YMMV / Stratemeyer Syndicate

• Anvilicious:
  • Nancy Drew was feminism delivered with all the subtlety of a Mardi Gras float. Nancy has constantly been under scrutiny for her general perfectness. However, when the series began in 1930, feminism was still only just picking up steam. The books went a long way to in helping create the idea of women being smart, tough, resourceful, and capable.
  • The Hardy Boys had a strong anti-authority message initially (easily summed up in the idea that the brothers never listened when the police told them to back off and leave the detective work to them.) This was deliberate on the part of primary ghostwriter Leslie McFarlane, who wanted to try to encourage independent thought in children, saying that cops and politicians can be just as crooked as anybody. Considering all the cases of political corruption and police brutality that have been reported on, it's not an entirely horrible belief to hold.
• No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: Edward Stratemeyer thought so when he got involved in a minor dust up between the Syndicate and Moral Guardians who felt like his books were little more than literary junk food which would turn kids off reading "better" books (this has since been proven not true.) When asked if he was upset the Newark Public Library refused to stock his books, he said he was fine with it; if kids couldn't rent the books from a library, they were more likely to buy them from stores, and his sales in Newark more than tripled.
• Older Than the Demographic: Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys are not only older than the elementary school kids who loved to read their stories, but they even had platonic lovers simply to appear more grown up to their readers.
• Values Dissonance: While the books evolved to fit with changing values, they also heavily show the values of their time as well. Such as the many racist portrayals of characters in the old Hardy Boys books.

---