Mildred A. Wirt's Trailer Stories for Girls #4 - The Phantom Trailer

At last we come to the final chapter in the lives of Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie Gibson.  From their first adventure with The Runaway Caravan, to their adventures in The Crimson Cruiser, to their search for the Timbered Treasure, these children have certainly covered a lot of ground and experienced a lot of mystery and danger within those first three books in Mildred A. Wirt (Benson)'s "Trailer Stories for Girls."  It's definitely been a LONG summer for these kids, and it ain't over yet!  In this fourth and final book of the series, Wirt certainly goes out with a bang, as I think this story has to be the best of all of them.

The title of this last book, The Phantom Trailer, tells the reader exactly what this mystery is about - a phantom trailer!  Wirt opens this final tale with the children taking yet another trip out west (unsupervised!), but with one detour - "[t]hey were deviating somewhat from a direct route in order to pass through Michigan where they planned to call upon an old friend, George Tolland, president of the Tolland Trailer Company" (p. 3).  Hearkening back to the first book, in which the children solve a mystery involving secret plans for a new type of braking mechanism for trailer homes that provided aid to Mr. Tolland, such that he exchanged their old trailer for a sleek, new crimson cruiser.  Now, it seems he has asked them to visit, as he has "an interesting matter" to discuss with them (p. 4).

Wirt provides readers with a bit of a build-up before we find out exactly what the mystery is in this book.  First, Mr. Tolland, knowing the Gibsons are headed to Yellowstone Park, offers the children an opportunity to sell trailers for his company along the way, providing them a commission for every sale they make.  They are hesitant at first, but Barbara unwittingly sells one of the company's most expensive trailer homes before they can even leave the show room to a stranger who seems in an unusual hurry to purchaser a trailer (NOTE - obviously this man is going to play into the mystery somehow).  Then, Mr. Tolland informs the children that his sister lives out west at Vermilion Cliffs, which he says "is not far from the park" (p. 38) - and he asks them if he can join them on their trip, as there is a mystery awaiting them all at his sister's home - a mystery involving a phantom trailer!

SIDEBAR - the Vermilion Cliffs are, indeed, real, and they are located in northern Arizona, near the Utah border.  What is NOT real is how close these landmarks are to one another.  In the book, Mr. Tolland says the cliffs are "not far" from the park; in the real world, the Cliffs are in Arizona and Yellowstone is in Wyoming, making them two states apart, an approximately 11 hour drive from one to the other!  I would certainly not call that "not far" by any means!

Back to the story - Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie agree to have Mr. Tolland join them, as he plans to take his own trailer home, with his Chinaman servant, Lee Sing, driving.  The only problem is, Lee Sing is an absolute horrible driver, and that causes multiple issues along the way!  Lee Sing is more or less comic relief for this book, and Wirt portrays him in a very demeaning way throughout the story (again, this book is a product of its time, having been published in 1938, so stereotypes such as this were much more common at the time - check out one of Wirt's "Mystery Stories for Girls" - Through the Moon-Gate Door - to see further examples of her treatment of Chinese men and women).   Before they get too far on their trip, though, they discover the trailer home Barbara sold to the stranger abandoned, crashed in a ditch.  Mr. Tolland regains ownership of the trailer and uses it for the trip.

It takes Wirt more than 100 pages before the Gibsons finally reach the Vermilion Cliffs and meet Mr. Tolland's sister, Penelope "Penny" Tolland.  (And I must stop and make note of the fact that Wirt clearly had an affinity with the name Penelope "Penny" - she uses it here, she used it for her four-book Penny Nichols series, as well as for her seventeen-book Penny Parker series - I'm surprised she did not name her daughter Penelope!)  Before they meet Penny, however, they meet her nephew, Louis Bayne, who is not the friendliest of people, and the Gibsons discern right away that he's not necessarily looking out for his aunt's best interests (more like, he's after her money and property!).  And speaking of that aunt/nephew relationship - how does that work?  Penny Tolland is referred to as "Miss Tolland," meaning she's not married.  She and Mr. Tolland are brother and sister, but Louis Bayne is not Mr. Tolland's son.  So how is she Louis Bayne's aunt?  Louis even mentions that Miss Tolland's only relatives are he "and a cousin who lives in New York" (p. 105).  So, that begs the question - just who are Louis Bayne's parents?

