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Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks
I"m sure the ones I read later were the sanitized versions. I can only guess that the others I read were originals, but many were library copies and thrift shop buys. I do remember them as being longer and I never caught any racism (meaning the characters did not put anyone down or actively hate anyone) but I think that there were stereotypes that were true of the time and were taken out. The whole "housekeeper" idea itself came from a different time/place than we live in today.
But it is those originals that were valuable. I think kids today or back then are capable of seeing through history and to take that out is a shame. Changing the vocabulary and simplifying the stories is worse because there is no reason for that.
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The few black characters that appear in the early books are housekeepers, caretakers, and other servants. In addition to being in stereotyped roles, they are also depicted as slovenly and rather stupid. The revisions pretty much just eliminate black people entirely, so that River Heights seems to be populated only by whites.
Re the housekeeper--early on, Nancy runs the house, issuing orders to the housekeeper, but in the revisions the housekeeper becomes a parental figure. This is another limitation placed on Nancy's freedom that is so appealing in the originals.
Beyond the racial issue, the main difference between the originals and the revisions is Nancy's attitude toward authority. Originally she pretty much sneers at the police--I remember one passage where she's exceedingly annoyed because the police won't just arrest some criminal type on her say-so; they are so stupid as to insist on evidence. She thinks nothing of breaking and entering either. She's a child of privilege, rich and smart, so she believes whatever she wants to do in pursuit of justice is just fine.
I think that trying to remove or at least tone down this sort of attitude is what made the revisions so extensive. Nancy was still superior to everyone else, but she became modest about it and generally stayed within the rules.
Still, it's hard to deny the amazing influence of the character and the series.
By the way, though the original Nancys aren't available as e-books, Project Gutenberg has almost all the Penny Parker mysteries and a couple of Madge Sterling mysteries, all written by Nancy's original author, Mildred Wirt Benson.