Nancy Drew Flying Saucer DJ and Adventure Girls Boxed Set

 ***This is my 1000th post.  Woo-hoo!***

I purchased this Adventure Girls Saalfield boxed set recently.  Normally, I have no use for Saalfield books because they have pulp paper.  I always make an exception when they come in a nice vintage Saalfield box.

This is my fourth Saalfield boxed set.  All four boxes are different in either color or design.

I also upgraded my copy of Nancy Drew #58, The Flying Saucer Mystery, in the Wanderer hardcover edition with dust jacket.  My old book is at the top, and my new book is at the bottom.

Neither book is a library discard.  My old book is the first printing, but the back panel of the jacket has damage.  My new book is the third printing and is in better condition.  While I would rather have a first printing, I also want to have an extremely nice copy.  I had decided previously that condition is more important than the printing, so I will keep my new third printing book.

Linda Carlton's Perilous Summer with Dust Jacket

This spring, I was able to purchase a complete set of the A. L. Burt editions of the Linda Carlton series.  All of the Burt editions are very hard to find, but most especially Linda Carlton's Perilous Summer and Linda Carlton's Hollywood Flight.  I now have the complete set of Linda Carlton A. L. Burt editions.

People selling series books like to refer to less common books as "rare," or more often, "RARE," as though all capital letters make it more so.  They do this all the time for Nancy Drew books that are somewhat less common printings.  None of those books are remotely close to rare.  Linda Carlton's Perilous Summer in the A. L. Burt dust jacket is rare.   

Another Linda Carlton Boxed Set

In late 2008, I wrote about a Linda Carlton boxed set that was put out by Saalfield. I now have another Saalfield boxed set of Linda Carlton books.


The bottom of the box has the code 1390. I am providing this information since I know of someone who is researching the Saalfield boxed sets. This set contains the shorter Saalfield books. These intact boxed sets are rather uncommon nowadays, since most of the boxes have been discarded in the last 60 to 70 years.

I don't know that much about the Saalfield company, except that I have observed that all of the sets consist of three books. I presume that this is the reason why only the first three of the five Linda Carlton books were reprinted by Saalfield.

Linda Carlton's Hollywood Flight

Linda is watching a newsreel in the theater with her friends when she is electrified by the announcement that the famous aviatrix, Linda Carlton, has signed on with a film company to appear in a Hollywood film. Linda's friends believe the story, and it is with great difficulty that Linda convinces both her Aunt Emily and Dot Crowley that the Linda Carlton in the newsreel is an impostor.

Linda and Dot leave quickly in the Ladybug for Hollywood. During their journey, the girls are forced to land on an office building because of a storm. As luck would have it, the office building houses a newspaper, and their photos are taken. Quick-thinking Dot gives the reporter false names, since Linda hates publicity.

The emergency landing of "Sallie Slocum" and "May Manton" appears in newspapers across the country, so when Linda arrives at the film studio, the secretary thinks that Linda is Sallie Slocum, an impostor! Linda finds it impossible to prove that she is the real Linda Carlton and faces arrest as the impostor!

This summary covers just the first 60 pages of the book. This final Linda Carlton book is action-packed, just like the other books in the series. Linda and Dot are even chloroformed! I couldn't help thinking of Nancy Drew.

I anticipated reading the Linda Carlton series for several years. I usually have a pretty good idea of whether a series will be below average, average, or above average. I expected the Billie Bradley series to be no more than average, and I was correct. I expected the Linda Carlton series to be above average, and I was not disappointed.

In all five books, Linda goes from one thrilling adventure to another. If I were to pick just one series to which to compare Linda Carlton, I would have to select the Beverly Gray series. Linda is in multiple plane crashes, stranded on a desert island, and arrested more than once for crimes she did not correct. Linda ends up in Cuba and in Hawaii at different times, just like Beverly Gray. Linda has multiple admirers who vie for her attention.

I read this series in approximately one week, because I had to know what would happen next. I found all five books to be excellent, and I liked volumes 3 and 5 the best, since they have the wildest adventures. Edith Lavell wrote three series: the Girls Scouts series, the Mary Louise Gay series, and the Linda Carlton series. I greatly enjoyed all three series, but I like the Linda Carlton books the best. It is a shame that the series is so brutally hard to collect.

Linda Carlton's Perilous Summer

While reading this book I finally figured out in which state Linda lives. Perhaps it was mentioned in the first book, and I somehow missed it; but I don't think so. Linda and her Aunt Emily live in Spring City, Ohio. Each summer, they vacation at Green Falls, Michigan, which is on Lake Michigan.