Regardless of that familial mystery, let's get back to the real mystery - that "phantom" trailer that Penny Tolland has seen driving along the cliff - appearing out of nowhere and just as oddly disappearing a few moments later.  No one else has ever seen it, and Louis is convinced his aunt is losing her faculties and is in need of a guardian to handle her affairs.  He even forces her to see a doctor that she is unwilling to see, as she feels fully capable of handling her own affairs.  The Gibsons do not know what to think until one night they see the phantom trailer for themselves!  They don't believe in ghosts, so they realize pretty quickly that some sort of scam is being pulled - the question is, how?  And when Mr. Tolland's new black trailer is found at the bottom of a cliff, the worst is imagined - but if he were dead, then where are his and Lee Sing's bodies?

So many questions and so few answers!  Once again, it is up to the sleuthing skills of Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie to solve the mystery and reveal the truth behind the phantom trailer (and just how that ties into the stranger who purchased and then wrecked that black trailer at the beginning of the book).  The solution is not really all that surprising (it's pretty easy to figure out) - what is surprising is that the local police are so inept that they could not put two and two together to figure out what was really going on.  I guess Louis and his cohort in crime would have gotten away with everything if it hadn't been for those meddling kids!  (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Despite the simplicity of this mystery, I did find this one to be the most enjoyable to read.  Mr. Tolland's kidnapping, Jimmie's ingenious way of calling for help, and the whole phantom trailer scheme were all actually pretty well-written scenes that kept the book fresh and engaging.  I give Wirt credit for coming up with some creative new plot elements for her stories.

One last comment - on pages 176-77, one of the characters makes reference to her brother having had a watch stolen at "a very well known place called the Yellow Lantern, located in San Francisco..."  Well, being curious, I looked up whether such a restaurant existed.  While not in San Francisco, there was a Yellow Lantern restaurant in the 1930s located in Rye, New York.  Interestingly enough, the restaurant was owned by a black man, Robert Griffins, but served only white customers (Yellow Lantern Restaurant).  Makes one wonder if Wirt was familiar with the restaurant, if she had ever heard of it, or if it was simply a name she created with the real restaurant being only a coincidence.

The final pages make no reference to whether the Gibson children had any more adventures after this; instead, it simply ends with Barbara and Ginger exclaiming that they could finally go to Yellowstone Park, having earned the right to see the park on their own (p. 206).  And with that, so concludes the adventures of Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie Gibson and their crimson cruiser travel trailer.  I guess we will never know if Wirt had any more ideas for future stories that never got to see the light of day.  

RATING:  10 black cases of brushes with floor waxing machines out of 10 for ending this series with a unique mystery that was a satisfying read (even if the reader wanted the series to continue!).

***Special thanks to Jennifer White for the use of her scan of the dust jacket cover for this book.

Mildred A. Wirt's Trailer Stories for Girls #3 - TImbered Treasure

The third book in Mildred Wirt (Benson)'s "Trailer Stories for Girls" finds the Gibson children on their own yet again, traveling in their Crimson Cruiser.  A sixteen-year old, a fifteen-year old, and a thirteen-year old traveling across the country in a car with a trailer home attached seems a bit far-fetched in the real world; however, in the fictional world of children's mystery series, it actually makes for some really great stories.  (Although, let's face reality, perhaps readers of the late 1930s found it a bit far-fetched as well, since the series was not popular enough to last beyond just four books.)  For me, though, the stories in each book seem to outshine those in the prior books of this series.  With each book, Wirt gets stronger with her storytelling technique, the plots are more intriguing, and the characterization of the Gibson children is more firmly instilled.  It's a real shame the series did not catch on, as I would have loved to have seen what other ideas Wirt might have come up with for Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie (and also whether the characters would have eventually aged - or, even gone to school for that matter!).

Timbered Treasure takes the children up the Eastern coast of the United States into the New England territories, as Barbara and Ginger are taking young Jimmie to a boys' camp for the summer.  I must say, this must be an awfully long summer for the kids - in the first book, they were not in school and took off to escape a tyrannical aunt who threatened to separate them - they were gone for weeks!  In the second book, they were vacationing with their uncle, who left them on their own in Great Falls where they spent weeks trying to solve the mysteries out there.  Now, here they are making a long trek up the East Coast to take Jimmie to a camp in Maine, where the girls will explore for the weeks that Jimmie is in camp.  In my world, a summer would only last about three months (June, July, and August) - yet the Gibson children seem to have an endless summer with which to travel the countryside in their trailer home!

