Closed Polls - eBay and Sleuth Friends

Two polls recently closed:


In this first poll, I asked whether people prefer sleuths who sleuth alone or with friends. 10% prefer sleuths who sleuth alone; 70% prefer sleuths who sleuth with friends; and 20% have no preference.


In the second poll, I asked how happy buyers and sellers are with eBay. The seller response was not surprising. Of the 44 people who responded to that part of the poll, 11% are happy, and 89% are unhappy.

The buyer part of the poll surprised me a bit. I have been an unhappy buyer for several years, but I thought that I was in the minority. While I am in the minority since more buyers are happy than unhappy, far more buyers are unhappy than I realized. I now know that I am not alone in how I feel. 61 people answered the buyer part of the poll. 59% are happy, and 41% are unhappy.

A Little about Patsy and Pudge

I have skimmed through the outline for Patsy and Pudge at the Circus, and it reminds me a lot of The Brownie Scouts in the Circus. I will have to re-read The Brownie Scouts in the Circus to verify the similarities. I also have several of the Brownie Scouts outlines, so it looks like I may have to re-read all of the Brownie Scouts books in order to fully appreciate these outlines.

It is very good that the outlines are for the Brownie Scouts series rather than Wirt's Dan Carter series. I do not particularly care for the Dan Carter series. In the Dan Carter series, the boys are continually forced to prove themselves innocent of wrongdoing and are overly concerned about doing the right thing. It was a bit repetitious for me, and I do not care ever to read the Dan Carter books again.

On the other hand, the Brownie Scouts series is surprisingly good for a series that centers around scouting activities and is aimed at young children. I tend not to like series that are aimed at young children, like the Bobbsey Twins series, so it is unusual that I like the Brownie Scouts series as much as I do.

A rough draft of a letter to the publisher is also included with the Patsy and Pudge summary. It was on the back of another page, and I was surprised to find it. The letter indicates to me that the Patsy and Pudge summary must be from the 1940s and must be from before the Brownie Scouts series was published. In the rough draft of the letter, Benson actually mentions that she writes (she stated "I write" - present tense) "the Nancy Drew stories." This is a gem. I will place excerpts of the letter in a future post. This is so exciting. Gosh I wish I could have purchased all of those documents...

The Indian Mound Mystery

One of the sets of original Mildred Wirt Benson documents that I purchased was the outline for a book called The Indian Mound Mystery. While I have not read every single one of Mildred Wirt Benson's published works, I feel like I can safely rule out the very few that I have not read. For the record, the only ones I have not read are Sky Racers, Carolina Castle, Courageous Wings, Linda, Connie Carl at Rainbow Ranch, and the Honey Bunch books.

Here are the characters, as described in the outline:

Rance and 'Rene Caldwell, children who are visiting their uncle,

John Spranger, a bachelor....a writer of historical novels.

Jean Romanes, an orphan who runs a quick lunch room. She is a direct descendant of Eugene Romanes.

Jack Hardley, Jean's cousin.

Robert Quittance, a lawyer, who has a fine collection of antiques. He is interested in adding to his collection by fair means or foul.

Judge Van Wenter, a kindly man who assists John Spranger in his research work.

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The Eagle or Jewel of the Cincinnati. ....The order was formed by the officers, French, Polish and American, who fought together during the Revolution. George Washington was its first president. The eldest son of a dead officer could step into his father's place in the organization.

I like the description of the Jean's cafe as a "quick lunch room."

I'm going to give a short rundown of the plot. The outline has no dialogue. This would have been fleshed out as the book was written. I have tried to rephrase everything so as to use only my own words, and I have left out some of the plot.

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The children's names are Ranceford and Irene Caldwell, and their nicknames are Rance and Rene. Their parents have gone away on a trip, and the two children must stay with their uncle, John Spranger, who is reluctant to take care of them. He is afraid they will distract him from his writing. Additionally, Uncle John's housekeeper, Truda Hausfenger, is displeased about the extra guests. Hmm...a housekeeper with a foreign-sounding name. It sounds like one of the famous ethnic stereotypes of old series fiction!

The children are asked to help remove some old wallpaper in Uncle John's house. As they finish the job, the children find a hidden door to a closet which contains an old chest. In the chest, the children find two diaries, one belonging to Robert Spranger. The diary contains a letter written by Eugene des Romanes.

