Wikipedia on Nancy Drew
"Character evolution
Original Nancy, 1930 to 1940
In 1930, when the series began, Nancy is depicted as an independent-minded sixteen-year-old. The daughter of affluent River Heights, Illinois lawyer Carson Drew, she has already graduated from high school and therefore is afforded a lot of spare time and freedom. Although she maintains an active social and volunteer schedule, she is never shown as working for a living, attending finishing school or college or otherwise planning for adult life. River Heights is a fictional town.
Nancy's mother died when Nancy was ten years old; this age is changed to three in later stories. As the only woman in the Drew household, Nancy is in charge of household affairs in the family's three-story brick house, including giving orders to the housekeeper, Hannah Gruen.
Many friends frequent the Drew household. The first of these friends, Helen Corning, appears in the first four volumes, but is never a sleuthing companion. Nancy is often joined in her sleuthing activities by her close friends George (only short for Georgia in the modern paperbacks) Fayne and Elizabeth ("Bess") Marvin, cousins who have opposite personalities and appearance. George, tall and slim, with short black hair, makes a point of being a tomboy, while Bess, slightly plump with luxurious locks (later blonde) is the most traditionally feminine character of the threesome. Helen returns briefly in the original volumes 8 and 10 (which were not written by Benson). In these volumes, her personality is more like George Fayne's. Helen disappears when Benson resumes ghostwriting with volume 11, but returns from Europe (a favorite vacation spot in series books) for one final appearance in volume 20, to serve as a plot device. Boyfriend Ned Nickerson is introduced in volume seven, and appears in nearly every story, despite the fact that he is a student at Emerson University in the next town.
Physically, Nancy was a blonde, later strawberry-blonde or Titian (almost red), blue-eyed and bold, and becomes involved in mysteries without always being a welcome presence. She occasionally carries a gun (early volumes only), and actually uses it against dangerous animals at Shadow Ranch, drives in her blue roadster at high speeds on gravel roads, breaks and enters, trespasses, sneaks about, opens locked doors, lockers, chests, drawers, (etc.) and is rather high-handed with adults, including law enforcement, from time to time. She is more courageous than her friends, and undaunted by the money or time spent in investigating a clue. Hannah voices her worries about Nancy's behaviour, but is clearly the Drews' employee in these early tales.
Nancy is unhindered by the Great Depression or World War II; she is never depicted as having the financial troubles of those she helps by solving mysteries. Ned is so enamoured by Nancy, he frequently allows her to wear the pants in the relationship; she often changes their plans to involve sleuthing.
Her early style is in the vein of a sophisticated flapper with immaculately curled hair, wearing pearls, high heels, and elegant dresses. This is largely the work of commercial artist Russell H. Tandy, the first illustrator for the series. He painted the dust jackets and drew the inside sketches for volumes 1-10 and 12-26. He also drew the inside sketches for volume #11, The Clue of the Broken Locket, but not the cover.
Teen-age Nancy
Nancy begins to evolve to a less reckless, and also less obviously affluent, character around volume 18 ("The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion") in the 1940s. Her fashion style becomes a bit more casual, and she no longer pursues angles that greatly endanger herself or her friends. Her car changes makes and models a few times, finally becoming a convertible in the post-World War II era. She is shown as pursuing hobbies more, particularly art and music. Her age also gradually changes to eighteen.
Many of Nancy's mysteries in this era involve her application of knowledge gained from avid reading, or from consultation with teachers, professors, or other experts, and this is passed on to the readers, a trend which grows and continues to the end of the series. Nancy thus shows greater respect for authority figures, such as her father, the local police, and others willing to help with her investigations.
Although still illustrated as very glamourous during the war years, this style gives way to a more casual, normal teen appearance by the end of the decade, partially due to a switch in illustrators. Book covers began to replace the flapper style favored on early jackets with a conservative, more classic appearance. Sweater and skirt ensembles, as well as a pageboy hairstyle, were introduced by artist Bill Gillies, who updated 10 covers and ilustrated three new jackets from 1950 to 1952. Gillies invented the modern-era trademark as a spine symbol: Nancy in side profile with a quizzing glass. Benson wrote her last volume for the series, "The Clue of the Velvet Mask," in 1953.
