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{{short description|Fictional literary character}}
]
{{Other uses}}
'''Tom Swift''' is the protagonist in a series of children's adventure novels from the early twentieth century. The stories featured ] (especially ] technology) as the real star.


]'' (1910), the first Tom Swift book]]
Tom Swift is a young inventor living in the town of Shopton in New York State. His father is the frail inventor Barton Swift who is too infirm to take part in many adventures. Tom himself is by no means lab-bound, and is in good physical shape, which is fortunate as his adventures are inevitably strenuous. His best friend is Ned Newton, not himself an inventor; his ] (and later ]) is Mary Nestor.


'''Tom Swift''' is the main character of six series of American juvenile ] and ]s that emphasize science, invention, and technology. Inaugurated in 1910, the sequence of series comprises more than 100 volumes. The first Tom Swift – later, Tom Swift Sr. – was created by ], the founder of the ], a ] firm. Tom's adventures have been written by various ]s, beginning with ]. Most of the books are credited to the collective ] "]". The 33 volumes of the second series use the pseudonym Victor Appleton II for the author. For this series, and some later ones, the main character is "]" New titles have been published again from 2019 after a gap of about ten years, roughly the time that has passed before every resumption. Most of the series emphasized Tom's inventions. The books generally describe the effects of science and technology as wholly beneficial, and the role of the inventor in society as admirable and heroic.
The grounds keeper at the Swift estate is Eradicate Sampson, known as "Rad". Though portrayed with some affection, the elderly ex-slave Sampson is an unfortunate example of the demeaning comic black ] common in American popular culture of the time. Illiterate, Sampson once packed a gift from Tom to Mary in a leftover box labelled "]", an incident which is often referenced later. Despite the stereotypical "darkie" behavior attributed to "Rad", he accompanies Tom on several of his adventures and demonstrates his courage many times. In ]'s short story "]" (]), the "boy genius" Grover is tormented by Tom Swift books which constantly appear around his home. Discussing the matter with his friend Tim, he wonders whether his parents are trying to make him into an inventor or a racist.


Translated into many languages, the books have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. Tom Swift has also been the subject of a ] and several attempted adaptations into other media.
Tom's most remembered friend is Mr. Wakefield Damon, from whom Tom bought the motorcycle on which he started his adventures. Mr. Damon is much given to colorful expostulations such as: "Bless my collarbutton!", and he can be expected to deliver several such at any appearance. (Mr. Damon, long gone, is memorialized in the ] series by having his name sentimentally attached to one of Tom Jr.'s inventions, the damonscope.)


Tom Swift has been cited as an inspiration by various scientists and inventors, including aircraft designer ].<ref name="arstechnica.com">{{cite web |url= https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/05/kellys-heroes-lockheeds-five-finest-airplanes/ |title= Kelly's Heroes: Lockheed's five finest airplanes |date= May 27, 2019}}</ref>
Tom's adversary in the beginning was Andy Foger, a well-off bully who tried to match Tom's capabilities with money. As Tom's reach increased, so did the reach of his adversaries, until finally he was up against an entire country (Haargoland).


== Inventions ==
In comparison to Tom Jr., Tom Sr.'s inventions are closer to the state-of-the-art at the time of writing. While some of Tom Sr.'s inventions are complete fantasy, most never rise to the level of Tom Jr.'s magical inventions.
]


In his various ]s, Tom Swift, usually a teenager, is inventive and science-minded, "Swift by name and swift by nature."<ref name="Prager">Prager (1976).</ref> Tom is portrayed as a natural genius. In the earlier series, he is said to have had little formal education, the character modeled originally after such inventors as ],<ref name=":0">Burt (2004), 322.</ref> ],<ref name="Dizer35">Dizer (1982), 35.</ref> aviation pioneer ]<ref name="Dizer35"/> and ].<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016205422/http://www.jatm.com.br/papers/vol4_n3/JATMv4n3_p355-380_Open_Source_Philosophy_and_the_Dawn_of_Aviation.html |date=2015-10-16 }}, page 9.</ref> For most of the six series, each book concerns Tom's latest invention, and its role either in solving a problem or mystery, or in assisting Tom in feats of exploration or rescue. Often Tom must protect his new invention from ]s "intent on stealing Tom's thunder or preventing his success,"<ref name="Prager"/> but Tom is always successful in the end.
Tom's adventures are more closely wedded to current events of the time than the later series. Tom used the Electric Runabout to avert a ]. And during wartime, Tom was secretly working on his War Tank and could not enlist- this lead to fears that he was a ]. Contemporary children reading these will also have to remember that when Tom refers to the ], it's because it wasn't called World War I until ] occurred. Of course, he wasn't called Tom Swift, Senior until Tom Swift, Junior, appeared.


Many of Tom Swift's fictional inventions describe actual technological developments or predate technologies now considered commonplace. ''Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers'' (1911) was based on ]'s attempts to ] using electric current.<ref>Hazen (1999), 30.</ref> '']'' was published in 1914. Sending photographs by telephone was not fully developed until 1925.<ref name="Pyle"/> ''Tom Swift and His Wizard Camera'' (1912) features a portable movie camera, not invented until 1923.<ref name="Pyle">Pyle (1991).</ref> ''Tom Swift and His Electric Locomotive'' (1922) was published two years before the ] began using the first ].<ref name="Master Inventor">"Tom Swift, Master Inventor" (1956).</ref> The house on wheels that Tom invents for 1929's ''Tom Swift and His House on Wheels'' pre-dated the first ] by a year.<ref name="Pyle"/> ''Tom Swift and His Diving Seacopter'' (1952) features a ] similar to one planned by the ] four years later in 1956.<ref name="Master Inventor"/> Other inventions of Tom's have not happened, such as the device for silencing airplane engines that he invents in ''Tom Swift and His Magnetic Silencer'' (1941).<ref name="Pyle"/>
The books were written under the ] ], who was really ] for most of the novels, and ], ], and ] for some others. The pseudonym was created by ] as part of his ].


== Authorship ==
Another 33 books were written in the Tom Swift, Jr. series, which were created to the pseudonym of Victor Appleton II. Two other series followed, ] published from ] to ] and ] from ] to ]. The former series featured Tom and a troupe of friends exploring the universe in the starship ''Excedra'', using a ] drive which Tom had reverse engineered from an alien space probe, and maintains only a loose connection to the continuity of the two previous series. The fourth series is perhaps the most rigorously connected to the technology of its time; for example, one of Tom's inventions for improving ] resolution using a ] has in fact been implemented, and information technology plays as important a role as the super-vehicles the series has always been associated with. In both series, Tom's father is named Thomas Swift, Sr., and is the chief executive of Swift Enterprises. Tom III is a descendant of the first and second Tom Swifts, and Tom IV's father is likely the second, having built Jr.-type rockets in his youth. Inside jokes, such as allusions to ]'s Lake Carlopa, indicate that the fourth series's writers were at least passingly familiar with Tom Swift's earlier incarnations.
The character of Tom Swift was conceived about 1910 by ], founder of the ], a ] business,<ref name="SS2">{{cite web| last=Andrews|first=Dale| title=The Hardy Boys Mystery | url=http://www.sleuthsayers.org/2013/08/the-hardy-boys-mystery_27.html |work=Children's books |publisher=SleuthSayers| location=Washington |date= August 27, 2013}}</ref> although the name "Tom Swift" was first used in 1903 by Stratemeyer in ''Shorthand Tom the Reporter; Or, the Exploits of a Bright Boy''. Stratemeyer invented the series to capitalize on the market for children's science adventures.<ref name="Molson">Molson (1985).</ref> The Syndicate's authors created the Tom Swift stories by first preparing an outline with the plot elements, followed by drafting and editing the detailed manuscript.<ref>This method was used for all Stratemeyer Syndicate series: for further discussion, see Carol Billman, ''The Secret of the Stratemeyer Syndicate.'' Ungar, 1986. {{ISBN|978-0-8044-2055-6}}.</ref> The books were published using the house ] "]". ] wrote most of the volumes of the original series; Stratemeyer's daughter, ], wrote the last three volumes.<ref>Johnson (1982), 23.</ref> The first ''Tom Swift'' series ended in 1941.


In 1954, Harriet Adams created the ''Tom Swift, Jr.'' series, which was published using the pseudonym "Victor Appleton II" as author. The main character Tom Swift, Junior, was described as the son of the original Tom Swift. Most of the stories were outlined and plotted by Adams. The texts were written by various writers, among them William Dougherty, John Almquist, Richard Sklar, ], Tom Mulvey and Richard McKenna.<ref>Johnson (1982), 26–27.</ref> The ''Tom Swift, Jr.'', series ended in 1971.
A ] is a type of pun. However, this sentence structure is not actually used in the text of the series. The format of the book titles is also occasionally used in jokes, for example ''Tom Swift and His Electrical Girlfriend.''


