I can’t be the only one who tore through these books!

[-]

thehousewright@reddit

Weird fact: I bought Gertrude Warner's house.

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bearbarebere@reddit

Doesn’t this… doxx you? Or should I say doxxcar you?

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AverageOk5235@reddit

It's Connecticut, it's not a real state..

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AeonBith@reddit

I heard she owned like 20 houses all over the world and all of them were near train tracks.

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athybaby@reddit

I heard that she always used a pseudonym for each purchase, and only disclosed her real identity to the new owners once the transfer of ownership was completed.

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thehousewright@reddit

Lol, no. But the railroad tracks are about a block away.

[-]

gaiusjozka@reddit

Have you been to the Boxcar Children's museum? It's really nice. We visited it this summer.

[-]

Volunteer-Magic@reddit

was it a boxcar?

lol, no.

Pack it up, Reddit. Let us all be disappointed elsewhere

[-]

originalbrowncoat@reddit

That’s so cool! Be sure to check the walls for hidden coin collections, I think that was the plot of one of the books.

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PeaceAlwaysAnOption@reddit

She named that character after my aunt! My family is from this town and Gertrude was a teacher at our local school. My mom and her sibs got “cameos” in the books 🥰

[-]

It’s not a treasure if you found your missing cat behind it. I’m sure it happened but the amount of times my grandmother would tell me about cats getting walled up I should have thought all homes were insulated with cats.

[-]

TacoNomad@reddit

There was a part on reddit yesterday.

I dunno if you're trolling because of that. But if not, apparently granny was right

[-]

GonnaGoFat@reddit

I’m not aware of such a Reddit. I figured granny was right to a certain extent. Since you have mentioned it I’m sure it’s much higher than I would have expected.

[-]

TacoNomad@reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/Renovations/comments/1gjoj8u/plumbers_drywalled_my_cat_into_the_wall/

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Roscoe_P_Trolltrain@reddit

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SneedyK@reddit

Yes this is how a lot of us learnt about asbestos

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MrsAshleyStark@reddit

🤣

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hoopstick@reddit

Holy nostalgia!

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thehousewright@reddit

I will! I did find a bag of brass screws in the basement that was left over from when the house was built.

[-]

Jacob_Winchester_@reddit

The Boxcar Children: Mystery in the Brass Basement

[-]

Life_Faithlessness90@reddit

OmG, really? That's fucking cool, does it have any boarded off rooms with rocking horses stored inside?

[-]

Turbulent_Ad9508@reddit

Wow, anything to add? Looks like you've been doing some work, is that the house? Where is it?

[-]

thehousewright@reddit

The house is in CT. She lived in three different houses, all within a few hundred yards of each other. This was the last house she lived in.

My other posts are of projects from work.

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33ff00@reddit

Do you know why she lived like that?

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thehousewright@reddit

The first was her childhood home, the other two she purchased. The house I have was her last home.

I can only speculate that she must have liked the neighborhood.

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33ff00@reddit

Haha yeah! She was the neighborhood!

[-]

IYFS88@reddit

That’s so cool!!

[-]

ZiggyManSaad@reddit

A fellow resident!

[-]

Western-Whereas5407@reddit

Shit I wasn’t expecting Putnam on Reddit today. Cheers from rt 21

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thehousewright@reddit

East side represent! No one should expect Putnam on Reddit lol.

[-]

razzledazzle125@reddit

Seriously, this thread is making me homesick. I moved away from that area 15 years ago. I'm always surprised when the quiet corner chimes in on Reddit.

[-]

im_wudini@reddit

username checks out?

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Frosty_Cloud_2888@reddit

Is there a historic marker outside the house?

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thehousewright@reddit

There is not, but I have considered getting it on the national register.

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shortergirl06@reddit

My mother grew up about 3 blocks (ish, basically two turns and a street length) from there. My Aunt had Ms. Warner as her teacher, and I probably know exactly which house you're talking about. Small friggin world.

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thehousewright@reddit

Indeed it is. I've met quite a few people over the years who had her as teacher.

[-]

FedorsQuest@reddit

Can you share photos of the house? Thanks!

[-]

thehousewright@reddit

I'm going to abstain from photos right now since I've already doxxed myself pretty well. Lol

[-]

shortergirl06@reddit

I loved that house as a kid, and imagined it was so beautiful inside. Thank you for taking care of it! I haven't been over that side of town since my grandma passed and we sold my grandparents house.

[-]

refuge9@reddit

Okay, that’s awesome!

[-]

Puzzleheaded-Phase70@reddit

Duuuuude this needs to be a whole-ass thread by itself!!!

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LoowehtndeyD@reddit

This is awesome.

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Round_Bus1488@reddit

Loved these books. I read all the time as a kid.

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Casslynnicks880@reddit

They’re very well dressed for homless kids

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Parking_War979@reddit

Absolutely loved them!!

[-]

whoitis77@reddit

This got me in to stealth coming and preparing

[-]

TurdShaker@reddit

It inspired me as a young teen to runaway and go live in box cars. Long story short, I'm 5 years sober this December.

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Maleficent-Radio-113@reddit

Sometimes my girl dinner is just bread, milk and blueberries 🫐

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littlesanityleft@reddit

These books are probably more relatable right now.

[-]

histprofdave@reddit

I probably read a half dozen, and I doubt I could recall the plots of any of them.

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SurpriseVast8338@reddit

I can literally only remember really wanting to eat the soup they described in one of the books. It contained onions. I think it might've been just after they started living in a boxcar.

Other than that, I can't recall plot, names, or why these kids were in a boxcar.

Oh...and I think I remember something about them stealing coins from a public fountain where they used to bathe, but that might be another book series.

[-]

dbmajor7@reddit

Same! The onions and beans? I wanted that soup!

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followtheyellowbrkrd@reddit

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, but there was a Boxcar Children Cookbook that my mother let me get from the Scholastic Book Fair. All the recipes were (at least supposed to be) based on food the kids made and ate in the books. I wore the binding down on that cookbook making Jessie's clam chowder.

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itsmajik42@reddit

I had this cookbook! New Neighbor Casserole was one of the first things I ever cooked by myself!

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itsmajik42@reddit

So, fun fact, but they made a Boxcar Children cookbook! I would wager that this soup is probably in there! The New Neighbor Casserole was one of the first dishes I ever cooked (mostly) on my own!

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spoookiehands@reddit

The coins from a fountain is definitely a plotline in "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler". Which holds up, although with a lot of dated references. I reread it this summer because I couldn't recall why I loved it so.

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SurpriseVast8338@reddit

Yes! That's the book I'm thinking of. Although, I can't remember anything other than that fountain bathing element and the title.

[-]

PurpleVein99@reddit

This is another one I remember.

[-]

opelaceles@reddit

I'm reading this one for the first time right now after someone described the plot in r/whatsthatbook

[-]

PurpleVein99@reddit

Let me know what you think. I loved it thirty plus years ago and loved it still when I re-read it a couple of years ago.

[-]

spoookiehands@reddit

Spoiler alert-

A quick synopsis: two children (Claudia 11 and Jamie) run away from home with backpacks and a music case with clothing to the metropolitan museum of art in New York City. They sleep in a musty old bed and explore the museum during the day, to continue their education. They soon realize that eating out is very expensive and that they need to be cautious with their money, which is largely provided by the younger brother Jamie. Hijinks follow, including the fountain bathing.

In the museum is a statue of an angel with an unknown sculptor. They become very interested in this statue, and its sculptor who may or may not have been Michelangelo. They research the angel, and find it was purchased and sold to the museum by a Mrs Basil E Frankweiler. They write a letter to the museum describing their findings of a maker's mark on the bottom of the Angel sculpture. And then in the end they go to visit Mrs Basil E Frankweiler where they learn more about the sculpture and about what it means to be kids who run away.

It's a fun read for a kid who never ran away but often thought about it!

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9for9@reddit

I read this or something very similar set in a library. Do the kids travel using a ten-ride train ticket that had accidentally been discarded by their parents with two rides still on it?

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spoookiehands@reddit

Yes!

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LolaBijou@reddit

Oh yeah! And they took coins from the fountain to eat!

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ArtaxWasRight@reddit

that’s the plot of that book? homeless orphans curtail their restaurant budget and intervene in an attribution dispute with an art collector? jesus. didn’t miss much there.

I think I started the Boxcar Children and The Red-Tape Gang, but found them both too boring to ever finish.

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ChuckZombie@reddit

Holy shit. I remember reading this. Did this book also have them find a chocolate bar on the floor? I had a very delightful dream about finding a bunch of chocolate in a museum because of that.

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zenprime-morpheus@reddit

Oh god I remember that, I never read it, but like read a very detailed synopsis of it.

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SurpriseVast8338@reddit

It's wild how much of that story came back as I read you summarize it! I definitely remember that bit about checking the maker's mark on the bottom of the sculpture.

I should really raid the middle-grade section of my public library. It might be fun to revisit some of these stories as an adult.