Nevertheless, as in the previous book, the children meet up with a new mystery in the very first chapter.  While parked in a trailer camp along the route to Maine, the children meet a young man and his sister (Earl King and Virginia "Virgie" King) who are also at the camp.  Right next door to the camp is a loud amusement park, and so Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie decide to check it out; however, before they can even get in, Barbara witnesses a hold-up at the ticket counter!  Before you know it, Earl King is being accused of the crime, but Barbara is fairly certain he was not the man she witnessed, so she quickly comes to his defense.   One would think he would be grateful, but instead, he and his sister take off, Virgie leaving the Gibsons a note thanking them for helping her brother.  The note indicates the brother and sister are heading to New Jersey, but the Gibsons suspect otherwise.

Resuming their journey to summer camp for Jimmie, the Gibsons next encounter a truck driver who runs them off the road!  When they demand he pay for the damage to their trailer, he flat out refuses.  There is something threatening about the man, so the children walk away, grumbling the whole while.  Jimmie eventually reaches camp, and the girls locate a nice place to stay along Long Lake - a quiet property owned by a lumberman, J.M. Steele, which property is cared for a man known as Dan Idol.  Dan is a quirky type, but he helps Barbara and Ginger get their trailer set up next to the lake.  Well, wouldn't you know, but just across the lake from them happens to be the King trailer!  (Yes, yes, what would a children's mystery be without the oh-so-convenient coincidences!)  Barbara and Ginger are both curious why the Kings lied to them about their destination, but they avoid confronting them- they have other mysteries with which to be concerned!  It seems the local area has had some forest fires of late, and the local ranger - "a tall, handsome young man in the uniform of a forest ranger" whose name is "Kentucky Renolds" (p. 72) - warns them to be careful while in the area and to notify him of any fires they may see.  That is most definitely an unusual name - I don't believe I have ever seen anyone actually named Kentucky, even though that is my home state, where I was born and bred (up until I was 17, anyway, and my family moved to Florida).  Along with the mysterious forest fires, there is also the problem of trees disappearing from Steele's rather large expanse of property.  Even though Dan Idol is supposed to be on guard, somehow, trees and lumber seem to disappear (of course, it's Barbara and Ginger who pick up on the fact that the fires always seek to occur at the same time as the trees and lumber are stolen, connecting the two mysteries).

But don't think they have forgotten the Kings.  That mystery deepens as well, when they witness Earl and his sister in the lake, as if they are searching for something.  During a sudden storm, the girls are able to rescue Virginia, whose boat overturns in the lake - but not even that will make the Kings trust them with whatever it is they are doing there. 

Wirt does an interesting job with these mysteries - even though the fires and the stolen lumber are connected, the mystery involving the Kings is wholly unrelated - yet, it is an out of control fire that results in Jimmie having to leave camp and return to stay with the girls on Mr. Steele's property that leads to the Gibsons uncovering the truth about what the Kings are searching for - and, as anyone can surmise, they step in to help Earl and Virgie find the treasure they are seeking to make all of their dreams come true.  Wirt certainly has readers guessing in this one - is Dan Idol good or bad?  Is he helping the lumber thieves?  What are the Kings searching for?  Was Barbara mistaken about Earl, and is he actually a thief?  Nothing is crystal clear in this one (other than the fact that the man who ran the Gibsons off the road is involved in the whole lumber theft), which makes for a well-crafted mystery.

As indicated above, the young ages of these children does not seem to hinder them in any way.  Kentucky Renolds and the other rangers have no problem allowing the children to assist them with watching the wooded area for fires, and even engage their help when the raging fire gets out of control.  It seems no one considers the danger they are putting these minors in, but, it does make for some suspenseful reading, and in the end, I guess that's all that really matters.  If the youngsters were always being set on the sidelines, it would be boring to read.