A third series was begun in 1981 and lasted until 1984. The rights to the Tom Swift character, along with the Stratemeyer Syndicate, were sold in 1984 to publishers ]. They hired New York City book packaging business Mega-Books to produce further series.<ref>Plunkett-Powell (1993), 29.</ref> Simon & Schuster has published three more Tom Swift series: one from 1991 to 1993;''Tom Swift, Young Inventor'' from 2006 to 2007; and ''Tom Swift Inventors Academy'' from 2019 to present—eight volumes as of ''Depth Perception'' (March 2022).<ref name="sscurrent"/>
==List of Tom Swift Books==
===Books in ''The Original Tom Swift Series''===


== Series ==
{{wikisource|Portal:Stratemeyer Syndicate#Tom Swift|Tom Swift}}
{{main|List of Tom Swift books}}


The longest-running series of books to feature Tom Swift is the first, which consists of 40 volumes.<ref>Dizer (1982), 145.</ref> Tom's son (]) was also the name of the protagonist of the 33 volumes of the Tom Swift Jr. Adventures, the 11 volumes of the third Tom Swift series, the 13 volumes of the fourth, and a half-dozen more for the most recent series, Tom Swift, Young Inventor, for a total of 103 volumes for all the series. In addition to publication in the United States, Tom Swift books have been published extensively in England, and translated into ], ], ], and ].<ref>Fowler (1962).</ref>
# ''Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle: Fun and Adventure on the Road'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Motor Boat: The Rivals of Lake Carlopa'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Airship: The Stirring Cruise of the Red Cloud'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Submarine Boat: Under the Ocean for Sunken Treasure'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Electric Runabout: The Speediest Car on the Road'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Wireless Message: The Castaways of Earthquake Island'' ]
# ''Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers: The Secret of Phantom Mountain'' ]
# ''Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice: The Wreck of the Airship'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Sky Racer: The Quickest Flight on Record'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle: Daring Adventures on Elephant Island'' ]
# ''Tom Swift in the City of Gold: Marvelous Adventures Underground'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Air Glider: Seeking the Platinum Treasure'' ]
# ''Tom Swift in Captivity: A Daring Escape by Airship'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Wizard Camera: Thrilling Adventures While Taking Moving Pictures'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Great Search Light: On the Border for Uncle Sam'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Giant Cannon: The Longest Shots on Record'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Photo Telephone: The Picture That Saved a Fortune'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Aerial Warship: The Naval Terror of the Seas'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Big Tunnel: The Hidden City of the Andes'' ]
# ''Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders: The Underground Search for the Idol of Gold'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His War Tank: Doing His Bit for Uncle Sam'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Air Scout: Uncle Sam's Mastery of the Sky'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Undersea Search: The Treasure on the Floor of the Atlantic'' ]
# ''Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters: Battling with Flames in the Air'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Electric Locomotive: Two Miles a Minute on the Rails'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Flying Boat: Castaways of the Giant Iceberg'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Great Oil Gusher: The Treasure of Goby Farm'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Chest of Secrets: Tracing the Stolen Inventions'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Airline Express: From Ocean to Ocean by Daylight'' ]
# ''Tom Swift Circling the Globe: The Daring Cruise of the Air Monarch'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Talking Pictures: The Greatest Invention on Record'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His House on Wheels: A Trip around the Mountain of Mystery'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Big Dirigible: Adventures Over the Forest of Fire'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Sky Train: Overland Through the Clouds'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Giant Magnet: Bringing Up the Lost Submarine'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Television Detector: Trailing the Secret Plotters'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Ocean Airport: Foiling the Haargolanders'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Planet Stone: Discovering the Secret of Another World'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Giant Telescope'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Magnetic Silencer'' ]


=== Original series (1910–1941) ===
===Books in ''The Tom Swift, Jr. Adventure Series''===
{{quote box | bgcolor = #eee8aa | width = 26em | align = right
| quote =
"All right, Dad. Go ahead, laugh."


"Well, Tom, I'm not exactly laughing at you&nbsp;... it's more at the idea than anything else. The idea of talking over a wire and, at the same time, having light waves, as well as electrical waves passing over the same conductors!"
# ''Tom Swift and His Flying Lab'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Jetmarine'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Rocket Ship'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Giant Robot'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Atomic Earth Blaster'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Outpost in Space'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Diving Seacopter'' ]
# ''Tom Swift in The Caves of Nuclear Fire'' ]
# ''Tom Swift on The Phantom Satellite'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Ultrasonic Cycloplane'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and The Deep-Sea Hydrodome'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Race to the Moon'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Space Solartron'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Electronic Retroscope'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Spectromarine Selector'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and The Cosmic Astronauts'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and The Visitor from Planet X'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and The Electronic Hydrolung'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Triphibian Atomicar'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Megascope Space Prober'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and The Asteroid Pirates'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Repelatron Skyway'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Aquatomic Tracker'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His 3-D Telejector'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Polar -Ray Dynasphere'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Sonic Boom Trap'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Subocean Geotron'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and The Mystery Comet'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and The Captive Planetoid'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His G-Force Inverter'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Dyna-4 Capsule'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and His Cosmotron Express'' ]
# ''Tom Swift and The Galaxy Ghosts'' ]


"All right, Dad. Go ahead and laugh. I don't mind," said Tom, good-naturedly. "Folks laughed at ], when he said he could send a human voice over a copper string&nbsp;..."
===Books in ''Tom Swift'' (Third Series)===
| source = — ''Tom Swift and His Photo Telephone'' (1912)<ref>Quoted in Prager (1976).</ref>
# ''Tom Swift: The City in the Stars'' ]
}}
# ''Tom Swift: Terror on the Moons of Jupiter'' ]
In the original series, Tom Swift lives in fictional Shopton, ]. He is the son of Barton Swift, the founder of the Swift Construction Company. Tom's mother is deceased, but the housekeeper, Mrs. Baggert, functions as a surrogate mother.<ref name="Molson"/> Tom usually shares his adventures with close friend Ned Newton, who eventually becomes the Swift Construction Company's financial manager. For most of the series, Tom dates Mary Nestor. It has been suggested that his eventual marriage to Mary led to the series' demise, as young boys found a married man harder to identify with than a young, single one;<ref name="Time">"Chip off the Old Block" (1954)</ref> however, after the 1929 marriage the series continued for 12 more years and eight further volumes. Regularly appearing characters include Wakefield Damon, an older man, whose dialogue is characterized by frequent use of such whimsical expressions as "Bless my brakeshoes!" and "Bless my vest buttons!"
# ''Tom Swift: The Alien Probe'' ]
# ''Tom Swift: The War in Outer Space'' ]
# ''Tom Swift: The Astral Fortress ]
# ''Tom Swift: The Rescue Mission'' ]
# ''Tom Swift: Ark Two'' ]
# ''Tom Swift: Crater of Mystery'' ]
# ''Tom Swift: Gateway to Doom'' ]
# ''Tom Swift: The Invisible Force'' ]
# ''Tom Swift: Planet of Nightmares'' ]


The original Tom Swift has been claimed to represent the early 20th-century conception of inventors.<ref>Molson (1999), 9–10.</ref> Tom has no formal education after high school;<ref>Prager (1971), 131.</ref> according to critic Robert Von der Osten, Tom's ability to invent is presented as "somehow innate".<ref name="Von269">Von der Osten (2004), 269.</ref> Tom is not a theorist but a tinkerer and, later, an experimenter who, with his research team, finds practical applications for others' research;<ref>Molson (1999), 10.</ref> Tom does not so much methodically develop and perfect inventions as find them by trial and error.<ref>Von der Osten (2004), 278–279.</ref>
===Books in ''Tom Swift'' (Fourth Series)===


