It’s the hundredth anniversary of the publication of the first Tom Swift novels. Wikipedia notes:
The Tom Swift books have been credited with laying the foundations for success of American science fiction and with establishing the edisonade (stories focusing on brilliant scientists and inventors) as a basic cultural myth….
A number of prominent figures, including Steve Wozniak and Isaac Asimov, have cited “Tom Swift” as an inspiration…. According to Wozniak, reading the Tom Swift books made him feel “that engineers can save the world from all sorts of conflict and evil”.
The books sold over 30 million copies worldwide. A key thematic feature: “In general, the books portray science and technology as wholly beneficial in their effects.” And that remains, I think, another “basic cultural myth” — one that is not wholly beneficial in its effect, as I have discussed many times (see “The breakthrough technology illusion“).
There were multiple series. I read the Tom Swift, Jr. books because my brother Dave gave me his copies. Dave is a multi-decade science fiction aficionado, humorist, and interpreter, so I asked him for his thoughts on Tom Swift, which follow:
The end of the 19th Century was a period of intense technological advance. As usual, it took about a half-generation, roughly 15 years, before the kids who grew up with these advances would use them to change the world forever.
Fifteen years after H.G. Wells published “The Time Machine” and fifteen years (or so) before Hugo Gernsback coined the marketing category “science fiction”, the adventures of a teenaged inventor captured the imagination. “Tom Swift and His Motorcycle, or Fun and Adventure on the Road” was the first of four pulp novels published in 1910. Motorcycles may not seem like the “goshwowboyoboy” invention today, but they were on the cutting edge of technology of the time: In 1905, there were 78,000 motor vehicles in the US; by 1915 the number had risen to 2.33 million.
“Tom Swift and His Motorcycle” was followed by “Tom Swift and His Motor Boat”, “Tom Swift and His Airship”, “Tom Swift and His Submarine Boat” and “Tom Swift and His Electric Runabout”. These were all written by Howard Garis under the house pseudonym Victor Appleton. I confess I haven’t read more than a few of the older, Tom Swift Sr., books. Unlike the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew series, the original Tom Swift books were never “updated” from their Edwardian-Era settings. The first series ran for 31 years, spanning current technology (like the motor boat) through the City of Adventure, Talking Pictures (pretty good for 1928), Sky Train and Magnetic Silencer. Along the way, Tom got married, so he wasn’t quite the “young” inventor anymore. Tom got a life where Superman didn’t. Tom Swift was more than adventure: He grew up, and we grew with him.
The impact of Tom Swift is hard to quantify. The original series sold in the millions, not including reprints, and the second series did well. At least one invention was named after the fictional character: Taser stands for “Thomas A Swift’s Electric Rifle”. An entire class of jokes, the Tom Swifty, pays homage to the author’s stylistic attempt to avoid the standard “he said” when writing dialog.
Before I could read, my mother used to read Tom Swift Jr. books to her kids. They were Hi! Sci! Fi! Adventure! which used just-over-cutting edge technology and beyond. Tom was not slow to invent a bunch of neat-o gadgets and explore the possible just-over-the-rainbow future. Jonny Quest, another son of a scientist who went on exciting adventures in exotic locales, was more about the action; Tom Swift was about the interplay of ideas.
Tom Swift Jr. was written by by several people under the house pseudonym Victor Appleton II. (Hey, I thought it was clever.) The series was dumbed down enough for kids, with repeating characters and catchphrases, and smart enough to fire up the imagination even decades later. Perhaps the better titles stick in my mind, or perhaps I should have been picking favorite writers (assuming that info was easy enough for a ten-year-old to find). But I remember “Tom Swift Jr. and His Deep-Sea Hydrodome”, with repelatron tech that reminded me of the electro-gravitic spectra in Heinlein’s “Sixth Column”. I remember “Tom Swift Jr. and His Triphibian Atomicar” which came out about the same time as the British tv show “Supercar”.
The series got dumber and dumber by the late 60s and early 70s. Or maybe I grew out of them. I haven’t gone back to reread them since I went off to college and bequeathed my collection to brother Joe. I’m almost afraid to.
And having moved on, I never dipped my literary toes into Tom Swift III, IV or V. They are not for me anymore. Several new generations of young boys (and the occasional girl) have their imagination fired up by the incarnations of Tom Swift. After 100 years as a pulp character written by many authors, Tom’s stories continue to be created where other characters live in the published works of long ago.
I’d be interested to hear from readers of any of the series on their impact — or just your favorite Tom Swifty:
Some examples are: ” ‘I lost my crutches,’ said Tom lamely”; and ” ‘I’ll take the prisoner downstairs’, said Tom condescendingly.”
