the threat of expulsion to any boy who exceeds his demerit allowance in a given timeframe. Non-conformity and machismo. Tom's, John's, or other boys' fears that they will be seen as cowards, sissies, or welchers by the other boys of the town is a driving factor in more than a few of the stories. The boys often settle conflicts by fighting with detailed descriptions of punches thrown such as “Haymakers”. John tells that he and his brothers stopped all teasing of them from the Mormons by being able to get proficient to "whip" any Mormon bullies in a fight. Tom tries teaching Basil Kokovinis fistfighting but when Basil tries wrestling moves, Tom realizes that is how Greeks fight and gets Basil to challenge bully Sammy Leeds in a "lumberjack style" fight. Leisure time amusements and activities in the days before radio and television. There is an anachronism in the series about Cracker Jack. In The Return of the Great Brain, Tom concocts a swindle using a "wheel of fortune", like a roulette wheel, where players win prizes depending on the number on which the wheel stops spinning. Half of the numbers win two boxes of Cracker Jack, with, as Tom says, "the usual prize in each box." However, prizes did not appear in Cracker Jack until 1912; the Great Brain series is set in the late 19th century. Another anachronism is that an Erector Set appears in the first two novels. However, Erector Sets were first sold in 1913. There is also an anachronism about telecommunications. Citizens of Adenville are often described as phoning each other. Yet in the 1890s, when the stories are set, the telephone was used mostly by businesses. Fewer than 3% of residential buildings in the United States had a telephone installed. It would have been highly unlikely for the poorer families in Adenville to afford a telephone, as it would not be until the prosperity of the 1950s that the vast majority of American homes could afford to subscribe to a phone service. There are some chapters in the series involving the paranormal, although the events can be explained naturally. In The Great Brain, Tom involves his friends in a plan to frame the new schoolteacher for being a drunk, and makes them swear an oath not to tell on the skull of a purported dead Indian chief, calling upon the chief's ghost to "come