Tom's inventions are not at first innovative. In the first two books of the series, he fixes a motorcycle and a boat, and in the third book he develops an airship, but only with the help of a balloonist.<ref name="Von269" /> Tom is also at times unsure of himself, asking his elders for help; as Von der Osten puts it, "the early Tom Swift is more dependent on his father and other adults at first and is much more hesitant in his actions. When his airship bangs into a tower, Tom is uncharacteristically nonplussed and needs support."<ref>Von der Osten (2004), 271.</ref> However, as the series progresses, Tom's inventions "show an increasingly independent genius as he develops devices, such as an electric rifle and a photo telephone, further removed from the scientific norm".<ref name="Vonder">Von der Osten (2004), 270.</ref> Some of Tom's inventions are improvements of then-current technologies,<ref>Sullivan (1999), 23.</ref> while other inventions were not in development at the time the books were published, but have since been developed.<ref name="Purpura 1996 187">{{cite book|last=Purpura|first=Philip P.|title=Criminal justice : an introduction|year=1996|publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann|location=Boston|isbn=978-0-7506-9630-2|page=187|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P8-oSPHlHXoC |access-date=January 27, 2015 |quote=The TASER (Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle) is a hand-held "stun gun" that discharges high voltage via tiny wires and darts}}</ref>
# ''The Black Dragon'' ]
# ''The Negative Zone'' ]
# ''Cyborg Kickboxer'' ]
# ''The DNA Disaster'' ]
# ''Monster Machine'' ]
# ''The Aquatech Warriors'' ]
# ''The Moonstalker'' ]
# ''The Microbots'' ]
# ''Fire Biker'' ]
# ''Mind Games'' ]
# ''Mutant Beach'' ]
# ''Death Quake'' ]
# ''Quantum Force'' ]


=== Second series (1954–1971) ===
===Hardy Boys and Tom Swift Ultra Thrillers===
{{main|Tom Swift Jr.}}
] crossover books from the fourth series:
# ''Time Bomb'' ]
# ''The Alien Factor'' ]


{{quote box | bgcolor = #eee8aa | width = 26em
Many of the Tom Swift books are available as downloadable texts from ].
| quote =
"Did you have time to learn anything?" Bud asked the young inventor.


Tom shrugged. "A little. I was using my new gadget as a wave trap or antenna to capture light of a single wave length from certain stars so I could study their ]."
Asteroid (14941) Tomswift is named in honor of this fictional inventor.
| source = From ''Tom Swift and His Polar-Ray Dynasphere'' (1965).<ref>Appleton II (1965), 4.</ref>
}}


In this series, presented as an extension and continuation of the first, the Tom Swift of the original series is now the ] of Swift Enterprises, a four-mile-square enclosed facility where inventions are conceived and manufactured. Tom's son, Tom Swift Jr., is now the primary inventive genius of the family. Stratemeyer Syndicate employee Andrew Svenson described the new series as based "on scientific fact and probability, whereas the old Toms were in the main adventure stories mixed with pseudo-science".<ref>Andrew Svenson, quoted in Dizer (1982), 45.</ref> Three ]s in science were hired as consultants to the series to ensure scientific accuracy.<ref name="Time"/> The younger Tom does not tinker with motorcycles; his inventions and adventures extend from deep within the Earth (in ''Tom Swift and His Atomic Earth Blaster'' ) to the bottom of the ocean (in ''Tom Swift and His Diving Seacopter'' ) to the Moon (in ''Tom Swift in the Race to the Moon'' ) and, eventually, the outer Solar System (in ''Tom Swift and His Cosmotron Express'' ). Later volumes of the series increasingly emphasized the ] "space friends", as they are termed throughout the series.<ref>See Dizer (1982), 59.</ref> The beings appear as early as the first volume of the series, ''Tom Swift and His Flying Lab'' (1954). The Tom Swift Jr., Adventures were less commercially successful than the first series, selling 6 million copies total, compared with sales of 14 million copies for the first series.<ref name="Disch">Disch (2007).</ref>
==External links==

* of Garis's works, under the pseudonym of Victor Appleton, at ]
In contrast to the earlier series, many of Tom Jr.'s inventions are designed to operate in space,<ref name="Molson"/> and his "genius is unequivocally original as he constructs nuclear-powered flying labs, establishes outposts in space, or designs ways to sail in space on cosmic rays".<ref name="Vonder"/> Unlike his father, Tom Jr. is not just a tinkerer; he relies on scientific and mathematical theories, and, according to critic Robert Von der Osten, "science is, in fact, understood to be a set of theories that are developed based on experimentation and scientific discussion. Rather than being opposed to technological advances, such a theoretical understanding becomes essential to invention."<ref name="Von279">Von der Osten (2004), 279.</ref>
*

*
Tom Swift Jr.'s ]-era adventures and inventions are often motivated by patriotism, as Tom repeatedly defeats the evil agents of the fictional nations "Kranjovia" and "Brungaria", the latter a place that critic Francis Molson describes as "a vaguely Eastern European country, which is strongly opposed to the Swifts and the U.S. Hence, the Swifts' opposition to and competition with the Brungarians is both personal and patriotic."<ref name="Molson"/>
*

*
=== Third series (1981–1984) ===
*
{{main|Tom Swift III}}
]

]
The third Tom Swift series differs from the first two in that the setting is primarily outer space, although Swift Enterprises (located now in ]) is occasionally mentioned. Tom Swift explores the universe in the starship ''Exedra'', using a ] drive he has ] from an alien space probe. He is aided by Benjamin Franklin Walking Eagle, a ] who is Tom's co-pilot, best friend, and an expert computer technician, and Anita Thorwald, a former rival of Tom's who now works with him as a technician and whose right leg has been rebuilt to contain a miniature computer.<ref name="Molson"/>
]

]
This series maintains only an occasional and vague continuity with the two previous series. Tom is called the son of "the great Tom Swift"<ref>Appleton (1981), 38.</ref> and said to be "already an important and active contributor to the family business, the giant multimillion-dollar scientific-industrial complex known as Swift Enterprises".<ref>Appleton (1981), 10–11.</ref> However, as critic Francis Molson indicates, it is not explained whether this Tom Swift is the grandson of the famous Tom Swift of the first series or still the Tom Swift Jr. of the second.<ref name="Molson"/>

The Tom Swift of this third series is less of an inventor than his predecessors, and his inventions are rarely the main feature of the plot. Still, according to Molson, "Tom the inventor is not ignored. Perhaps the most impressive of his inventions and the one essential to the series as a whole is the robot he designs and builds, Aristotle, which becomes a winning and likeable character in its own right." The books are slower-paced than the Tom Swift Jr. adventures of the second series, and include realistic, colloquial dialogue. Each volume begins where the last one ended, and the technology is plausible and accurate.<ref name="Molson"/>

=== Fourth series (1991–1993) ===
{{main|Tom Swift IV}}

The fourth series featuring Tom Swift (again a "Jr.") is set mostly on Earth (with occasional voyages to the Moon); Swift Enterprises is now located in California.<ref>Davis (1991), 73.</ref> In the first book, ''The Black Dragon'', it's mentioned that Tom is the son of Tom Swift Sr. and Mary Nestor. The books deal with what Richard Pyle describes as "modern and futuristic concepts" and, as in the third series, feature an ethnically diverse cast of characters.<ref name="Pyle"/>

Like the Tom Swift Jr. series, the series portrays Tom as a scientist as well as an inventor whose inventions depend on a knowledge of theory.<ref name="Von279"/> The series differs from previous versions of the character, however, in that Tom's inventive genius is portrayed as problematic and sometimes dangerous. As Robert Von der Osten argues, Tom's inventions for this series often have unexpected and negative repercussions.

<blockquote>
a device to create a miniature ] which casts him into an alternative universe; a device that trains muscles but also distorts the mind of the user; and a genetic process which, combined with the effect of his black hole, results in a terrifying ]. Genius here begins to recapitulate earlier myths of the mad scientist whose technological and scientific ambitions are so out of harmony with nature and contemporary science that the results are usually unfortunate.<ref name="Vonder"/>
</blockquote>

The series features more violence than previous series; in ''The Negative Zone'', Tom blows up a motel room to escape the authorities.<ref name="Disch"/>

There was a derivative of this series featuring Tom Swift and the Hardy Boys called ''A Hardy Boys & Tom Swift Ultra Thriller'' that was published from 1992 to 1993, and only had 2 volumes released. Both books dealt with science fictional topics (time travel and aliens landing on earth).

