Monday, May 14, 2018

Vicki Barr Series - Titles and Collecting 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.

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The Vicki Barr Flight Stewardess Series, also known as the Vicki Barr Air Stewardess Series, was published by Grosset and Dunlap from 1947 through 1964.  The books were written by Helen Wells and Julie Campbell Tatham.  Julie Campbell Tatham was the author of the first six Trixie Belden books.  Wells and Tatham were also both authors of the Cherry Ames Nurse Stories.  

Volume 16, The Brass Idol Mystery, is credited to Helen Wells, but it is now believed that The Brass Idol Mystery was written by Walter B. Gibson, the creator and writer of "The Shadow."

Titles in the Vicki Barr Series:

  1. Silver Wings for Vicki, 1947
  2. Vicki Finds the Answer, 1947
  3. The Hidden Valley Mystery, 1948
  4. The Secret of Magnolia Manor, 1949
  5. The Clue of the Broken Blossom, 1950
  6. Behind the White Veil, 1951
  7. The Mystery at Hartwood House, 1952
  8. Peril Over the Airport, 1953
  9. The Mystery of the Vanishing Lady, 1954
10. The Search for the Missing Twin, 1954
11. The Ghost at the Waterfall, 1956
12. The Clue of the Gold Coin, 1958
13. The Silver Ring Mystery, 1960
14. The Clue of the Carved Ruby, 1961
15. The Mystery of Flight 908, 1962
16. The Brass Idol Mystery, 1964

Formats:

The earliest titles in the series were printed with solid blue boards.  Later, the series was printed in the blue tweed boards of the 1950s.  Volumes 1 through 15 were printed in dust jacket.  Volume 16 was only printed in picture cover.  Volume 16 is considerably difficult to acquire, as is volume 15 in dust jacket.

First printings:

The copyright page is not useful when trying to determine the age of a Vicki Barr book.  Grosset and Dunlap very rarely made changes to the copyright page, so all printings of Silver Wings for Vicki will have the identical copyright page with the only year listed as 1947.

The two easiest places to look in order to determine the age of a Vicki Barr book are on the dust jacket’s front flap, if the book still has its dust jacket, and on an interior list of titles.  The last title present in the list of Vicki Barr titles will tell you what the age of the book is.  For instance, if the dust jacket's front flap lists to Peril Over the Airport, then the book was printed in 1953, which is the year of publication for Peril Over the Airport .  Or, if the dust jacket's front flap lists to The Clue of the Carved Ruby, then the book was printed in 1961, which is the year of publication for The Clue of the Carved Ruby.  When the book is missing its dust jacket, refer to the interior list of titles, if present.  For the picture cover books, refer to the list that is present on the back cover.   

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