The children visit the nearby Indian mounds. While there, Rance looks around while Rene reads the diary. She finds mention of some missing object and a partial clue to its whereabouts. The children return home to find that Uncle John is going on a trip to do research for a new book. The children go with him to an Ohio river town.

Soon after arriving in the town, the children meet Robert Quittance and Jean Romanes. From Jean, the children learn of a missing pay chest. Jean tells them that she has some papers in a trunk which may be of interest to their uncle. Jean is not able to get to the papers at the present moment.

The children meet Jack Hardley, Jean's cousin, and find him to be very unpleasant. Rene had brought the old diaries with her on the trip and left them in a briefcase. During the night, an intruder, who is later found to be Jack Hardley, tries to steal the diaries. He does not succeed.

Jean goes to retrieve her papers from the trunk and learns that some of them are missing. The Eagle of the Cincinnati, which is kind of like a locket, is on display at the library and Jean, Rene, and Rance go to look at it. They find a clue inside, and the words seem to fit with the words in the diary.

Rene learns that Judge Van Wenter had given Mr. Quittance a map of the Indian mounds. The judge draws a map from memory for Rene. Meanwhile, Jean learns that her cousin and Quittance are in collusion to find the pay chest. The two were seen driving in the direction of the Indian mounds.

The children arrive at the mounds in time to see Jack and Quittance discover the chest. They leave to get help, but the police will not believe them. Fortunately, Uncle John arrives in time to lend assistance. The chest is opened in court, and the judge determines that the money belongs to the government. Quittance is discredited in the eyes of the townspeople, and Jean returns east with Rene and Rance.

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The outline was good, and I feel like this story could have made a good book. The outline is five pages long in single-spaced type. In its present form, it makes for a good short story, though lacking in dialogue.

Revisiting Quarry Ghost Part 2

I have a carbon copy of a letter Mildred Benson wrote to her editor at Dodd Mead concerning the rewriting of Quarry Ghost. The letter is dated October 3, 1958.

I have the first chapter rewritten on GHOST and am awaiting the complete manuscript. It will be possible, I think, in the early chapters to make use of the old pages, or some of them, which will greatly reduce re-copying time. The second half of the manuscript will be the trying part.

The scientific material will give the story more substance and I believe, is an improvement on the tin soldier idea. Anyway, the story is starting out with promise--and hard work!

I wish we could see the original manuscript to get an idea of how the tin soldier idea would have played out. I find it interesting that Quarry Ghost was rewritten after the original manuscript was finished. This is from a letter written by Benson's editor, Dorothy M. Bryan, on October 28, 1958:

I hope that, now it is all over, you feel the change was a wise one. I would not want you to be unhappy about it. I do feel that it is better to try for a more permanent value and an underlieing [sic] substance, in addition to the entertainment aspect in our young books, particularly since over eight per cent of our sales are to institutions, such as libraries, state reading circles, school libraries, etc. I certainly do not want any author to feel "pushed around" by me, though!

It sounds like Dorothy Bryan was a nice editor.

This is from Bryan's letter to Benson from December 2, 1958:

Your manuscript for QUARRY GHOST has gone to the printer and now I can take time to congratulate you on your good rewriting. All the ends seem safely tied together. I checked on the long hair for the Ghost and the turkey egg for Cookie. Also, I straightened out any other minor inconsistencies. The only thing that I could not explain was how a group of boys could stay away from school on a weekday and huddle around the police while they were searching the quarry and not be questioned or even sent packing off to school for playing hookey!

The most important fact is that your story seems to have more substance now - your heroine more character. I think that the touch of the dinosaur egg will intrigue more readers. I know how much interest the fact that the young hero of another of our books wants to become an archaeologist has aroused, particularly in the libraries and schools.

[snip]

I think that you are going to be delighted with the jacket for your book. The artist works for the Ford Company and Coca Cola and he has made an intriguing watery scene with a flash of excitement.

The main reason I decided to read Quarry Ghost again is that I could not remember the exact details about the turkey egg or the long hair on the Ghost. As I suspected, the editor must have been checking up on whether dinosaur eggs are at all similar to turkey eggs in appearance.