=== Fifth series (2006–2007) ===
The fifth series, ''Tom Swift, Young Inventor'', returns Tom Swift to Shopton, New York, with Tom as the son of Tom Swift and Mary Nestor, the names of characters of the original Tom Swift series.<ref name="Carter">Carter (2006).</ref> The series features inventions that are close to current technology "rather than ultra-futuristic".<ref name="Carter"/> In several of the books, Tom's antagonist is The Road Back (TRB), an anti-technology terrorist organization. Tom's personal nemesis is Andy Foger, teenage son of his father's former business partner who now owns a competing (and ethically dubious) high-technology company.<ref>{{cite book |last=Appleton |first=Victor |date=2007 |title=Under the Radar |page=53 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4169-3644-2}}</ref>

=== Sixth series (2019-2022) ===
A sixth series, ''Tom Swift Inventors' Academy'', published by Simon and Schuster, debuted in July 2019 with #1 ''The Drone Pursuit'' and #2 ''The Sonic Breach''. A total of eight books were published, concluding with #8 ''Depth Perception'' in March 2022.<ref name="sscurrent">{{cite book |url=http://www.simonandschuster.ca/series/Tom-Swift-Inventors-Academy?intcmp=np_series_link |title=Tom Swift Inventors' Academy |publisher=Simon & Schuster |access-date=February 4, 2023}}</ref>

== Other media ==
] produced a Tom Swift board game in 1966,<ref>Erardi (2008).</ref> although it was never widely distributed, and the character has appeared in one television show. Various Tom Swift radio programs, television series, and movies were planned and even written, but were either never produced or not released.

=== Film and television ===
==== Cancelled films ====
As early as 1914, Edward Stratemeyer proposed making a Tom Swift movie, but no such movie was made.<ref name="Keeline"/> A Tom Swift radio series was proposed in 1946. Two scripts were written, but, for unknown reasons, the series was never produced.<ref name="Keeline"/> ] planned a Tom Swift feature movie in 1968, to be directed by ]. A script was written and approved, and filming was to have begun during 1969. However, the project was canceled owing to the poor reception of the movies '']'' and '']'';<ref name="Prager"/> a $500,000 airship that had been built as a prop was rumored to have been sold to a midwest amusement park.<ref name="Keeline"/> Yet another movie was planned in 1974, but, again, was cancelled.<ref name="Keeline"/>

==== Television ====
{{Main|Tom Swift (TV series)}}
Scripts were written for a proposed television series involving both Tom Swift Jr. and his father, the hero of the original book series. A television pilot show for a series to be called ''The Adventures of Tom Swift'' was filmed in 1958, featuring ]. However, legal problems prevented the pilot's distribution, and it was never broadcast; no copies of the pilot are known to exist, though the pilot script is available.<ref name="Keeline"/> In 1977, ] wrote an unproduced television pilot show entitled "TS, I Love You: The Further Adventures of Tom Swift".<ref>Keeline (2012).</ref> This series was to be combined with a ] series, a ] series, and a ] series. Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys were eventually combined into a one-hour program '']'' with alternating episodes.

A Tom Swift media project finally came to fruition in 1983 when ] appeared as Tom Swift along with ] as Linda Craig in a television special, ''The Tom Swift and Linda Craig Mystery Hour'', which was broadcast on July 3. It was a ratings failure.<ref name="Keeline"/> In 2007, digital studio Worldwide Biggies acquired movie rights to Tom Swift<ref name="Hayes">Hayes (2007)</ref> and announced plans to release a feature film and video game, followed by a television series. As of 2015, these plans had not come to fruition.

Tom Swift appeared in the episode "The Celestial Visitor" from the second season of ]'s '']'' with Tian Richards portraying the character as a black, gay, billionaire inventor. The episode is a ] for a spin-off project titled '']'', in development at The CW.<ref>{{cite web|first=Will|last=Thorne|url=https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/nancy-drew-spinoff-tom-swift-development-cw-1234818058/|title='Nancy Drew' Spinoff Series 'Tom Swift' in Development at CW|date=October 28, 2020|website=Variety|access-date=October 28, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Nellie|last=Andreeva|url=https://deadline.com/2021/01/tian-richards-cast-tom-swift-lead-nancy-drew-spinoff-the-cw-backdoor-pilot-1234681014/|title=Tian Richards Cast As Lead Tom Swift In 'Nancy Drew' Spinoff On the CW|date=January 26, 2021|website=Variety|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Nellie|last=Andreeva|url=https://deadline.com/2021/01/tian-richards-cast-tom-swift-lead-nancy-drew-spinoff-the-cw-backdoor-pilot-1234681014/|title=Ruben Garcia To Direct 'Tom Swift' Planted Spinoff Episode Of 'Nancy Drew'|date=February 8, 2021|website=Variety|access-date=February 10, 2021}}</ref> In August 2021, ''Tom Swift'' was ordered straight-to-series and premiered on May 31, 2022 on The CW.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/showatch/tom-swift/listings/|title=Shows A-Z : ''Tom Swift'' on The CW|website=]|access-date=May 27, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/nancy-drew-spinoff-tom-swift-series-the-cw-1235052120/|title='Nancy Drew' Spinoff 'Tom Swift' Ordered to Series at The CW|website=Variety|first=Joe|last=Otterson|date=August 30, 2021|access-date=August 30, 2021|language=en-US}}</ref> In February 2022, ] joined the cast as Zenzi Fullington.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Andreeva |first1=Nellie |title=Ashleigh Murray To Star In 'Tom Swift', Joining Tian Richards In the CW's 'Nancy Drew' Spinoff |url=https://deadline.com/2022/02/tom-swift-ashleigh-murray-nancy-drew-spinoff-the-cw-tian-richards-1234928016/ |website=]|date=February 7, 2022}}</ref> Due to poor ratings, the series was cancelled on June 30 that year.<ref>{{cite web |author= Lynette Rice & Nellie Andreeva|title='Tom Swift' Canceled By CW After One Season
|url=https://deadline.com/2022/06/tom-swift-canceled-by-cw-one-season-1235055092/|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=June 30, 2022}}</ref>

== Depiction of race ==
''Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle'' (published 1911) depicts Africans as brutish, uncivilized animals, and the white protagonist as their paternal savior. {{Blockquote|text=In the book, as in America today, the black people are rendered as either passive, simple and childlike, or animalistic and capable of unimaginable violence. They are described in the book at various points as "hideous in their savagery, wearing only the loin cloth, and with their kinky hair stuck full of sticks", and as "wild, savage and ferocious ... like little red apes". |author=Jamiles Lartey<ref name=racism>{{cite news|last1=Lartey|first1=Jamiles|title=Where did the word 'Taser' come from? A century-old racist science fiction novel|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/30/history-of-word-taser-comes-from-century-old-racist-science-fiction-novel|access-date=December 1, 2015|work=The Guardian|date=December 1, 2015}}</ref>}}

== Cultural influence ==
]

The Tom Swift books have been credited with assisting the success of American science fiction and with establishing the ] (stories focusing on brilliant scientists and inventors) as a basic cultural myth.<ref>Landon (2002), 48.</ref> Tom Swift's adventures have been popular since the character's inception in 1910: by 1914, 150,000 copies a year were being sold<ref name="Keeline">Keeline.</ref> and a 1929 study found the series to be second in popularity only to the ] for boys in their early teens.<ref>Von der Osten (2004), 268.</ref> By 2009, Tom Swift books had sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.<ref name="Prager" /> The success of Tom Swift also paved the way for other Stratemeyer creations, such as ] and ].

The series' writing style, which was sometimes adverb heavy, suggested a name for a type of adverbial pun promulgated during the 1950s and 1960s, a type of ] known as "]".<ref name="SS1">{{cite web| last=Lundin|first=Leigh| title=Wellerness| url=http://www.sleuthsayers.org/2011/11/wellerness.html |work=Word Play| publisher=SleuthSayers| location=Orlando |date= November 20, 2011}}</ref> Originally this kind of pun was called a "Tom Swiftly" in reference to the adverbial usage. Over time, it has come to be called a "Tom Swifty".{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} Some examples are {{"'}}I lost my crutches,' said Tom lamely", and {{"'}}I'll take the prisoner downstairs', said Tom condescendingly."<ref name=":1">{{Cite magazine |date=1963-05-31 |title=Season for Swifties |language=en-US |magazine=Time |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,896821,00.html |access-date=2023-10-22 |issn=0040-781X}}</ref>

Tom Swift's fictional inventions have apparently inspired several actual inventions, among them ]'s "Tom Swift Terminal", which "drove the creation of an early personal computer known as the ]",<ref>Turner (2006), 115.</ref> and the ]. The name "taser" was originally "TSER", for "Tom Swift Electric Rifle". The invention was named for the central device in the story ''Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle'' (1911); according to inventor ], "an 'A' was added because we got tired of answering the phone 'TSER'."<ref>Sun Wire Services (2009).</ref>

