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Tom Swift Sr. #15
Tom Swift and His Great Searchlight; or, on the border for Uncle Sam
American boys' fiction under pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate who produced Tom Swift series, Nancy Drew mysteries, the Hardy Boys, Dave Fearless and many others.
152 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1912
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63 people want to read
About the author
Victor Appleton
350 books44 followersVictor Appleton was a house pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and its successors, most famous for being associated with the Tom Swift series of books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_...
The character of Tom Swift was conceived in 1910 by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book-packaging company. Stratemeyer invented the series to capitalize on the market for children's science adventure. The Syndicate's authors created the Tom Swift books by first preparing an outline with all the plot elements, followed by drafting and editing the detailed manuscript. The books were published under the house name of Victor Appleton. Edward Stratemeyer and Howard Garis wrote most of the volumes in the original series; Stratemeyer's daughter, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, wrote the last three volumes. The first Tom Swift series ended in 1941.
In 1954, Harriet Adams created the Tom Swift, Jr., series, which was published under the name "Victor Appleton II". Most titles were outlined and plotted by Adams. The texts were written by various writers, among them William Dougherty, John Almquist, Richard Sklar, James Duncan Lawrence, Tom Mulvey and Richard McKenna. The Tom Swift, Jr., series ended in 1971.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_...
The character of Tom Swift was conceived in 1910 by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book-packaging company. Stratemeyer invented the series to capitalize on the market for children's science adventure. The Syndicate's authors created the Tom Swift books by first preparing an outline with all the plot elements, followed by drafting and editing the detailed manuscript. The books were published under the house name of Victor Appleton. Edward Stratemeyer and Howard Garis wrote most of the volumes in the original series; Stratemeyer's daughter, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, wrote the last three volumes. The first Tom Swift series ended in 1941.
In 1954, Harriet Adams created the Tom Swift, Jr., series, which was published under the name "Victor Appleton II". Most titles were outlined and plotted by Adams. The texts were written by various writers, among them William Dougherty, John Almquist, Richard Sklar, James Duncan Lawrence, Tom Mulvey and Richard McKenna. The Tom Swift, Jr., series ended in 1971.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Swift
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 26, 2019
Tooom Swift and (not his big, not his good) greeeat search light!!! Will our hero stand up and help Uncel Sam ?!?! Can our hero stop the evil Canadian smuggilars?!?! Will he finaly get a gard or like a dog or somthing to protect his property?!?! (Seriously people just like steal stuff and set fire to things all the time)
April 25, 2021
One day, Ned Newton visits Tom Swift and mentions that he has seen Andy Foger in town. The Fogers moved to another town, but still own their house in Shopton. Tom is working on a noiseless airship motor and Ned is helping him. When bringing parts from town to Tom’s workshop, Tom and Ned see Andy at his house along with a carpenter. Tom and Ned speculate that the Fogers are preparing their Shopton house for sale. They also notice that a man is spying on the Foger house. Later, Tom finds that the same man is watching the Swift house. Tom confronts him and finds out that he is a special agent of the United States Customs Service. Somebody is smuggling goods via airship from Canada to the United States, specifically the Shopton area. It is known that only Andy Foger and Tom Swift in Shopton have flown airships. So they are targets of the investigation.
That is how the Tom Swift and His Great Searchlight book begins. Tom manages to convince the Customs Agent, Mr. William Whitford, of his innocence. Because Mr. Whitford is certain that the smugglers are using an airship, he asks Tom to help. Tom’s noiseless airship would be very useful in surveillance. However, he needs a powerful searchlight since the smugglers operate at night. Through a wiring mishap, such a powerful searchlight is invented. From this point on, the book is a crime story with a Tom Swift flavor. Ned Newton, Mr. Damon, and Koku the giant are members of the Tom Swift law enforcement team, working with Mr. Whitford. Mr. Damon seems to live on income from his investments, so he has time on his hands. However, Ned Newton has a job at a Shopton bank. It is true that the bank’s biggest depositors are Mr. Swift and Mr. Damon. Still, he gets more time off for adventure than you would expect a bank employee to get.
This is a welcome improvement in the Tom Swift books. I am giving it four stars, after giving three stars and two stars to the two preceding books in the series. It isn’t just a search for treasure or a collection of travels through foreign lands. It has a crime investigation, a pursuit of bad guys, as some of the first Tom Swift books had. At the end of the book, when Mr. Whitford says that he could use Tom Swift’s help again sometime, Tom demurs and says that he wants to rest and settle down. This causes Ned to speculate that there will be a marriage soon. Tom says that he just wants to create a new invention. Mary Nestor is not in this book at all, but I suspect that she will be back.
That is how the Tom Swift and His Great Searchlight book begins. Tom manages to convince the Customs Agent, Mr. William Whitford, of his innocence. Because Mr. Whitford is certain that the smugglers are using an airship, he asks Tom to help. Tom’s noiseless airship would be very useful in surveillance. However, he needs a powerful searchlight since the smugglers operate at night. Through a wiring mishap, such a powerful searchlight is invented. From this point on, the book is a crime story with a Tom Swift flavor. Ned Newton, Mr. Damon, and Koku the giant are members of the Tom Swift law enforcement team, working with Mr. Whitford. Mr. Damon seems to live on income from his investments, so he has time on his hands. However, Ned Newton has a job at a Shopton bank. It is true that the bank’s biggest depositors are Mr. Swift and Mr. Damon. Still, he gets more time off for adventure than you would expect a bank employee to get.
