Outdoor Girls Series - Titles and Printing Information

This is the text of an eBay guide that I created in 2006.  The guides are now orphaned pages that can only be found through an Internet search.  eBay plans to delete the guides in April 2018.

This eBay guide was viewed approximately 7,000 times.

The Outdoor Girls Series is a series of books published by Grosset and Dunlap from 1913 to 1933.  The books were written by Howard Garis (volumes 1-6) and by Elizabeth M. Duffield Ward (volumes 7-23) under the pseudonym of Laura Lee Hope.  Garis and Ward followed outlines provided by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and were paid a flat fee for each volume written.  

List of titles:

  1. The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale, 1913
  2. The Outdoor Girls at Rainbow Lake, 1913
  3. The Outdoor Girls in a Motor Car, 1913
  4. T he Outdoor Girls in a Winter Camp, 1913
  5. The Outdoor Girls in Florida, 1913
  6. The Outdoor Girls at Ocean View, 1915
  7. The Outdoor Girls on Pine Island, 1916
  8. The Outdoor Girls in Army Service, 1918
  9. The Outdoor Girls at the Hostess House, 1919
10. The Outdoor Girls at Bluff Point, 1920
11. The Outdoor Girls at Wild Rose Lodge, 1921
12. The Outdoor Girls in the Saddle, 1922
13. The Outdoor Girls Around the Campfire, 1923
14. The Outdoor Girls on Cape Cod, 1924
15. The Outdoor Girls at Foaming Falls, 1925
16. The Outdoor Girls Along the Coast, 1926
17. The Outdoor Girls at Spring Hill Farm, 1927
18. The Outdoor Girls at New Moon Ranch, 1928
19. The Outdoor Girls on a Hike, 1929
20. The Outdoor Girls on a Canoe Trip, 1930
21. The Outdoor Girls at Cedar Ridge, 1931
22. The Outdoor Girls in the Air, 1932
23. The Outdoor Girls in Desert Valley, 1933

Availability:

Volumes 1 through 18 and volume 23 were only published by Grosset and Dunlap, while volumes 19 through 22 were originally published by Grosset and Dunlap and were later reprinted by Whitman.  As with all discontinued series, the higher-numbered titles are more scarce and valuable than the lower-numbered titles.  Volume 23 is extremely scarce.  Volumes 19 through 22 are also scarce in the Grosset and Dunlap editions, but are readily available in the Whitman reprints.  This may have suppressed the value of the Grosset and Dunlap editions somewhat.

Except for volume 23, it is not too difficult to acquire reading copies of the books in this series.  However, most buyers desire the original dust jackets, and the original dust jackets are quite scarce.  It is very difficult to come even close to completing a set of Outdoor Girls books in dust jacket.

Printings:

As with all other series books published by Grosset and Dunlap, the copyright page is the last place to look in order to date a book.  All printings of each book have the identical copyright page.  For instance, all printings of The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale from 1913 through 1933 have the copyright page stating 1913 with no other dates or printings indicated.  One of the many ways that Grosset and Dunlap saved money was by never updating the copyright pages.

In order to determine the age of a book, find a list of titles present somewhere on the dust jacket or inside the book.  Do not use any list that may appear on the copyright page.  Since the copyright page was never updated, a list that appears on the copyright page will almost always be wrong.  The dust jackets will have a list of Outdoor Girls titles either on the front flap, the back flap, or the back panel.  The inside of the book will normally have a list of Outdoor Girls titles on one of the post-text pages in the back of the book.  Again, do not use a list that may appear on the copyright page.

Once a list has been found, make note of the last title on the list; this title will reveal the age of the book.  For instance, if the dust jacket or a post-text page lists to The Outdoor Girls at Pine Island, then the book was printed in 1916, which was the year of publication of The Outdoor Girls at Pine Island.  Or, if the dust jacket or a post-text page lists to The Outdoor Girls at Cedar Ridge, then the book was printed in 1931, the year of publication of The Outdoor Girls at Cedar Ridge.

What is mentioned above in terms of determining the age of a book only applies to the original Grosset and Dunlap editions.  Volumes 19 through 22 were reprinted by Whitman, and only these four titles are listed on the Whitman dust jackets.  Sellers sometimes advertise the Whitman reprints as early printings because of the short list of titles.  For instance, some sellers think that since a Whitman reprint of The Outdoor Girls in the Air lists to The Outdoor Girls in the Air that it is a first printing.  The Whitman reprints were done years after the Grosset and Dunlap editions went out of print.  As a result, none of the Whitman reprints can be considered either first or early printings.

Commentary:

The Outdoor Girls series is generally overlooked by most collectors of Nancy Drew, the Dana Girls, Judy Bolton, Beverly Gray, Trixie Belden, and other similar series books.  This is likely due to the series being a much earlier series and to the bland title of the series.  This series is well-written and full of interesting adventures.  I rank it as third on my list of favorites behind Nancy Drew and Beverly Gray.  The reason why is that the series appeals to my sense of adventure, just like Nancy Drew and Beverly Gray.

I have a section of my website devoted to the Outdoor Girls series, including scans of all of the dust jackets.