A number of scientists, inventors, and science fiction writers have also credited Tom Swift with inspiring them, including ],<ref>Pilkington (2009), 32.</ref> ], and ].<ref>Bleiler and Bleiler (1990), 15.</ref> '']'' author ] was also known to have read the first series as a child.<ref name=autogenerated41>Jones, A. G., ''Tomorrow is Another Day: the woman writer in the South, 1859–1936'', p. 322.</ref> Filmmaker ] shows the 16-year-old ] reading a Tom Swift novel — and the author Edward Stratemeyer himself appearing as a character — in the episode ''Spring Break Adventure'' of the television series '']''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Many Adventures of Tom Swift by "Victor Appleton" {{!}} Tor.com |url=https://www.tor.com/2019/11/21/the-many-adventures-of-tom-swift-by-victor-appleton/ |access-date=2023-10-22 |website=www.tor.com|date=21 November 2019 }}</ref>

The Tom Swift Jr. series was also a source of inspiration to many. Scientist and television presenter ] said the books helped "make me who I am", and they inspired him to launch his own young adult series.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.inverse.com/article/32511-bill-nye-jack-and-the-geniuses-book|title=Bill Nye Says An Adventure Book Inspired Him to Become a Scientist|last=Sloat|first=Sarah|date=June 5, 2017|website=Inverse|access-date=April 20, 2019}}</ref> Microsoft founders ] and ] also read the books as children, as did co-founder of competing company ], ].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/paul-allen-microsoft-co-founder-and-billionaire-investor-dies-at-xx/2018/10/15/17884968-d0c6-11e8-8c22-fa2ef74bd6d6_story.html|title=Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder and billionaire investor, dies at 65|last=Smith|first=Harrison|date=October 15, 2018|newspaper=]|access-date=April 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>Kendall (2000), 4.</ref> Wozniak, who cited the series as his inspiration to become a scientist, said the books made him feel "that engineers can save the world from all sorts of conflict and evil".<ref>Comment published on the blurb to Nitrozac (2003).</ref><ref>Linzmayer (2004), 1.</ref>

== See also ==
* ]
* ]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist |20em}}

== References ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book
| title = The City in the Stars
| last = Appleton
| first = Victor
| year = 1981
| location = New York
| publisher = Simon & Schuster
| isbn = 978-0-671-41115-2
}}
* {{cite book
| title = Tom Swift and His Polar-Ray Dynasphere
| last = Appleton II
| first = Victor
| year = 1965
| location = New York
| publisher = Grosset & Dunlap
}}
* {{cite book
| title = Science-fiction, the early years: a full description of more than 3,000 science-fiction stories from earliest times to the appearance of the genre magazines in 1930 : with author, title, and motif indexes
| last = Bleiler
| first = Everett Franklin
| author2 = Richard Bleiler
| year = 1990
| location = Ohio
| publisher = Kent State University Press
| isbn = 978-0-87338-416-2
| url = https://archive.org/details/sciencefictionea0000blei
| url-access = registration
}}
* {{cite book
| title = The chronology of American literature: America's literary achievements from the colonial era to modern times
| last = Burt
| first = Daniel S
| year = 2004
| location = New York
| publisher = Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
| isbn = 978-0-618-16821-7
}}
* {{cite news
|last = Carter
|first = R.J.
|title = Book Review: Into the Abyss (Tom Swift, Young Inventor #1)
|work = The Trades
|publisher = Burlee LLC
|date = 22 June 2006
|url = http://www.the-trades.com/article.php?id=4448
|access-date = June 20, 2009
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071006000042/http://www.the-trades.com/article.php?id=4448
|archive-date = October 6, 2007
}}
* {{cite journal
| title = Chip off the Old Block
| journal = Time Magazine
| date = January 4, 1954
| url = http://www.tomswift.info/homepage/ts_times_ad.jpg
| access-date = May 3, 2009
}}
* {{cite news
| last = Davis
| first = William A
| title = Boy inventor moves Swiftly into the '90s
| work = The Boston Globe
| page = 73
| date = June 12, 1991
| url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7664283.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160313054627/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7664283.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = March 13, 2016
| access-date = May 5, 2009
}}
* {{cite magazine
| last = Disch
| first = Thomas M
| title = Book Review: Tom Swift: The Negative Zone
| magazine = Entertainment Weekly
| date = December 21, 2007
| url = https://ew.com/article/1991/06/21/tom-swift-negative-zone/
| access-date = May 22, 2009
}}
* {{cite book
| title = Tom Swift & Company
| last = Dizer
| first = John T
| year = 1982
| location = Jefferson, North Carolina
| publisher = McFarland Publishing
| isbn = 978-0-89950-024-9
}}
* Erardi, Glenn (13 December 2008). "Porcelains are 'Piano Babies'". ''The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, MA)''. Accessed through Access World News on May 23, 2009.
* Fowler, Elizabeth M. (9 September 1962). "Personality: Bookkeeper Now a Publisher". ''The New York Times'', p.&nbsp;159. Accessed through ProQuest Historical Newspapers on May 23, 2009.
* {{cite web
| last = Hayes
| first = Dade
| title = Worldwide scoops up 'Tom Swift': Hecht's studio nabs rights to entire book series
| work = Variety
| date = November 26, 2007
| url = https://variety.com/2007/film/markets-festivals/worldwide-scoops-up-tom-swift-1117976545/
| access-date = May 3, 2009
}}
* {{cite book
| title = The Diamond Makers
| last = Hazen
| first = Robert
| year = 1999
| location = Cambridge
| publisher = Cambridge University Press
| isbn = 978-0-521-65474-6
}}
* {{cite book
| title = Stratemeyer Pseudonyms and Series Books
| last = Johnson
| first = Deidre
| year = 1982
| location = California
| publisher = Greenwood Press
| isbn = 978-0-313-22632-8
| url = https://archive.org/details/stratemeyerpseud1982john
| url-access = registration
}}
* {{cite web
| last = Keeline
| first = James D
| title = Tom Swift on the Silver Screen
| url = http://www.keeline.com/Tom_Swift_Silver_Screen.pdf
| access-date = May 3, 2009
| archive-date = September 7, 2008
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080907085031/http://www.keeline.com/Tom_Swift_Silver_Screen.pdf
| url-status = dead
}}
* {{cite web
| last = Keeline
| first = James D
| title = Tom Swift film attempt of 1966–69 and a few others before and after
| work = Yahoo! Groups: Tom-Swift
| date = January 21, 2012
| url = https://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tom-Swift/message/12153
| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130210032152/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tom-Swift/message/12153
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = February 10, 2013
| access-date = June 27, 2012
}}
* {{cite book
| title = Steve Wozniak: Inventor of the Apple Computer
| last = Kendall
| first = Martha
| year = 2000
| location = California
| publisher = Highland Publishing Group
| isbn = 978-0-945783-08-4
}}
* {{cite book
| title = The singularity is near: when humans transcend biology
| last = Kurzweil
| first = Ray
| year = 2005
| location = New York
| publisher = Viking
| isbn = 978-0-670-03384-3
| url = https://archive.org/details/singularityisnea00kurz
}}
* {{cite book
| title = Science fiction after 1900: from the steam man to the stars
| last = Landon
| first = Brooks
| year = 2002
| location = New York
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 978-0-415-93888-4
}}
* {{cite book
| title = Apple confidential 2.0: the definitive history of the world's most colorful company
| last = Linzmayer
| first = Owen
| year = 2004
| location = California
| publisher = No Starch Press
| isbn = 978-1-59327-010-0
}}
* {{cite book
| title = "American Technological Fiction for Youth: 1900–1940" in Young Adult Science Fiction
| last = Molson
| first = Francis J
| editor1-last = Sullivan
| editor1-first = Charles William
| year = 1999
| location = California
| publisher = Greenwood Press
| isbn = 978-0-313-28940-8
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Molson
| first = Francis J
| title = Three Generations of Tom Swift
| journal = Children's Literature Association Quarterly
| volume = 10
| issue = 2
| pages = 60–63
| date = Summer 1985
| issn = 0885-0429
| doi = 10.1353/chq.0.0612
| s2cid = 144296755
}}
* {{cite book
| title = The Best of the Joy of Tech
| last = Nitrozac
| first = Snaggy
| year = 2003
| publisher = O'Reilly
| location = California
| isbn = 978-0-596-00578-8
}}
* {{cite news
| last = Pilkington
| first = Ed
| title = The future is going to be very exciting
| work = Mail & Guardian Online
| page = 32
| date = May 2, 2009
| url = http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-05-02-the-future-is-going-to-be-very-exciting
| access-date = May 5, 2009
}}
* {{cite book
| title = The Nancy Drew Scrapbook: 60 years of America's favorite teenage sleuth
| last = Plunkett-Powell
| first = Karen
| year = 1993
| publisher = St. Martin's Press
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-0-312-09881-0
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Prager
| first = Arthur
| title = Bless my collar button, if it isn't Tom Swift, the world's greatest inventor
| journal = American Heritage
| date = December 1976
| volume = 28
| issue = 1
| page = 64}}
* {{cite book
| title = Rascals at Large, or, The Clue in the Old Nostalgia
| last = Prager
| first = Arthur
| year = 1971
| publisher = Doubleday
| location = New York
| oclc = 200980
| isbn = 99974-860-7-2
}}
* Pyle, Richard (16 August 1991). "Tom Swift tries to reinvent appeal". ''The Tampa Tribune'', p.&nbsp;1. Accessed through Access World News on May 23, 2009.
* {{cite news
| title = Season for Swifties
| work = Time Magazine
| date = May 31, 1963
| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,896821,00.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081222102222/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,896821,00.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = December 22, 2008
| access-date = May 22, 2009
}}
* {{cite book
| title = "American Young Adult Science Fiction Since 1947" in Young Adult Science Fiction
| last = Sullivan
| first = Charles William
| editor1-last = Sullivan
| editor1-first = Charles William
| year =1999
| publisher = Greenwood Press
| location = California
| isbn = 978-0-313-28940-8
}}
* {{cite news
| last = Sun Wire Services
| title = Taser inventor dies at 88
| work = The Toronto Sun
| page = 17
| date = February 14, 2009
| url = http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2009/02/14/8390136-sun.html
| access-date = January 27, 2015
| archive-date = March 12, 2016
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160312073352/http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2009/02/14/8390136-sun.html
| url-status = dead
}}
* {{cite news
| title = Tom Swift, Master Inventor
| work = St. Petersburg Times
| date = March 19, 1956
| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0doOAAAAIBAJ&pg=4229,2236368&dq=tom-swift
| access-date = May 22, 2009
}}
* {{cite book
| title = From counterculture to cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the rise of digital utopianism
| last = Turner
| first = Fred
| year = 2006
| publisher = University of Chicago Press
| location = Chicago
| isbn = 978-0-226-81741-5
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Von der Osten
| first = Robert
| title = Four Generations of Tom Swift: Ideology in Juvenile Science Fiction
| journal = The Lion and the Unicorn
| volume = 28
| issue = 2
| pages = 268–283
| date = April 2004
| doi = 10.1353/uni.2004.0023
| s2cid = 201746322
}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web
| last = Finnan
| first = Robert
| title = The Tom Swift Unofficial Home Page
| year = 1996
| url = https://tomswift.net
}}

