Kay Tracey #5 The Six Fingered Glove Mystery

In Kay Tracey #5, The Six Fingered Glove Mystery, Betty Worth is hit by a car, and the only clue is a six-fingered glove left behind at the scene.  Later, Kay learns that an actress, Beatrice Ball, was a passenger in the car.  Miss Ball had been abducted by the driver of the vehicle, who is presumably the man with six fingers.

Kay and her friends plan to spend Thanksgiving in the country with Kay's Aunt Jane.  Kay invites Miss Ball and her fiance to join them.  While at Aunt Jane's Kay learns that the owner of the six-fingered glove might be nearby.  Kay also stumbles upon railroad thieves and an abandoned movie set.

The story appears not to have been revised at all for the later Garden City and Books, Inc. editions.  Comparing both editions on various random pages shows the exact same text.

Kay's friends are quite upset by the six-fingered glove.  They look at it with horror and find it repulsive.  Those were certainly different times.  What's the big deal about someone having six fingers? 

Speaking of which, the title of this book bothers me so much.  I wish the title had been The Six-Fingered Glove Mystery, with a hyphen.  Argh!

This story is quite convoluted and strange.  One scene made me cringe.  The girls have just discovered that a ring belonging to the man with six fingers has disappeared.  Meanwhile, Clarence Minton is proposing marriage to Beatrice Ball in the living room.  Betty rushes in and cries out, "The ring has been stolen!"  Miss Ball misunderstands and faints, ruining the proposal of marriage.  Ugh.

Despite the bizarreness of the story, the book is good, and I enjoyed it.

Girls of Canby Hall Series by Emily Chase 1984 to 1989

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 7,300 times.

The Girls of Canby Hall series by Emily Chase was published by Scholastic from 1984 through 1989.  The series was a rival of the Sweet Valley High series, but did not have the staying power of the Sweet Valley High series.

The series features a group of roommates at Canby Hall and has the usual mixture of friendship problems and romance of the teenage fiction genre.

List of Titles:

  1. Roommates, 1984
  2. Our Roommate is Missing, 1984
  3. You're No Friend of Mine, 1984
  4. Keeping Secrets, 1984
  5. Summer Blues, 1984
  6. Best Friends Forever, 1984
  7. Four Is a Crowd, 1984
  8. The Big Crush, 1984
  9. Boy Trouble, 1984   
10. Make Me a Star, 1985
11. With Friends Like That, 1985  
12. Who's the New Girl?, 1985  
13. Here Come the Boys, 1985   
14. What's a Girl To Do?, 1985
15. To Tell the Truth, 1985
16. Three of a Kind, 1985   
17. Graduation Day, 1986  
18. Making Friends, 1986    
19. One Boy Too Many, 1986    
20. Friends Times Three, 1987
21. Party Time!, 1987   
22. Troublemaker, 1987  
23. But She's So Cute, 1987  
24. Princess Who?, 1987
25. The Ghost of Canby Hall, 1987
26. Help Wanted!, 1988
27. The Roommate and the Cowboy, 1988    
28. Happy Birthday, Jane, 1988   
29. A Roommate Returns, 1988  
30. Surprise!, 1988  
31. Here Comes the Bridesmaid, 1988   
32. Who's Got a Crush on Andy?, 1989
33. Six Roommates and a Baby, 1989

Canby Hall Super Editions:

Something Old, Something New, 1986
The Almost Summer Carnival, 1987 

Campfire Girls Series Books: List of Titles and Authors

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 9,700 times.

The purpose of this guide is to list the many different vintage series books that feature a group of Campfire Girls as the main characters.  This list is likely not complete, but it should cover a majority of the different series that are available. 