Long hair is mentioned at one point in the book, but I do not know of more than one occurrence. It may be that an inconsistency was removed. For instance, it is possible that the hair could have been short in one scene and long in another.

I really enjoyed revisiting Quarry Ghost. This book is well worth purchasing, if you can find one. It was published in both hardcover and softcover editions. The softcover version, while quite scarce, is normally less expensive than the hardcover edition. The UK edition, Kristie at College, is also a relatively inexpensive way to acquire a copy.

Revisiting Quarry Ghost

Some of the Mildred Wirt Benson documents that I purchased concern Quarry Ghost, which was published in 1959 by Dodd, Mead & Company. It is one of the hardest to find of all of Mildred Wirt Benson's books. It is somewhat easier to find Quarry Ghost in the UK edition titled Kristie at College.

Quarry Ghost is my favorite book by Mildred Wirt Benson. It is also one of the last couple of books that she wrote, so the book is the product of Benson's decades of writing experience. It shows; the book is outstanding.

After looking at the Quarry Ghost documents, I was inspired to re-read Quarry Ghost. The book opens like this:

KRISTIE ROLLED a sheet of copy paper from the typewriter and, with a quick intake of breath, raised startled eyes to the shadowy doorway. Across the street from the deserted college journalism office, the chimes of Old Trinity carillonned the hour of seven.

Not the clear cadence of the striking chapel bells, but another sound had caught the girl's attention. Footfalls, soft and steady, whispered along the freshly-scrubbed hallway, padded closer and now hung suspended at the entranceway to the student newspaper workroom.

Aware that she sat alone in a slowly darkening room, Kristie snapped on the overhead, swinging electric bulb.

Framed in the doorway stood a tall man with angular features. His well-cut tweeds and gold-rimmed spectacles suggested that he might be a faculty member. Kristie, however, was quite certain she had never seen him on the campus.

The glare of the unshaded light accentuated a gray-fringed, bald head as the visitor politely removed his hat in approaching the desk.

"Good evening." His voice was low-pitched, friendly. "May I see your journalism school director, please?"

"Mr. Munn? Oh, I'm sorry, sir, he left an hour ago." Kristie smiled to cover her nervousness. The caller's easy manner had quieted her initial alarm. Nevertheless, she was fully conscious that she sat alone in a deserted office. It would be nearly an hour before the Daily Collegian night staff would straggle in to get out the early morning edition.

Long before that time, Kristie expected to be at the women's gymnasium swimming pool, preparing to compete in an important meet at 7:30 p.m. She had remained at the journalism office only to finish an assigned story on the student council election.

"You are in charge here?"

"Not exactly." Kristie squirmed impatiently, wishing the caller would state his business promptly. Any delay now might make her late for the swimming competition.

Notice how suspenseful the book is from the very first page. The narrative flows from paragraph to paragraph, chapter to chapter, and the reader hardly wants to put the book down. The entire book is as suspenseful as the first page.

The documents that I purchased give some insight into the creation of this excellent story.

Revisiting Quarry Ghost Part 2

Mildred Wirt Benson Document Auctions

A collector recently sold quite a few documents that were purchased from Mildred Wirt Benson in the 1990s. I found it quite interesting how high some of the auctions went while others closed at lower prices. Some of the documents that I personally thought were the most interesting and had the most valuable historic information closed for lower prices than some of the ones that I found less interesting historically. Apparently I think differently than the average eBay buyer. For this I am rather glad since I was able to purchase the documents that were most important to me. Some of the documents that went for the highest prices were ones that were not as important to me. I let others fight over them. I also knew that I did not wish to buy all of the documents since they were going to be very expensive.

Some of the documents that went for the highest prices were ones that had Mildred Wirt Benson's autograph. Other documents that were valued had to do with books that are more popular with collectors or are hard to find, like the last Penny Parker book and the Trailer Stories for Girls series. It's like the documents were viewed with the same sense of awe as the books that are so hard to find.

I'm going to run through some of the highlights.

Mildred Wirt Trailer series contract signed Item #270383078042

This document closed at $155.30.

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Mildred Wirt Laughing Mask Plot Summary Item #270383099881

This auction closed at $115.30.