Wirt definitely outdoes the previous books with this one - more danger, more excitement, and more mystery.  And while the Gibsons are still traveling around in their crimson cruiser, the stories have focused less on the daily life of a travel trailer and more on the mysteries to be solved.  I said it before, and I'll say it again - it's a shame Cupples & Leon did not commission more of this series, as the tales are extremely good reading!

RATING:  10 sunken log rafts out of 10 for increasing the danger quotient in this book and for giving the two sisters a chance to really shine without their brother in this one!

Mildred A. Wirt's Trailer Stories for Girls #2 - The Crimson Cruiser

While normally, when reading a series, I will not read and do reviews for all the books in a series consecutively like this - but since this is only a four-book series, I thought it might be interesting to read them one after another and provide reviews of how they hold up against each other.  The first book in this series set the stage - introducing readers to Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie and giving readers a taste of what life in the road in a travel trailer a/k/a caravan is like.  It took a while before the mystery really got started.  Now, with this second book, readers are already familiar with the characters and setting, so author Mildred A. Wirt (Benson) starts off the mystery right in the very first chapter!

The Crimson Cruiser finds the Gibson children enjoying a trip in their new trailer home, this time with their Uncle Nathan (who apparently has recovered fully from his injuries in the automobile accident in the previous books).  As the story begins, Barbara and Ginger are discussing the poor girl who is staying in a tent next to their trailer at a unidentified camp (interesting how Wirt manages to avoid giving any location to the camp - the sisters later inform the girl that they are headed out West to Arizona, but don't mention where they are at that time).  It turns out the girl is not only down to her last fifty cents, but she is a week being in her lot payment and the money she was expecting to receive from an aunt is not forthcoming.  When the girl faints, the Gibsons and their uncle realize they need to help the young girl out (hoping that she is nothing like they last girl they offered to help from the previous book, who turned out to be a wannabe thief!).

Linda Allen shares her story with the Gibsons - she previously lived with an uncle in Pennsylvania after her mother died and her father disappeared, but he passed away, so she decided to head West to Great Falls (no state named, although there is a Great Falls in Montana), where her father was last seen.  She tells the traveling family that her father had a mine in Great Falls, but she heard from his business partner, Blake Bartland, that the mine was dry now.  She shows the Gibsons the only thing she has from her father - an old Indian charm in the shape of "curious bright-colored bit of metal cut in the shape of a fantastic bird with huge black and yellow wings, red tails and bill" (p. 15).  Uncle Nathan volunteers to drive the young girl to Great Falls on their way to Arizona, and thus begins the mystery!

Wirt provides a bit stronger mystery in this story, as there are several aspects to it.  First, there's the question of Linda Allen's father.  What really happened to him?  Did his just disappear, or is he really dead as to the locals presume?  And what significance does the strange Indian trinket Linda wears on a necklace around her neck have?  Why does the trinket seem to affect a local Indian guide so strangely?  Then there's Blake Bartland - while Linda seems to believe him, Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie have their doubts about the man's sincerity and honesty, and they wonder what he is hiding.  How does he really make all of the money he has, when he claims the mine owned by Linda's father is barren?  Does it have anything to do with the colorful Thunderbird that scares away people from the nearby canyon?  And what is that mysterious voice coming from the canyon that can be heard for miles around?  Is there a spirit haunting the place, or is it merely a trick to keep people from discovering what is really going on in that canyon?

Of course, Uncle Nathan gets called back home to deal with the possible reorganization of a company in which he hold stock (p. 52), but he allows the children to remain on their own (once again!) so long as they promise to stay out of trouble.  Yeah, right!  This is a children's mystery book, there's no way those kids are staying out of trouble!  The three of them are determined to get to the bottom of all the mysteries in Great Falls, the chief of which is helping Linda regain her inheritance left behind by her father.  The girls face a kidnapping at gunpoint that leaves them in a canyon to die, and they allow young Jimmie (only 13 years old!) to traipse off on his own into the canyon and stay there overnight to see if he can discover the secret behind the mysterious voice heard up and down the canyon.  Again, while I realize this is a different time than now, and this is merely a fictional story of mystery and adventure, it still surprises me that Wirt would give such freedom to children so young!