Banner Campfire Girls by Julianne Devries

1. Campfire Girls as Detectives, 1933
2. Campfire Girls at Holly House, 1933
3. Campfire Girls Flying Around the Globe, 1933
4. Campfire Girls on Caliban Island, 1933
5. Campfire Girls as Federal Investigators, 1935
6. Campfire Girls at the White House, 1935

Campfire Girls by Irene Elliott Benson

1. Campfire Girls Mountaineering, 1918
    (also published as Campfire Girls in the Alleghany Mountains, 1918)
2. Campfire Girls' Rural Retreat, 1918
    (also published as Campfire Girls in the Country, 1918)
3. Campfire Girls Trip up the River, 1918
    (also published as How Ethel Hollister Became a Campfire Girl, 1912)
4. Campfire Girls Outing, 1918
    (also published as Ethel Hollister's Second Summer as a Campfire Girl, 1913)
5. Campfire Girls on a Hike, 1918
6. Campfire Girls at Twin Lakes, 1918
7. Campfire Girls in the Forest, 1918
8. Campfire Girls' Lake Camp, 1918

Camp Fire Girls Stories by Amy E. Blanchard

1. The Camp Fire Girls of Brightwood, 1915
2. Fagots and Flames, 1916
3. In Camp with the Muskoday Camp Fire Girls, 1917

Camp Fire Girls Series by Hildegarde Frey

  1. The Camp Fire Girls in the Maine Woods, 1916
  2. The Camp Fire Girls at School, 1916
  3. The Camp Fire Girls at Onoway House, 1916
  4. The Camp Fire Girls Go Motoring, 1916
  5. The Camp Fire Girls' Larks and Pranks, 1918
  6. The Camp Fire Girls on Ellen's Isle, 1918
  7. The Camp Fire Girls on the Open Road, 1918
  8. The Camp Fire Girls Do Their Bit, 1919
  9. The Camp Fire Girls Solve a Mystery, 1919
10. The Camp Fire Girls at Camp Keewaydin, 1920

Campfire Girls by Isabel Hornibrook

1. Girls of the Morning Glory Camp Fire, 1916
2. Campfire Girls and Mt. Greylock, 1917
3. Campfire Girls in War and Peace, 1919

Campfire Girls Series by Margaret Penrose

These books are retitled reprints of the Radio Girls Series.

1. The Campfire Girls of Roselawn, 1930
2. The Campfire Girls on the Program, 1930
3. The Campfire Girls on Station Island, 1930
4. The Campfire Girls at Forest Lodge, 1930

Campfire Girls by Harriet Rietz (#1-2) and Samuel Edward Lowe (#3-7)

1. The Campfire Girls and Aunt Madge, 1919
2. The Campfire Girls' Week End Party
3. The Campfire Girls' Success
4. The Campfire Girls in High School
5. The Campfire Girls' Duty Call
6. The Campfire Girls at Work, 1920
7. The Campfire Girls' Red Cross Work

Camp Fire Girls by Margaret Love

1. The Camp Fire Girls at Hillside, 1913
2. The Camp Fire Girls at Pine-Tree Camp, 1914
3. The Camp Fire Girls at Top O' World, 1916
4. The Camp Fire at Lookout Pass, 1917
5. The Camp Fire Girls at Driftwood, 1918
6. The Camp Fire Girls in Old Kentucky, 1919
7. The Camp Fire Girls on a Yacht, 1920
8. The Camp Fire Girls on Hurricane Island, 1921

Camp Fire Girls Series by Jane L. Stewart

1. The Camp Fire Girls in the Woods, 1914
    (also published as A Campfire Girl's First Council Fire)
2. The Camp Fire Girls on the Farm, 1914
    (also published as A Campfire Girl's Chum)
3. The Camp Fire Girls at Long Lake, 1914
    (also published as A Campfire Girl in Summer Camp)
4. The Camp Fire Girls in the Mountains, 1914
    (also published as A Campfire Girl's Adventure)
5. The Camp Fire Girls on the March, 1914
    (also published as A Campfire Girl's Test of Friendship)
6. The Camp Fire Girls at the Seashore, 1914
    (also published as A Campfire Girl's Happiness) 

Vintage Picture Books Featuring Cats and Kittens

I have always been attracted to books about cats and kittens, although I never actively collected them.  In early June 2016, I saw an eBay listing for White Princess by Elva Dittman.  The book was showing in one of my saved searches, which was for "Cupples and Leon."  Cupples and Leon published the book in 1945.  I thought the book was adorable, so I found a copy with a nicer dust jacket on AbeBooks and purchased it.

