Trixie Belden“Schoolgirl Shamus”

by James D. and Kimberlee Keeline

This paper was presented at the Popular Culture Association National Conference on Friday, April 10, 1998 at Lake Buena Vista, Florida.Trixie Belden ® is a trademark of Western Publishing.

“I have so got an ambition,” Trixietold him with a toss of her head. “It’sall settled. Honey and I are going tobe private detectives; aren’t we,Honey?”

Jim hooted with laughter. “And callyour agency Schoolgirl Shamuses, In-corporated, I suppose. I can just seeyour business cards,” he went on gaily.“‘When the FBI gives up, we take over,’printed in red.”

Honey and Trixie couldn’t helplaughing, too. When they subsided,Trixie said, “You’ve got to admit thatwe were pretty smart about findingyou, Jim Frayne.”

“That you were,” he admitted. “Areyou two really serious about being de-tectives?”(Trixie Belden and the Gatehouse Mystery, 1951)

The Trixie Belden series (1948-1986) wasone of the most-successful non-Syndicateseries of juvenile mystery stories. Althoughthe series did not have the sales of the queenof juvenile detection, Nancy Drew, it didand does have a dedicated following of fanswho like to point out how they liked char-acter and stories better.

The series was created by Julie CampbellTatham (1908-), an author who had a smallliterary agency in New York City in the1940s around the time that the JuniorAchievement program was being estab-lished. She had already written an outlineand three sample chapters for a story called“The Swap Shop Mystery” when represen-tatives from Western Publishing called allof the literary agents to a meeting with anappeal for manuscripts which were “fast-moving, well-written mystery andadventure books” which could be producedand mass marketed at a price children couldbuy themselves. These books would bepublished under the Whitman imprint ofWestern Publishing. One rationale offeredwas an effort to lure children from comicbooks which had become a concern of late.Curiously, Whitman was one of the largerpublishers of comic books and the simi-larly-illustrated Big Little Books, a formatwhich they founded in 1932.

Tatham made a proposal including two se-ries which she would write and two serieswritten by two of her authors. The editorswere thrilled and gave her and her two au-thors the entire assignment. The WaltonBoys series (1948-1952) was written by HalBurton (1908-1992) and the Tom Stetsonseries (1948-1951) was written by JohnHenry Cutler (1910-). Both series had threevolumes each.

Tatham wrote two series which were pub-lished under her maiden name, “JulieCampbell,” even though she had marriedCharles Tatham in 1933. The manuscript

for “The Swap Shop Mystery” featured afeisty heroine named Ginny Gordon and thebook was published as Ginny Gordon andthe Mystery of the Disappearing Candle-sticks (1948), the first book in the series.This book was followed by four more inthe Ginny Gordon series (1948-1956).She wrote six volumes in the Trixie Beldenseries (1948-1958) before moving on toother writing interests.

Shortly after her agreement with WesternPublishing, she was contacted by her agent.Helen Wells (1910-1986), who created theCherry Ames series (1943-1968) about ayoung nurse and the Vicki Barr series(1947-1962) about a mystery-loving stew-ardess for Federal Airlines, had decided tostop writing these popular series and beginwork in radio and television. Tatham wascalled in to write Cherry Ames, CruiseNurse (1948) which she did in three weeks.The book was published under Helen Wells’

Deluxe Format Book Julie Campbell Tatham

name because the artwork for the covershad already been ordered and the bookslargely pre-sold. Once again, her editorswere pleased with the quality and prompt-ness of her work. Helen Wells, perhapsrealizing her mistake, later returned to writ-ing these two series. In that time, however,Julie Tatham had written eight CherryAmes volumes and four Vicki Barr books.

Tatham’s books were different from theWells’ ones in that the main characters didnot pair up with any particular love inter-est. Instead, each had several admirers. Inresponse to a question about this she re-plied, “My philosophy is to play the field.I couldn’t tolerate this going steady stuff.”

Characters

While the series is often compared withNancy Drew and there are some similari-ties, the differences are more pronounced.

The most obvious difference is the age ofthe protagonists. While Nancy is 16 in theearly original text volumes, Trixie is 13 atthe outset of the series and celebrates her14th birthday on May 1 at the end of TheMarshland Mystery (1961). Nancy’s ageis not often mentioned in the series exceptin an introduction once each book.

By the time of the revised text stories inthe 1950s, Nancy’s age is fixed at 18, whichwould allow her to drive her car in any state.Trixie’s age also became fixed at 14 de-spite the fact that the first 16 books are in arough sequence of months, seasons, andschool breaks. This editorial decision was

made to preserve the dynamic of the en-semble cast of characters which formTrixie’s group of friends. They formed asemi-secret society, The Bob-Whites ofthe Glen, which performed public servicefor individuals and large charities.

Trixie’s best friend is Honey Wheelerwhose family is very wealthy as evidencedfrom the fact that her father has his own jetplane. He is characterized as a “million-aire” in The Mystery in Arizona (1958).While Trixie could best be described as a“tomboy,” Honey is more feminine in ap-pearance and action and the series makesrepeated references to how she likes to sew.Trixie and Honey plan to open The Belden-Wheeler Detective Agency when theybecome adults.