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Major-Pipe185@reddit

You said it - I was confident I’d never read any of these, but I vaguely remember them, but the synopsis reminded me -like, “oh yeah, I did read that!”

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spoookiehands@reddit

I highly suggest it! They're super quick reads and it's amazing how I remembered reading it as a kid and the memories that it brought back.

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KindBob@reddit

I also remember them collecting the coins in the fountain. The boy thought the quarters were from rich people, to which the girl said nah, rich folks only had penny wishes.

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feedyrsoul@reddit

Speaking of this, I was obsessed with Homecoming and Dicey’s Song.

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nroe1337@reddit

That book is so fire

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5th_gen_woodwright@reddit

Came here to say this

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BlacksmithThink9494@reddit

THIS IS THE ONE!!!

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SnowyFruityNord@reddit

I remember nothing about these books except desperately wanting to eat the soup too. I talked to my dad in to making it and was....less than thrilled lol

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Ornery_Translator285@reddit

I remember them pulling their belts tight to not be hungry

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JMer806@reddit

I think their parents died? And somehow the only option was to live in the damn woods even though their granddad was rich

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neonsummers@reddit

When I was 9, I decided I wanted blackberries and cold whipped cream as my birthday dessert, because that was a dessert in one of the books. I picked fresh berries from the thicket in the woods at a the end of our street and begged my mom to make homemade whipped cream. She made shortcake biscuits as well, because she thought berries and cream on their own were as a weird as birthday dessert. In hindsight, she was correct—I added the biscuit after the third bite of plain berries and cream.

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ElayneGriffithAuthor@reddit

Oh shit! THAT’S where that came from! 😱 Omg. My whole sense of self is just built on subliminal messages & lost memories 😑 I also always wanted blackberries & cream as a kid, and still love it, but forgot why. We had a bush down the road and I’d go berry picking every summer. I also love teacups because of the books, and always wanted to be a homeless adventurer like them 😂 Annnnnnd I literally live in a “boxcar” now, traveling vanlife 😳🤯 I need to contemplate free will & my entire existence….

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SurpriseVast8338@reddit

That's such a great memory. I love that you were impressed by what you read in a story so much that you wanted to try it IRL...and that your mom was willing to accommodate your request.

Maybe this could actually be a good idea for a themed restaurant:

A menu that's just excerpts from popular children's books describing a food and the kitchen's best attempt to approximate that dish.

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idiotsbydesign@reddit

I always wanted to try Turkish Delight when I was a kid.

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gingercatmafia@reddit

This is a genius restaurant idea!

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Apprehensive_Use3641@reddit

Redwall recipes would fill an entire menu, might have to have two restaurants.

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LolaBijou@reddit

I remember them cooking the soup lol

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Unfair-Somewhere-222@reddit

Omg the soup! And the bread! Idk why those stood out to me I hardly remember these books.

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SurpriseVast8338@reddit

I think depictions of food in children's books and animation gets strongly bound to memory somehow.

This is probably why people are so nuts about the imagery of food in all the Studio Ghibli movies. 😋

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Apprehensive_Use3641@reddit

Redwall. :)

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taylortherebel@reddit

wow, obscure memory unlocked

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Somewheresouthere@reddit

For real. I saw this pic and realized I haven’t thought about these books since elementary school and then this comment about the onion soup made me recall the singular memory stored in my brain about these books. Must’ve been some poignant writing

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Gothmom85@reddit

I read a bunch of these and my strongest memory is them trying to keep food, I think milk, cold.

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RubyCaper@reddit

In the stream!

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mnemonicer22@reddit

Extreme child neglect?

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pohatu771@reddit

The kids’ parents died, and rather than live with the grandfather they had heard was mean, they found this boxcar to live in.

But it turns out he wasn’t mean at all, was rich, and they were good at solving mysteries. He even had their boxcar moved into his property as a clubhouse. They lived inside.

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zielawolfsong@reddit

It's nice how orphans in books always have a really nice rich relative just waiting to take them in!

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HaphazardLapisLazuli@reddit

Maybe far away... or maybe real near by.....

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CORN___BREAD@reddit

Spoilers!

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HedgehogCremepuff@reddit

I’m pretty sure all that happens in the first book and all the other stories are them solving mysteries while living with rich grandpa.

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leiaflatt@reddit

I only remember keeping milk in natural spring to keep it cool and someone having a cracked pink cup that I desperately wanted

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Pickles_McBeef@reddit

I yearned for a pink teacup after reading this book.

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xCanEatMorex@reddit

Benny right?

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sassy5315@reddit

Ooooooo shit! Milk in the spring and the cracked pink cup!! 🤯🤯🤯 have been reading comments to see if any random facts struck a memory cord and this is it!

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LadyLoki5@reddit

Same. Only thing I remember is, I think it was the very first book that described the kids soaking a slice of bread in a bowl of milk for a meal. I was so weirdly fascinated by that and I had to try it.

Can't say I recommend it. That was like 30 years ago and I don't know why it's stuck with me lol.

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CurlBoss802@reddit

When my dad was growing up, his family was pretty poor and Sunday supper was white bread or saltine crackers in a bowl with milk, onions, and baked beans. He still ate it as an adult for supper on Sundays sometimes. I refused to try it.

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HedgehogCremepuff@reddit

Me, making my grandmother’s meatball soup recipe and realizing it was a version that used cheap ingredients and stretched precious scraps as far as possible. Had to decrease the amount of water by 75% because I’m not trying to feed a family of seven with it.

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HedgehogCremepuff@reddit

This is what my grandfather did as a “treat” when I was a kid, except I specifically remember it being hot dog buns he dipped in milk.

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dwooder@reddit

I used to drink milk and eat a slice of bread everyday after school for a long time after reading this haha.

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phantom_diorama@reddit

The one thing I remember is them using the creek to keep their milk cold.

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stripesonthecouch@reddit

That’s exactly what I was going to bring up!

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Jacob_Winchester_@reddit

Between this trick and what I learned in My Side of the Mountain I was convinced I was ready to move to the woods on my own for at least a year when I was around 10.

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Bekasuka@reddit

Yaaaas!

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jbp84@reddit

Seriously…Hatchet, Where the Red Fern Grows, Boxcar Children, My Side of the Mountain, Shiloh…was the Children’s Lit section of the library actually the outdoors/wilderness survival section?

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Dr_Frankenstone@reddit

Running away from home and living alone in the wilderness has featured a lot in the books I chose as a kid. I had a lovely childhood but there was something in my psyche that wanted to be in charge of living by my own wits.

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coffee_cats_books@reddit

I wanted a falcon because of My Side of the Mountain!

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Shambles196@reddit

Me too! Then I read about falconry, the insane work, horrifying cost of the birds, how easy it was for them to die and how to feed them....and gave up the dream!

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perfectlyniceperson@reddit

Same! I wanted to be a lone wolf wilderness kid so bad.

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NecroMerci@reddit

Same with the magic treehouse series. I remember an M medallion though.

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Major_Situation_9794@reddit

Had 10 or so on my childhood bookshelf and loved them. Couldn’t tell you the name of any characters or what it was about. Really wanted to live in a train (right?) and get in adventures, tho!

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JMer806@reddit

One of them was named Henry I’m pretty dure

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low_acct_@reddit

I remember this cover vividly, couldn't tell you about anything inside it lol.

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CrashBangs@reddit

My 6 year old daughter just finished the first one (with me or my wife reading aloud).

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Nahuel-Huapi@reddit

I remember they found an empty soup can and decided it would make a good drink cup.

No wonder I keep old glass jars. "I could really use this to hold a bunch of small nails."

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DMcDonald97@reddit

I remember one had a pool dyed purple and another had the kids working in a pizza shop owned by a family friend

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m_ttl_ng@reddit

Those and the Hardy Boys books. Read most of them, have zero recollection of anything contained within.

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Videowulff@reddit

I remember........them hiding in the boxcar at the start which is funny because all the other books I read as a kid, I can remember most details.

BUT I still have my books! I should sit down and re-read them!

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Dazslueski@reddit

I used to run down to the local library and rent 2 at a time. That was the limit my parents put on me. At me point I was so proud I have read everyone of them. Can’t remember a single plot of one story. hahah

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Caleb_Reynolds@reddit

I probably read all of them and I'm certain I can't recall a single things from them.

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ClifftonSmith@reddit

This is me

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ne0ntrees@reddit

Shoot. Let me see if these are on Audible.

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jbp84@reddit

I’m not saying two of my sons are named Henry and Benny, but I’m not NOT saying it either…

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Rave-light@reddit

I love that

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jbp84@reddit

Thanks for saying that, friend! I appreciate your appreciation lol

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happyhippo984@reddit

Im about ready to find one and live in it

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Novagurl@reddit

These books had me convinced I could run away and live in a canyon as long as it was by a stream and I had a can opener.

It didn’t work out.

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gr8bishamonten@reddit

Get the cookbook version. I loved making those recipes.

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OkAdministration7456@reddit

I loved these. Anyone remember Miss Piggle Wiggle?