Remember that you can click on any photo to see a larger version.

I wanted to find more books like it, but I was at a loss as to how to proceed.  I tried some searches using "cat" and "kitten" but did not find anything.  Rather, I did not find anything that appealed to me; I did not want books with cartoonish pictures.  I forgot about trying to find more of these books for quite some time.

In late 2017, I decided to try again.  I found The Antique Cat by Bianca Bradbury.  It was published in 1945 and is about a scruffy alley cat who finds a home in an antique shop.

This next book is one that I purchased eight years ago in a thrift store.  One Kitten Too Many by Bianca Bradbury and Marie C. Nichols was published in 1952.

Cats and More Cats by Diana Thorne and Connie Moran was published in 1945.

I then stumbled upon the books of Clare Turlay Newberry.  Newberry specialized in drawing cats, and her books are currently available in reprints.  I decided that I wanted vintage copies with dust jackets, which is not an easy task.  Most old picture books lost their jackets soon after falling into the hands of young children.

In Drawing a Cat from 1940, Clare Turlay Newberry explains her technique.

Percy, Polly, and Pete was published in 1952.

Babette was published in 1937.

Mittens was published in 1936.

Smudge was published in 1948.

Ice Cream for Two was published in 1953.

April's Kittens was published in 1940.  I opted for an FLB library edition, which has an illustration that appeals to me more than the dust jacket art of the original edition.  I love library editions, so this book is perfect for me.

Pandora was published in 1944.  The second photo seen below shows one of my favorite passages from the book.  Cat owners are used to that kind of behavior.

The Kittens' ABC was published in 1946.

All of these books are delightful, and I love them.  

Kay Tracey Series - Titles and Collecting Formats

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 5,900 times.

The Kay Tracey series was published by the Cupples and Leon Company during the 1930s and 1940s.  From the 1950s through the early 1980s, the series was published by several different companies.  The series was written by four different authors who all shared the pseudonym of Frances K. Judd.  Most of the volumes, #3 through #12 as well as #14, were written by Mildred Wirt Benson.  #1 and #2 were written by Elizabeth M. Duffield Ward; #13 was written by Edna M. Stratemeyer Squier; and #15 through #18 were written by Anna Perot Rose Wright.

List of Titles in the Kay Tracey Series:

  1. The Secret of the Red Scarf, 1934
  2. The Strange Echo, 1934
  3. The Mystery of the Swaying Curtains, 1935
  4. The Shadow on the Door, 1935
  5. The Six-Fingered Glove Mystery, 1936
  6. The Green Cameo Mystery, 1936
  7. The Secret at the Windmill, 1937
  8. Beneath the Crimson Briar Bush, 1937
  9. The Message in the Sand Dunes, 1938
10. The Murmuring Portrait, 1938
11. When the Key Turned, 1939
12. In the Sunken Garden, 1939
13. The Forbidden Tower, 1940
14. The Sacred Feather, 1940
15. The Lone Footprint, 1941
16. The Double Disguise, 1941
17. The Mansion of Secrets, 1942
18. The Mysterious Neighbors, 1942

Formats:

The printing history and format changes for the Kay Tracey series are rather odd and a bit difficult to explain.  Here goes:

The books printed from 1934 until the early 1940s are thick yellow books with good quality paper and a glossy frontispiece illustration.  The dust jackets each had a question mark on the spine.  At least volumes 1 through 16 were printed in the thick format.  All 18 volumes were printed with the question mark dust jacket.  Later printings of the books with the question mark dust jackets are less thick and have poor quality paper.