Trixie has three brothers, Mart who is “ex-actly eleven months older,” Brian who is15 at the beginning of the series but whoseage freezes at 17, and six-year-old BobbyBelden. Bobby is the typical youngerbrother who uses childish vocabulary andwho can’t keep a secret. If something ofhis is lost or damaged, he retaliates in kind.As the eldest of the group, many of theBWGs look up to him and listen when hespeaks. Mart looks remarkably similar toTrixie, so much so that in the early bookshe wears his hair in a crew cut to avoidhaving curls like Trixie. He is fond of us-ing long words and complex sentences,particularly when he is teasing Trixie.

Other characters which make up the Bob-Whites of the Glen include Jim Frayne,

Diana Lynch, and Dan Managan. Thesecharacters were added in later books, someof which were not written by Julie Tatham.At various times there is a glimmer of loveinterest between these characters, mostlyinferred by the reader, but for the most part,the editors have decided to adopt Julie’sphilosophy on their interaction.

The cast of characters is rounded out bynumerous adults with whom the teens in-teract including parents, neighbors,business people and the police. For ex-ample, as in the Nancy Drew books, thepolice aren’t thrilled with an amateur de-tective in the neighborhood. SergeantMolinson often scolds Trixie on her proce-dure but usually has to admit that she wassuccessful and adds his congratulations.

Horses play an important role in mostTrixie Belden stories. In the later volumes,one of the distinguishing characteristics ofdifferent ghostwriters is their knowledge ofhorses, horsemanship, and the equipmentused to groom and care for them. Thereare several horses in the series, each withunique personalities, whom are ridden bythe various characters.

Bill Regan cares for the horses and helpsMiss Trask run the Wheeler estate. He is asource of encouragement to the BWGs butis particularly strict if they try to rush thegrooming of the horses after a ride. How-ever, if he senses that they have somethingvery important to do, usually in connection

Julie Tatham’s Room at “Wolf Hollow”where she wrote the Trixie books

“Wolf Hollow” in the Hudson River Valley of New York (aka Crabapple Farm)

with a mystery, he will sometimes offer togroom the horses or do some of the teens’chores.

Each of the characters has a different andbelievable attitude about work around thehouse. For the most part they are notthrilled but do their part. Nancy Drew onlyseems to do work when she wants to dem-onstrate her affection towards HannahGruen or when she wants to host a specialfunction.

Locales

In the fall of 1940, Julie and her husbandpurchased a home in the Hudson RiverValley called “Wolf Hollow” on GlendaleRoad near Ossining, in Westchester County,New York. This home became the modelfor Crabapple Farm and the surroundingarea became the fictional setting ofSleepyside-on-the-Hudson. From an up-stairs room in this two-story white frameColonial house, Julie wrote books for theTrixie Belden and other series.

On either side of Crabapple Farm are thehomes of Diana Lynch and Honey Wheeler.The Manor House, where the Wheeler fam-ily lives is a “huge estate that sits high on ahill surrounded by sloping lawns and a 300-acre, wooded game preserve ... and aboathouse and pier on the lake.”

The general area of Sleepyside-on-the-Hudson in the books is described as the areamade famous by Washington Irving and hisstories about Sleepy Hollow. In fact, the

Glendale Road (aka Glen Road)

town of Tarrytown was recently renamedSleepy Hollow in a successful effort to im-prove tourism in the area. Irving’s home,between Tarrytown and Irvington has beenrestored by the Rockefeller Foundation,according to the “Trixie Lore” pages. Ad-ditionally, prospective writers using thisseries “bible” were urged to consult theavailable maps and pamphlets from theOssining Chamber of Commerce whichwere kept on file in the editorial offices.

Sleepyside, like all series book communi-ties, has grown in detail as new books werewritten. Its specific location was intention-ally vague but was certainly described toconnote the region near Ossining andCrotonville. The nearest large city is WhitePlains, New York, some 8 to 12 miles south-east of Sleepyside. The town sports anewspaper, The Sleepyside Sun; a hospi-tal, where Trixie and Honey work as candystripers; a bank, the First National on MainStreet, where Trixie’s father, Peter Belden,works; Wimpy’s, a hamburger parlor whichlooks like a train’s dining car; SleepysideJunior-Senior High School, and the GlenRoad Inn.

Curiously, the real area also includes oneof the more notorious state penitentiaries,Sing Sing Prison. Despite this, none of theTrixie Belden books mention the prison orhave escaped convicts in their plots. It wasprobably a case of reality being too closeto home.

Authorship

After more than ten years writing series

books, Julie Tatham decided to stop. Natu-rally, like the situation with Helen Wellsearlier, her editors were not pleased. TheTrixie Belden series had proven morepopular than the Ginny Gordon books andWestern Publishing wanted to continue theseries. Tatham had been paid a flat fee foreach volume but she had to remind themthat if they wanted to continue the seriesthey would have to pay her a royalty sincewhile they owned the books, she owned the

The model for the Wheeler Estate near “Wolf Hollow”

characters. This is one case where her experience as a literaryagent paid off. She received payment for many years on the nextsix books in the series but the way the contract was written, shehad effectively relinquished the originator rights which allowedher to make this agreement.

Western Publishing decided to continue the series and use a pub-lisher-owned pseudonym for the books. Until recently, informationon the identity of “Kathryn Kenny” has been rather sketchy. To-day, much more has been learned and much can be interpolated.Unfortunately, the editors and writers have rather dim memoriesof these details and Western Publishing has not been forthcomingwith this kind of information.