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RedBaron180@reddit

My favorite books , right next to Hardy boys

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jeffreywilfong@reddit

I owned them but I can't recall actually reading them.

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frogz0r@reddit

I loved that series!

Fun fact, when I was a girl, and visited my grandad's farm we (cousins and me) would put our soft drinks in the crick water like they did the milk to keep it cold till we ate our bag lunches.

Worked well too!

Thinking about it, there were old overgrown train tracks not far from the crick. No boxcars that I can recall tho...

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DrenAss@reddit

I had never read them (I was a Goosebumps super fan), so I thought it would be fun to read them with my son when he was in 2nd-3rd grade. He liked them but I thought they were painfully corny. 😆 And at least a little sexist.

It was fun to discover so many vocabulary words that were common in that era though. I remember explaining gay, queer, icebox, and parka. Lol

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jbp84@reddit

Well if you had read Mr Popper’s Penguins, you would have known what an icebox is! 😜

It’s crazy to think that so many of the classic children’s literature I read as a young kid in the late 80s and early 90s were written 30 or 40 years before I was born. Sadly, reading for fun isn’t promoted in school anymore. It’s all about teaching to standardized tests. My school took away half of the science AND history curriculums in order for every student to get an extra math and reading class every day. We don’t have a school library. Book fairs? I haven’t seen one since my first year teaching 15 years ago. We don’t read novels in English class anymore (especially since English and Reading classes were combined into “ELA”).

I know I’m an old man yelling at the clouds, but this to me is one of the reasons I really do fear for our nation’s future. We stopped creating learners in favor of creating good test takers.

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DrenAss@reddit

Really???? My kids go to a school that has one of the top high schools in our state. The elementary is Montessori and they send free books home all the time to make sure the kids have books to read, they have book fairs, they read novels in class as a group, but they are also "assigned" 30 minutes of reading at home every day. They have free reading time during class and they encourage kids to read according to their interests.

I have one child just starting to read, but my older child loves reading and effortlessly devours chapter books constantly. I didn't realize any schools were not promoting reading like this.

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jbp84@reddit

Sadly, yes. You’re lucky that your kid(s) go to the .005 percent of public Montessori schools in the US. I went to a Montessori daycare/pre-K way back when and my mom said it did wonders for me.

The push in public education is data and test scores…standardized end of year tests as well as ongoing “benchmark” tests. For example, I teach in Illinois. My middle school kids take the MAP test 3 times a year, and many of them do ongoing smaller tests called progress monitoring (these are actually somewhat useful depending on the situation) Toward the end of the year they’ll take the IAR test, which I believe is grades 3-8. Everything we do all year is in preparation for the IAR. Lesson planning, what curriculum we use for each subject and HOW we use it, how we group kids….all of it is centered on the IAR results.

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JayEllGii@reddit

He was a gay but rather queer fellow, often seen rummaging through his icebox while wearing a parka.

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Quantum_Particle78@reddit

I loved those books! I was an avid reader as a kid; now it's like oh there's work and then there's animals and housekeeping and more work and no time for anything.

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Odd-Ad-8023@reddit

Me omg thank you for posting 😍

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Any_Positive_9658@reddit

Yes!!! Third grade I read them under the desk

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Ambitious-Ad-6758@reddit

I had the cookbook

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idmfndjdjuwj23uahjjj@reddit

IIRC, the holiday books had recipes in the back. I made some ccokies that were horrible. My Grandpa liked them, after adding butter to them.

[-]

Bubbykitten@reddit

Did you ever make any of the recipes? Can you give a few examples of what’s in there? This is so cool!

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Schizoeffective83@reddit

Omg core memory unlocked. I loved these series as a kid

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First_Pay702@reddit

I think I had the first 20 at least.

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DontTouchMyStuffPls@reddit

Read almost all of em and now I read em to my kiddos

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iggyomega@reddit

I read the first one twice. Once as a kid myself and again a few months ago with my own kid. Never read any others as I couldn’t/can’t accept the fact that it’s called the Boxcar Children yet they only live in the boxcar in the first book.

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thyartmetal@reddit

Loved these growing up

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DarkPhoenix4-1983@reddit

LOVED THEM!!

[-]

Vancouvernitrol@reddit

I loved fhese

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stuffitystuff@reddit

My middle school English teacher read these books in class and definitely made being homeless my freshman year of college a lot easier.

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NorthxNorthwest22@reddit

I definitely remember loving those. Not sure what age or grade in school I was though.

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zubenelkeneshi91@reddit

This. Was. My. Entire. Life. Growing. Up. I have not revisited in over two decades probably but the boxcar children formed me!

[-]

curmudgeonly_joe@reddit

Loved those books! There was an abandoned train car in a field a few miles from my house and I used to dream about running away and living in it.

[-]

Mackey_Corp@reddit

I read a bunch of these when I was in grade school, couldn’t tell you what happened in a single one. Except that the children live in a boxcar. But it says that on the cover so…

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Glittering-Station78@reddit

My favorite books at one time. Saw a whole set at a garage sale recently and talked myself out of buying them.

[-]

misty0207@reddit

Loved these books

[-]

Just-Try-2533@reddit

Are they the offspring of Boxcar Willie?

[-]

papabear42@reddit

I read so many of these to my son growing up. I had to keep my voices consistent book-to-book.

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ZestycloseTomato5015@reddit

My fave!

[-]

IveBeenHereBefore12@reddit

I loved these books. I remember in first grade begging my mom for Boxcar Children books from the Scholastic book order

[-]

Jmofoshofosho8@reddit

Loved these books.

[-]

Candid_Elk2465@reddit

I loved the set! I couldn’t wait to go to the library every week and get the next book! I tried to get my children to read them but to no avail!

[-]

EveryBreakfast9@reddit

But THIS is what the Boxcar Children look like.

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SoyTuPadreReal@reddit

I read all of these multiple times as a kid.

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lavendrea@reddit

I loved these books. These and Nancy Drew.

[-]

Used_Operation3647@reddit

Love them!!!

[-]

spanishpeanut@reddit

I re read them all a few years ago. Well, the original ones. They’re still just as awesome.

[-]

peacefulinmyzone@reddit

I loved The Boxcar Children. I wasn't the biggest fan of reading, but loved reading the series in late elementary school and middle school. I'm thankful for those stories. Got me reading as a kid. 😌🤗

[-]

groov99@reddit

Had a huge crush on the girl in pink.

[-]

BlacksmithThink9494@reddit

I loved these, and my children loved them when they started reading. ❤️

[-]

InspectorEE@reddit

I had a massive collection of these. I loved reading this series.

[-]

musesx9@reddit

This was my favorite growing up. I thought it was unheard of. Thank you.

[-]

camptastic_plastic@reddit

Child me really wanted to drink milk cooled in a stream out of a chipped tea cup.

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cortesoft@reddit

Man, I really wanted to live as an orphan in a boxcar.

Instead I had to live in my stupid house, with my loving and very much alive parents.

[-]

hyperbole-horse@reddit

These books were the impetus of my sister and I playing "orphans" when every other kid played "house."

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Nynydancer@reddit

I used to pretend I was in a boxcar on rainy nights, warm and safe.

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Hulkbuster_v2@reddit

What even happened to their parents? Fire? Murder? Or did they go down the Peter Parker route and have their parents be secret agents killed in action, only for them to come back so that their elder guardian can have a heart attack and die?

[-]

andante528@reddit

In the original, not rewritten for small children version, their dad is a drunk and dies of alcoholism. I can't remember if the mom died early or just wasn't mentioned.

[-]

Hulkbuster_v2@reddit

Wait there's multiple?!

[-]

andante528@reddit

Paywall but here's an article about the 1924 version (original) vs. the 1942 one most of us read: https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-boxcar-children-and-the-spirit-of-capitalism#:~:text=The%201924%20narrator%20allows%20the,their%20parents%20or%20their%20past.

[-]

andante528@reddit

Yes! The text for the original novel is available online, I think through the Gutenberg Project. It's a trip to read if you've only read the one for little kids!

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Wrx_me@reddit

It was a fun fantasy. Like living in a treehouse. Stupid stable family.

[-]

newhappyrainbow@reddit

Lmao SAME!

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merak_zoran@reddit

I seem to remember them putting bread in a bowl and pouring milk on, and eating it like that and I wanted to eat that as a kid. I also remember a book where they went to a tropical island (?) and ate breadfruit and I have wanted to try it since but have never even seen one.

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mr_impastabowl@reddit

Being a kid who reads is magical.

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Kalel42@reddit

I devoured these books as a child but literally the only specific thing I remember is using the steam to keep their milk cold.

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rjt1980@reddit

Same. Also at one point one of the kids was very excited when they added shelves to the boxcar.

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judseubi@reddit

YES. And survive on a diet of potatoes.

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SmugChief@reddit

Dude this is wild. I read that when I was still in elementary and I think about that milk once a week. I don’t know why but it’s always stuck with me.

