Tom Swift and His Airship

As a point of fact I should point out is that Dec. 17, 1903 was the date of the Wright Brothers first sustained flight, so this story does not take place before it. It is a tale of a time when lighter-then-airships were seen to be one very possible wave of the future. Why, the top of the Empire State Building (built about twenty years later) was once considered as a mooring mast for passing dirigibles. It was a very real truth then that most people were still using horse and buggy. Automobiles, electricity and telephone service were not widespread in the countryside and an old black man, or "Negro" as he might have been called, would be subservient. (I find this distasteful, but you should not rewrite history to conform with enlightened modern sensibilities) It is a fast moving tale that holds up well providing a window into another world. It may be hard to believe there was such a time when people did not communicate so easily, an ordinary car or airplane was considered exceptional, but it's true. This was a time when all those marvels were slowing being introduced into society. It was a world of awakening wonders, the astounding world of Tom Swift.

As a child one of the first set of stories I read were The Black Stallion books. Fairly quickly I started working my way through Hardy Boy stories, and then started reading Science Fiction with the Tom Swift Jr. series. Tom Swift Jr. was a young scientist who had great adventures, like the Hardy Boys, but he had cool gadgets. In the first book Tom Swift Jr. builds a flying plane which had three levels, and carried a smaller plane and helicopter which could be launched out of the back of the big plane, while in flight. It was a decade or two later that I learned the reason he was called Tom Swift Jr. was because there were a set of stories about his father, Tom Swift Sr. The original Tom Swift books were written in the early 1900s. The first one was published in 1910 - Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle. A couple weeks ago I was at a friend's house and noticed that he had Tom Swift and His Airship. I borrowed the book. Here Tom builds a cross between a balloon and an airplane. His Airship is made of aluminum and floats because of a special, secret gas. It has a race with an airplane and wins. I rolled my eyes a couple times while reading the book, but remembered this was written almost a hundred years ago. This book is more focused on adventure than the science. Like the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift solves a mystery. He is suspected of a bank robbery, but of course he is able to find the true criminals. Tom also fights the local town bully. While the Hardy Boys are timeless and read very well almost a hundred years later, this is clearly dated. The science is weak. The book has people still using horses and wagons. And one of the characters is treated in a way that we would not tolerate today. An older black man who helps Tom is uneducated and a bit of a comical figure. There are many glimpses into life in America a hundred years ago. I enjoyed reading the book. It is a quick ready. The story moves along; it is pleasant, but not great. It was fun to read about the father of Tom Swift Jr.

In this sequel to Tom Swift and His Motor-Boat, Tom Swift and his new friend John Sharp build Sharp's dream aircraft, a hybrid dirigible/airplane. However, Happy Harry's gang is still around, and is up to no good. Why are they hanging around the bank? As usual, Tom combines his love of all things mechanical with his boyish energy and big heart to help his friends and bring the villains to justice.I do love how these books present a window into the United States of 1910. Especially, I find the limitations on police work astounding, in light of the modern use of radio, etc. As always, Tom is presented as a good role model, which is very nice. Overall I did enjoy this book, and do recommend it to you.

I just finished this book this morning. I think the wonderful thing about this book is getting a perspective on people's views of technology in another time. One of my favorite glimpses was when Mr Sharp told Tom that someday these blimp-like airships would be everywhere. I think we have yet to see a mass market on blimps. Also, when the sherrif gets to ride in the Red Cloud, he wonders at the fact that he hadn't even ridden in a car before, and now he was riding in an airship. Imagine a sherrif who spent his life never driving or even riding a car. The other fun thing about this sort of book is the dialogue. I can't remember some of the better lines, but I smiled several times pondering the meaning of some old cliches, or tough fighting one-liners that no longer sound tough. Read it. You'll see.

This book was originally released in about 1910. The Airship is a kind of dirigible. Remember, this is before the Wright Brothers' flight. Old as these books are, they are full of thrilling adventures and most engaging characters. Huge numbers of these books were sold, partly because they are gripping and well done. In this book, Tom's souped up zepplin helps him and his friends to escape trumped up, false charges for a bank robbery-- actually committed by others. Tom also meets a sweetie girl-friend when his dirigible temporarily goes out of control and crashes into the roof of her school! The characters are a real treat! Fun, odd, colorful, and wonderfully drawn. Great gift for a young person. I believe this is a handsome facsimile of the 1910 edition.