== External links ==
*
*
*
*
* at ] (public domain audiobooks)
* {{librivox book | title=Tom Swift | author=Appleton, Victor}}
* {{isfdb series|id=3849|title=Tom Swift}}

{{Early Juvenile Series}}
{{Baby Boomer Series}}
{{Portal bar|Children's literature|Novels}}{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, Tom}}
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Latest revision as of 02:24, 21 December 2024

Fictional literary character For other uses, see Tom Swift (disambiguation).
Book cover showing title, and author "Victor Appleton". The title is surmounted by a drawing of a boy in a curly brimmed hat. Around the title are pictures of a plane, a car, a boat and a motor cycle.
Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle (1910), the first Tom Swift book

Tom Swift is the main character of six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. Inaugurated in 1910, the sequence of series comprises more than 100 volumes. The first Tom Swift – later, Tom Swift Sr. – was created by Edward Stratemeyer, the founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book packaging firm. Tom's adventures have been written by various ghostwriters, beginning with Howard Garis. Most of the books are credited to the collective pseudonym "Victor Appleton". The 33 volumes of the second series use the pseudonym Victor Appleton II for the author. For this series, and some later ones, the main character is "Tom Swift Jr." New titles have been published again from 2019 after a gap of about ten years, roughly the time that has passed before every resumption. Most of the series emphasized Tom's inventions. The books generally describe the effects of science and technology as wholly beneficial, and the role of the inventor in society as admirable and heroic.

Translated into many languages, the books have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. Tom Swift has also been the subject of a board game and several attempted adaptations into other media.

Tom Swift has been cited as an inspiration by various scientists and inventors, including aircraft designer Kelly Johnson.

Inventions

Book cover showing title with TOM SWIFT in huge letters. In the illustration, a group of people look at a large tubular telescope angled upwards to the right.
Tom Swift and His Giant Telescope (1939), from the original Tom Swift series

In his various incarnations, Tom Swift, usually a teenager, is inventive and science-minded, "Swift by name and swift by nature." Tom is portrayed as a natural genius. In the earlier series, he is said to have had little formal education, the character modeled originally after such inventors as Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss and Alberto Santos-Dumont. For most of the six series, each book concerns Tom's latest invention, and its role either in solving a problem or mystery, or in assisting Tom in feats of exploration or rescue. Often Tom must protect his new invention from villains "intent on stealing Tom's thunder or preventing his success," but Tom is always successful in the end.

Many of Tom Swift's fictional inventions describe actual technological developments or predate technologies now considered commonplace. Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers (1911) was based on Charles Parsons's attempts to synthesize diamonds using electric current. Tom Swift and His Photo Telephone was published in 1914. Sending photographs by telephone was not fully developed until 1925. Tom Swift and His Wizard Camera (1912) features a portable movie camera, not invented until 1923. Tom Swift and His Electric Locomotive (1922) was published two years before the Central Railroad of New Jersey began using the first diesel electric locomotive. The house on wheels that Tom invents for 1929's Tom Swift and His House on Wheels pre-dated the first house trailer by a year. Tom Swift and His Diving Seacopter (1952) features a flying submarine similar to one planned by the United States Department of Defense four years later in 1956. Other inventions of Tom's have not happened, such as the device for silencing airplane engines that he invents in Tom Swift and His Magnetic Silencer (1941).

Authorship

The character of Tom Swift was conceived about 1910 by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, a book-packaging business, although the name "Tom Swift" was first used in 1903 by Stratemeyer in Shorthand Tom the Reporter; Or, the Exploits of a Bright Boy. Stratemeyer invented the series to capitalize on the market for children's science adventures. The Syndicate's authors created the Tom Swift stories by first preparing an outline with the plot elements, followed by drafting and editing the detailed manuscript. The books were published using the house pseudonym "Victor Appleton". Howard Garis wrote most of the volumes of 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 using the pseudonym "Victor Appleton II" as author. The main character Tom Swift, Junior, was described as the son of the original Tom Swift. Most of the stories 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.

A third series was begun in 1981 and lasted until 1984. The rights to the Tom Swift character, along with the Stratemeyer Syndicate, were sold in 1984 to publishers Simon & Schuster. They hired New York City book packaging business Mega-Books to produce further series. Simon & Schuster has published three more Tom Swift series: one from 1991 to 1993;Tom Swift, Young Inventor from 2006 to 2007; and Tom Swift Inventors Academy from 2019 to present—eight volumes as of Depth Perception (March 2022).

Series

Main article: List of Tom Swift books

The longest-running series of books to feature Tom Swift is the first, which consists of 40 volumes. Tom's son (Tom Swift Jr.) was also the name of the protagonist of the 33 volumes of the Tom Swift Jr. Adventures, the 11 volumes of the third Tom Swift series, the 13 volumes of the fourth, and a half-dozen more for the most recent series, Tom Swift, Young Inventor, for a total of 103 volumes for all the series. In addition to publication in the United States, Tom Swift books have been published extensively in England, and translated into Norwegian, French, Icelandic, and Finnish.

Original series (1910–1941)

"All right, Dad. Go ahead, laugh."

"Well, Tom, I'm not exactly laughing at you ... it's more at the idea than anything else. The idea of talking over a wire and, at the same time, having light waves, as well as electrical waves passing over the same conductors!"

"All right, Dad. Go ahead and laugh. I don't mind," said Tom, good-naturedly. "Folks laughed at Bell, when he said he could send a human voice over a copper string ..."

— Tom Swift and His Photo Telephone (1912)

In the original series, Tom Swift lives in fictional Shopton, New York. He is the son of Barton Swift, the founder of the Swift Construction Company. Tom's mother is deceased, but the housekeeper, Mrs. Baggert, functions as a surrogate mother. Tom usually shares his adventures with close friend Ned Newton, who eventually becomes the Swift Construction Company's financial manager. For most of the series, Tom dates Mary Nestor. It has been suggested that his eventual marriage to Mary led to the series' demise, as young boys found a married man harder to identify with than a young, single one; however, after the 1929 marriage the series continued for 12 more years and eight further volumes. Regularly appearing characters include Wakefield Damon, an older man, whose dialogue is characterized by frequent use of such whimsical expressions as "Bless my brakeshoes!" and "Bless my vest buttons!"