[-]

originalbrowncoat@reddit

God I loved kiddie mystery series!

Boxcar Children

Bobbsey Twins

Secret Seven

Alfred Hitchcocks three investigators

Strangely i never got into Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew

[-]

mtnsandmusic@reddit

What about Happy Hollister's?

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Consistent-Annual268@reddit

Famous Five was the OG. Enid Blyton was the GOAT.

[-]

agent_izlude@reddit

Hardy boys was my jam back in the day! It made me want to be a detective when I was a kid lol. I had a bunch of the books but being stupid got rid of all of them :(

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Lanky-Talk-1188@reddit

Encyclopedia Brown was my jam!

[-]

TrulyKristan@reddit

I LOVED the tv series of Encyclopedia Brown.

[-]

jbp84@reddit

THERE WAS A TV SHOW?!?! How am I 40 years old and now just learning this?

I loved Encyclopedia Brown. I think those books are the reason why I’m obsessed with trivia, random facts, and learning about the most random things because of an innate curiosity about the world. I remember the same author wrote a book of mystery stories you had to solve, and some of them were recycled plots from Encyclopedia Brown but I felt so smart for figuring them out.

[-]

Iohet@reddit

We need more kid mystery shows. I loved Ghostwriter

[-]

Vafostin_Romchool@reddit

You may be interested in Detective Conan, kind of the Japanese equivalent of Encyclopedia Brown. It's been running since the mid 1990s and going strong.

[-]

ElleAnn42@reddit

You might enjoy “Just Add Magic” on Amazon Prime and “Secrets of Sulphur Springs “ on Disney Plus. They are both very enjoyable kid mystery shows.

[-]

Iohet@reddit

I'll grab them for when my son is a little older. Thank you!

[-]

TrulyKristan@reddit

Agreed. My friends and I had our own notebook for Ghostwriter. lol

[-]

Iohet@reddit

It was so engaging. PBS really hit it out of the park in the 90s with that, Carmen Sandiego, etc

[-]

RiJuElMiLu@reddit

He was tied with Incognito Mosquito

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Bait_and_Swatch@reddit

Read every single one.

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hbi2k@reddit

Encyclopedia Brown

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ranaldo20@reddit

Three Investigators was the shit!

[-]

refuge9@reddit

Ha, same! Boxcar children and three investigators were books into through as a kid!

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spiegro@reddit

Goosebumps yo. They were more than just cool cover art.

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Ossmo02@reddit

I have the whole set still

[-]

TacoNomad@reddit

My brother loved these.

I was into babysitters club books.

My other brother was into goosebumps.

[-]

mtnsandmusic@reddit

I read them all. The original series and at least the first 20 of the ghostwritten ones that followed. Absolutely loved them as a kid.

[-]

East_Meeting_667@reddit

I lived of choose your own adventure, boxcar, and Encyclopedia Brown. I learned about thermal expansion uncorking a cannon but never found the story again.

[-]

jimmysmiths5523@reddit

I have that book and many others in the series. I even have a wall calendar somewhere from the 90s lol!

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MartialBob@reddit

My first grade teacher read this to my class. We only got through the first one.

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NerdBlossom@reddit

My entire third grade class was in love with these. Our teacher used to read a chapter at a time to us aloud.

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Lilworldtraveler@reddit

I loved this series. I loved their independence and drive to survive, the home they worked to make together.

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AvenhausArts@reddit

In about third grade I read all 28 that my library had, the first 19 being her originals. Now there are many more.

I read several to my kids when they were younger. To make sure they were paying attention, I’d insert mishaps for Benny. “. . . then Benny fell of the cliff and died.”

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Lilworldtraveler@reddit

lol that’s hilarious! And I don’t think I realized there were so many. I think I wore the first few out as a kid. I loved them.

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mitchandmickey@reddit

Oh man I can't even describe the dopamine I get from seeing these old book covers. It was my favourite escape . I dreamt of putting on plays based on the books at my local rail yard . None of my friends were ever as enthusiastic about that plan

[-]

Ok-Cardiologist3042@reddit

Same! I had a pretty miserable childhood & diving into books was my safe place to escape.

[-]

c9h9e26@reddit

Loved them!

[-]

MirthRock@reddit

Don't forget Goosebumps and Hardy Boys!

[-]

neogrinch@reddit

oh wow....completely forgot about this book series. I loved it when I was a kid.

[-]

trifecta000@reddit

Kids books were wild back in the day.

[-]

pussy_embargo@reddit

Now that's what I call literature

[-]

Jealous-Report4286@reddit

I don’t need a biography of my life thank you

[-]

airconditionersound@reddit

Dude. The Chili's in my neighborhood served alcohol to kids. I went there with three other kids once when we 12 and one kid ordered a beer and they gave it to him, no questions asked.

[-]

map109@reddit

Just so you know, someone actually wrote it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9qpo2jwJdE

[-]

Manofmanyhats19@reddit

I loved these books. I had a box set.

[-]

taxilicious@reddit

Yes!!! Loved these! Just borrowed them from the library and started reading to my elementary aged kids.

[-]

Anxious_Summer2378@reddit

Reading these books made me want to be a boy scout.

This and other side of the mountain and hatchet.

[-]

Rich-Violinist-7263@reddit

Only books I actually tolerated. I was not an avid reader.

[-]

Nixx37@reddit

Memory unlocked, what the hell. I miss the Scholastic book fair. It's deeply depressing to me that literacy is so low in the younger generations.

[-]

stripesonthecouch@reddit

Loved these books!

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Stonewyvvern@reddit

This series is where I first learned you can live outdoors...

[-]

Wandern1000@reddit

I had the box set of these books and it came in a cardboard boxcar

[-]

Flat_Salamander_3283@reddit

I read so many of these.

[-]

akgoodd@reddit

Oh my word! I forgot all about these books. I loved them!

[-]

Caracallaz@reddit

I loved these growing up!

[-]

Clear-Journalist3095@reddit

These were the first chapter books I remember reading. I loved them.

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sk3pt1c@reddit

It’s very interesting, I was born in 1980 but in Greece so a lot of these things are totally new to me 😅

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MuppetManiac@reddit

Loved these books. My first grade teacher read the first two to us out loud.

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Additional-Net4115@reddit

Same.

[-]

airconditionersound@reddit

I think we had to read that in school or it was on the summer reading list

[-]

avalonfaith@reddit

I was so hoping it was gonna be Choose Your Own Adventure books when I clicked. I heard of Boxcer Children it never read them.

[-]

avalonfaith@reddit

Same!!!

[-]

Tysiliogogogoch@reddit

Exactly what I thought. The thumbnail looked similar to one that I had. I loved them when I was a kid.

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Living-Night4476@reddit

I read all the ones we had in the school libraries. I don’t know how many total I read. I know I greatly enjoyed them when I was reading them but I do t remember what any of them were about.

[-]

aaronwintergreen@reddit

This was the dream as a youngster.

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MrPickles196@reddit

I read some. My grandmother was an actual boxcar kid. He father worked for the railroad in MT and SD and they had a boxcar apartment.

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Ace_Robots@reddit

I’m friends with the cover artist. That is my name drop (Dan Duffy). He is an amazing ass painter. Really good dude, too.

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CrystalSplice@reddit

Yep. All of them. I fantasized about having their life, because it was better than the broken, abusive home I lived in.

[-]

Gear_Calm@reddit

I always wanted some of that 🍞 seemed fire

[-]

ApprehensiveSale8898@reddit

I haven't heard of this series but my interest is peaked.

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HumbleAbbreviations@reddit

I have heard of this series but never picked it up.

[-]

deusdragonex@reddit

This, Encyclopedia Brown, and Goosebumps were my jam! And the detail in the comments about cooling the milk in the stream unlocked a memory for me. That was a deep cut.

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silasdobest@reddit

This was the first book I read

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crickfishin@reddit

I LOVED the first one so much!!! I read it over and over again. I asked my 2nd grade teacher if I could keep it, and she said yes. I was the only kid in my class at the time who knew how to read, and I would read this alongside them. My grandma would read to me all the time when I was little, I was so thankfully exposed to reading at a very young age. In the 2nd grade we had a book cubby, with all sorts of books of different levels. I ended up choosing Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and I loved it. (Mainly because I had an obsession with the Titanic)

[-]

OnTheFenceGuy@reddit

These and Nancy Drew

[-]

missinginput@reddit

Loved these, I had a subscription where they would send a few every so often and I was so sad when I caught up to the current releases and it started to take too long to get new ones.

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Rain_Hill@reddit

I gave my gen z niece a set of these books when she was a kid and she loved them. They can absolutely be loved across generations

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Consistent-Annual268@reddit

I've never heard of these books in my life but purely judging by the cover I'm getting major Enid Blyton Famous Five vibes.

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HungDaddyNYC@reddit

They were read to us in 3rd grade and I remember thinking how out fucking dated they were.

Cheers OP, a true Xennial memory.

[-]

LD902@reddit

I read every one I could get my hands on!

