The Hardy Boys is a creation of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, the creators of dozens of successful book series such as the Rover Boys, the Bobbsey Twins and Tom Swift, and later, Nancy Drew.

The Hardy Boys originally came from mystery books written by Franklin W. Dixon (real name, Edward L. Stratemeyer). Edward Stratemeyer conceived of the Hardy Boys in 1926 with the creation of plot outlines that would become the first volume of the series.

Various ghostwriters were employed, under contract of secrecy, to pen the actual stories. The first author was Leslie McFarlane, whose writing defined the literary style of the series, as well as the personalities and nuances of its characters. McFarlane authored volumes 1-16 and 22-24, which are generally regarded as the best works of the series. His 1976 autobiography, Ghost of the Hardy Boys, provides substantial background information on the series, as well as the Stratemeyer Syndicate as a whole.

Substantial revisions to the first 38 titles began in 1959. Over the course of 15 years the series was revised to modernize outdated vernacular, reduce story length, age the characters and remove the ethnic and racial stereotypes prevalent in many of the early books (although the series was unusually inclusive for the era in having two non-WASP Hardy sidekicks who were portrayed as normal, fully assimilated teenagers-Tony Prito and Phil Cohen). The result of this process varied from one book to another. In some cases only minor changes resulted, while in others the entire plot and storyline were thrown out, resulting in an entirely new book bearing no resemblance to the original.

In 1979, after 52 years and 58 titles (plus the didactic Hardy Boys' Detective Handbook), Grosset & Dunlap lost the rights to publish any new Hardy Boys tales in a protracted court battle with the Syndicate. They did retain the right to continue publishing these 58 titles (referred to, by some Hardy Boys enthusiasts as the canon) and continue to do so to this day, despite several changes in ownership. In the meantime, Simon & Schuster continued the series in the Hardy Boys Digest series of paperback books. In 2005 the venerable Digest series was ended with volume 190 and a new series, The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers, was started. The Undercover Brothers series is supplemented by a series of graphic novels and, initially, a now-discontinued series of comic books. Also in 2005 Grosset & Dunlap gained permission to continue publishing more titles in hardcovers, starting with Digest volumes 59 to 66.

The Hardy Boys also appeared in several spin-off series: The Casefiles (127 volumes), the Clues Brothers (17 volumes), with Tom Swift in the 2 volume Ultra-Thriller series and with Nancy Drew in the 36 volume Supermystery series & the 6 volume Be Your Own Detective series.

Hardy Boys books have been issued in over 25 languages, including Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, Dutch, French, German, Sinhala, Japanese, Russian, Malay, and Afrikaans.

The first 58 stories and the 38 revisions, along with the Detective Handbook and its revision, are considered by many collectors to form the Hardy Boys canon.

1. The Tower Treasure 1927
2. The House on the Cliff 1927
3. The Secret of the Old Mill 1927
4. The Missing Chums 1928
5. Hunting for Hidden Gold 1928
6. The Shore Road Mystery 1928
7. The Secret of the Caves 1929
8. The Mystery of Cabin Island 1929
9. The Great Airport Mystery 1930
10. What Happened at Midnight 1931
11. While the Clock Ticked 1932
12. Footprints under the Window 1933
13. The Mark on the Door 1934
14. The Hidden Harbor Mystery 1935
15. The Sinister Sign Post 1936
16. A Figure in Hiding 1937
17. The Secret Warning 1938
18. The Twisted Claw 1939
19. The Disappearing Floor 1940
20. The Mystery of the Flying Express 1941
21. The Clue of the Broken Blade 1942
22. The Flickering Torch Mystery 1943
23. The Melted Coins 1944
24. The Short-Wave Mystery 1945
25. The Secret Panel 1946
26. The Phantom Freighter 1947
27. The Secret of Skull Mountain 1948
28. The Sign of the Crooked Arrow 1949
29. The Secret of the Lost Tunnel 1950
30. The Wailing Siren Mystery 1951
31. The Secret of Wildcat Swamp 1952
32. The Crisscross Shadow 1953
33. The Yellow Feather Mystery 1954
34. The Hooded Hawk Mystery 1954
35. The Clue in the Embers 1955
36. The Secret of Pirate's Hill 1956
37. The Ghost at Skeleton Rock 1957
38. The Mystery at Devil's Paw 1959
39. The Mystery of the Chinese Junk 1960
40. Mystery of the Desert Giant 1961
41. The Clue of the Screeching Owl 1962
42. The Viking Symbol Mystery 1963
43. The Mystery of the Aztec Warrior 1964
44. The Haunted Fort 1965
45. The Mystery of the Spiral Bridge 1966
46. The Secret Agent on Flight 101 1967
47. Mystery of the Whale Tattoo 1968
48. The Arctic Patrol Mystery 1969
49. The Bombay Boomerang 1970
50. Danger on Vampire Trail 1971
51. The Masked Monkey 1972
52. The Shattered Helmet 1973
53. The Clue of the Hissing Serpent 1974
54. The Mysterious Caravan 1975
55. The Witchmaster's Key 1976
56. The Jungle Pyramid 1977
57. The Firebird Rocket 1978
58. The Sting of the Scorpion 1979
59. Unnumbered: Detective Handbook 1959

The Hardy Boys (1969) was a Saturday morning cartoon show that ran on ABC from 1969 to 1971. The cartoon was made by Filmation Studios.

In this cartoon series, The Hardy Boys were a bubblegum rock group who got involved in many adventures solving different mysteries that came their way. The show evolved around teenagers Frank and Joe Hardy and also their friends Pete Jones (the first black character on a Saturday morning cartoon show), Wanda Kay Breckenridge, and Chubby Morton. As the musical group, The Hardy Boys Plus Three, the group performed a musical number each week.

The live-action group, who sang the songs (and who also performed the opening and closing themes as a live-action group), had minor success as a rock group recording 2 albums. The cast of the cartoon series also did a 30 second Public Service Announcement at the end of the show (the first Saturday morning cartoon show in which the actual cast members from the show did the Public Service Announcements on their own show).

In the late 70's, The Hardy Boys become a live-action TV series called "The Hardy Boys Mysteries" with Shawn Cassidy and Parker Stevenson.

In the late 1950s, Disney contracted with the Stratemeyer Syndicate to produce two Hardy Boys TV serials, starring Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk.

In 1955, The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure was made, based on The Tower Treasure.

The second serial, The Mystery of the Ghost Farm was released in 1957.

Both aired on the Mickey Mouse Club.