Some of the characteristics of Julie Campbell Tatham’s books in-clude a thorough knowledge of horses, no doubt connected withthe fact that she was one of the first women polo players in theU.S.; detailed information about travel trailers, descriptions of foodpreparation, and history of Arizona. The first book contains manyincidents of personal danger which is toned down in later volumes,possibly at the suggestion of her editors.

Nicolete Meredith Stack

The first writer to tackle the series was Nicolete Meredith Stack(1896-1978?), an author who was born in Des Moines, Iowa butlived in Webster Groves in St. Louis, Missouri for most of heradult life. She attended the University of Colorado for one yearand then went on a six-month around-the-world trip aboard theH.M.S. Franconia Floating University. She was the daughter ofFrances Lynch McGuire, who was also an author, and her sister,Gertrude Williamson, was an illustrator.

According to biographical sources, she wrote the Robin Kane se-ries (1966-1971) under the “Eileen Hill” pseudonym, which wasdescribed by the Girls’ Series Companion as a west coast TrixieBelden, and between five and eight books in the Trixie Beldenseries between 1961 and 1971. Until now, the identity of thesebooks has been unknown. However, an examination of the booksshe wrote which were published under her own name revealed someclues to which Trixies were hers. Her first book, Two to Get Ready(Caxton, 1953) included a stick figure alphabetic code called the

Julie Campbell titles: Author Year1 The Secret Mansion Campbell 19482 The Red Trailer Mystery Campbell 19503 The Gatehouse Mystery Campbell 19514 The Mysterious Visitor Campbell 19545 The Mystery Off Glen Road Campbell 19566 The Mystery in Arizona Campbell 1958

Kathryn Kenny (pseud.) titles: Ghostwriter Year7 The Mysterious Code [Stack] 19618 The Black Jacket Mystery [C] 19619 The Happy Valley Mystery [Stack] 196210 The Marshland Mystery [D] 196211 The Mystery at Bob-White Cave [D?] 196312 The Mystery of the Blinking Eye [D] 196313 The Mystery on Cobbett’s Island [McDonnell ?] 196414 The Mystery of the Emeralds [McDonnell ?] 196515 The Mystery on the Mississippi [D] 196516 The Mystery of the Missing Heiress [Stack] 197017 The Mystery of the Uninvited Guest [Bond] 197718 The Mystery of the Phantom Grasshopper [G] 197719 The Secret of the Unseen Treasure [Rathjen] 197720 The Mystery off Old Telegraph Road [French] 197821 The Mystery of the Castaway Children [Bond] 197822 The Mystery on Mead’s Mountain [McDonnell ?] 197823 The Mystery of the Queen’s Necklace [Sanderlin] 197924 The Mystery at Saratoga [French] 197925 The Sasquatch Mystery [Bond] 197926 The Mystery of the Headless Horseman[Bowden] 197927 The Mystery of the Ghostly Galleon [Bowden] 197928 The Hudson River Mystery [Krull] 197929 The Mystery of the Velvet Gown [Bowden] 198030 The Mystery of the Midnight Marauder [Bowden] 198031 The Mystery at Maypenny’s [Bowden] 198032 The Mystery of the Whispering Witch [Bowden] 198033 The Mystery of the Vanishing Victim [French] 198034 The Mystery of the Missing Millionaire [French] 198035 The Mystery of the Memorial Day Fire [French] 198436 The Mystery of the Antique Doll [L] 198437 The Pet Show Mystery [French] 198538 The Indian Burial Ground Mystery [L] 198539 The Mystery of the Galloping Ghost [French] 1986

Trixie Belden Series

Nicolete Meredith Stack

“acrobatic alphabet.” According to thestory, this “code” was copied from an oldissue of St. Nicholas Magazine. A surveyof the index to this magazine and manybound volumes has not revealed this, how-ever. The same code was used in volumeseven of the series, Trixie Belden and theMysterious Code (1961). The codes usedin the Stack title and the Trixie book bearsome resemblance to the alphabet used in“The Adventure of the Dancing Men” inThe Return of Sherlock Holmes, first pub-lished in The Strand Magazine (Dec. 1903).However, an examination of the two revealsthat the Arthur Conan Doyle code is radi-cally different.

With one book reasonably confirmed as thework of Stack, the next step was to iden- Nicolete Stack’s first book (1953) contains

the same code as The Mysterious Code

tify unique characteristics to distinguish herbooks from those by other Trixie Beldenghostwriters.

In Stack’s books, we see less specific in-formation about horses, a familiarity withantiques and Dutch history, very brief back-ground information. Stack grew up on afarm and was thus familiar with the func-tion and names of the parts of a barn andsheep ranching. Rather than allow Trixieto remain a tomboy, she introduces a newmore feminine side to her character andtries to enhance the romance between Trixieand Jim. Her portrayal of Japanese char-acters in The Mysterious Code is verystereotypical. Volume 9, The Happy Val-ley Mystery, is set in Iowa where Stack wasborn.

With this in mind, it is reasonable to assignvolumes 7, 9, 16 to her and possibly thebooks attributed to author “D” which haveseveral similarities to the Stack titles butalso some differences.