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AggravatingDepth9942@reddit

Easy AR points ftw.

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LostRocketScientist@reddit

I was obsessed for a while - I just wanted to escape my abusive home. A life without parents? It blew my young mind.

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blueberry_pancakes14@reddit

My mom read them as a kid and couldn't wait to introduce me to them. I devoured them!

I probably should re-read them for the fun of it.

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Klooey@reddit

i loved these in 3rd grade! i hade to "prove" to the teacher that i could actually read them lol. i'll never forget staying after class waiting for my mom having the 3rd book out. she walked in and the teacher said something like "i think he can't read these books and is lying". my mom asked me to read what was on the page so i did. after finishing a couple paragraphs my mom collected me without a word and we walked out. the teacher would give me dirty looks every time i whipped these books out at reading time.

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Julio800m@reddit

I loved these books. They were the first chapter books I read.

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mugiwara_98@reddit

Purple Pool hours

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Dangerous_Midnight91@reddit

Lol - I took my kids to the library a couple weeks back and found the whole series. My kids are too young, but I started reading them until my kids got pissed at me and wanted to leave.

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mattv117@reddit

I was one of those kids that read these as well. When I've asked friends aa

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ScientistDue1515@reddit

Dressed pretty well for living in a boxcar. Or was it just their hangout?

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sneakyninja1226@reddit

This series was so good!

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laura_eva@reddit

The only thing about these books that I remember is that Benny was always hungry.

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Hyperion1144@reddit

Probably because they were homeless.

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UnknownPrimate@reddit

And still managed a clean business casual look!

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Relevent_Username_@reddit

Fondly remember the first in the series, fuck all about the rest!

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Atrocity_unknown@reddit

Thank you for this! I couldn't remember the name of this book when asked about it just the other day.

Context - I've never been a book reader and have recently started picking it up. My girlfriend, an avid book reader, asked why I never got into it. I joked about how the last time I tried to read a book (~25 years ago) I got car sick and it was the books' fault. She asked me what book I was trying to read and I couldn't remember it.

This is that book, or at least one of the books in the series. It was one of my dad's favorites and he was encouraging me to read it too.

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FigureFourWoo@reddit

Loved those books as a kid. Even wrote fanfiction about my friends all being boxcar kid superheroes.

[-]

ApeOver@reddit

I owned them but I have no memory of ever reading them

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divorced_daddy-kun@reddit

I had quite the collection.

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GirlGoneZombie@reddit

I was just thinking about these books a couple days ago. So glad I'm not the only one who remembers them. I need to find them again

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Wrx_me@reddit

I had the cardboard boxcar that they put them in, and I got like one a month or something from a subscription. Ended up getting more than actually fit in the box

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Snoo-35252@reddit

Their clothes are so clean! Even with all their outdoor hijinx!

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str4nger-d4nger@reddit

Remember seeing these in the school library. I gravitated more to Magic Treehouse tho.

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panal_mojado@reddit

I loved these books.

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neoblog@reddit

Oh man… I read all of these and loved them!

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bubble-buddy2@reddit

These were the books that I read in elementary school (maybe third or second grade) for our reading clubs with the teacher

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Bunkydoodle28@reddit

loved the first did not love the series

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PochitaBaby@reddit

You could order a box set from the scholastic magazines back in elementary school. So I ordered it and fully expected it to be an actual mini little boxcar with the books in it and was SO disappointed that it was just a little cardboard box that looked like the boxcar. I still have it though lol

[-]

venominon@reddit

It's why I still use a spoon instead of a knife for my peanut butter and jelly

[-]

NGMGrand@reddit

Oh snap. I forgot about these!

[-]

JohnClark13@reddit

woah, memory unlocked

[-]

longdistancerunner01@reddit

Loved them

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basswired@reddit

yes but I'll be damned if I can remember anything but saving cans and bottles to "cook" with in my "boxcar" (fort I made out of a fallen tree rootball)

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WoodenHarddrive@reddit

Sure I tore through em if they were in the way of getting to the Redwall books.

[-]

Visual-Fig-4763@reddit

I still have them! I tried to read them with my daughter and quickly got frustrated because I had to stop and explain a bunch of small things that just made me feel old

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Lmf2359@reddit

I literally only ever read the first one, but I really loved that book.

[-]

Pitiful_Housing3428@reddit

This is my nickname for the anarchist homeless that ride the rails throughout the rust belt in Appalachia and Midwest and busk and panhandle for money.

[-]

VoidOmatic@reddit

Woah, I completely forgot about these books!

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Meanmugfacemmf@reddit

Loved this series!

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tree_hugging_hippie@reddit

These books gave me hope that I could run away from home and live on my own at a young age. 😅

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Datazz_b@reddit

Rock stew.

We didn't get the whole book in our schools. We got zerox copies of chapters week over week. Kinda made books suck tbh

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Disastrous-Fun-834@reddit

Milk and bread… milk and bread

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nobuouematsu1@reddit

I loved them as a kid.

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doodad35@reddit

I'm from Utah, so it was always these books and the Buttercream Gang lol.

[-]

Icy_Sand377@reddit

Those books, along with The Three Investigators mysteries, were the go-to books of my childhood.

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exitlevelposition@reddit

My aunt from Greenfield, MA gave me some and I was hooked.

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jtomrich@reddit

Holy flashback!

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dustballguy@reddit

The way they would describe any meal they were preparing or about to eat.. always made me hungry.

[-]

refep@reddit

Damn there were a ton of these books and I musta read all of them.

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foodank012018@reddit

Keep the milk cold by submerging the bottles in a stream

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foodank012018@reddit

Keep the milk cold by submerging the bottles in a stream

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AdhesivenessOk3469@reddit

Loved them.

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SlimPickens77Box@reddit

I liked the first book so much that I talked my mom into getting me the entire collection. I lost interest after the 5th book.

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numberonealcove@reddit

I was more into Trixie Belden, which was a series when the Boomers were kids, then came back under a ghostwriter during the mid 1980s.

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PolloMagnifico@reddit

Was this the one where the kids are orphaned and the orphanage breaks them up in the first book? Because I feel like I read that when I was like, 8 or 9, but didn't know it had more books?

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jbp84@reddit

I can’t speak for everyone, but looking back on my childhood after years of learning about childhood trauma, ACEs, and the various ways trauma manifests itself I can’t help but think a lot of us were drawn to a story about being saved from a dire situation by a kindly benefactor.

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Weary-Shame-7168@reddit

I'm 54 and still shut my garage door before I unload my groceries because of this book.

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PrincessLissa68@reddit

I remember them eating clam chowder a lot. And being from the south, I always wondered about it.

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lazy_phoenix@reddit

LOL I'm 31. Whenever I told my mom as a kid that I couldn't fall asleep, she hand Boxcar Children book and tell me to read until I got tired.

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_Asshole_Fuck_@reddit

I know I read the whole series in third grade but I can’t remember anything.

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iSirMeepsAlot@reddit

Meeee! I read all of them they had in the library as a kid.

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Abject_Elevator5461@reddit

I would still to this day go live in a boxcar by a stream .

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Express-Budget6943@reddit

These books made me want to try bread in a bowl of milk. It was not as good as it sounded in my head.

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Baked_Potato_732@reddit

First time I felt an emotional connection and a feeling of loss with a fictional character was when I finished one of those books. Weird that 30+ years later I remember that.

Also the little sister was my first book character crush. Man this thread dredged up a lot of really old forgotten memories.

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JayEllGii@reddit

Violet or Jessie? 😄

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Baked_Potato_732@reddit

Violet.

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subdude1979@reddit

This was included in my "Nancy Drew" and "Hardy Boys" phase. I think I discovered "The Hobbit" shortly after this and my life was forever changed.

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TeaMe06@reddit

Awww I remember this

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ricosbedbug@reddit

The only thing I remember is a kid making a ladle out of a milk jug.

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Mamaofrabbitandwolf@reddit

I was so into this series!!!!!

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YYCa@reddit

Those kids consume a lot of bread and milk

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YYCa@reddit

My son is reading them right now.

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ECoult771@reddit

I actually had that book. Honestly, not that great. They were all quite forgettable.

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rexallia@reddit

I still think about these books at least once a month. What a time! I devoured them!

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PartyFactor583@reddit

Does anyone remember the guy on tv that would draw them?? And read the story as he would draw or illustrate a scene? I think he was Steve something or other. It was channel 9 KQED in the Bay Area. He would do the voices of the characters. I loved it as a kid. Please tell me I’M not the only one!! Lol….Anyone? Bueller?

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forgetfulsue@reddit

I always thought the fact that they stored their perishables like milk under a little water fall in a stream to be so cool. Now I wanna read them again.

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MisRandomness@reddit

These were my FAVORITE!!! Because of these books, my whole life I’ve always dreamt of living in something that’s a non-house. I did end up vanlifing for a bit during the pandemic and it was amazing. I grew up being tossed home to home so these books really spoke to me as a wandering lost kid. Punky Brewster was another one I latched on to.