The original Tom Swift has been claimed to represent the early 20th-century conception of inventors. Tom has no formal education after high school; according to critic Robert Von der Osten, Tom's ability to invent is presented as "somehow innate". Tom is not a theorist but a tinkerer and, later, an experimenter who, with his research team, finds practical applications for others' research; Tom does not so much methodically develop and perfect inventions as find them by trial and error.

Tom's inventions are not at first innovative. In the first two books of the series, he fixes a motorcycle and a boat, and in the third book he develops an airship, but only with the help of a balloonist. Tom is also at times unsure of himself, asking his elders for help; as Von der Osten puts it, "the early Tom Swift is more dependent on his father and other adults at first and is much more hesitant in his actions. When his airship bangs into a tower, Tom is uncharacteristically nonplussed and needs support." However, as the series progresses, Tom's inventions "show an increasingly independent genius as he develops devices, such as an electric rifle and a photo telephone, further removed from the scientific norm". Some of Tom's inventions are improvements of then-current technologies, while other inventions were not in development at the time the books were published, but have since been developed.

Second series (1954–1971)

Main article: Tom Swift Jr.

"Did you have time to learn anything?" Bud asked the young inventor.

Tom shrugged. "A little. I was using my new gadget as a wave trap or antenna to capture light of a single wave length from certain stars so I could study their red shift."

From Tom Swift and His Polar-Ray Dynasphere (1965).

In this series, presented as an extension and continuation of the first, the Tom Swift of the original series is now the CEO of Swift Enterprises, a four-mile-square enclosed facility where inventions are conceived and manufactured. Tom's son, Tom Swift Jr., is now the primary inventive genius of the family. Stratemeyer Syndicate employee Andrew Svenson described the new series as based "on scientific fact and probability, whereas the old Toms were in the main adventure stories mixed with pseudo-science". Three PhDs in science were hired as consultants to the series to ensure scientific accuracy. The younger Tom does not tinker with motorcycles; his inventions and adventures extend from deep within the Earth (in Tom Swift and His Atomic Earth Blaster ) to the bottom of the ocean (in Tom Swift and His Diving Seacopter ) to the Moon (in Tom Swift in the Race to the Moon ) and, eventually, the outer Solar System (in Tom Swift and His Cosmotron Express ). Later volumes of the series increasingly emphasized the extraterrestrial "space friends", as they are termed throughout the series. The beings appear as early as the first volume of the series, Tom Swift and His Flying Lab (1954). The Tom Swift Jr., Adventures were less commercially successful than the first series, selling 6 million copies total, compared with sales of 14 million copies for the first series.

In contrast to the earlier series, many of Tom Jr.'s inventions are designed to operate in space, and his "genius is unequivocally original as he constructs nuclear-powered flying labs, establishes outposts in space, or designs ways to sail in space on cosmic rays". Unlike his father, Tom Jr. is not just a tinkerer; he relies on scientific and mathematical theories, and, according to critic Robert Von der Osten, "science is, in fact, understood to be a set of theories that are developed based on experimentation and scientific discussion. Rather than being opposed to technological advances, such a theoretical understanding becomes essential to invention."

Tom Swift Jr.'s Cold War-era adventures and inventions are often motivated by patriotism, as Tom repeatedly defeats the evil agents of the fictional nations "Kranjovia" and "Brungaria", the latter a place that critic Francis Molson describes as "a vaguely Eastern European country, which is strongly opposed to the Swifts and the U.S. Hence, the Swifts' opposition to and competition with the Brungarians is both personal and patriotic."

Third series (1981–1984)

Main article: Tom Swift III

The third Tom Swift series differs from the first two in that the setting is primarily outer space, although Swift Enterprises (located now in New Mexico) is occasionally mentioned. Tom Swift explores the universe in the starship Exedra, using a faster-than-light drive he has reverse-engineered from an alien space probe. He is aided by Benjamin Franklin Walking Eagle, a Native American who is Tom's co-pilot, best friend, and an expert computer technician, and Anita Thorwald, a former rival of Tom's who now works with him as a technician and whose right leg has been rebuilt to contain a miniature computer.

This series maintains only an occasional and vague continuity with the two previous series. Tom is called the son of "the great Tom Swift" and said to be "already an important and active contributor to the family business, the giant multimillion-dollar scientific-industrial complex known as Swift Enterprises". However, as critic Francis Molson indicates, it is not explained whether this Tom Swift is the grandson of the famous Tom Swift of the first series or still the Tom Swift Jr. of the second.

The Tom Swift of this third series is less of an inventor than his predecessors, and his inventions are rarely the main feature of the plot. Still, according to Molson, "Tom the inventor is not ignored. Perhaps the most impressive of his inventions and the one essential to the series as a whole is the robot he designs and builds, Aristotle, which becomes a winning and likeable character in its own right." The books are slower-paced than the Tom Swift Jr. adventures of the second series, and include realistic, colloquial dialogue. Each volume begins where the last one ended, and the technology is plausible and accurate.

Fourth series (1991–1993)

Main article: Tom Swift IV

The fourth series featuring Tom Swift (again a "Jr.") is set mostly on Earth (with occasional voyages to the Moon); Swift Enterprises is now located in California. In the first book, The Black Dragon, it's mentioned that Tom is the son of Tom Swift Sr. and Mary Nestor. The books deal with what Richard Pyle describes as "modern and futuristic concepts" and, as in the third series, feature an ethnically diverse cast of characters.

Like the Tom Swift Jr. series, the series portrays Tom as a scientist as well as an inventor whose inventions depend on a knowledge of theory. The series differs from previous versions of the character, however, in that Tom's inventive genius is portrayed as problematic and sometimes dangerous. As Robert Von der Osten argues, Tom's inventions for this series often have unexpected and negative repercussions.

a device to create a miniature black hole which casts him into an alternative universe; a device that trains muscles but also distorts the mind of the user; and a genetic process which, combined with the effect of his black hole, results in a terrifying devolution. Genius here begins to recapitulate earlier myths of the mad scientist whose technological and scientific ambitions are so out of harmony with nature and contemporary science that the results are usually unfortunate.

The series features more violence than previous series; in The Negative Zone, Tom blows up a motel room to escape the authorities.

There was a derivative of this series featuring Tom Swift and the Hardy Boys called A Hardy Boys & Tom Swift Ultra Thriller that was published from 1992 to 1993, and only had 2 volumes released. Both books dealt with science fictional topics (time travel and aliens landing on earth).

Fifth series (2006–2007)

The fifth series, Tom Swift, Young Inventor, returns Tom Swift to Shopton, New York, with Tom as the son of Tom Swift and Mary Nestor, the names of characters of the original Tom Swift series. The series features inventions that are close to current technology "rather than ultra-futuristic". In several of the books, Tom's antagonist is The Road Back (TRB), an anti-technology terrorist organization. Tom's personal nemesis is Andy Foger, teenage son of his father's former business partner who now owns a competing (and ethically dubious) high-technology company.

Sixth series (2019-2022)

A sixth series, Tom Swift Inventors' Academy, published by Simon and Schuster, debuted in July 2019 with #1 The Drone Pursuit and #2 The Sonic Breach. A total of eight books were published, concluding with #8 Depth Perception in March 2022.

Other media

Parker Brothers produced a Tom Swift board game in 1966, although it was never widely distributed, and the character has appeared in one television show. Various Tom Swift radio programs, television series, and movies were planned and even written, but were either never produced or not released.

Film and television

Cancelled films

As early as 1914, Edward Stratemeyer proposed making a Tom Swift movie, but no such movie was made. A Tom Swift radio series was proposed in 1946. Two scripts were written, but, for unknown reasons, the series was never produced. Twentieth Century Fox planned a Tom Swift feature movie in 1968, to be directed by Gene Kelly. A script was written and approved, and filming was to have begun during 1969. However, the project was canceled owing to the poor reception of the movies Doctor Dolittle and Star!; a $500,000 airship that had been built as a prop was rumored to have been sold to a midwest amusement park. Yet another movie was planned in 1974, but, again, was cancelled.

Television

Main article: Tom Swift (TV series)

Scripts were written for a proposed television series involving both Tom Swift Jr. and his father, the hero of the original book series. A television pilot show for a series to be called The Adventures of Tom Swift was filmed in 1958, featuring Gary Vinson. However, legal problems prevented the pilot's distribution, and it was never broadcast; no copies of the pilot are known to exist, though the pilot script is available. In 1977, Glen A. Larson wrote an unproduced television pilot show entitled "TS, I Love You: The Further Adventures of Tom Swift". This series was to be combined with a Nancy Drew series, a Hardy Boys series, and a Dana Girls series. Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys were eventually combined into a one-hour program The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries with alternating episodes.

