The Secret of the Old Clock (1941)

Cover of The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene that includes a silhouette of a woman using a magnifying glass.
Left side: Frontispiece illustration of a scene from page 100. Shows Isabel pointing out a clock to Nancy in a lavishly decorated room. A girl watches Nancy while an older man looks at her from behind a newspaper. Another woman is occupied with her opera glasses. Under the picture is a sentence from the scene: There is a clock in front of you, Isabel told her pointedly. Right side: Title page of The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene, the author of The Hidden Staircase, The Bungalow Mystery, etc. Published in New York by Grosset & Dunlap Publishers. Made in the United States of America.

In the 1930s, the Stratemeyer Syndicate began publishing what is now one of the timeless classics of children's literature, the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series; the first book was The Secret of the Old Clock. This novel was originally published in 1930, but this specific edition from Special Collections was likely printed in 1941. This edition features a glossy frontispiece illustration and a blue front cover with an orange silhouette of Nancy Drew. Later editions feature the now iconic yellow and blue color scheme that has come to be associated with Nancy Drew, but the earliest editions only had yellow in the font on the dust jacket. 

Under the pseudonym of Carolyn Keene, many ghostwriters have taken charge of Nancy over the years and have imbibed her with unique characteristics. When it was revealed that the original ghostwriter was Mildred Benson, a spunky and adventurous woman who traveled widely, it was largely assumed that she made Nancy into a semi-autobiographical character. In this edition of The Secret of the Old Clock, Nancy is especially spirited and unwilling to take no for an answer.

The Stratemeyer Syndicate recently debunked these rumors and elaborated on the process of writing The Secret of the Old Clock and the other classic Nancy Drew novels. First, Edward Stratemeyer would write extensive outlines for each novel. For the first novels, these included the names of almost every character, their personality traits, the plotline, and even specific dialogue. Next, he would send these to a selected ghostwriter, who would expand the story from the outlines. Finally, they would send the finished copy to Edward for editing, and he would publish them.

In the late 1950s, Edward's daughter, Harriet, took control of Nancy Drew. Harriet was not allowed to work outside the home, so it seems she jumped at the chance for creative control over the series after Edward's death. In 1959, she began the process of rewriting the original Nancy Drew novels, and she drastically changed the character of Nancy to become more demur. Whereas the original Nancy was sassy, direct, and bold, the new Nancy was willing to listen to authority figures and was much more respectful. Additionally, Nancy went from being sixteen to eighteen, and the racist and otherwise bigoted plot elements were cut. 

Other than the change in Nancy's character, the edition of The Secret of the Old Clock that is available today is similar in plot to the original, which speaks to the longevity of the series. It was surprising that Nancy Drew became a hit in children's literature because it was one of the first series of its kind. One rumor attached to the series is that it was developed as the female version of the Hardy Boys Mystery Series, which is inaccurate. Based on sales records, the Hardy Boys had a low readership and would not have been a wise series to emulate. However, Edward Stratemeyer wanted to take female children's literature in a new direction and provide adventurous young girls with a figure they could admire. In this edition of The Secret of the Old Clock, he does just that.

Text by Abigail Bowers, sophomore, Library and Information Science major

**Items of the Month featured in 2023 and part of 2024 will be the work of Southern Miss students who took HON 303, a seminar held in Fall 2022 focusing on archives and special collections.

 

Sources

White, J. (n.d.). Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: A guide to the Grosset and Dunlap editions. Vintage Series Books for Girls. . . and a Few for Boys. http://www.series-books.com/nancydrew/formats.html

Keene, C. (1930). The secret of the old clock. (Boxed Starter Set edition). Grosset & Dunlap.

Fisher, J. (n.d.). The mysterious history of Nancy Drew. Nancy Drew Sleuth. http://www.nancydrewsleuth.com/history.html

Fisher, J. (2018, July 2). The adventurous writer who brought Nancy Drew to life. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/adventurous-writer-who-brought-Nancy-Drew-to-life-180969479/

Edward Stratemeyer & the Stratemeyer Syndicate. (n.d). Nancy Drew myth-tery stories. Stratemeyer. https://stratemeyer.org/keene/nancy-drew/syndicate-and-nancy-drew-myths/