Author “D”

The characteristics seen in volumes by au-thor “D” include a stereotypicalSpanish-language poem which rhymes inEnglish(!); swarthy South American vil-lains with slicked-back hair; detailedknowledge about caves and spelunking;several examples of superstition and seem-ingly supernatural events. Author “D” isvery knowledgable about New York City

and its history and the stories contain moreexamples of large-scale imminent danger.These titles contain almost no examples ofhorseback riding because of their localesand the characters from volume 9, TheHappy Valley Mystery, are present in vol-ume 12, The Mystery of the Blinking Eye.

Both the Stack titles and the author “D”titles contain strong support for large, or-ganized charities, like UNICEF. The UNitself is portrayed favorably in volume 12.From Two To Get Ready (Caxton, 1953)

From The Return of Sherlock Holmes in The Strand Magazine (Dec. 1903)

Additionally, the BWGs eat in restaurantsin the Stack and author “D” books to a largedegree.

Author “C”

Volume 8, The Black Jacket Mystery (1961)is different from other books in this period,so I have attributed it to author “C” whoremains unknown. Some of the character-istics of this volume include specific detailsabout food preparation (i.e. using parsley

to decorate dishes); and little or no specificknowledge about horses, save mention of“currycombs” and “tack.”

This book introduces Dan Managan, anephew to Bill Regan, and a former mem-ber of a New York City gang, “TheCowhands.” The “Trixie Lore” materialrecommends avoiding repeating the nameof the gang since “it’s pretty dumb.” Be-cause of his background, Dan is sometimesheld under suspicion during several of themysteries. The editors noticed this andurged restraint against this particular plotdevice.

Virginia McDonnell

Another Western Publishing series bookauthor was Virginia Bleecher McDonnell(1917-) who was a registered nurse and at-tended Russell Sage College in Troy, NewYork. She and her husband were avid ski-ers and many of their books featurednursing or skiing, including Your Future inNursing (Richards Rosen Press, 1963),Trouble at Mercy Hospital (Doubleday,1968) and Ski Patrol (Doubleday, 1965).

For Whitman, Virginia McDonnell wrotethe Nurses Three series (1963-1965) as“Jean Kirby” and the Kim Aldrich series(1972) as “Jinny McDonnell” about an in-surance investigator who finds mysteriesat every turn. The Girls’ Series Compan-ion does not indicate the commonauthorship of these two series but they dohave similar comments about them.

The portrayal of nursing in this seriesis not sugar-coated. Patients die, of-ten in graphically described, bloodyaccidents. The Scott sisters are notperfect nurses. They make mistakes,get in trouble and complain about thehard work. Of the several nurse seriesfor girls, Nurses Three is probably themost realistic in showing the day-to-day challenges of the average nurse.

Although the books are not graphic intheir description of murder, they are notsweetened for palatability either. Theauthor vividly describes Kim’s ordeals:being buried in an avalanche, runningfrom a murderer through rough wilder-ness, etc. As a sleuth, Kim falls shortof the perfect prototype; she gets intojams of her own making and is some-times clumsy.

Three Trixie titles may be ascribed to Vir-ginia McDonnell, The Mystery of Cobbett’sIsland (1964) and The Mystery of the Em-eralds (1965), and possibly The Mystery onMead’s Mountain (1978). These bookscontain accidents and specific descriptionsof first aid or other medical knowledge at amuch higher level than seen in other books.For example, in The Mystery on Cobbett’sIsland describes in detail how the BWGshelp someone with a broken leg and howthey are praised by the doctors.McDonnell’s training as a registered nursemakes her a prime candidate for thesebooks. These books also carry a largeamount of explicit foreshadowing.McDonnell’s interest in skiing is seen inone of the Kim Aldrich volumes, Miscal-culated Risk (1972), in an avalanche sceneand in the Trixie Belden volume, The Mys-

tery on Mead’s Mountain (1978).

Gladys Baker Bond

Gladys Baker Bond (1912-) was born inBerryville, Arkansas and grew up in theOzarks. Her adult life was spent inClarkston, Washington and summer vaca-tions in Hayden Lake, Idaho. Her entriesin biographical dictionaries explicitly men-tion that she wrote volumes 17, 21 and 25in the Trixie Belden series in addition tothe Meg series (1967-1972) as “Holly BethWalker” and many of the Tuckers series(1962-1965) as “Jo Mendel” for Whitman.

The Trixie titles have either characters whocome from Idaho or even stories set in theGem State. Bond seemed fond of the name“Hal” or “Hallie”; one single title, The Ad-ventures of Hal (Whitman, 1965) and twoseries contain characters with this name,including Hallie Belden and Uncle Hal inthe Meg series.

Carl Henry Rathjen

Another ghostwriter which hails from theGem State is Carl Henry Rathjen (1909-1984). Thus far, he is the only man knownto have written Trixie Belden stories. Hewas born in Jersey City, New Jersey andwanted to become a mechanical engineer.When this didn’t work out he tried severaljobs and eventually began writing. ForWhitman, he wrote the second volume inthe Waltons series, The Puzzle (1975),based upon the characters in the televisionshow.

