| The Rover Boys | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Tom Rover |
|
First Appearance |
The Rover Boys At School Or, The Cadets of Putnam Hall (1899) |
|
Original Publisher |
Stratemeyer Syndicate |
|
Created By |
Arthur M Winfield (Edward Stratemeyer). |
Origin[]
The Rover Boys, or The Rover Boys Series for Young Americans, was a popular juvenile series written by Arthur M. Winfield, a pseudonym for Edward Stratemeyer. Thirty titles were published between 1899 and 1926 and the books remained in print for years afterward.
The original Rover Boys were brothers Tom, Sam, and Dick Rover, the sons of wealthy widower Anderson Rover, who entrusted his brother and sister-in-law, Randolph and Martha, with the rearing of the boys. As the series progressed the brothers became smitten with Dora Stanhope and Nellie and Grace Laning, the daughter and nieces of a wealthy widow.
The Rover boys' children (Fred, son of Sam Rover; Jack, son of Dick; Andy and Randy, twin sons of Tom) became the main characters of the "second series" that began with Volume 21, The Rover Boys at Colby Hall, published in 1917. The elder Rovers continued making appearances in the second series.
Additionally, there was a related Putnam Hall series of six books that featured other characters from the first Rovers series, although the Rovers themselves do not appear.
The Rovers were students at a military boarding school: adventurous, prank-playing, flirtatious, and often unchaperoned adolescents who were frequently causing mischief for authorities, as well as for criminals. The series often incorporated modern technology of the era, such as the automobile, airplanes (The Rover Boys in the Air) and news events, such as World War I.
The earliest volumes focused on the boys' travel adventures, but later stories were filled with mystery and suspense.
Public Domain Appearances[]
Tom, Sam, and Dick Rover in The Rover Boys in Peril (1948).
All published appearances and works of the Rover Boys from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- The Rover Boys At School (1899)
- The Rover Boys On the Ocean (1899)
- The Rover Boys in the Jungle (1899)
- The Rover Boys Out West (1900)
- The Rover Boys On the Great Lakes (1901)
- The Rover Boys in The Mountains (1902)
- The Rover Boys On Land and Sea (1903)
- The Rover Boys in Camp (1904)
- The Rover Boys On the River (1905)
- The Rover Boys On the Plains (1906)
- The Rover Boys in Southern Waters (1907)
- The Rover Boys On the Farm (1908)
- The Rover Boys On Treasure Isle (1909)
- The Rover Boys At College (1910)
- The Rover Boys Down East (1911)
- The Rover Boys in the Air (1912)
- The Rover Boys in New York (1913)
- The Rover Boys In Alaska (1914)
- The Rover Boys In Business (1915)
- The Rover Boys On a Tour (1916)
- The Rover Boys At Colby Hall (1917)
- The Rover Boys On Snowshoe Island (1918)
- The Rover Boys Under Canvas (1919)
- The Rover Boys On a Hunt (1920)
- The Rover Boys in the Land of Luck (1921)
- The Rover Boys At Big Horn Ranch (1922)
- The Rover Boys At Big Bear Lake (1923)
- The Rover Boys Shipwrecked (1924)
- The Rover Boys On Sunset Trail (1925)
- The Rover Boys Winning a Fortune (1926)
Public Domain Animated Appearances[]
- The Rover Boys in Peril (1948)
Notes[]
- Because The Rover Boys in Peril was made exclusively for the Air Force, a sector of the US government, it is automatically public domain.
- The Rover Boys were parodied in a 1942 Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies cartoon as The Dover Boys, subtitled "The Rivals of Roquefort Hall" (as opposed to Colby, both terms being cheeses). The cartoon was directed by Chuck Jones.