Mr. Pizza's Hardy Boys Forum

General Hardy Boys Discussion => General Hardy Boys Discussions => Topic started by: SDLagent on June 15, 2011, 01:47:06 AM

Title: Accidental symbolism
Post by: SDLagent on June 15, 2011, 01:47:06 AM
Everyone knows Laura Hardy is the mother of the Hardy boys. Except, it would seem, John Button. In The Mystery of the Flying Express, book ghostwritten by him, Laura is, for some unknown reason, called Mildred! In the next book of the series, The Clue of the Broken Blade, as if to make-up for his earlier gaffe, Mildred is revealed to be Laura's middle name. Laura Mildred.

And after a strange error and a quick fix, the mother - the "co-creator" - of the Hardy boys has the initials "L.M." The same initials as another co-creator of The Hardy Boys, the first ghostwriter Leslie McFarlane. If Edward Stratemeyer was the "father" of The Hardy Boys then Leslie McFarlane was certainly the "mother".
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: MacGyver on June 15, 2011, 08:04:05 AM
Interesting connection. Intended or not, it does make a neat little tribute to Leslie McFarlane.
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: SDLagent on June 15, 2011, 02:58:41 PM
I noticed it last year and thought it was pretty cool. And a little weird. What are the chances, eh?
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: tomswift2002 on June 15, 2011, 07:50:46 PM
Well you also have to remember that in the 1941 version of Mystery of the Flying Express, Dr. Button also called Police Chief Ezra Collig, Police Chief Finch.  What a lynch!.   
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: Hardy Boys UB Fan on June 15, 2011, 07:52:22 PM
Quote from: tomswift2002 on June 15, 2011, 07:50:46 PM
Well you also have to remember that in the 1941 version of Mystery of the Flying Express, Dr. Button also called Police Chief Ezra Collig, Police Chief Finch.  What a lynch!.   

Who was that? ???
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: SDLagent on June 16, 2011, 05:09:30 PM
And Chief Collig was called Clint Collig at least once.

Quote from: Katie on June 15, 2011, 07:52:22 PM
Who was that? ???

What?
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: Hardy Boys UB Fan on June 16, 2011, 05:18:59 PM
Quote from: tomswift2002 on June 15, 2011, 07:50:46 PM
Well you also have to remember that in the 1941 version of Mystery of the Flying Express, Dr. Button also called Police Chief Ezra Collig, Police Chief Finch. What a lynch!.   

Quote from: SDLagent on June 16, 2011, 05:09:30 PM
And Chief Collig was called Clint Collig at least once.

What?

*Sighs* What was tomswift2002 talking about?
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: MacGyver on June 16, 2011, 06:46:56 PM
Just what he said. In the 1941 version (i.e. original text version) of Mystery of the Flying Express, a character named Dr. Button mistakenly called Police Chief Ezra Collig by the name of Police Chief Finch.
(Although I'm sure it wasn't presented as a mistake within the text on the part of Dr. Button- it was probably just a random typo on the part of the typesetter or the ghostwriter.) And honestly- I can understand how such mistakes can happen- you get your mind thinking on one thing while still typing something else and sometimes you wind up putting something else different from what you meant to say.
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: Hardy Boys UB Fan on June 16, 2011, 06:49:43 PM
Quote from: MacGyver on June 16, 2011, 06:46:56 PM
Just what he said. In the 1941 version (i.e. original text version) of Mystery of the Flying Express, a character named Dr. Button mistakenly called Police Chief Ezra Collig by the name of Police Chief Finch.
(Although I'm sure it wasn't presented as a mistake within the text on the part of Dr. Button- it was probably just a random typo on the part of the typesetter or the ghostwriter.) And honestly- I can understand how such mistakes can happen- you get your mind thinking on one thing while still typing something else and sometimes you wind up putting something else different from what you meant to say.

Okay. Now I get it. ;) 8)
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: MacGyver on June 16, 2011, 06:53:41 PM
Good. :)
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: Olivia on June 16, 2011, 08:01:50 PM
Quote from: SDLagent on June 15, 2011, 01:47:06 AM
If Edward Stratemeyer was the "father" of The Hardy Boys then Leslie McFarlane was certainly the "mother".

Very interesting and concise way of putting it.
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: SDLagent on June 17, 2011, 12:34:36 AM
Quote from: MacGyver on June 16, 2011, 06:46:56 PM
Just what he said. In the 1941 version (i.e. original text version) of Mystery of the Flying Express, a character named Dr. Button mistakenly called Police Chief Ezra Collig by the name of Police Chief Finch.
(Although I'm sure it wasn't presented as a mistake within the text on the part of Dr. Button- it was probably just a random typo on the part of the typesetter or the ghostwriter.) And honestly- I can understand how such mistakes can happen- you get your mind thinking on one thing while still typing something else and sometimes you wind up putting something else different from what you meant to say.

Dr. Button wasn't a character. He was the ghostwriter. And I'm guessing it was his mistake considering he also called Laura "Mildred" and had Fenton with a full beard among other strange departures from continuity.

Quote from: Olivia on June 16, 2011, 08:01:50 PM
Very interesting and concise way of putting it.

I don't think I ever thought of it that way until I found out Laura and McFarlane shared initials. But it works. If it wasn't for Stratemeyer the boys wouldn't have come into existent but if it wasn't for McFarlane they wouldn't be the same boys. He really shaped the characters much like a mother shapes the lives and characters of her young children.
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: MacGyver on June 17, 2011, 07:55:39 AM
QuoteDr. Button wasn't a character. He was the ghostwriter. And I'm guessing it was his mistake considering he also called Laura "Mildred" and had Fenton with a full beard among other strange departures from continuity.
Oh, okay- thanks for the correction.
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: hardygirl847 on June 19, 2011, 02:14:25 AM
Very interesting! I find it kind of silly that an editor would allow such a typo but this was many decades ago and I'm sure their processes for that were much different.

Either way, that is still a cool little tidbit. :)
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: tomswift2002 on June 19, 2011, 12:59:14 PM
Quote from: hardygirl847 on June 19, 2011, 02:14:25 AM
Very interesting! I find it kind of silly that an editor would allow such a typo but this was many decades ago and I'm sure their processes for that were much different.

Well, if you ever get a chance to read the 1937 version of The Secret Warning, you'll see just how much editing the editors at the Syndicate had to do inorder to get Dr. Button's manuscript upto an acceptable level, but also needing to "marry" it into an already exisiting script from another, more professional author (possible Leslie McFarlane).

But then at the same time, it would appear that the editor or editors who worked on Dr. Button's script of The Disappearing Floor (1940) just didn't care.
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: SDLagent on June 20, 2011, 10:13:00 PM
It's kind of funny how many books Button got to write despite all the mistakes and weird writing in general.
Title: Re: Accidental symbolism
Post by: tomswift2002 on June 21, 2011, 02:53:17 PM
Quote from: SDLagent on June 20, 2011, 10:13:00 PM
It's kind of funny how many books Button got to write despite all the mistakes and weird writing in general.

Yeah, but apparently the Syndicate liked him so much at the time that Dr. Button was also hired to pen the last 4 published volumes of the X Bar X Boys series from 1939-1942.  (There was one more volume written, by Leslie McFarlane, called The X Bar X Boys With The Border Patrol, most likely set to be published in 1943 as the 22nd volume in the series, but the series was cancelled before the book could be published.) (http://home.pacbell.net/dbaumann/authors.htm)