Linda Tracy who interviewed his secondwife after his death indicated that he wrote

Gladys Baker Bond Carl Henry Rathjen

Short paperback format, circa 1970

two Trixie Belden books, The Secret of theUnseen Treasure (1977) and The Mysteryof the Vanishing Victim (1980). The firstof these contains a detailed description ofa pump being repaired, reflecting his life-long desire to work with mechanical things.The other volume was claimed by anotherauthor, Laura French (1949-), who wroteseveral volumes in the series. For severalreasons, her case is more credible.

In addition to an affinity for mechanicaldevices, Rathjen knew horses well; men-tioned the use of a “fancy camera;” has aplot featuring the theft of Social SecurityChecks; and knows the names of flowers,including some information about mari-juana. His books feature unusually longchapters in the same number of pages asother ghostwriters, 11 or 12 compared with17-21 for 210 pages.

Author “G”

Another author who remains unknown shallbe designated author “G” who is associ-ated with The Phantom Grasshopper(1977). Kathleen Krull (1952-), whoworked as an editor for Western Publish-ing for this series and others from 1974 to1980, did not recall the author’s name butindicated that he or she was not asked towrite any more books for them.

The Phantom Grasshopper story featuresthe theft of “Hoppy” a special weathervaneabove the Sleepyside Town Hall. Mentionis made in the story of a similar theft re-cently in Boston. The story features rarecoins and shows reasonable knowledge ofnumismatics.

Owenita Sanderlin

Owenita Harrah Sanderlin

Owenita Sanderlin (1916-1995) was bornin Los Angeles and lived most of her life inEl Cajon, California. Both she and her chil-dren were accomplished tennis players.She is best known for her book, Johnny(A.S. Barnes, 1968) which tells about herson’s battle with Leukemia and his deathin 1963.

Sanderlin wrote one Trixie Belden volume,The Mystery of the Queen’s Necklace(1979) which takes place mostly in Lon-don and Stratford-upon-Avon. The storydemonstrates knowledge of Shakespeareand the Elizabethan period. Several famoussites are visited and described in detail. Theironic thing about this is that another Trixieghostwriter, Joan Chase Bowden (1925-)was born in London.

Laura French

Laura French (1949-) was an editor at West-ern Publishing under Bill Larson and sheclaims credit for compiling the “TrixieLore” material which was used by writersin the 1970s and 1980s. She did not beginwriting Trixie Belden books until after sheleft Western to begin work as a free lancewriter. French grew up in Moorhead, Min-nesota. In an article in a Minnesotanewspaper, she claims volumes 20, 33, 34,35, 37, and 39. The last of these is set innearby Dilworth, Minnesota. Charactersfrom volume 20 reappear in volume 33,giving her a stronger claim to this title thanCarl Rathjen.

Her stories exhibit knowledge of papermoney, counterfeiting, and how to silk

Laura French

screen. The BWGs plan a bike-a-thon forcharity in one volume, similar to the walk-a-thon in The Phantom Grasshopper (1977)to replace “Hoppy.” However, the articleabout her explicitly states that her firstTrixie Belden book was The Mystery offOld Telegraph Road (1978).

Joan Chase Bowden

Joan Chase Bowden (1925-) was born inLondon and came to the U.S. in 1953 andwas naturalized in 1960. She lives in SanDiego, California. Bowden has writtennumerous books under her own name aswell as under the names “Joan Chase Ba-con” (derived from her parent’s last names),

Joan Chase Bowden

Cream-colored paperback format

“Jane Godfrey,” and “Charlotte Graham.”

Biographical sources for her specificallymention Trixie Belden volumes 26, 27, 30,and 32 but she may have also been involvedin volumes 29, 31, 33, and 34. Her Trixiestories all have alliterative titles and showa deep understanding of teenagers and theiranxieties which are realistically portrayedin these volumes. Additionally, several ofher stories feature someone imitating aghost to attract or detract from tourism ordevelopment.

Kathleen Krull

Kathleen Krull (1952-) was born in FortLeonard Wood, Missouri and was an edi-tor at Western Publishing from 1974-1980.During that period, she edited the TrixieBelden series, sometimes extensively, andwrote one volume, The Hudson River Mys-tery (1979). She was going to write volume40, to be set in San Diego where she cur-rently resides, when the series wasdiscontinued in 1986. Kathleen has alsobeen instrumental in the realization of thispaper through the generous loan of her“Trixie Lore” materials and answers toscores of questions I placed before her.

When asked about the variations in writ-ing style from ghostwriter to ghostwriter,she replied that “the style of the books wasnot supposed to vary and it was my job tomake it as consistent as possible.” In oneof those inexplicable coincidences, the let-ters I received from Julie Campbell Tathamand Kathleen Krull both used the same re-turn address labels with the motto “TeachTolerance.”

As with Laura French, editing the TrixieBelden books was instrumental in encour-aging Krull to write on her own afterleaving Western Publishing which she hasdone with success and acclaim. In fact,

Kathleen Krull

both she and Joan Chase Bowden have re-ceived the Boston Globe-Horn BookAward for their respective books.

Author “L”

It is not known at this point who wrote TheMystery of the Antique Doll (1984) or TheIndian Burial Ground Mystery (1985). Foridentification, these shall be designated thework of author “L.”

Related Books and Media

In addition to the 39 published books, West-ern Publishing produced two quiz booksand at least two sets of Trixie and Honeypaper dolls and a T-Shirt. In 1978, over13,191 young people and adults were mem-bers of the Trixie Belden Fan Club.