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Plot summary for Penny Parker Cry at Midnight Item #270383025332

This auction closed at $114.30, and I think that the scarcity of the book is a factor into how high the summary closed for.

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Mildred Wirt Patsy & Pudge Plot Summary #1 Item #270383062835

This auction closed at $70.69. To me, this is more interesting than the plot summary for Cry at Midnight because Patsy and Pudge is a series that was never published. These papers contain a summary of a book by Mildred Wirt Benson that is much more scarce than Cry at Midnight because it does not exist in print. I feel that this lot should have closed for a much higher price because of what it contained. I bought this lot.

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Mildred Wirt - Lot of 3 Cupples & Leon letters Item #270383057493

This lot closed at $67.10. It was an absolute must-have for me, since it contains some important information about the Brownie Scouts series. Information is what I seek, so of course I bought this one, too.

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Mildred Wirt Pirate Cove Plot Summary Item #270383095408

This lot closed at $62.01. I am not sure whether the book is one that was published under another name or whether it is unpublished. I bought this one, too. I should be able to quickly figure out whether this is a published work as soon as I take the time to read the summary.

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Mildred Wirt Nancy Drew Quarry Ghost Letters signed Item #270383092194

Quarry Ghost is my favorite book by Mildred Wirt Benson, so I had to have this one, too. It closed at $51.01.

There were other documents as well, but this gives an idea of what was sold.

Interesting Old A. L. Burt Dust Jacket

A bookseller posted a photo of a very early plain A. L. Burt dust jacket on the eBay Booksellers board.

Old Dust-Jackets

Here is the photo:


The title of the book appears only on the spine and nowhere else. The entire front and back panels of the dust jacket contain the lists of titles that were printed on the reverse side of dust jackets in future years. According to the bookseller, the jacket is from 1908 to 1915.

These types of jackets were used for advertising purposes only. They were intended to be thrown away after the purchase of the book. It is amazing that it has lasted for around 100 years.

Another Problem Transaction

I find that many sellers on eBay describe their books inaccurately, package horribly, and generally mess up most stages of the transaction. I am to the point that I believe that a disproportionately large number of the sellers who remain are the bad sellers. Let's say that previous to all of the annoying changes that 10% of the eBay sellers were bad. I know that many good sellers have fled, so it is quite possible that 20% or more of the ones who remain are the bad sellers. Those seem to be the people who are immune to the DSRs. They can do whatever they want and keep plugging away.

Can you tell that I'm in a bad mood? I'm really sick of all of the problems I keep having with my eBay sellers. It really is a much higher percentage than it was a few years ago. I received a badly damaged box in the mail this past week.

First corner:

Second corner:

Third corner:

The last and only intact corner:

Top of box:

Bottom of box:


Notice that books were beginning to fall out of the box as I shifted it for the photos. The cardboard was so soft that it should have never been used for shipping 46 books. I opened the box to see this:


I guess that the stray cardboard was intended to strengthen the package, or maybe the cardboard was trash and the seller decided to use it to take up space in the package. I have had sellers use trash as packaging material. This seller is an eBay Power Seller, so he is one of eBay's finest, at least so eBay thinks.

One book was missing. I am surprised that only one book was missing. In addition to the poor packaging, some of the books had undisclosed previous water damage. The seller stated that the books "look as good they would in the local big box book store like Barnes & Noble, Borders etc." So, Barnes and Noble sells books that are water-damaged and have heavy wear? I did not know that.

The seller also placed stickers on all of the dust jackets so that he could "note which number of the Hardy Boy series the book was." #%$@*&! Sellers should never put stickers on old paper! I used lighter fluid to soften the adhesive and was able to remove most of the stickers without damage. Several dust jackets were not so lucky, though. Sometimes it is amazing that old books pass through the hands of some sellers without getting destroyed.

On this topic, I once saw a listing for Nancy Drew books in which the seller stated that he was going to throw away the jackets but decided to let the buyer make that decision. Please do! Just think...some books offered on eBay without their dust jackets may have had their dust jackets for all of these years until the seller decided that the books would look better without them when selling them. I'm sure it has happened.

All in all, my transaction turned out okay, even though I lost one book, some books had undisclosed water damage, and several jackets were slightly damaged by the stickers. It still is annoying, though.