Radio Boys


Radio Boys was the title of three series of juvenile fiction books published by rival companies in the United States in the 1920s:

  • Grosset & Dunlap - authored by "Allen Chapman", a Stratemeyer Syndicate pseudonym - 13 titles. The best known, and biggest seller of the three series.
  • A. L. Burt Company - authored by Gerald Breckenridge - 10 titles. Unlike the other books in the series, which were published under pseudonyms, there appears to have really been a Gerald Breckenridge, a former journalist. Some of his papers were donated to Auburn University.[1] According to radio listings that were published in the New York Times and other newspapers, Breckenridge was a guest on radio station Newark's WJZ three times during October 1922, reading selections from his latest "Radio Boys" book
  • M. A. Donohue & Co. - various authors - 6 titles

There was also a related Radio Girls series, another Stratemeyer Syndicate product, published by Cupples & Leon and authored by "Margaret Penrose".

All of these series were launched seemingly simultaneously in 1922 and the earliest books in each series were by far the biggest sellers, often incorporating details on how to build a crystal set (a simple radio receiver). Later installments tended toward routine action adventure.

References
  1. Jason Kneip, Paul Meier and Jimmy Kanz,"Guide to the Papers of Gerald Breckenridge", Auburn University at Montgomery Library Archives and Special Collections, Dec.11/2005.
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