Something else that I noticed in this story is the view of Indians that is taken by the characters (leaving one to wonder if this was the author's own viewpoint at the time).  The hotel owner makes it clear that Indians can't be trusted to be honest (p. 92), and there are several references to Indians' superstitious nature.  But, good ol' Indian Joe proves himself in the end - while everyone seems to distrust him and question his motives throughout the book, he actually is the one who holds the secret to solving all of the mysteries in Great Falls!  I suppose Wirt placed all the stereotypes within the story in order to have Indian Joe disprove them all with his ingenuity and quick-thinking being revealed at the end of the book.  Not only does he know exactly who is mining the silver from the canyon, but he knows how they are doing it, why they are doing it, and he has the proof that it all truly belongs to Linda Allen as her inheritance!  (I guess the fact that he was actually blackmailing the culprit is overlooked by Wirt and the characters in the story...)

I have to say that I enjoyed this book a bit more than the first (although I readily liked the first book in the series, no doubt).  Perhaps as Wirt continued writing these characters and this series, she developed a better flair for it, and they improve with each one (or, at least, that's what I'm hoping is the trend!).  Unlike the first book, however, there is nothing at the end of this story to indicate what the next book will be - although it likely did not matter, since the first three books in this series were all published in 1937, likely as a breeder set, so the third book was on the shelves already right next to this one, and there was no need for young readers to wonder what would come next!

RATING:  10 multi-colored gliders out of 10 for a superb story with plenty of mysteries to keep the Gibson children (and the reader!) working overtime to figure out how they all connect!

Mildred A. Wirt's Trailer Stories for Girls #1 - The Runaway Caravan

When I first learned that Mildred A. Wirt (Benson) had been the original ghostwriter for the Nancy Drew series back in the '30s and '40s, I was excited, feeling like I had learned a secret that was not necessarily public knowledge (since the books were credited to "Carolyn Keene," a pseudonym created by Edward Stratemeyer for that series).  I was even more excited when I learned that Wirt had written quite a few books back in the day, beyond just Nancy Drew.  She had her own series - Penny Parker, Penny Nichols, Ruth Darrow, Madge Sterling, and others - and she wrote a number of other Stratemeyer books under various pen names - the Doris Force series, the Dana Girls, Kay Tracey, and others.  It wasn't until much later than I heard about a four-book series she had written under her own name: "Trailer Stories for Girls."  Now, when I first heard the name of this series, I'm not going to lie - I honestly thought the books were a series of mysteries set in a trailer park.  I quickly learned how wrong I was!  The stories are about three youngsters who travel around in a travel trailer a/k/a caravan and solve mysteries along the way.  The four books in this series are very hard to find, and even harder if you want them in dust jacket.  I did not think I would ever actually own them, but in recent years, I have managed to track down all four books, three of them with dust jacket!

The Runaway Caravan is the first title in the series, published in 1937.  In this book, Wirt introduces readers to the three Gibson children: Barbara, age 16; Ginger, age 15; and their younger brother Jimmie, age 13.  The children's parents died some time ago, and they live with their Uncle Nathan French (who must be related to their mother, since he has a different last name) and their uncle's housekeeper, Mrs. Goodbar, who they affectionately called "Mrs. Goody."  Each of these main characters has a distinct personality that Wirt does a pretty good job of staying consistent with throughout the four-book series.  Barbara is the sensible one, Ginger is the more "speak before you think" kind of girl, and Jimmie is the adventurous one, not afraid of anything (at least, not that he's willing to let on).  Mrs. Goody is your typical family housekeeper who worries about those under her care, and she sees the Gibson children as her own.  Uncle Nathan does not make much of an appearance in this first book (for reasons explained below), but he is a doting uncle who is mindful of his young wards, but like most adults in the children's series of this time, he provides the children with way more freedom than a typical child would have.

This story opens with Barbara and Ginger seeing their school friends off on a trip in travel trailers.  The girls are jealous of their friends, but they understand that their uncle has hit on some hard times and cannot afford the cost of the trip for them (and they would not dream of taking their teacher up on her offer to pay for them to go!).  When they return home to Ten Towers (gotta love that name - described as a "picturesque house which was their home, sprawled haphazardly over a hill at the outskirts of the town. Its ten irregularly spaced miniature towers gave to the whole an appearance of hit-and-miss design not unlike that of a toy castle" [pp. 5-6]), they discover that their uncle has been hurt in an accident.  And with that revelation, so concludes the first chapter, leaving readers to wonder what will happen next.