It is rather helpful to know where Linda lives.

This book is like the typical mystery story in the spirit of Nancy Drew. Linda and her friend, Dot Crowley, fly in Linda's autogiro over Lake Michigan to Wisconsin. While there, they see a hit and run accident. A young girl is struck by a man in a car and is flung into a ditch. Linda and Dot take the girl to a hospital. Since the girl has no memory of whom she is, Linda and Dot take her back to Green Falls.

Like in the typical series book plot, the young girl is an heiress and an unscrupulous relative is attempting to steal her inheritance. Will he succeed, or will Linda manage to outsmart him?

Just like in Linda Carlton's Island Adventure, Linda has a suitor who doggedly pursues her. At first, Linda enjoys his attention, but later, she decides that he is not her type. Linda picks up potential suitors as easily as Connie Blair. Each book has a new one to add to the list.

The book has a ghost, a couple of plane crashes, and a burning building. It should come as no surprise that Linda and her friends are trapped inside the burning building. Can they possibly make it out alive?

Linda Carlton's Island Adventure

This book reads like a Beverly Gray mystery. If you love the Beverly Gray books like I do, then you will love this book. I have speculated about which series might have inspired Clair Blank to write the Beverly Gray series, and the Linda Carlton series has to be added to the list of possibilities.

In fact, since Clair Blank submitted her first four books to the A. L. Burt Company, then surely she was familiar with the books published by Burt. Therefore, it is extremely likely that Blank had read some books published by Burt, such as the Linda Carlton books.

In this book, Linda has become famous after her exploits from Linda Carlton's Ocean Flight. Linda finds that fame is a great annoyance and even goes by Ann Carlton during this book in hope of keeping people away from her.

Linda purchases an autogiro and takes a job in Georgia. Soon after Linda reaches Georgia, she is intercepted by bandits who take her captive. The bandits target Linda because of her fame. They knew that she was headed to Georgia because of the newspapers. Linda is held captive on an island in the middle of a desolate swamp. The bandits force Linda to use her autogiro to help them smuggle jewels out the country.

Linda has quite a few wild adventures in this book, such as swimming through the alligator-infested swamp, getting marooned on an island in the ocean, and more! Linda's adventures in this book are very much like Beverly Gray's outrageous adventures. I love it!

The book even has some melodrama, like a young man's mother snubbing Linda so she snubs her son in return. The son falls in love with Linda at first site, so he proceeds to show up in unexpected places as Linda continues to snub him.

I also should mention that people get killed in the Linda Carlton books. Not our beloved Linda—so far, at least—but other people meet terrible ends. Of course I seriously doubt that anything happens to Linda since she is the star of the Linda Carlton series.

Now, I'm going to find out if those reprints of volumes 4 and 5 were worth it.

Linda Carlton's Ocean Flight

It was a pleasure to begin reading this book, since I actually have a Burt edition with good quality paper. While I greatly enjoyed the first book, I disliked having to read a Saalfield edition that has poor quality paper which has an odor. Unfortunately, with the third book, I will return to a Saalfield edition with poor quality paper. Yuck.

In this book, Linda has decided that she wishes not only to become an airplane mechanic but to become a commercial pilot. Linda is subjected to jokes about her name, that she must have been named after Charles Lindbergh, aka "Lindy."

Both Linda and her best friend, Louise, sign up for a flight school in St. Louis. Before they depart Kitty Clavering organizes a flight club, and one of the members is Bess Hulbert, an aviatrix. Bess Hulbert takes an immediate disliking to both Linda and Louise.

The girls learn that a wealthy woman is offering a $25,000 reward for the first woman or women to fly from New York to Paris without a man. Both Linda and Bess decide to try for the prize. Bess decides to resort to an underhanded scheme in order to prevent Linda from being able to attempt the flight. Linda finds herself in a very messy situation as a result.

Books with jealous rivals are always fun, and this book definitely delivers. Without getting into the specifics, I can tell you that so far Edith Lavell has had the villains in this series get punished quite well. Ouch. I wonder what the next three volumes have in store?

I have enjoyed the first two volumes in this series tremendously. Onward to volume three!

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I have now added the Linda Carlton section to my website.

Linda Carlton, Air Pilot

Linda Carlton, Air Pilot is the first book in the Linda Carlton series. I am going to give a good bit of information to set up the series, and the information is from around the first half of the book.