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Loop_Adjacent@reddit

I read em all back in the late 80s / very early 90s.

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Charlotte_the_cat@reddit

I loved these books so much as a kid.

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flippartnermike@reddit

I’m reading them all to my son, he loves them.

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staring_at_keyboard@reddit

Yup, my youngest and I just finished the first one. Now I have to go dig up the rest of the series from the garage book boxes.

[-]

notsureifxml@reddit

Same! I keep trying to work different books into the rotation but it’s not easy!

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flippartnermike@reddit

Can’t go wrong with the magic treehouse too

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cozy_pizza@reddit

I finally convinced my son to take a break from The Magic Treehouse/Merlin Missions series and read Boxcar Children instead because I remembered adoring them as a kid. We are on book #9 of Boxcar Children and I am begging him to switch back—they are so slow and predictable! Although maybe that’s what makes them good to kids?

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Plankton-Junior@reddit

The flood of memories I’m getting.

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throatchakra@reddit

Core memory unlocked

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OldHob@reddit

My kids are tearing through them right now 😁

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DetenteCordial@reddit

I collected the original 19 or 20 and, with the help of my grandfather, built a small red tabletop bookcase shaped like a boxcar to hold them. Now it’s in my son’s room. With new writers, there are nearly a hundred books now in the series.

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JayEllGii@reddit

That is beyond lovely. Thanks for sharing that. 😄

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flrbonihacwm-t-wm@reddit

I have very fond memories of my second grade teacher, Ms/Mrs. Austin, reading is these books during snack time. I grew up in an abusive household and she and her classroom were a safe space I have never forgotten. I don’t know what happened to her, but I hope that she lived happily ever after.

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JayEllGii@reddit

❤️

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Theeeeeetrurthurts@reddit

wtf is Conan O’Brien doing on the cover.

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JayEllGii@reddit

OMG now I can’t unsee it. 😆😆😆

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Crabcakefrosti@reddit

Where did they go to the bathroom?

[-]

k1w1999@reddit

When I read one for the first time at 32, I thought it was hilarious that the cover suggests that in takes place in the 1980s but the book describes life as if it were the 1880s.

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JayEllGii@reddit

First book was originally written in 1924, with the more familiar revised edition being published in 1942.

With long-running series like that, it’s always a weird balancing act — the cover art has to look reasonably modern, but not so modern that it clashes too badly with the book itself.

I read so many books as a kid from the 1970s that were 1990s paperback reprints, and the disconnect between the very ‘90s cover art and the very ‘70s interior illustrations always amused me. 😆

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RackemFrackem@reddit

Correct, you cannot be.

[-]

cadmiumred@reddit

I loved them! Made being a homeless orphan seem like a blast 🤣

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Tommyblockhead20@reddit

I think I read quite a few, the main thing I remember is being disappointed that they seemed to always be the same age for a unrealistically long time, I think they might’ve even had a birthday and stayed the same age? I could be misremembering though.

[-]

JayEllGii@reddit

I’ve always remembered this — The first book (1942) gave their ages as 5, 10 and 12, oddly not giving a specific age to the oldest brother. Through the original 19 books published until 1976, the kids aged very slowly, until by the final one I think the youngest was 11 and the oldest was in college. But then when the series was revived under ghostwriters in 1991, the characters’ ages were fixed at roughly where they’d started out — 6, 10, 12 and 14. And that’s where they’ve been ever since.

No explanation of how their ages reverted, of course. 😋

[-]

Hyperion1144@reddit

I read these. They made homelessness look great.

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bitchschnapps@reddit

Our 2nd Grade teacher, Marilou Menne (a sweet sweet soul) would always read these books to us and had specific voices she used for each character. She brought these books to life and they will always be considered a positive experience growing up and i can't wait to share them with my nieces and nephews.

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JayEllGii@reddit

Can’t beat memories of teachers like that. 😊

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Individual-Pea1892@reddit

Yeppppp Omg I’m cracking up because I tried to explain the premise of these books to my immigrant husband

Try to imagine explaining this to anyone who has never heard of them before 😂😂 “There’s these siblings and they live in this abandoned boxcar and it’s great because they solve mysteries”

he was like “ok what the fuck?”

[-]

shroomsAndWrstershir@reddit

I never knew about these growing up, but we inherited an enormous set of them from my wife's family for our kids.

They were written in the '40s. The most noticeable difference in language, apart from it just being a more formal tone, is that they never use the words "strange" or "weird". It's always "queer".

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JayEllGii@reddit

The original books actually written by the author were published between 1942 and 1976. In 1991 the series was revived under various ghostwriters, and it’s carried on that way ever since.

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conace21@reddit

I recently read the 1924 first edition of this book, The Box-Car Children, on Internet Archive. The biggest differences I can recall are:

-Their last name was Cordyce instead of Allen.

-In the beginning of the book, the children and their alcoholic father move into a new place, and the father dies almost immediately. One of the children goes to the baker to tell them their father is dead.

In the printing we're used to, the parents are already dead, and the children are standing outside the bakery looking at food.

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JayEllGii@reddit

Whoa!

I only learned fairly recently that the original version existed before the more familiar 1942 revision, but I sure didn’t know it began that way. Dang.

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Micahisaac@reddit

These were worth at least a couple personal pan pizzas!

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Rave-light@reddit

Got into an argument with my English partner who kept insisting they were called the Railway children.

I couldn’t remember Boxcar and thought “Huh. Maybe I was a wrong.”

Turns out they’re just two different stories!

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Ronniebrwn@reddit

I think that was my first book I've read. And only

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derekschroer@reddit

You can get these on Audible

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TheOtherJeff@reddit

Why is this SO familiar yet I cannot recall one single detail about it?

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ZainVadlin@reddit

I read the entire series. Over years.

Today I couldn't tell you a single detail about what they were about or their names. They're orphans that lived in a boxcar, and I think they had a old rich pattern.

The brain is wild like that.

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lordsenneian@reddit

Why did they always dress like dorks?

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rapedbyawookiee@reddit

Core memory unlocked.

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Lo452@reddit

Currently reading them to my 6 yo who LOVES them.

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opinionofone1984@reddit

Love this series, I was so excited when they started making movies. It way son’s first movie he ever watched.

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Available-Pain-159@reddit

I'll never forget, being in grade school, when the book fair rolled into town. I loved looking at the catalog of fun shit, but I never bothered asking because we never had spending money in my home growing up. I'll never forget my dad, who never took time to talk to us when we were kids, never paid attention to anyone unless he needed something, asking me about the book fair catalog I was browsing at home one night. He asked what I was looking at, so I showed him, and I told him I'd love to read that book, (the first in the series) but it was OK, I knew we couldn't get it. He asked how much it was, and it was like 7$, and he actually gave it to me! I was just a young kid, it was obviously a long time ago, but I will never forget how excited, grateful, and humbled I was over the whole thing. I loved those books, but I appreciated the way my dad went out of his way for me even more than that. Great books.

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CantFeelMyLegs78@reddit

One of the few books that I remember reading as a child.

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UnluckyParticular872@reddit

I did too. Those books made being homeless seem kinda cool. 🤣

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gaiusjozka@reddit

My kids love these books. It's fun to see how little details change as the series goes on. The ages of the kids change (originally Henry is college age, later he's 14). Also the girls get to have more active roles than just serving meals and cleaning.

It's also my head canon that Grandfather James Alden made his fortune as a rum runner during prohibition and exists as a godfather like figure.

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asanab76@reddit

The first book is still one of my favorites. I read them to my kids when they were little.

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ShaperLord777@reddit

Ahh yes, my favorite pack of homeless orphans.

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pandorumriver24@reddit

I think these books were the reason I prefer dystopian fiction so much.

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holtyrd@reddit

Every single one! And Hank the Cowdog.

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blue_suavitel@reddit

I loved these books and had hours of enjoyment reading them, and pretending to be a boxcar kid!

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hipkat13@reddit

Loved these books!! This and Island of the Blue Dolphin

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Sure_Pineapple1935@reddit

My daughter loves these books. We've read through at least the first 70-80. She has excellent critical thinking skills from all the mysteries she's solved with the boxcar children. Lol.

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RobsCrazy003@reddit

The orgy scene was uncalled for

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Substantial-Ad2200@reddit

Who let that giant tree grow right next to train tracks?

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captain_stoobie@reddit

My son JUST finished this book for a book report!

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Stimpisaurus@reddit

My 7yr old is reading those now!

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CreatrixAnima@reddit

I didn’t realize that there was a series, but I absolutely loved the one that I did read.

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sally_alberta@reddit

Literally my favourite!

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BrassHockey@reddit

I don't think I read these. I read a ton of Hardy Boys though.

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SourcePrevious3095@reddit

I had a boxed set that was shaped like a box car.

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Then-Jacket9012@reddit

LOVED THESE!!!! 💕

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RAD_BlazeRazgriz@reddit

I was forced to read these. Ugh. I loved reading. Still do. But what I do remember was how stilted the prose was. Like no contractions and it just didn’t feel natural to me. But because we kept getting them in the mail I was forced to read them.