A Tom Swift media project finally came to fruition in 1983 when Willie Aames appeared as Tom Swift along with Lori Loughlin as Linda Craig in a television special, The Tom Swift and Linda Craig Mystery Hour, which was broadcast on July 3. It was a ratings failure. In 2007, digital studio Worldwide Biggies acquired movie rights to Tom Swift and announced plans to release a feature film and video game, followed by a television series. As of 2015, these plans had not come to fruition.

Tom Swift appeared in the episode "The Celestial Visitor" from the second season of The CW's Nancy Drew with Tian Richards portraying the character as a black, gay, billionaire inventor. The episode is a backdoor pilot for a spin-off project titled Tom Swift, in development at The CW. In August 2021, Tom Swift was ordered straight-to-series and premiered on May 31, 2022 on The CW. In February 2022, Ashleigh Murray joined the cast as Zenzi Fullington. Due to poor ratings, the series was cancelled on June 30 that year.

Depiction of race

Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle (published 1911) depicts Africans as brutish, uncivilized animals, and the white protagonist as their paternal savior.

In the book, as in America today, the black people are rendered as either passive, simple and childlike, or animalistic and capable of unimaginable violence. They are described in the book at various points as "hideous in their savagery, wearing only the loin cloth, and with their kinky hair stuck full of sticks", and as "wild, savage and ferocious ... like little red apes".

— Jamiles Lartey

Cultural influence

Two young men struggle with a piece of futuristic machinery as a ball of light streaks from the sky toward the device. In the background a large explosion throws stones up into the air.
Cover of Tom Swift and the Visitor from Planet X (1961), from the Tom Swift, Jr. Adventure Series

The Tom Swift books have been credited with assisting the success of American science fiction and with establishing the edisonade (stories focusing on brilliant scientists and inventors) as a basic cultural myth. Tom Swift's adventures have been popular since the character's inception in 1910: by 1914, 150,000 copies a year were being sold and a 1929 study found the series to be second in popularity only to the Bible for boys in their early teens. By 2009, Tom Swift books had sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. The success of Tom Swift also paved the way for other Stratemeyer creations, such as The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew.

The series' writing style, which was sometimes adverb heavy, suggested a name for a type of adverbial pun promulgated during the 1950s and 1960s, a type of wellerism known as "Tom Swifties". Originally this kind of pun was called a "Tom Swiftly" in reference to the adverbial usage. Over time, it has come to be called a "Tom Swifty". Some examples are "'I lost my crutches,' said Tom lamely", and "'I'll take the prisoner downstairs', said Tom condescendingly."

Tom Swift's fictional inventions have apparently inspired several actual inventions, among them Lee Felsenstein's "Tom Swift Terminal", which "drove the creation of an early personal computer known as the Sol", and the taser. The name "taser" was originally "TSER", for "Tom Swift Electric Rifle". The invention was named for the central device in the story Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle (1911); according to inventor Jack Cover, "an 'A' was added because we got tired of answering the phone 'TSER'."

A number of scientists, inventors, and science fiction writers have also credited Tom Swift with inspiring them, including Ray Kurzweil, Robert A. Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov. Gone with the Wind author Margaret Mitchell was also known to have read the first series as a child. Filmmaker George Lucas shows the 16-year-old Indiana Jones reading a Tom Swift novel — and the author Edward Stratemeyer himself appearing as a character — in the episode Spring Break Adventure of the television series Young Indiana Jones.

The Tom Swift Jr. series was also a source of inspiration to many. Scientist and television presenter Bill Nye said the books helped "make me who I am", and they inspired him to launch his own young adult series. Microsoft founders Paul Allen and Bill Gates also read the books as children, as did co-founder of competing company Apple, Steve Wozniak. Wozniak, who cited the series as his inspiration to become a scientist, said the books made him feel "that engineers can save the world from all sorts of conflict and evil".

See also

Notes

  1. "Kelly's Heroes: Lockheed's five finest airplanes". May 27, 2019.
  2. ^ Prager (1976).
  3. Burt (2004), 322.
  4. ^ Dizer (1982), 35.
  5. Open Source Philosophy and the Dawn of Aviation Archived 2015-10-16 at the Wayback Machine, page 9.
  6. Hazen (1999), 30.
  7. ^ Pyle (1991).
  8. ^ "Tom Swift, Master Inventor" (1956).
  9. Andrews, Dale (August 27, 2013). "The Hardy Boys Mystery". Children's books. Washington: SleuthSayers.
  10. ^ Molson (1985).
  11. This method was used for all Stratemeyer Syndicate series: for further discussion, see Carol Billman, The Secret of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Ungar, 1986. ISBN 978-0-8044-2055-6.
  12. Johnson (1982), 23.
  13. Johnson (1982), 26–27.
  14. Plunkett-Powell (1993), 29.
  15. ^ Tom Swift Inventors' Academy. Simon & Schuster. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  16. Dizer (1982), 145.
  17. Fowler (1962).
  18. Quoted in Prager (1976).
  19. ^ "Chip off the Old Block" (1954)
  20. Molson (1999), 9–10.
  21. Prager (1971), 131.
  22. ^ Von der Osten (2004), 269.
  23. Molson (1999), 10.
  24. Von der Osten (2004), 278–279.
  25. Von der Osten (2004), 271.
  26. ^ Von der Osten (2004), 270.
  27. Sullivan (1999), 23.
  28. Purpura, Philip P. (1996). Criminal justice : an introduction. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-7506-9630-2. Retrieved January 27, 2015. The TASER (Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle) is a hand-held "stun gun" that discharges high voltage via tiny wires and darts
  29. Appleton II (1965), 4.
  30. Andrew Svenson, quoted in Dizer (1982), 45.
  31. See Dizer (1982), 59.
  32. ^ Disch (2007).
  33. ^ Von der Osten (2004), 279.
  34. Appleton (1981), 38.
  35. Appleton (1981), 10–11.
  36. Davis (1991), 73.
  37. ^ Carter (2006).
  38. Appleton, Victor (2007). Under the Radar. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-4169-3644-2.
  39. Erardi (2008).
  40. ^ Keeline.
  41. Keeline (2012).
  42. Hayes (2007)
  43. Thorne, Will (October 28, 2020). "'Nancy Drew' Spinoff Series 'Tom Swift' in Development at CW". Variety. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  44. Andreeva, Nellie (January 26, 2021). "Tian Richards Cast As Lead Tom Swift In 'Nancy Drew' Spinoff On the CW". Variety. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  45. Andreeva, Nellie (February 8, 2021). "Ruben Garcia To Direct 'Tom Swift' Planted Spinoff Episode Of 'Nancy Drew'". Variety. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
  46. "Shows A-Z : Tom Swift on The CW". The Futon Critic. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  47. Otterson, Joe (August 30, 2021). "'Nancy Drew' Spinoff 'Tom Swift' Ordered to Series at The CW". Variety. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  48. Andreeva, Nellie (February 7, 2022). "Ashleigh Murray To Star In 'Tom Swift', Joining Tian Richards In the CW's 'Nancy Drew' Spinoff". Deadline Hollywood.
  49. Lynette Rice & Nellie Andreeva (June 30, 2022). "'Tom Swift' Canceled By CW After One Season". Deadline Hollywood.
  50. Lartey, Jamiles (December 1, 2015). "Where did the word 'Taser' come from? A century-old racist science fiction novel". The Guardian. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  51. Landon (2002), 48.
  52. Von der Osten (2004), 268.
  53. Lundin, Leigh (November 20, 2011). "Wellerness". Word Play. Orlando: SleuthSayers.
  54. "Season for Swifties". Time. 1963-05-31. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
  55. Turner (2006), 115.
  56. Sun Wire Services (2009).
  57. Pilkington (2009), 32.
  58. Bleiler and Bleiler (1990), 15.
  59. Jones, A. G., Tomorrow is Another Day: the woman writer in the South, 1859–1936, p. 322.
  60. "The Many Adventures of Tom Swift by "Victor Appleton" | Tor.com". www.tor.com. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
  61. Sloat, Sarah (June 5, 2017). "Bill Nye Says An Adventure Book Inspired Him to Become a Scientist". Inverse. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  62. Smith, Harrison (October 15, 2018). "Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder and billionaire investor, dies at 65". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  63. Kendall (2000), 4.
  64. Comment published on the blurb to Nitrozac (2003).
  65. Linzmayer (2004), 1.

References

Further reading

External links

Juvenile series books (1899–1929)
Girls' books
Boys' books
Juvenile series books (1930–1979)
Female protagonists Tom Swift Jr series
Male protagonists
Mixed protagonists
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