Linda Carlton is nearly 18 years old and graduates from high school shortly after the story begins. Linda's father is a wanderer who, out of grief, took off after her mother's death, leaving Linda with her Aunt Emily. Linda only gets to see her father around once or twice per year. Perhaps to make up for his absence, Mr. Carlton lavishes presents on Linda.

Mr. Carlton gives Linda an airplane for her high school graduation present. Linda names the plane The Pursuit. Linda's greatest dream is to become a pilot like Amelia Earhart. Aunt Emily reluctantly agrees that Linda can have lessons, even though Aunt Emily is terrified of flying.

At the airfield, Linda hopes that Ted Mackay will be her instructor. She has already met him and likes him a lot. Unfortunately, Mr. Carlton knows Ted's father, who caused trouble at Mr. Carlton's ranch in Texas. Mr. Carlton forbids Linda from associating with Ted, much to Linda's disappointment.

Ralph Clavering is the son of a wealthy man and likes Linda, much to Aunt Emily's delight. Aunt Emily wants Linda to be a debutante and hopes that Linda will marry a wealthy young man. Linda likes Ralph no more than any of the other young men. Linda is not interested in getting married in the near future since she wants to become a pilot.

Ralph decides to take flying lessons with Linda, mainly so that he can be around her. After Ralph and Linda obtain their licenses, they fly Linda's airplane to Green Falls, where Aunt Emily and Linda's friends are vacationing. During the trip, a valuable necklace that Ralph is taking to his sister is stolen. Ted Mackay is blamed for the theft. Later, Linda and her friend, Louise, take a trip in Linda's plane in hopes of proving Ted's innocence.

The plot is kind of complicated and unusual, and I left out some of the details. For instance, Mr. Carlton does not know that Linda wants to become a pilot when he gives her the plane. He just randomly thinks that a plane is the perfect gift for his teenage daughter. Also, the method in which the necklace is stolen is quite unusual. I would like to mention some other odd events, but they are a bit too spoilerish. Suffice it to say that some of the events are rather strange for a juvenile series book, and during one scene, I was quite taken aback.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next book. So far, this series is proving to be very entertaining.

The Linda Carlton Series

The Linda Carlton series was written by Edith Lavell and is frustratingly difficult to find. The series consists of five books, all published by A. L. Burt.

1. Linda Carlton, Air Pilot
2. Linda Carlton's Ocean Flight
3. Linda Carlton's Island Adventure
4. Linda Carlton's Perilous Summer
5. Linda Carlton's Hollywood Flight

The first three titles were reprinted by Saalfield and are not that difficult to find in the Saalfield editions. Unfortunately, the Saalfield books have pulp paper that has deeply yellowed, and so are not very pleasant to read. It is very difficult to find the first three titles in the A. L. Burt editions with good quality paper. The final two volumes are nearly impossible to find in the A. L. Burt editions, and since the final two volumes were not reprinted by Saalfield, most people will never be able to read them.

What this amounts to is that most people will only be able to own the first three books and with poor quality paper. In fact, most people probably have no idea that the series consists of five books. The Saalfield reprints only mention the first three books.

Around five years ago, I was shocked to learn of these two "missing" Linda Carlton books. They are like phantom titles since very few people have ever seen them. A phantom title is one that is mentioned, usually at the end of the last book in a series as the next book, but was never printed because the series ended. In this case, these books actually were printed, but now nobody can find them.

Here is the one that I have:

Jim Towey reprinted volumes 4 and 5 earlier this year in a limited print run of 25 copies each. I was very disappointed in the lack of interest that resulted in only one print run. I had hoped that more people would be interested so that he would order a second printing. I feel that 25 copies is too few and that many people will soon regret not supporting this particular reprint effort.

I have greatly enjoyed Lavell's Girl Scouts and Mary Louise Gay series. Based on my high opinions of those two series, I strongly feel that the Linda Carlton series is a must-read. I cannot imagine reading the first three books and then not being able to finish the series. How awful!

I believe that the reason for the lack of interest in the reprint effort is because nobody *ahem* has yet reviewed the Linda Carlton series. If perhaps a detailed Linda Carlton page had already existed prior to the reprints, then I think there would have been more interest.

How can the Linda Carlton series not be excellent, seeing as how good Lavell's other two series are? This is one series that I have anticipated for several years and have patiently waited until I had all five titles before beginning to read any of them. Thanks to Jim Towey, I now have all five titles. I have partially read through volume one, and I am finding it to be as excellent as I expected.