The series has inspired fans to write “un-derground” Trixie novels and to createwebsites on the Internet. Inquiries havebeen made from time to time aboutoptioning the Trixie Belden characters fora television series.

Values Presented in the Series

Part of the lasting interest in the TrixieBelden series comes from the memorablecharacters, realistically portrayed, who arecloser in age and temperment to the read-ers than other series heroes. While NancyDrew rarely makes mistakes, Trixie and theBWGs often jump to the wrong conclu-sions in the course of solving a mystery.When asked about the difference betweenher stories and the Nancy Drew-type of

Gold-colored paperback format

Trixie Belden Paper Dolls (1970s)

story, Julie Campbell Tatham replied, “Thefirst rule should be that the kids get them-selves into scrapes and get themselves outwithout the assistance of adults.”

A self-described “ardent feminist,” Tatham“managed to entertain young readers and,at the same time, convince them thatwomen could have successful careers with-out excluding men from their lives.”According to Tatham, she tried to tell read-ers that “You just had to stop thinking thatyou had to behave like a dummy to get aman.” Her books contained many readers’“first lessons in emancipation and equal-ity.” (SATA 80)

Although most of Trixie’s friends comefrom very wealthy families, there are fre-quent references in early books to theproblems that the wealthy have becausethey are often detached from their ownfamilies. Di Lynch can’t play with her twinsiblings because they are watched over bynursemaids and Honey Wheeler’s parentsare often out of town, causing her to won-der if they love her. Being poor is no solaceeither, as seen in the plight of the familywho “borrows” the Lynch travel trailer insearch of employment.

The work ethic is strong in these books.Initially, the BWGs raise money to fix upthe Gatehouse where they meet. The clubhas a firm rule that any money going to the

club must be earned through work. In thelater Tatham books, the BWGs help peoplein their immediate area. As other writersentered the scene, the BWGs focused onlarge organized charities, like UNICEF.This emphasis fades away in many of the1970s books, as they go back to helpingfamilies and individuals, but it returnsbriefly at the end of the series.

On the whole, the books are well-written,containing vivid dimensional characterswith realistic interaction and picturesquescenery. Continuity errors which exist inthe series are largely due to multiple au-thorship over nearly 40 years.

For the adolescent readers, the books have

much to offer in characteristics with whichthey can identify. Most readers had expe-rienced being teased by a brother or sisteras Trixie does. The BWGs and the readerslikely shared the same feelings towardshousework and school, yet each of the char-acters is career-minded and worthy ofadmiration by the reader.

In addition, the stories contained severalelements which brought readers back, bookafter book, including a close circle offriends, a secret club, mystery and adven-ture, and horses.

Acknowledgements

This paper would not have been possiblewithout the enthusiastic and generous as-sistance of Julie Campbell Tatham, whocreated the series, wrote the early books andanswered my letters; Kathleen Krull, whoshared the “Trixie Lore” material and an-swered countless questions; MelanieKnight, one of the leading experts on TrixieBelden who gave me many valuable in-sights into authorship questions; PhyllisButters, who visited the “real” Sleepyside-on-the-Hudson area and loaned me morethan a dozen photos of the area and Julie’shouse; Mike DeBaptiste, who first told meabout Phyllis’ photos, and my wife, Kim,who read the entire series and answered mymany questions about details which led toauthorship analysis.

Besunder, Marvin. Illustrator for some of theinterior volumes in the Deluxe format. Inaddition, Besunder illustrated Treasures ofLin Li-Ti (Hawthorn, 1969) by CoraCheyney and Memories of Home(C.R. Gibson, 1970) edited by CaesarJohnson.

Bond, Gladys Baker (7 May 1912 - ??). Au-thor of volumes 17, 21, 25 (1977-79).Bond was born in Berryville, Arkansas(72616). She married Floyd James Bondon 2 Sep 1934 and they have one son,Nicholas Peter Bond.

She grew up in the Arkansas Ozarks andspent her adult life in Idaho and Washing-ton. In 1978 she was living in Clarkston,Washington (99403) and reportedly vaca-tioned in Hayden Lake, Idaho (83835).

In addition to her work on the TrixieBelden series, Bond wrote under her ownname and several publisher-owned pseud-onyms, including “Jo Mendel” for theTuckers series (1962-65) and “Holly BethWalker” for the Meg series (1967-72).

References:Contemporary Authors, vol 5-8, revisedContemporary Authors, vol 2, new revi-

sion seriesForemost Women in CommunicationsSomething About the Author, vol 14Who’s Who Among American Women

1974, 1975, 1977Who’s Who in the Pacific NorthwestWho’s Who in the West 1974, 1976, 1978

Bowden, Joan Chase (1 May 1925 -). Authorof volumes 26, 27, 30, 32 (1979-80) andpossibly volumes 29, 31, 33, 34. Bowdenwas born in London, England and cameto the U.S. in 1953 and was naturalized in1960. She lives in San Diego, California.

Bowden has written numerous books offiction and nonfiction under her own nameand “Joan Chase Bacon” (a combinationof her father’s and mother’s names), “JaneGodfrey,” and “Charlotte Graham.”