This is a welcome improvement in the Tom Swift books. I am giving it four stars, after giving three stars and two stars to the two preceding books in the series. It isn’t just a search for treasure or a collection of travels through foreign lands. It has a crime investigation, a pursuit of bad guys, as some of the first Tom Swift books had. At the end of the book, when Mr. Whitford says that he could use Tom Swift’s help again sometime, Tom demurs and says that he wants to rest and settle down. This causes Ned to speculate that there will be a marriage soon. Tom says that he just wants to create a new invention. Mary Nestor is not in this book at all, but I suspect that she will be back.
September 22, 2021
In this story starring the original Tom Swift, he is portrayed as an ace mechanic rather than an inventive genius. In the Tom Swift Junior stories, Tom’s inventions are more far-reaching, beyond what others have developed. In this one, Tom Swift simply improves on what others have done.
Chronologically, Tom has developed his airship and the powerful searchlight is attached. A gang of criminals is using an airship to smuggle goods between the United States and Canada and Tom, along with his sidekicks, is attempting to catch them in the act and break up the ring. He takes his airship up at night when the smugglers are active and attempts to apprehend them after shining his light on their aircraft and following them to their arrival point.
The dialog is very much that of the original Tom Swift stories published in the second decade of the twentieth century. The powerful black giant Koku is one of Tom’s sidekicks, this may be the first use of such a character. Artist Lee Falk created the character Mandrake the Magician in 1934 and his sidekick was the mighty black man Lothar. Like Koku, the original Lothar spoke using poor English. The similarities are too great to be coincidental. Mandrake is considered by many to be the first comic superhero, with Lothar then being the first black superhero. As Picasso reportedly said, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.”
Compared to later YA adventure stories, there is very little violence in this one. Tom is still being portrayed as a talented technical tinkerer rather than a genius. While it is not a page turner of an adventure, this story is a valuable look back at the history of a franchise that has published over 100 volumes over the course of time now exceeding a century.
Chronologically, Tom has developed his airship and the powerful searchlight is attached. A gang of criminals is using an airship to smuggle goods between the United States and Canada and Tom, along with his sidekicks, is attempting to catch them in the act and break up the ring. He takes his airship up at night when the smugglers are active and attempts to apprehend them after shining his light on their aircraft and following them to their arrival point.
The dialog is very much that of the original Tom Swift stories published in the second decade of the twentieth century. The powerful black giant Koku is one of Tom’s sidekicks, this may be the first use of such a character. Artist Lee Falk created the character Mandrake the Magician in 1934 and his sidekick was the mighty black man Lothar. Like Koku, the original Lothar spoke using poor English. The similarities are too great to be coincidental. Mandrake is considered by many to be the first comic superhero, with Lothar then being the first black superhero. As Picasso reportedly said, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.”
Compared to later YA adventure stories, there is very little violence in this one. Tom is still being portrayed as a talented technical tinkerer rather than a genius. While it is not a page turner of an adventure, this story is a valuable look back at the history of a franchise that has published over 100 volumes over the course of time now exceeding a century.
March 1, 2022
#15 in the Tom Swift series. This 1912 series entry by pseudonymous author Victor Appleton is below average. Subtitled "On the Border for Uncle Sam", Tom takes his accidently discovered powerful searchlight on his newly invented silent airplane to aid the border patrol in searching for nocturnal smugglers on the Canadian border.
October 13, 2018
Tom Swift searched for smugglers and finally found them. Tom created a searchlight to find the airships the smugglers used to cross the border.
March 3, 2013
I was perceived as being different as a child, as being bookish. Indeed, as an only child until my ninth year, I was different in our federally subsidized housing development. Everyone had kids, usually several, some as many as a dozen or more--50s Catholics, don't you know? Being alone, if the weather was bad and I was housebound, or during the summers as the only kid in the woods of grandmother's cottage, there wasn't much to do but read or draw. Much of the time we had no television and when we did the viewing was restricted. So, anyway, I read a lot, spent such money as I had on books and comics, even started a lending library amongst my friends in elementary school.
Knowing my reputation because she was a neighbor and because I played with her own kids, Sue and Tommy, Mrs. Whitaker, probably also having noticed me with numerous contemporary Tom Swift Jr. books, loaned me some of the books from her house, most particularly those about the first Tom Swift, books written for her parents' generation.
Like the later Swift books, these were all more or less science fiction in that they had their hero dealing with high or future tech equipment in competition, if not conflict, with adults.
Knowing my reputation because she was a neighbor and because I played with her own kids, Sue and Tommy, Mrs. Whitaker, probably also having noticed me with numerous contemporary Tom Swift Jr. books, loaned me some of the books from her house, most particularly those about the first Tom Swift, books written for her parents' generation.
Like the later Swift books, these were all more or less science fiction in that they had their hero dealing with high or future tech equipment in competition, if not conflict, with adults.
June 9, 2012
I read the Tom Swift Sr. books as a child and again when I got my Kindle in 2010. They are an easy read and enjoyable. It is interesting to see how writing has changed since these books were written.
January 2, 2016
Really good old classic young readers book about a young inventor that invents this awesome inventions and then goes on these wild and crazy adventures, sometimes getting into trouble in the process.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews