Help in Identifying Publication Years?

[SidneyEllen]

I already posted this in the Hardy Boys Originals/Digests forum, but I don't know if that was the right place for it.  I hope you don't mind my reposting it!  Here it goes:

Hey all, I went to a garage sale a couple of months back where a man was trying to sell a large number of antiques. Among his collection were two Hardy Boys books which I was able to pick up for just fifty cents a piece.   Admittedly, I had never even picked up a Hardy Boys book before then, but I have since read both of these and thoroughly enjoyed them (and I marveled quite a bit about how there were so many words in the books that I know my high school students would never know...).

Anyway, long story a little shorter, I was wondering if anyone might be able to help me identify when these books were published. By looking online, I've found that there's one particular authoritative book out there, but that book in and of itself seems hard to find...

The books I've got are #10 What Happened at Midnight and #14 The Hidden Harbor Mystery--neither have a dust jacket.

I believe #10 was published in 1947, because the last few pages advertise the first four books in the new Rick Brant Adventure Series--all of which were published for the first time in 1947. The cover is rather like a khaki-colored tweed.

My copy of #14 is giving me a bit more trouble. It's most definitely in really great condition, but I just can't place exactly how old it is. The cover is is light brown with a very tiny-pebbled grain to it (the cover isn't cloth-like like the other one). The book is extremely light for its size as well. It has orange end papers and a black top-edge to the pages. There's no mention of a the next book on the last page, so I know it must be pre-1941. However, I'm rather confused, because in the list of books in the series, the first fourteen are mentioned and then A Figure in Hiding is mentioned next, completely skipping over #15 The Sinister Sign Post (the books are not actually numbered, but there are only fifteen books listed).

If any of you could help me properly date these books, I'd really appreciate it.

[hardygirl847]

Hi!

Check this site out...it has more details about the different publication years, etc.

http://hardyboys.bobfinnan.com/hbos.htm

Also, there is a list of all of the cover art from every edition. This may help too.

http://hardyboys.bobfinnan.com/hbart.htm#top


Good luck! Trying to figure this out could be somewhat of a mystery in itself! Happy sleuthing!