Turning the Pages of American Girlhood: The Evolution of Girls' Series Fiction, 1865-1930

265 Pages·2013·1.732 MB·English

by  Emily Hamilton-Honey

Turning the Pages
of American Girlhood
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Turning the Pages
of American Girlhood
The Evolution of Girls’
Series Fiction, 1865–1930
E H -H
MILY AMILTON ONEY
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Hamilton-Honey, Emily.
Turning the pages of American girlhood : the evolution of
girls’ series fiction, 1865–1930 / Emily Hamilton-Honey.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7864-6322-0
softcover : acid free paper
1. Children’s stories, American—History and criticism.
2. Girls in literature. 3. Girls—Books and reading—
United States—History—19th century. 4. Girls—
Books and reading—United States—History—20th
century. 5. Children’s literature in series—History
and criticism. 6. Serialized fiction—United States—
History and criticism. 7. American fiction—19th
century—History and criticism. 8. American
fiction—20th century—History and criticism. I. Title.
PS374.C454H36 2013
813'.5099282—dc23 2012049419
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
© 2013 Emily Hamilton-Honey. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, i ncluding photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
On the cover: Girls from 1800s with book
(iStockphoto/Thinkstock)
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
For Nick.
I never would have made it
this far without you.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
ONE. Learning to Be an Angel: Religion and Reading for
Nineteenth-Century American Girls 25
TWO. Angels in the House: Christian Womanhood and
Community Power in Postbellum Girls’ Series 54
THREE. A Revolution in Series Production: Edward Stratemeyer
and the Commodification of Series Books 84
FOUR. Communities of Friends: Series Heroines as Consumers,
1901–1930 104
FIVE. Two Miles Forward, One Mile Back: Gender Battles
During the Great War 135
SIX. Running the Gamut and the Gauntlet: World War I
Series Fiction as a Catalyst for Change in the
Cultural Landscape of American Girlhood 169
SEVEN. Taking Advantage of New Markets: Ruth Fielding as a
Motion Picture Screenwriter, Producer, and Executive 201
Conclusion: Nancy Drew and a New Era 223
Appendix: Series Books in Order of Publication 233
Bibliography 237
Index 251
vii
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Acknowledgments
Deborah Carlin, Joyce Berkman, Laura Lovett, and Randall Knoper, of
the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, deserve more thanks than I can
ever express in such a small space. They believed in this project from the
beginning, they let me run with it and reshape it several times over, they
reined me in when necessary, and most importantly, they made me a better
and more careful writer and scholar. They willingly helped me negotiate the
difficult balance of rigorous literary analysis and historical proof that is often
required of American Studies researchers; they also allowed me to find creative
ways of documenting and dealing with this mostly-uncharted territory of
nineteenth-century series. Thank you all for being such a supportive and
enthusiastic dissertation committee.
I am grateful to Northern Illinois University for providing me with a
Horatio Alger, Jr. Fellowship to travel to their collection. Their monetary
support allowed me to spend a wonderful week examining original Alcott,
Finley, and Champney volumes, as well as the William Thayer advice manual
that came in handy at a crucial moment. The NIU curator, Lynne Thomas,
has been a wonderful source of support and information as well as a lovely
new friend.
Thanks must also be given to the librarians of the Manuscripts and
Archives Division at the New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman
Building. They were incredibly helpful both before and during my week-long
stay in New York, and helped me navigate the mountains of material from
the Stratemeyer Syndicate with a great deal of patience and many smiles.
James Keeline has been unfailingly kind and generous with both his own
work and his critiques during the writing of this project. His research on
Edward Stratemeyer (much of it unpublished) has been absolutely invaluable,
and he took the time to point out many small errors and clarify many details
about Stratemeyer’s methods and the operations of the Syndicate.
ix