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tuesdayinspanish@reddit

My mom read them as a kid or so she says so she read them to me. Great memories

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NeatPrune@reddit

Look how clean their clothes are

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cranberries87@reddit

LOVED these books! My third grade teacher used to read them to us.

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depressed_popoto@reddit

I. Loved. Those. Books!!!

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malibuklw@reddit

I loved it. And of course when my youngest got the boxed set of the first 4 they read the first one but didn’t go back for the others. At least they like the babysitters club (graphic novels) so we have that to talk about.

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pick-axis@reddit

I was a narrow minded idiot that didn't care for the name Gertrude and I assumed the book would be stupid due to my lack of education. What were those books about and why were they so popular when I was a kid?

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SillyApricot0594@reddit

In fourth grade teacher would read to us each day from Boxcar Children. Loved it.

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hcinimwh@reddit

My son listens to them on audiobook. He is five.

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Starshine2977@reddit

We only had the first book in our school library. I must have read it at least 10 times.

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Western_Ad_6342@reddit

They are now getting reprinted as graphic novels! There are beginning reader editions too!

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RadagastDaGreen@reddit

Dad would read it and do funny voices and when we were starting to conk out, he would make fart noises.

Every night for like a year was nothing but boxcar children and being tested on world and state capitals on the map next to my bed

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GeeGolly777@reddit

Yes! And the Trixie Belden books!

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funkcore@reddit

This is sitting on my bookshelf right now for when my kid grows up! All the back of the classroom classics!

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FluxusFlotsam@reddit

Even as a kid, it bothered me they never explained where they go poops

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bpfeifer83@reddit

I read them too. Blue Bay Mystery (#6) was my favorite.

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Hulkbuster_v2@reddit

Was that the one where they found a kid in the library?

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JayEllGii@reddit

That was #21, I think.

Which may or may not still exist, dog-eared and ragged, on my “childhood shelf” on the other room. 😅

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safeguard_overmorrow@reddit

Not the only one at all! I used to “borrow” these from my brother, and would speed read them without cracking the spine. I loved them, but didn’t want him to notice they were gone. Sometimes he’d get two at once, and I’d have read both before he was finished the first.

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Oldskoolguitar@reddit

I did. That was most of their grade for me. I saw on Netflix or something an animated adaptation with the worst CGI boxcar travelling in the tracks by itself...through like time?

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CastIronStyrofoam@reddit

I’m Gen Z and I got through at least 30 of them in elementary school

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JayEllGii@reddit

Devoured them all through elementary.

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Ok_Egg_471@reddit

I remember nothing from them but I do know I loved them!

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gingercatmafia@reddit

Omg I looooved these books as a kid. I’d start one and finish it in a day. Heaven help the person who tried to wrench it from my hands.

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exbaddeathgod@reddit

Why is child Conan O'Brien trying to pull the door shut?

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Brownlove010_Real@reddit

Yes!!! This and the magic tree house! They were the backbone of any accelerated reader score.

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PetulantWelp@reddit

Something about the description of food in these books has always felt comforting to me. I haven’t read them since I was a little kid, but to this day that’s the first thing that came to mind when I saw that cover.

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willissa26@reddit

Is it odd that I think if these books every time I eat an apple?

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spooky-goopy@reddit

it's the potatoes wrapped in foil for me

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LionRouge@reddit

It often pops into my head in the dairy section of the grocery store that they kept their milk in the stream to keep it cold.

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proveam@reddit

I remember they had a meal of milk on bread.

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Apt_5@reddit

And blueberries with milk, and popcorn with milk iirc. I have always wondered if those could be as tasty as described. But never enough to invest in trying it myself.

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GoodStuffOnly62@reddit

I always remember that part as well!

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creddittor216@reddit

The food they gathered/found always stuck out to me for some reason!

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MrPNGuin@reddit

So when I was a kid I read the first book quite a few times. Loved it, but for whatever reason I never read anymore.

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Practical-Animator87@reddit

Did anybody ever read that weird Boxcar Children/Animorphs crossover series. It was like 6 books in total and only available through the scholastic Book Order. (Benny becomes a whale and Violet hosts Visser 3s yeerk)

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TartarusXTheotokos@reddit

Omg I loved this series!!! They actually made me want to be homeless and travel.. I did. Kinda fucked my life up for a bit there.. luckily I read some Ayn Rand after and got back on the horse.

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pm_nachos_n_tacos@reddit

I read so many of them! I also loved to organize them and make lists of what I had and what I wanted.

Did you know they made a cookbook??? The apple pie recipe is out of this world!

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bryanambition@reddit

Every single one. And where did I get each one? The Scholastic catalogue 🙏🏼

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nimrod823@reddit

Oh I ready so many of these when I was a kid!

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cowhand214@reddit

Loved these as a kid for sure. I think this might have been the first “real” book I read entirely on my own

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zenprime-morpheus@reddit

I read these in second grade. Though I thought it wasn't as good after they got adopted.

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Independent_Leg3957@reddit

I tried to make a mattress out of pine needles in the woods because of these books. They made it sound way comfier than it is.

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zenprime-morpheus@reddit

That answers a question about my childhood. My friends and I did that at our school under a pine tree during the winter, we collected all the pine branches we could find, left them under the tree to dry, broke them down and spread them out as a makeshift cushion. With our back to the trunk, sitting on it was better then the cold ground.

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Humphalumpy@reddit

The idea of sleeping on pine needles makes me cringe. Also having climbed trees as a kid, I knew too well the sap in the hair issue.

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Coomstress@reddit

I loved these too! I used to read them on the bus to and from school.

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poetdesmond@reddit

I was more of a The Great Brain kind of kid, but I did like them.

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lindameetyoko@reddit

3rd grade. I adored these books.

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wevegotheadsonsticks@reddit

The original tiny home

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Kind_Hyena5267@reddit

Had me wishing my sisters and I could live in a boxcar!!

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FishWild9681@reddit

Classic

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ghouldozer19@reddit

Core memory

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QuietNene@reddit

I love these paintings from old book covers. I’ve never read this series but I feel like I already have a sense of all the characters from their expressions and poses.

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MeetPublic531@reddit

i was obsessed with them 3rd grade to 5th grade my teacher introduced them to me I loved them!!!

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LilWitchyHobbit@reddit

Still have images and memories linked to these books. I think about them at least once a year.

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KingleGoHydra@reddit

I’m gen Z and read that book with the same copy and everything from my dad. It was amazing in five grade

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korar67@reddit

I read a bunch of them, but the first one is the only one that sticks in my memory.

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Froot-Loop-Dingus@reddit

I’ve read about 20 of these to my 9 yo. I never read them as a kid. I did read all of the Hardy Boys though.

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Ahazurak@reddit

I remember these! I also tore thru the three investigators and Jim Kjelgarrd books

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pee_shudder@reddit

I stared at them for over a decade on the shelf in my room. Never read a single one. I do and always have read a lot though..

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AllyLB@reddit

I adored these books

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NoDescription8725@reddit

I was more into the Hardy Boys.

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Historical_Stuff1643@reddit

Loved them!

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purpleitt@reddit

I must have read a couple dozen of these

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Kukulcan83@reddit

Holy shit! My fourth grade teacher would read a couple chapters each day from these. Good times!

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R0botDreamz@reddit

Yes and now my 3rd grader is doing the same.

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PandaFarts01@reddit

My dad saved the 47 Boxcar Children books I had as a child. My 8yo son just finished reading them and then we bought a few more. They’re still great!

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jazzslowlamp@reddit

The first book was published a century ago! Great stuff. My kids love them. Benny is a legend. The generation ahead of me had full sets of the Happy Hollisters, Bobbsey Twins, Hardy Boys, & Nancy Drew. It's nice to find out that they have a timeless appeal.

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SharkyNightmares@reddit

When trips to the library were a weekly thing at my house, hardy boys were my jam.

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scissorsandaradio@reddit

C’mon Benny!!

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adammonroemusic@reddit

Boxcar Children. Now, that's a name I've not heard in a long time.

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ProjectFoxx@reddit

Omg I forgot about these books!!!

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Positive_Throwaway1@reddit

Oh, fuck yes. Alternating with Encyclopedia Brown.

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Sindorella@reddit

Foundational childhood literature for me. My sister and I even turned our shed in the backyard into our own “boxcar”, and we would sneak into our house to steal food… we were raised by our grandparents. lol.

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Liquor_Walrus@reddit

I can smell this picture

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Stompedyourhousewith@reddit

The new Hardy boys for me. Not the old b kid one, the teens that were violent

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Everyday_everyway@reddit

Loooooved these.

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Efficient_Insect_145@reddit

I read the first one for class in 3rd grade and loved it so much I read the rest of em.

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dragonfett@reddit

I must have read at least a dozen of these (probably twice as many or more).

