Help in Identifying Publication Years?

[SidneyEllen]

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 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.

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

[SDLagent]

The light brown cover was used between 1932 and 1962. The orange end papers were used between 1932 and 1958.

The list of books in the series and the fact that there's no mention of the next book has me really intrigued.

I wish I could be of more but I'm overtired. That's all I can tell you for now...

[MacGyver]

Here's a handy (and hardy, of course ) guide for just such a question.

[tomswift2002]

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.

Sounds like your copy of #10 is from some time between 1951 and 1962, as the khaki tweed did not come into use til 1951.  I have two copies of While The Clock Ticked from the 1947 - 1962 time frame (neither has a dustjacket), but one is in the, as I call it, "brown suit leather" cover while the other is in the khaki tweed, and both contain the exact same 4 page ad for Rick Brant listing all four titles. 

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 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.

Well, you're copy is from sometime before 1951.  The black top edges appear to have been phased out by 1954 when G&D started the blue top edges (at first a very dark blue that looks almost black, but eventually they settled on the light blue;  I've got a few books that have ads for the Tom Swift Jr. series on their dustjackets, and their HB dj lists correspond to the internal HB lists, and Tom Swift Jr. did not come out til 1954).  The orange endpapers were out till 1958;  The list of books in the series might be an error, one that was meant for #15, but accidentally got placed into the book; however, this is very odd, since the books were usually assembled where maybe 30 pages were printed into little "packets" (I can't remember the proper name), and then joined together with the other "packets" to make the whole book.  So the page for the list of books should be printed on a page, if it was meant for #15, that contains a page or two from The Sinister Signpost.  So if you had a book like this, it would be an extremely scarce error. 

With your #14, does it contain a frontispiece (a picture across from the title page)?  This could help date it more, since the frontispiece was removed in 1947.


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



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