During the mid-1940s, the dust jackets were changed to a solid color spine with a spine symbol in the middle of the spine, indicating some part of the mystery.  Each volume had the dust jacket printed in one of three colors:  yellow, blue, or red.  The dust jacket for each volume was printed only with the spine color designated for that volume, either yellow, blue, or red.  There seems to be no pattern for which color was selected for each volume; it appears to be random.  These books all have poor quality paper and plain frontispiece illustrations.  This style of dust jacket is more difficult to find than the question mark dust jackets.

After Cupples and Leon stopped printing the series, The Mystery of the Swaying Curtains, The Shadow on the Door, and The Forbidden Tower each went out of print permanently.

During the 1950s, 15 of the books (all except the three mentioned directly above) were reprinted by Garden City Books and Books, Inc.  Both sets have the same wraparound dust jackets.  The Garden City books were printed first and are shorter than the Books, Inc. books.

During the 1960s and 1970s, all 15 books were reprinted by Books, Inc. in a set of paperbacks and a set of picture covers that have the exact same cover art as the Garden City and Books, Inc. hardcover dust-jacketed sets.  This means that four different sets of Kay Tracey books have the same cover art.  The volume numbers were changed for these sets, so most of the volumes have different volume numbers than when printed by Cupples and Leon.

During the 1960s, 8 titles were reprinted by Berkley in paperback with new cover art and with the volumes in yet another different order.

The volumes printed in this set are Sacred Feather, Mansion of Secrets, Six Fingered Glove, Mysterious Neighbors, Green Cameo, Double Disguise, Strange Echo, and Sand Dunes.

During the late 1970s, a set of 6 books were reprinted with cover art that very closely resembles the Garden City and Books, Inc. cover art, but is actually new cover art redrawn to mimic the older cover art.

This set includes Mansion of Secrets, Six Fingered Glove, Double Disguise, Sunken Garden, Green Cameo, and Sand Dunes.

In 1980, a set of 6 paperbacks were printed by Bantam, also with new cover art.  

This set includes Double Disguise, Sunken Garden, Six Fingered Glove, Mansion of Secrets, Green Cameo, and Sand Dunes.  

Texts:

For the most part, the texts remained unchanged when reprinted by each publisher.  The only three books that actually have significantly revised texts are Red Scarf, Green Cameo, and Strange Echo.  The Garden City and Books, Inc. texts of these three books are around 75% different from the original Cupples and Leon texts.  The remaining 12 texts that were reprinted by other publishers are either identical or nearly identical to the Cupples and Leon texts.  The only changes are a few stray words or passages, or possibly a character's name.   

The Betty Gordon Series by Alice B. Emerson 1920-1932

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 4,700 times.

The Betty Gordon Series was published by Cupples and Leon from 1920 through 1932.  The series was written by several different people under the pseudonym of Alice B. Emerson, a pseudonym that was also used for the Ruth Fielding series.

List of Titles

  1. Betty Gordon at Bramble Farm, 1920
  2. Betty Gordon in Washington, 1920
  3. Betty Gordon in the Land of Oil, 1920
  4. Betty Gordon at Boarding School, 1921
  5. Betty Gordon at Mountain Camp, 1922
  6. Betty Gordon at Ocean Park, 1923
  7. Betty Gordon and Her School Chums, 1924
  8. Betty Gordon at Rainbow Ranch, 1925
  9. Betty Gordon in Mexican Wilds, 1926
10. Betty Gordon and the Lost Pearls, 1927
11. Betty Gordon on the Campus, 1928
12. Betty Gordon and the Hale Twins, 1929
13. Betty Gordon at Mystery Farm, 1930
14. Betty Gordon on No-Trail Island, 1931
15. Betty Gordon and the Mystery Girl, 1932 

Peggy Lane Theater Stories series by Virginia Hughes

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 4,000 times.

The Peggy Lane Theater Stories series was published by Grosset and Dunlap from 1962 through 1965.  The series was written by several authors under the pseudonym of Virginia Hughes.  There are eight titles in the series, all of which were printed in picture cover with the picture printed directly on the cover of the book.  The spine and back cover of each book is bright pink; however, some books have a slightly lighter pink color.  

