Tom Swift

Tom Swift is the fictional hero of several series of science- and invention-oriented boys’ books, affectionately nicknamed “Swifties,” written by Howard R. Garis and other authors under the house name Victor Appleton for the Stratemeyer Syndicate. The first book, Tom Swift and His Motor-Cycle, was published in 1910, and the 114th, Tom Swift Inventors’ Academy: Depth Perception, in 2022.

Tom’s adventures became increasingly stfnal as the series continued and were an entry into the genre for many young protofen.

Swifty also refers to a type of punning joke, not exclusively fannish, which trades on the original series’ tendency toward said-bookisms, e.g. “‘That’s the wrong tree,’ Tom barked.”

• Unofficial Tom Swift website.
• Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.

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Fiction

1910—

This is a fiction page, describing fictional ideas and characters