The Members of the Mad Scientists' Club are: Jeff Crocker President Henry Mulligan Vice President and Chief of Research Dinky Poore Freddy Muldoon Homer Snodgrass Mortimer Dalrymple Charlie Finckledinck A couple of points about the characters: Freddy Muldoon was originally called Fatso Brown, and his cousin, the notorious Harmon Muldoon, Skinny Brown, in The Strange Sea Monster of Strawberry Lake. My father changed the names in the version that was published in Boys' Life and subsequently in The Mad Scientists' Club. Charlie Finckledinck, the narrator, did not have a last name until The Big Kerplop! There may be some confusion as to who the characters are in illustrations that appeared in the first two volumes of the Mad Scientists' Club stories. My father may have inadvertently contributed to the confusion when he responded to fans' inquiries over the years. The key is simple: Jeff Crocker, the Club president, wears a baseball cap, as he does on the cover of The Mad Scientists' Club; Mortimer Dalrymple wears the hat with the upturned brims; and Homer Snodgrass has the only combed and styled haircut. To clear up any confusion, on the left is a picture from The Cool Cavern with the characters correctly identified in my father's handwriting. Mad Scientists' Club fans will recall that the scene illustrated in the picture is of Homer, the Club treasurer, climbing up the rope ladder to get the cash box. Jeff Crocker is sitting at the packing crate, which he uses as the president's podium.

Illustrations used by permission of Bertrand R. Brinley, L.L.C.
Copyright © 2010 Sheridan Brinley