Revisionist Nancy
(...)
Other characters are developed as well. George Fayne develops into a more personable, but still masculine girl, while Bess becomes obsessed with boys and food. George and Bess are given their own respective boyfriends early in the 1950s, Burt Eddleton and Dave Evans, both chums of Ned Nickerson.
Nancy's boyfriend in this period is usually Ned Nickerson, who often lends his support and help. Hannah Gruen, in the revisions, becomes a motherly figure to Nancy since age three, who at times restricts her rash actions. Aunt Eloise Drew, a smart New Yorker, is frequently either chaperon or hostess to Nancy's New York adventures.
When the original stories began to be updated in 1959, Helen Corning became an older friend of Nancy's, and is bolder than the original Helen, serving as actual sleuthing sidekick in the first four volumes. The stage is also set to explain her departure from regular involvement with Nancy -- Helen becomes engaged; and in her last appearance before she is married, she is planning her wedding while she helps Nancy sleuth. She and her husband Jim Archer appear in some later volumes, and revised versions of several stories as well.
Rudy Nappi, artist from 1953 to 1979, illustrates a more average teenager, but still in very preppy, conservative clothing. Nancy's hair changes to strawberry-blonde or titian by the end of the decade. In 1962, all Grosset and Dunlap books become "picture covers," to reduce costs. Several of the 1940s illustrations were updated by Rudy Nappi, but contained the old story. The books themselves were gradually updated, in some cases only sharing a title with the original, with completely new plots and settings. For example, the original Lilac Inn really is only a setting for a crime. In the 1961 revision, it is the setting for almost all of the story. Settings in the series involve travel to several different regions in the United States, and also international destinations, including France, Peru, Scotland, Hong Kong and Africa."
Original Nancy, 1930 to 1940
In 1930, when the series began, Nancy is depicted as an independent-minded sixteen-year-old. The daughter of affluent River Heights, Illinois lawyer Carson Drew, she has already graduated from high school and therefore is afforded a lot of spare time and freedom. Although she maintains an active social and volunteer schedule, she is never shown as working for a living, attending finishing school or college or otherwise planning for adult life. River Heights is a fictional town.
Nancy's mother died when Nancy was ten years old; this age is changed to three in later stories. As the only woman in the Drew household, Nancy is in charge of household affairs in the family's three-story brick house, including giving orders to the housekeeper, Hannah Gruen.
Many friends frequent the Drew household. The first of these friends, Helen Corning, appears in the first four volumes, but is never a sleuthing companion. Nancy is often joined in her sleuthing activities by her close friends George (only short for Georgia in the modern paperbacks) Fayne and Elizabeth ("Bess") Marvin, cousins who have opposite personalities and appearance. George, tall and slim, with short black hair, makes a point of being a tomboy, while Bess, slightly plump with luxurious locks (later blonde) is the most traditionally feminine character of the threesome. Helen returns briefly in the original volumes 8 and 10 (which were not written by Benson). In these volumes, her personality is more like George Fayne's. Helen disappears when Benson resumes ghostwriting with volume 11, but returns from Europe (a favorite vacation spot in series books) for one final appearance in volume 20, to serve as a plot device. Boyfriend Ned Nickerson is introduced in volume seven, and appears in nearly every story, despite the fact that he is a student at Emerson University in the next town.
Physically, Nancy was a blonde, later strawberry-blonde or Titian (almost red), blue-eyed and bold, and becomes involved in mysteries without always being a welcome presence. She occasionally carries a gun (early volumes only), and actually uses it against dangerous animals at Shadow Ranch, drives in her blue roadster at high speeds on gravel roads, breaks and enters, trespasses, sneaks about, opens locked doors, lockers, chests, drawers, (etc.) and is rather high-handed with adults, including law enforcement, from time to time. She is more courageous than her friends, and undaunted by the money or time spent in investigating a clue. Hannah voices her worries about Nancy's behaviour, but is clearly the Drews' employee in these early tales.