If you missed out on the reprints and have decided that you wish you had been able to buy one of them, please leave a comment on this post.

The Linda Carlton Reprints

Those who regularly read this blog know that I do not use the word "rare" lightly. The two highly elusive Linda Carlton books, Linda Carlton's Perilous Summer and Linda Carlton's Hollywood Flight are rare. Do a search on Google and just see how many copies are up for sale. There are none. Beverly Gray at the World's Fair is considered a rare book, yet it is readily available in the original edition, although at rather high prices.

World's Fair is considered rare but is available. The two Linda Carlton books are not available anywhere on the internet at any price. Which would you consider more rare?

The two rare Linda Carlton books, Linda Carlton's Perilous Summer and Linda Carlton's Hollywood Flight, have been reprinted in a limited run of 25 copies apiece, thanks to Jim Towey. I received my books today. The books are hardcover editions with dust jackets.


I have waited for years to read the Linda Carlton books. I will finally do so this year since I now have the complete set. I will continue to seek the final book that I need in the original edition, but at least now I have a reprint.

Jim said that the first print run of 25 copies is going fast. He is trying to decide whether to have additional copies printed. Therefore, if you are interested, you need to let him know. I think that many of the people who will want these books will miss out on the books while they are still available. A lot of collectors rely on eBay and never visit the different collecting groups and websites, so they are unaware of projects such as this one.

With Jim's permission, I am closing this post with his advertisement so that interested parties can inquire about these or other reprints.

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THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES…..

Providing help to Series Collectors

Jim Towey, 249 Hartland Rd , W.Granby , CT. 860-653-7447, toweyj@cox.net

Over 50 Quality Hardcover reprints with DJs done – Many Sold Out

Over 2000 Recreated Djs done- All major Boy’s and Girl’s series, $7 each

Over 1000 used series books in stock

Ken Holt Homepage—members.cox.net/kenholt

Ebay Store—jim.towey –The Adventure Continues

NEW Titles (Now Available)- priority postage included, Limited Quantities

Linda Carlton Series (Rare Titles)

* Linda Carlton’s Perilous Summer , $40

* Linda Carlton ’s Hollywood Flight, $40

WHITE RIBBON BOYS OF CHESTER (Rare) $40

Wireless Patrol Series by Lewis Theiss

* Wireless Patrol- Hidden Aerial- reprint, $30

* Wireless Operator with U.S. Coast Guard -reprint ,$30

* Wireless Operator with the Oyster Fleet -reprint ,$35

Currently Available Reprints: ( with DJ)--- Postage included

* EPSTEIN’S- Roger Baxter Series, Stranger at Inlet, Baldhead Mountain

- Tim Penny Series, Jacknife & Change for a Penny--$25 each

* DIZER- Tom Swift and Company ( no DJ) --$35

* LONE RANGER SERIES, Red Butte Trail, Trouble on Santa Fe ,$40

* CHAPMAN- Ralph and the Train Wreckers--$30

- Radio Boys to the Rescue-- $30

* LEO EDWARDS- Poppy Ott- Hidden Dwarf & Monkey’s Paw--$35each

Please call/email to verify availability/reserve copies, please do not send money until reservation confirmed as this 1^st reprinting limited to 25 copies. Paypal/check/MO accepted.

Payment by Check or MO payable to:

Jim Towey
249 Hartland Rd.
W. Granby, CT 06090
860-653-7447

The Linda Carlton Boxed Set

I recently purchased a boxed set of the first three Linda Carlton books by Edith Lavell.


The boxed set was put out by Saalfield. I have had a similar boxed set of the Adventure Girls series for quite a long time. Notice that the spines of the books in this set match the design of the boxed set. Since the Saalfield boxed sets contain only three volumes, this must be the reason why volumes four and five from the Linda Carlton series were never reprinted, thus making them nearly impossible to find.

Below is a scan of the back panel of one of the Linda Carlton dust jackets.


Notice that each series listed on the back panel has three titles. Since I also have an Adventure Girls boxed set, I strongly suspect that each of these series was released by Saalfiend in a boxed set. It is quite unusual to have a boxed set survive 60 to 70 years, so they do not come up for sale very often.

I recently saw another Saalfield boxed set on eBay in which three unrelated titles were packaged together. Here is the seller's picture:


The three books are Bobs - A Girl Detective, The Valdmere Mystery, and The Sandalwood Boxes.