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Rabies_on_demand@reddit

Yeah dude, such a fun series. Except book 4, when Gene accidently assaults those homeless army veterans - disgusting 🫣

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Munchkin531@reddit

Yes! I loved The Boxcar Children, The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, and The Hardy Boys. Then it was onto R.L. Stine, Goosebumps, and Christopher Pike.

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CaptainBirdEnjoyer@reddit

Boxcar Children and Matt Christopher books were my jam.

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frenchie1984_1984@reddit

The first book is imprinted in my memory. So so good!

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BillCharming1905@reddit

Hidden memory unlocked

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tabicat1874@reddit

I had nightmares about being locked in the boxcar and set on fire.

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Enneagram_9@reddit

I can still see the image I created of thr boxcar in the woods and how they decorated the inside

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Kotsuumo@reddit

I was aware of the books in my grade school library, mainly because they had an actual boxcar thing they were in/on, but i was too young to care, so i went to Where's Waldo and Dr Suess, then Goosebumps when I started reading more. Always remember that they were sitting right with the babysitter club books

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eddytombs@reddit

My 4th grade teacher, Ms. Birch, read to us after lunch/recess. We had to lay our heads on our desk and settle down. These books were read along with Stewart Little. James and the Giant Peach, Willy Wanka books and several others. My fondest memories of that part of my life happened in her classroom. As

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flipnitch@reddit

My elementary school literary consumption arc went from boxcar children, to the hardy boys, to books like hatchet, call of the wild, etc, to Stephen king books…..I was always after those book-it certificates in an attempt to leverage my folks into taking us out to Pizza Hut…

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ApeVicious@reddit

I didn't remember that I did till you posted this. Fucking nostalgia man.

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afleetingmoment@reddit

I would beg to go to Borders and kept buying more with whatever little money I had. Probably had about 40 of them. It was great that they were $3-4 each.

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covidwedidngssuck@reddit

My parents took my book one time because I read too much. I can only pray that my daughter grows up to beg me to stop at the bookstore and she reads so much I have to consider taking her book.

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HelloweenCapital@reddit

Scholastic book fair!

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map109@reddit

I remember the cover, but not the story?

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naturalbornoptimist@reddit

Always my Scholastic book order pick!

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XXLARPER@reddit

Gen Xer and I read these.

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bort_license_plates@reddit

I recently re-read a bunch of these via the Libby app, along with some other favorites from my youth. Was a nice walk down memory lane.

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Embarrassed-Block-51@reddit

Loved that art. Had box sets, 1-4 had that cover art

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Foxx983@reddit

I had all 19 of the original books. Loved that series

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Cherrygodmother@reddit

My 9 yr old nephew is working his way through the series right now! It’s exhilarating reliving it with him!

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WalnutSnail@reddit

They have them all on Spotify. My 6 yearold really enjoys listening to them when were in the car.

To be honest, they're a really interesting look back in time.

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butt_honcho@reddit

I loved the first one, which was more of a Robinsonade. Completely lost interest when i found out the rest were mysteries.

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Evil_Sam_Harris@reddit

Loved them

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Duckbites@reddit

I am in 7th grade and sitting next to Debbie Cholly. We have to turn in book reports today. I said to Debbie that my report was about The Boxcar Children. She replied that she finished The Omen.

I was covered in shame for my naivety that I don't think I have successfully washed off yet.

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Three_Twenty-Three@reddit

I read those, but The Three Investigators were my jam. As a kid, the idea of a clubhouse in a junkyard was the bestest idea ever.

As an adult... yeesh. It's like unsafe squared.

Same with The Boxcar Children. As a kid, how cool is that??? As an adult... let's get some Child Services in there ASAP.

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theGoddex@reddit

I wanted to live in my own boxcar when I was a kid

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LurkHolmes@reddit

I still own 3 of these books in the series.

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dumptruckbhadie@reddit

I read these babysitters club and Hank the Cow Dog

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Mindless_Jicama8728@reddit

I never did but my kids did. Reading them as an adult for the first time was enjoyable.

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Mahatma_Panda@reddit

The cover of this book always bothered me cuz they look far too squeaky clean and well dressed for 4 kids who live in a boxcar.

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codebygloom@reddit

I think I read more Hardy Boys than Boxcar Children.

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OK_Tux_376@reddit

YOURE NOT!!! I seem to be the only one who read these as a kid in my friend group! And we’re all readers!! I remember these being considered “girl” books like I read these, American Girl, Baby Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High (along with Goosebumps, and the Scary Stories series and anything by R.L. Stine) I’m on the fence of whether or not to introduce my 7 yr old avid reader son to The Boxcar Children. He is really into the I survived series and I’m trying to get him to read more chapter books w/ less pictures lol. He reads at a 5th grade level but he still likes at least some pictures in books.

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charleovb@reddit

I read every one in the grade school library.

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guntheroac@reddit

Only books I enjoyed reading when I was little. I had a crush on the girl in the pink on this cover too. Good times being 8 😂

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LadyVioletLuna@reddit

I definitely did. But they turned into regular mysteries after awhile and I liked Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, and Star Wars Jedi Academy more.

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Btwells1@reddit

All these in the series and I’ll raise you one: Indian in the cupboard?

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No_Gur1027@reddit

I had them but couldn't get into them. I liked Hardy Boys better.

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q_lee@reddit

I loved them and have gotten my daughters into them. I think my oldest has read over 30 of the books.

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Sinderria@reddit

I read a few but I was more of a babysitters club, choose your own adventure and Hardy Boys type.

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ellabfine@reddit

Loved these books!

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BB_Coyote3378@reddit

I sort of wanted to live in a boxcar when these came out

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EvenIf-SheFalls@reddit

I read this series voraciously.

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smcg_az@reddit

Loved these!

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Colperc@reddit

I havent seen this cover for years...

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fallendukie@reddit

Good road trip material way back when

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Tia_Baggs@reddit

I remember reading these books but don’t remember anything from them besides wanting to live in a boxcar.

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AdSpiritual2594@reddit

I read one, and I wasn’t a big reader when I was a kid.

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RetiredTurdFarmer@reddit

I only found out recently that my mom always knew I was staying up to binge read new books.

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BreckyMcGee@reddit

I did!!!! My sister and I both

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9fingerjeff@reddit

I think it was second grade our teacher read a couple of those to us and I remember loving them.

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ElleWinter@reddit

I read the hardcovers from the library. I was kind of jealous of the new readers when these cool paperboacks came out.

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welldonecow@reddit

Weird I just looked this up today. Synchronicity.

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TrulyKristan@reddit

The boxset of this and Anne of Green Gables stayed on my bookshelf well into high school. Probably beyond.

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UriasAlpha@reddit

I did and then I read them all to my kids when they were little.

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biguy81@reddit

Read thru this first one the day I brought it home. I remember cause I was so dang proud of myself! 🤣😂

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No-Championship-8677@reddit

LOVED THESE!!!

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ClifftonSmith@reddit

As my grandmother would say, "it's been a coons age since I thought of these." Seriously weren't they an apart of required reading? I could most certainly be wrong.

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austinmiles@reddit

Every time I camp near a stream and throw beers in it to get cold I mention the boxcar children.

Because they kept food cold by using a stream.

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StugDoug@reddit

I saw the pic and said “ whoa what the fuck” but then immediately lost the memory…

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fenwoods@reddit

People forget that Conan got his start modeling for children’s book illustrators.

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onwardtomanagua@reddit

I loved this book

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Dogs-sea-cycling@reddit

I even had the cardboard boxcar that held the books. My faves

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Rin_thepixie@reddit

It was one of my favorite series as a kid! My son loved them too.

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TechnicianLegal1120@reddit

My first grade teacher read these to us. Her name was Naomi Smith.

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avalonfaith@reddit

I was so hoping it was gonna be Choose Your Own Adventure books when I clicked. I heard of Boxcer Children it never read them.

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TechnicalHighlight29@reddit

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diagramonanapkin@reddit

My dad used to read them to me and do voices for each kid!

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Blandolf_The_Gay@reddit

Core memory unlocked, how did they survive on pretty much just milk and bread

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greendemon42@reddit

I had the Boxcar Children Cookbook! I basically learned how to cook because of that. To this day, I still use the sugar cookie recipe from that book.

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kansas_slim@reddit

And now we can’t afford to live in a box car😆

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Shagrrotten@reddit

Memory…unlocked.

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_undercover_brotha@reddit

My kids listen to the audiobooks every single night to go to sleep and have done for years. They love them.

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Particular_Cost369@reddit

This was mandatory reading for us in.... 4th or 5th grade, I forget which. Though it was a fun series.

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Mind-of-Jaxon@reddit

I never even heard of these until I saw them on kindle. Just read book one.

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Rodeoqueenyyc@reddit

I loved these. And Nancy Drew but these gave more solve along as a reader opportunities. One of the puzzles was a poem that spelled out CLOCK in first letters of each line. I still remember solving this and an Encyclopedia Brown puzzle about The Great War 35 years later. About ten years ago I was, wtf those kids were homeless???

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