All eight books are harder to find than more popular offerings by Grosset and Dunlap.  The first four titles are the easiest to find and seem to be about equally common.  Volumes 5 through 8 are more difficult to acquire, with volumes 7 and 8 the most scarce.

Prices are usually quite low for the earlier volumes in the series.  The final two volumes are worth quite a bit more, but low demand still keeps the price much lower than scarce titles in other series.  Keep in mind that prices are always changing, but volumes 7 and 8 should be worth a minimum of $25-35.  Volumes 7 and 8 have sometimes sold for higher prices when several buyers are interested at the same time.

List of Titles

  1. Peggy Finds the Theater, 1962
  2. Peggy Plays Off-Broadway, 1962
  3. Peggy Goes Straw Hat, 1963
  4. Peggy on the Road, 1963
  5. Peggy Goes Hollywood, 1964
  6. Peggy's London Debut, 1964
  7. Peggy Plays Paris, 1965
  8. Peggy's Roman Holiday, 1965

Summary

The series centers around Peggy Lane, who is a teenage girl attempting to break into the world of theater in New York City.  Peggy faces several difficulties, but ultimately succeeds.  In true series book style, Peggy's struggles are less than what an actress might expect in the real world and Peggy's success comes sooner than one would expect.  

While the books primarily focus on Peggy's acting career, each book includes either a conflict between characters or a minor mystery.  The books have just a hint of romance since Peggy has several admirers.  This series is an excellent series, in particular the first few books which are extremely well-written and richly descriptive.

This information is a variation of what I have on my series book website.  My website does include more information that what is presented here.

Kay Tracey #4 The Shadow on the Door

In Kay Tracey #4, The Shadow on the Door, Kay investigates Peter Stannovi, whom she suspects is defrauding wealthy Mrs. Van Hutton.  Stannovi is also engaged to Mrs. Van Hutton's secretary, Ellen Tremont, and Kay wishes to keep Ellen from getting hurt.  Kay and Wilma enter a magazine contest, and Ellen's sister helps judge the entries.  Kay and her friends also keep seeing strange shadows in various locations, and these shadows could hold the key to the mystery.

The shadow part of the mystery is quite lame and bizarre, and I suspect that this is why the book was one of the three Kay Tracey books that went out of print after Cupples and Leon quit publishing the series.

Kay gives a great summary of this mystery on page 7.  "Lovely American girl working as secretary to a wealthy woman, who makes speeches about the conditions of the poor.  Said woman also gives talks about child welfare, but neglects the little boy entrusted to her care.  Moreover, she has some kind of secret dealing with a foreigner whom she pretends not to know, and yet who is engaged to her own secretary!  There's a mystery, if there ever was one!"

Kay finds a checkbook with large amounts drawn to charities that seem fake.  Kay discovers that Mrs. Van Hutton is the owner, which is quite a coincidence and gives Kay a clue to the mystery.  After Kay finds the checkbook, I suddenly realized that this story is similar to the Nancy Drew book, Nancy's Mysterious Letter.  That story also involves a man taking donations under false pretenses, and a woman must be saved from marrying him.  This story also contains a football scene, and so does Nancy's Mysterious Letter.

Kay has never been interested in acting.  When the lead actress for a play is injured, Kay is immediately able to step in and do such a good job that she is asked to take on the role permanently.  Wow.  This is very similar to Nancy Drew in The Clue of the Dancing Puppet.  Kay has a lot in common with the revised text Nancy.

Mr. Hammond calls the police to tell them about the case.  When the police arrive, Mr. Hammond has Kay explain her suspicions to the police.  The police are very impressed.  This is more shades of Nancy Drew.

Kay also has Nancy Drew's ability to avoid serious injury.  Kay is swinging on a trapeze when it fails, so Kay hurls herself through the air to a mat, where she tucks herself into a roll.  Kay is uninjured.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  The shadow part is odd and unnecessary, but otherwise, the book is excellent.