escapit

Have you ever heard of the Bobbsey Twins?  Let’s talk about 72 books that were published in 1904 and the last in 1979. They were the principal characters of what was, for 75 years, one of the longest-running series of American children’s novels, written under one continuing  pseudonym. Actually, many writers wrote books and always used that same pseudonym. Back in the day of hard-backed books and kids who were anxious to read them, the twins were a hot item. The books related the adventures of the children of the upper middle class, of course, the Bobbsey family, which included two sets of fraternal twins: Nan and Bert, who were twelve years old, and Flossie and Freddie, who were six

I was reminded about them while cruising through eBay.. Today you still hear the term when two people are often together or seem to resemble each other, as in appearance or actions. We called them Bobbsey twins because they always seem to have the same opinions.

While I am not old enough to remember or to have read the books, my Mom sure did. She used to call my sister and me the ‘Bobbsey Twins’ all the time. I don’t really know if that was a good or a bad thing, but I do know one thing for sure, and that was that my sister and I weren’t twins. Not even close. Although I do confess to being a Gemini. 

The Bobbsey plots revolved around away-from-home adventures, the purchase of miniature railroads or Shetland ponies, the mysterious disappearance of a toy, or other mishaps or acquisitions. Ahh, those misadventures. No wonder I ran away. But I never had a Shetland Pony.  All the more reason for me to hit the road, Look at it this way, I didn’t have ponies or railroads awaiting me, but instead, I had the sixties and seventies coming on, you know: far out, peace love, groovy, sit in and sit outs, flowers in your hair. The purity of the Bobbsey family would never quite fit in. But I think the twins might have enjoyed Height Ashbury, People’s Park, or maybe even Timothy Leary and the whole LSD thing. 

If we were lucky enough the pure white Bobbsey family would have taken a stronger role in civil rights. Upper middle class? Ba Humbug.