed in order to keep up with
the times.
• In a few of the original stories, she
was sixteen years old, but she
quickly aged to eighteen so that
she could legally drive in all of the
states.
• Making Nancy eighteen years old
created an easy way to avoid
including the topic of school.
Nancy Drew: Subtle Changes
• Her car, which was a prominent part
of her image, changed from a
roadster to a Mustang convertible
over the years.
• Two things that never changed
were
– its blue color, (once it was
finally established, it remained
blue), and
– the fact that it was sporty.
• She also was known to drive her
car at high speeds.
The Nancy Drew Files
• In 1986, a new series of Nancy
Drew novels hit the bookshelves:
The Nancy Drew Files.
• This series contained the same
characters as the original books,
but with an updated twist to them.
• Ned and Nancy became more
emotionally involved and Nancy’s
cases became more important.
The Nancy Drew Files
• A physical relationship did not truly
exist between Ned and Nancy, other
than the occasional kiss.
• He paid for dates, he opened doors,
he openly admitted that Nancy could
best him at almost anything she put
her mind to.
• He helped out when she asked and
was easy to dispose of when he was
not needed.
The Nancy Drew Files
• Nancy herself became a
‘‘typical teenager’’ of the
1980s and 1990s with acid
washed jeans and a new
sporty Mustang.
• The Nancy Drew Files
quickly gained young
readers’ attentions, just as
the original stories had done.
Nancy Drew as Art
• In the mid-1940s, publisher Grosset
& Dunlap updated the original
packaging of its popular series with
a dust jacket that featured
wraparound art and modern type for
an edgier, more contemporary feel.
• This approach colorfully echoed the
visual styles of film noir and pulp
fiction, then in vogue.
Nancy Drew as Art
• Between 1950 and 1979,
commercial artists Bill Gillies and
Rudy Nappi produced artwork for
the new books.
• In late 2006, licensed dust jacket
prints of original series artwork by
Russell Tandy, Bill Gillies and
Rudy Nappi were released.
Nancy Drew Dust Jackets
Nancy Drew Dust Jackets
Licensed by Simon and
Schuster, Nancy Drew® debuted
a line of jacket prints recreating
the classic mid-century look and
feel of the popular children's
mystery series for collectors and
new fans alike.
The dust jackets highlighted the
original series during its baby
boom zenith of the 1950s and
1960s.
Nancy Drew
• In early 2007, book stores such as
Barnes & Noble, began selling Nancy
Drew Mysteries with original artwork.
• The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories
consist of 175 books.
– From The Secret of the Old Clock, The
Hidden Staircase, and The Bungalow
Mystery (1930) to
– Danger on the Great Lakes, A Taste of
Danger, Werewolf in a Winter
Wonderland (2003)
Nancy Drew as a Role Model
Nancy has changed in a few ways that
could be seen as detracting from her
status as a role model.
– She has become more concerned
with her appearance in the recent
books.
It is important to note that the original
series was published with 8, 9, and 10
year old girls in mind.
– The Nancy Drew Files were aimed at
girls who were 11, 12, and 13.
– The books were changed to keep
the readers’ interest, not to make
Nancy less of a role model for young
women.
Nancy Drew as a Role Model
• Nancy Drew
influenced the current
crop of female mystery
writers.
• Rarely, however, do
we consider what kind
of effect Nancy Drew
books have on
children’s
impressionable minds.
Nancy Drew as a Role Model
• Nancy Drew is a prominent figure in
many adolescent girls’ lives who has
many admirable qualities.
• She excels in a typically maledominated profession.
• She maintains healthy relationships
with her friends and family -particularly with her father and
boyfriend.
Nancy Drew as a Role Model
• Nancy is also a strong,
independent woman.
• For these and other
reasons, analysis of Nancy
Drew stories, both old and
new, reveals that Nancy
Drew is a positive role
model for young women.
Nancy Drew as a Role Model
• Nancy Drew began challenging
societal expectations in 1929
simply by becoming an amateur
detective.
• Today she continues to do so by
pursuing increasingly dangerous
and physical cases.
• Nancy does things that many
people would gladly step aside
and allow others to do for them,
and she does these things with
the grace and skill that we have
come to expect from her.
Nancy Drew as a Role Model
• Through the years, Nancy has been
changed and updated, but she still
sends the same message: girls’
actions are not limited by their
gender.
• The books are still being published.
• Young girls still need the role model
of the adventurous, self assured,
intelligent, and daring girl or young
woman.
Nancy Drew Mystery Series
There are many Nancy Drew mystery series.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Nancy Drew Files
Nancy Drew Notebooks
The Official Strategy Guide for Nancy Drew
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories
Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Super Mystery
Nancy Drew on Campus
Nancy Drew Super Mystery
Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew
The Lost Files of Nancy Drew
Nancy Drew “All New” Girl Detective
Nancy Drew Graphic Novels: Girl Detective