SIDE NOTE - I found it rather humorous that Wirt took the opportunity to plug some of her other books here in this first chapter.  On page 6, while describing the girls' rooms inside the Ten Towers, Wirt points out that Barbara's room had a "wealth of books" - including "her favorite stories,The Twin Ring Mystery, The Clue at Crooked Lane, and the Hollow Wall Mystery, which she had read so many times she could almost repeat whole pages from memory."  Astute readers will immediately recognize these titles as three of Wirt's own Mystery Stories for Girls that were published by Cupples & Leon, the same publisher as this series!  Nice plug, there, Wirt!

Okay, so back to the story.  It turns out Uncle Nathan was in a car accident and will be in the hospital for some time.  Mrs. Goody and the Gibson children are worried about how they are going to pay the bills, since the bank is about to foreclose on the house if the mortgage is not paid!  Enter: Matilda and Elmer Kavish, the children's aunt and uncle, of whom they had never heard before (p. 17).  Matilda is basically the wicked aunt who comes in and takes over - first, she fires Mrs. Goody (p. 22), gets rid of Jimmie's dog (p. 24), and ultimately warns the children the court will be placing them under her control while Uncle Nathan is in the hospital - and she plans to separate them (p. 26)!  As if things couldn't get worse for these poor kids...

Soon enough, Wirt manages to work the mystery into the book when the children witness a car with a travel trailer run off the road.  The man is so frustrated, he sells the trailer to the Gibsons for just $50.00 (p. 40).  Aunt Matilda is none to happy, and she tells the children the trailer will be sold the next day.  Well, enough is enough, and that night, the three children sneak out of Ten Towers, hook the trailer up to the car, and drive away with their caravan - a runaway caravan (hence, the title)!  Now, up to this point, it seems there is no real mystery to solve - but before you know it, someone is trying to break into the trailer!  Later, while the children are out, someone does manage to get in and ransack the trailer - but their can of money is still there, so if they weren't after money, what did they want?  Then the man who sold them the trailer catches up to them and offers them double what they paid to buy it back (they, of course, are not willing to sell).  Well, when they pick up a young girl hitchhiking, they learn to be more cautious because they catch her rooting through the trailer's desk.  Once she is gone, Barbara and Ginger discover the diary of one Ezekiel Tolland hidden in the back of the desk, and the three wonder if that is what everyone is after.

The story finds the Gibson children surviving on their own for quite a length of time, finding ways to make money to support themselves, catching fish in nearby rivers, and doing everything they can to avoid the police (who have been told by Aunt Matilda that the trailer is stolen and the children are the delinquents who stole it!).  Ultimately, the mystery comes to a head when the children meet George Tolland and not only discover it was his family's factory that made the trailer they now own, but that the particular trailer happened to be one specifically built by his brother and contains some much sought after plans for a special brake Ezekiel was creating for use in future trailers.  It all leads to a revelation that a competing company has been after those plans, and the Gibson children help George Tolland find the plans, for which he rewards them with a brand new Crimson Cruiser trailer that they can keep (and, conveniently, that happens to be the title to the second book!).

While the mystery is not necessarily exciting at times, with the story often focusing more on the day-to-day trials of Barbara, Ginger, and Jimmie as they grow accustomed to life on the road with no adult supervision, it is a rather interesting read.  Not everyone is exactly who you think they are - the man who sold them the trailer; the hitchhiker; the thief - Wirt manages to throw some surprises in here and there with those characters, which keeps the story engaging.  One thing I did find rather questionable is the fact that Jimmie, who is the youngest of the three siblings (at just 13 years old) does quite a bit of the driving!  And there is never a question from any adult about his driving a car with the trailer attached.  A search online reveals that by 1937, many states had adopted 16 as the minimum driving age; so, its surprising that Wirt would have a 13-year old driving across the county with no issues.

Overall, this was a really good start to the series, and as with the "Mystery Stories for Girls," it's easy to see that when Wirt was given the freedom away from the restrictions placed on her by the Stratemeyer outlines, she could produce some pretty great books!

RATING:  9 large sheets of heavy drawing paper out of 10 for presenting a unique type of sleuths, solving mysteries as they travel across the continent!