Tonight I will share a few recent book acquisitions from old adventure series.

The Aeroplane Boys on the Wing; or Aeroplane Chums in the Tropics was written by John Luther Langworthy. The book is the first in the Aeroplane Series and was published in 1912.

I acquired this book today. A colleague dropped by my classroom with two old books that he had picked up with other items at an estate sell. The other book was on insect identification.

The Aeroplane Series is one of many series put out by M. A. Donohue & Company. Other series were: American Boy’s Sports, Boys’ Elite, Girls’ Elite, Alger Stories for Boys, Girl Aviator, Motor Boat Boys, Motor Maids, and Radio Boys

Silver Wings for Vicki by Helen Wells is the first volume of The Vicki Barr Flight Stewardess Series. This series is one of many from the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Their best know series were the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, but there were many more.

This series was begun in 1947. Helen Wells also wrote The Cherry Ames Nurse Stories which was an earlier series from the Stratemeyer Syndicate. I have a volume or two from the Cherry Ames series on my shelves, as well as several more of the Vicki Barr books.

Another recent acquisition was this copy of Tom Swift on The Phantom Satellite by Victor Appleton II. This is part of another Stratemeyer Syndicate series. The New Tom Swift Jr. Adventures series was begun in 1954 and this volume is from 1956. The series was a follow-up to the Tom Swift series that was started in 1910 by Stratemeyer. I have at least one volume from the original series on my shelves and maybe half a dozen of the Tom Swift Jr. books.

They are quite interesting to read, especially when you look at them through a lens set to their issue dates.

Tom Corbett Stand by for Mars! by Carey Rockwell was published in 1952. Carey Rockwell is a pseudonym for a team of writers who wrote the Tom Corbett series. This is the first volume of the series. The series was inspired and modeled after the novel Space Cadet by Robert Heinlein.

There was also a TV show and comic strip about Tom Corbett in the 1950’s.

I picked this book up today, so have not had time to read it. However, it is now on my to read list along with many others 🙂

Do you remember reading any of the books from these adventure series?

Steven