Previous in TP Climate Progress
My dad, born in 1922, had a collection of the original Swifts which he bequeathed to me along with the Richard Halliburton and CS Forrester volumes. I think the first one I read was TS and his House on Wheels — the first motorhome. I may have been seven or eight when I read it, and found it hilarious. The originals were far more interesting than the TS Jr series — they counted as historical artifacts, while the new books were just dumb.
These days are darker, with movies like “The Road” and “The Book of Eli”. Alas, gone are the days when people marveled at thoughts of wonder like, “Tom Swift and His Electric Yoyo”.
I read both the pre-WWII series and the 1950s series extensively as a kid (late 1960s, early 70s). The racism of the early series should be noted — perfectly standard for its day, of course, but none the less profound for that — a black manservant, Eradicate Samson I believe his name was, spoke in a horrific “Yassa massah Tom!” pseudo-dialectic, rolled his eyes superstitiously, and so forth. Another not-so-harmless set of assumptions built into this literature.
I have re-read books in both series. One thing stands out strongly to me: neither series has anything to do with science. The “science” element is pure gobbledygook. You can learn more science from reading one Robert Heinlein “juvenile” novel than from reading the whole 50-foot shelf of Tom Swift. They weren’t about science and offer none of the pleasure of close reasoning about physical phenomena: they are about gush and mood and daydream. But never, ever about science.
You muse that maybe tech is ” . . . not wholly beneficial in its effect . . .” and I fear you are correct.
[JR: Not "tech" but "techno-optimism," misapplied, that is.]
Techno-optimism may be the biggest single impediment to clean energy. Most Americans believe in technology, and certainly the MSM celebrates and hypes technology.
I believe in tech, but also in conservation — using tech (and all consumption) as little as possible.
Maybe Groucho Marx said it best: “I like my cigar, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.”
I liked more apocalyptic sci fi, than “techno-optim” scifi. Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon, Alfred Bester (Demolished Man, the Stars My Destination)and recently more wry scifi, like Nancy Kress
“Of course I’ll help! We’re both ROMMS!” Dave said memorably.
While Joe Romm’s work has been very valuable debunking relatively non-realistic near-term solutions such as the hydrogen economy the science and technology of the current age far outstrips anything of the early Tom Swift stories with the potential to make these times quite exciting.
7. fj2 continued,
Molecular-strength material science tantalizes in this direction projected for commercialization by mid-century:
Featherweight sail boats that kite surf with potential speeds greater than 100 mph (John Kerry should know something about this.) Richard Branson’s 99 foot carbon fiber mono hull is capable of extended speeds of 50 mph in a much heavier boat.
Featherweight miniscule personal vehicles with virtually zero environmental footprints
Extremely strong lighter-than-air vehicles that travel the jet stream
Well, seeing as how Superman has been married for some time now, it could be argued that he’s grown up some. Otherwise, a good article.
I only read a few titles of the The New Tom Swift Jr. Adventures series and have never read any of the original series. Tom Swift was my first experience with the pseudo-science so beloved of conservatives today. (I quit reading the series after “Tom Swift in the Caves of Nuclear Fire.”) It is rather ironic that the original series actually had more influence in my life because it inspired the writers who actually did spark my interest in science-fiction: Asimov, Heinlein, etc.
I suspect that it is impossible to duplicate the impact of the original series today precisely because we take scientific progress and capability for granted. The books fascinated early twentieth century readers because so many of the inventions seemed just barely plausible. Computers, televisions, and most appliances were totally alien to that generation. Contrast that to our modern era in which the large hadron collider routinely sets new records and practically no one notices. I don’t think it is possible to recapture that sense of innocence and awe.
It’s true–the older Tom Swifts, at least, are about techno-romance. Whether what we call “technology” must absolutely be the foe of an environmentally sustainable and ethical human society is–undecided.
I’ve tackled some of those questions in some of my own new-millennium versions of the old 50′s-60′s titles, plus some originals. All available as a free read at http://www.tomswiftlives.com.
Whether the net effect is good or evil is something I’m unlikely to live long enough to find out.
SD
I’ve read books from all 5 series, and while the books from the Original Continuity (Tom Swift Sr. and Jr. series) are good, at the same time the three series published since 1981 have featured an updated Tom meant to appeal to the children of the last 3 decades who have grown up with Star Trek and Babylon 5 and the myriad of science-fiction/fantasy aimed at children (such as the 90′s X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons) and is just as good as the first two Tom’s. And while the last three series have not been as successful as the Tom Swift Sr. And Jr. series, they have still maintained the high level of writing that those series were known for, with Tom Swift (Archway/IV) being aimed at the pre-teen/teenage market and featuring two crossovers with the Hardy Boys of the Hardy Boys Casefiles.
So while people are celebrating Tom Swift’s 100th birthday, the last 3 series should not be just tossed by the roadside and left there because the series were not published by Grosset & Dunlap.