Radio Boys facts for kids

The Radio Boys was the name given to three different sets of adventure books for young people. These books were very popular in the United States during the 1920s. They were published by different companies, and each series told exciting stories about boys and their adventures, often involving the new technology of radio.

The Popular Radio Boys Series

In the 1920s, radio was a brand-new and exciting invention. Many people were fascinated by it, and this led to the creation of several book series about young heroes who used radio in their adventures.

Grosset & Dunlap's Radio Boys

One of the most famous and best-selling "Radio Boys" series was published by Grosset & Dunlap. These books were written by a group of authors who used the pen name "Allen Chapman". This pen name was part of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, which was a company that planned out book series and hired different writers to write them under shared names.

There were 13 books in this popular series. Some of the titles include:

• The Radio Boys' First Wireless or Winning the Ferberton Prize
• The Radio Boys at Ocean Point or The Message that Saved the Ship
• The Radio Boys at the Sending Station or Making Good in the Wireless Room (1922)
• The Radio Boys at Mountain Pass or The Midnight Call for Assistance
• The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice or Solving a Wireless Mystery
• The Radio Boys with the Forest Rangers or The Great Fire on Spruce Mountain
• The Radio Boys with the Iceberg Patrol or Making Safe the Ocean Lanes
• The Radio Boys with the Flood Fighters or Saving the City in the Valley
• The Radio Boys on Signal Island or Watching for the Ships of Mystery
• The Radio Boys in Gold Valley or The Mystery of the Deserted Mining Camp
• The Radio Boys Aiding the Snowbound or Starvation Days at Lumber Run (1928)
• The Radio Boys on the Pacific or Shipwrecked on An Unknown Island (1928)
• The Radio Boys to the Rescue or The Search for the Barmore Twins (1930)

A. L. Burt Company's Radio Boys

Another series of "Radio Boys" books was published by the A. L. Burt Company. These books were written by a real person named Gerald Breckenridge. He wrote 10 books in this series. Unlike the authors for some other series, Gerald Breckenridge was a real journalist. He even had some of his writings donated to Auburn University.

What's really cool is that Gerald Breckenridge was a guest on a radio station called WJZ in Newark three times in October 1922. He read parts of his latest "Radio Boys" book on the air! Imagine hearing the author read his own adventure stories on the radio, back when radio was still very new.

M. A. Donohue & Co.'s Radio Boys

A third series of "Radio Boys" books was published by M. A. Donohue & Co.. This series had 6 titles and was written by various authors.

The Radio Girls

Besides the "Radio Boys" books, there was also a related series called The Radio Girls. This series was also a product of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, just like the Grosset & Dunlap "Radio Boys" books. The "Radio Girls" books were published by Cupples & Leon and were written under the pen name "Margaret Penrose".

The Rise of Radio Books

All these "Radio Boys" and "Radio Girls" series started around the same time in 1922. The first books in each series were the most popular. Many of these early books even included instructions on how to build a simple radio receiver called a crystal set. This was a great way to get kids interested in both reading and the exciting new world of radio! Later books in the series focused more on general action and adventure stories.