Lit2Go

The Stratemeyer Syndicate

The Stratemeyer Syndicate

From the late 1800s through the mid-1900s, the Stratemeyer Syndicate, founded by Edward Stratemeyer, published several different book series for young readers, including The Bobbsey Twins, Outdoor Chums, Kneetime Animal Stories, The Rover Boys, and Tom Swift. The Syndicate was the first book packager of books written for children. Each series was written by a number of different authors under a single pseudonym. The Syndicate hired the authors and gave them guidelines for the characters and plots for each series.

Authors

Captain Quincy Allen

Captain Quincy Allen is a pseudonym listed as the author of the Outdoor Chums series, including The Outdoor Chums on the Gulf, The Outdoor Chums After Big Game, and The Outdoor Chums: The First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club. The pseudonym was one of many used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a publishing group started by Edward Stratemeyer in 1906. Stratemeyer assembled a group of authors who were paid a flat fee per book and who remained anonymous. A different pseudonym was chosen for each book series. The Stratemeyer Syndicate published several successful series for children, including The Rover Boys, starting in 1899, The Bobbsey Twins, starting in 1904, Tom Swift, starting in 1910,The Hardy Boys, starting in 1927, and Nancy Drew, starting in 1930.

Richard Barnum

Richard Barnum is a pseudonym listed as the author of the Kneetime Animal Stories series, including T mischievous adventures of Squinty, the Comical Pig; Tamba, the Tame Tiger; Tinkle the Trick Pony; Slicko, the Jumping Squirrel; Don, a Runaway Dog; Sharp Eyes, the Silver Fox; and Mappo, the Merry Monkey. The pseudonym was one of many used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a publishing group started by Edward Stratemeyer in 1906. Stratemeyer assembled a group of authors who were paid a flat fee per book and who remained anonymous. A different pseudonym was chosen for each book series. The Stratemeyer Syndicate published several successful series for children, including The Rover Boys, starting in 1899, The Bobbsey Twins, starting in 1904, Tom Swift, starting in 1910,The Hardy Boys, starting in 1927, and Nancy Drew, starting in 1930.

Howard R. Garis

Howard Roger Garis was an American author most famous under his own name for the children’s book series Uncle Wiggily. Garis was a very prolific ghostwriter for the Stratemeyer Syndicate, however, and his credits under pseudonyms include Tom Swift written as Victor Appleton; many volumes of The Bobbsey Twins as Laura Lee Hope; The Motor Boys series as Clarence Young; The Great Marvel series and the stories of Baseball Joe as Lester Chadwick; and many Camp Fire Girls books as Marion Davidson.

Laura Lee Hope

"Laura Lee Hope" is a pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate for the Bobbsey Twins and several other series of children’s novels. Many writers published under this name. The Stratemeyer Syndicate, a publishing group started by Edward Stratemeyer in 1906, paid anonymous authors a flat fee per book.

Books

Squinty, the Comical Pig (1915)

by Richard Barnum

The readers find out the origin of Squinty’s name. Squinty and his brothers and sisters grow up. Squinty wants to see the world and have some adventures, so he escapes. However, he’s caught by the dog.