Nancy is unhindered by the Great Depression or World War II; she is never depicted as having the financial troubles of those she helps by solving mysteries. Ned is so enamoured by Nancy, he frequently allows her to wear the pants in the relationship; she often changes their plans to involve sleuthing.
Her early style is in the vein of a sophisticated flapper with immaculately curled hair, wearing pearls, high heels, and elegant dresses. This is largely the work of commercial artist Russell H. Tandy, the first illustrator for the series. He painted the dust jackets and drew the inside sketches for volumes 1-10 and 12-26. He also drew the inside sketches for volume #11, The Clue of the Broken Locket, but not the cover.
Teen-age Nancy
Nancy begins to evolve to a less reckless, and also less obviously affluent, character around volume 18 ("The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Mansion") in the 1940s. Her fashion style becomes a bit more casual, and she no longer pursues angles that greatly endanger herself or her friends. Her car changes makes and models a few times, finally becoming a convertible in the post-World War II era. She is shown as pursuing hobbies more, particularly art and music. Her age also gradually changes to eighteen.
Many of Nancy's mysteries in this era involve her application of knowledge gained from avid reading, or from consultation with teachers, professors, or other experts, and this is passed on to the readers, a trend which grows and continues to the end of the series. Nancy thus shows greater respect for authority figures, such as her father, the local police, and others willing to help with her investigations.
Although still illustrated as very glamourous during the war years, this style gives way to a more casual, normal teen appearance by the end of the decade, partially due to a switch in illustrators. Book covers began to replace the flapper style favored on early jackets with a conservative, more classic appearance. Sweater and skirt ensembles, as well as a pageboy hairstyle, were introduced by artist Bill Gillies, who updated 10 covers and ilustrated three new jackets from 1950 to 1952. Gillies invented the modern-era trademark as a spine symbol: Nancy in side profile with a quizzing glass. Benson wrote her last volume for the series, "The Clue of the Velvet Mask," in 1953.
Revisionist Nancy
(...)
Other characters are developed as well. George Fayne develops into a more personable, but still masculine girl, while Bess becomes obsessed with boys and food. George and Bess are given their own respective boyfriends early in the 1950s, Burt Eddleton and Dave Evans, both chums of Ned Nickerson.
Nancy's boyfriend in this period is usually Ned Nickerson, who often lends his support and help. Hannah Gruen, in the revisions, becomes a motherly figure to Nancy since age three, who at times restricts her rash actions. Aunt Eloise Drew, a smart New Yorker, is frequently either chaperon or hostess to Nancy's New York adventures.
When the original stories began to be updated in 1959, Helen Corning became an older friend of Nancy's, and is bolder than the original Helen, serving as actual sleuthing sidekick in the first four volumes. The stage is also set to explain her departure from regular involvement with Nancy -- Helen becomes engaged; and in her last appearance before she is married, she is planning her wedding while she helps Nancy sleuth. She and her husband Jim Archer appear in some later volumes, and revised versions of several stories as well.
Rudy Nappi, artist from 1953 to 1979, illustrates a more average teenager, but still in very preppy, conservative clothing. Nancy's hair changes to strawberry-blonde or titian by the end of the decade. In 1962, all Grosset and Dunlap books become "picture covers," to reduce costs. Several of the 1940s illustrations were updated by Rudy Nappi, but contained the old story. The books themselves were gradually updated, in some cases only sharing a title with the original, with completely new plots and settings. For example, the original Lilac Inn really is only a setting for a crime. In the 1961 revision, it is the setting for almost all of the story. Settings in the series involve travel to several different regions in the United States, and also international destinations, including France, Peru, Scotland, Hong Kong and Africa."
posted by Miss Pesch @ 9:43 AM
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