References:Contemporary Authors, vol 89-92Something About the Author, vols 38, 51

Campbell, Julie (1 Jun 1908 -). see JulieTatham

Carey, Mary Virginia (19 May 1925 - May1994). Contributor to the Trixie BeldenMystery Quiz Books. In the series bookworld, Carey is best-known for her workon The Alfred Hitchcock and the ThreeInvestigators series, published by Ran-

dom House. She has lived in Studio City,California (91604), Westlake Village,California (91361), and Ventura, Califor-nia (93003).

References:Contemporary Authors, vol 81-84Contemporary Authors, vols 17, 38, new

revision seriesSomething About the Author, vols 39, 44

Daly, Eileen. Contributor to the Trixie BeldenMystery Quiz Books.

Frame, Paul (4 May 1913 - 8 Nov 1994). Il-lustrator for the Trixie Belden series inthe Deluxe format (circa 1965) includingcovers for vols 1-15 and interior illustra-tions for vols 1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 14. Hebased his illustrations of Trixie and Honeyon his two daughters. He also illustratedsome of the Nancy Drew books publishedby Wanderer in the 1980s along with morethan 100 other titles. Frame was born inRiderwood, Maryland and lived in NewYork City (10009).

References:Biography Index, vol 8Contemporary Authors, vol 111Illustrators of Books for Young People

(1975)Illustrators for Children’s Books, 1957-

1967, 1967-1977Something About the Author, vol 33Knight, Melanie. “Meet the Artist: Paul

Frame” The Whispered Watchword,Oct 1993. Reprinted in The AuthorizedEdition, June 1997.

Frederick, Larry. Illustrator for the short“ugly” format, circa 1970.

French, Laura (1949 -). Editor at Western Pub-lishing (Golden Press) and freelance au-thor of vols. 20, 33, 34, 35, 37, 39. Shegrew up in Moorhead, Minnesota (56560).According to an interview, she was instru-mental in creating the “lore” materialsused by writers in the series.

References:Zalser, Catherine. “‘Trixie Belden’ author

is a Moorhead Native” Forum ofFargo-Moorhead [MN].

Gave, Marc. Editor at Western Publishing(Golden Press) who succeeded MarilynSalomon in 1987.

Hanrahan, Mariellen. Assistant editor to BillLarson in the 1970s for the Trixie Beldenseries and an author of several books un-der her own name.

Herda, D.J. Contributor to the Trixie BeldenMystery-Quiz Books.

Kenny, Kathryn (pseud.). A collective pseud-onym used by authors hired by WesternPublishing (Whitman, Golden Press) forvolumes 7-39 in the Trixie Belden series(1961-1986).

Krull , Kathleen (29 Jul 1952 -). Editor atWestern Publishing (Golden Press) from1974 to 1980 and author of vol. 28. Krullalso planned to write volume 40 in theseries, to be set in San Diego, California,before it was cancelled. She was born inFort Leonard, Missouri and currently livesin San Diego, California (92122).

References:Contemporary Authors, vol 106Something About the Authors, vols 39, 52,

80

Larson, Bill (William H.) (3 Jun 1983 -). Headeditor for the Trixie Belden series in the1970s below Betty Ren Wright who laterworked for TSR, the publishers of theDungeons and Dragons roleplayinggames. He had several assistants, includ-ing Mariellen Hanrahan, Bob Ottum,Laura French, and Kathleen Krull.

References:Something About the Author, vol 10

Lee, Jody. Illustrator for the yellow paperbackformat in 1984-1986.

McDonnell, Virginia Bleecher (1917 -). Au-thor of the Kim Aldrich series (1972-1974) as “Jinny McDonnell” and theNurses Three series (1963-1965) as “JeanKirby” for Western Publishing (Whitman).She wrote one volume in the Waltons se-ries (1975) and several single titles aboutnursing, like Your Future in Nursing(Richards Rosen Press, 1963) and Troubleat Mercy Hospital (Doubleday, 1968). Herconnection with Western and knowledgeand use of nursing in her writing makesher a prime candidate for Trixie Beldenvolumes 13, 14, and 22?

References:DJ flap from Trouble at Mercy Hospital

says she graduated from Russel SageCollege (in Troy, New York), was anewspaper reporter for a time, and is aski buff as was her husband, JackMcDonnell, who wrote one book, SkiPatrol (Doubleday, 1965).

Ottum , Bob. Assistant editor to Bill Larson inthe 1970s for the Trixie Belden series andan author of books under his own name.

Who’s Who in Creating the Trixie Belden series

Petie, Haris (26 Jun 1915 -). Professional nameused by Roberta Haris Pfafflin Petty whowas an illustrator for interior illustrationson some of the Deluxe format volumes 7and 15. She was born in Boulder Creek,California and attended the Rochester In-stitute of Technology and studied underNorman Rockwell in Paris. She lived inTenafly (1968?) and North Bergen (1976),New Jersey.

References:Biography Index, vol 11Illustrators of Books for Young People

(1975)Something About the Author, vol 10

Rathjen, Carl Henry (28 Aug 1909 -Dec 1984). Author for volumes 19, 33?(1977-1980), according to his widow. Hewas born in Jersey City, New Jersey andwanted to be a mechanical engineer. Hewrote many short stories, novels, andchildren’s novels under his own name. Hewrote one adult novel, Dark Music(Lancer, 1972) as “Charlotte Russell.” Hewrote the second volume in the Waltonsseries (1975), based upon the televisionseries, for Western Publishing (Whitman).He lived in Meridian, Idaho (83647).

References:Contemporary Authors, vol 5-8, revisedContemporary Authors, vol 2, new revi-

sion seriesSomething About the Author, vol 11

Salomon, Marilyn. Editor at Western Publish-ing (Golden Press) in the mid-1980s whowas succeeded by Marc Gave in 1987 af-ter the series was discontinued.

Sanderlin, Owenita (Harrah) (2 Jun 1916 - 27Mar 1995). Author for vol 23 and possi-bly volumes 22 and 24. She was born inLos Angeles, California and marriedGeorge William Sanderlin (5 Feb 1915 -??), who was also a professional writer.She had a love for tennis which figures involume 23. She is best known for hernovel, Johnny (A.S. Barnes, 1968) whichtells about her son, a ranking tennis player,who died of Leukemia in 1963. She livedin El Cajon, California (92019) at the timeof her death.

References:Biography Index, vol 11Contemporary Authors, vol 17, revisedContemporary Authors, vol 7, new revi-

sion seriesSomething About the Author, vol 11

Stack, Nicolete Meredith (McGuire) (22 Feb1896 or 1899 - ??). Author of “five mys-tery books in the ‘Trixie Belden’ series,Whitman, 1961-1971.” Her entries in

Who’s Who in the Midwest mention eighttitles, 1961-1966. Although unspecifiedin published sources, it is certain that shewrote volume 7 because of her reuse ofan “acrobatic alphabet” code which firstappeared in her first novel for children,Two to Get Ready (Caxton, 1953). Herstyle is also reflected in volumes 9 and 16(1962-1970).

She was born in Des Moines, Iowa, at-tended the University of Colorado for oneyear and the H.M.S. Franconia FloatingUniversity on a six-month around-the-world trip in 1930. She wrote severalother volumes under her own name andas “Nicolete Meredith.” She lived inWebster Groves near St. Louis, Missouri(63119).

References:Authors of Books for Young People (1971)Contemporary Authors, vol 13-16, revisedForemost Women in Communications

(1970)PenNWW A (??)International Authors and Writers, 1976Who’s Who in the Midwest, 1974

Stevens, Mary E. (9 Sep 1920 - 18 Oct 1966).Illustrator for the dust jacket format andCameo format. Stevens was born in BarHarbor, Maine (04609).

References:Biography Index, vol. 5, 7, 8Illustrators of Books for Young People

(1975)Illustrators of Children’s Books, 1946-

1957, 1957-1967

Tatham, Julie Campbell (1 Jun 1908 -). Cre-ator of the Trixie Belden series and char-acters and author of volumes 1-6 (1948-1958). She was born in Flushing, NewYork. She married Charles Tatham, Jr. on30 Mar 1933.

At the time she created the Trixie Beldenand Ginny Gordon series, she had a smallliterary agency. She wrote the first vol-ume in the Ginny Gordon series in re-sponse to the Junior Achievement programwhich had just begun. Whitman contactedagents in New York and solicited “fast-moving, well-written mystery and adven-ture books” to be sold to the mass marketwithin the price range of young children.

In addition to these two series, she ar-ranged for the publication of series by twoof her clients, The Walton Boys series byHal Burton and the Tom Stetson seriesby John Henry Cutler. These latter twoseries only lasted three volumes each.Campbell’s series contained six volumeseach before she stopped working on them.

When she decided to move on, after tenyears, Western publishing was upset, theywanted to continue the Trixie Belden se-ries. However, her experience as a liter-ary agent paid off when she pointed outthat although she was paid a flat fee forthe stories, she had created the charactersand they belonged to her. Western agreedto pay a royalty to Julie Campbell Tathamfor the next six volumes. In doing so,however, she lost her originator rights andthe series and characters became the prop-erty of Western.

She also wrote volumes in the CherryAmes series and Vicki Barr series whenthe originator of those series, Helen Wells,decided that she wanted to write for tele-vision and radio. When Helen came back,Julie relinquished the series to her. Shehas also written one book as “Jay Mor-ris.” Tatham lives in Alexandria, Virginia(22314)

References:Something About the Author, vol 80Pohlers, Judy. “Hunting Towers” May

1979 newspaper article reprinted in TheWhispered Watchword, Dec 1987.

Knight, Melanie. “Meet the Author: JulieCampbell Tatham, part 2” The Whis-pered Watchword, Jan 1988.

Kelly, Ernie. “Interview with JulieCampbell Tatham” The Yellowback Li-brary #43, Jan 1988.

Tauss, Herbert. Illustrator of the dust jacketfor the 1959 reprint of Trixie Belden andthe Secret of the Mansion in the Diamond-spine format.

Wacker, Jack. Illustrator for the cream col-ored paperback format.

Wagner, Jim. Illustrator for the covers of theTrixie Belden Mystery Quiz Books.

Wright , Betty Ren (15 Jun 1927 -). Head edi-tor at Western Publishing (Golden Press)in the 1970s who also contributed storiesto the Trixie Belden Mystery Quiz Books.She is best known for her novels in the1980s, like The Dollhouse Murders (Holi-day House, 1983). She lives in Racine,Wisconsin (53406).

References:Something About the Author, vols 48, 63