[Depicted in Spring Break Adventure, the 6th episode from the Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, produced by George Lucas - released in 1999 - it’s original edit is from The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles; Episode: Princeton, 1916 - released in 1993.]
By this point the Jones boys had moved back to Princeton, New Jersey, where Indiana had been attending high school while working diligently on trains during the summers.
During this time Indiana was also running errands for a local star athlete at Princeton University named Hobey Baker.
As a junior in high school, Indiana plans on taking his girlfriend Nancy Stratemeyer to the prom, yet he’s most looking forward to driving to the event in her father’s car, the Bugatti of writer Edward Stratemeyer.
One day after school while Indiana is working at a local ice cream shop, Nancy breaks the news that the Bugatti needs repairs that can only be done in New York, therefore their dream car would not be available for the big dance.
Later that night Henry invites over dinner guests and one of them is a researcher at Edison Laboratories, who tells Indiana that he’s working on a battery that can be used to operate a vehicle, an invention that would put the oil companies out of business. He then invites Indiana to the laboratories in West Orange.
The next day Indy & Nancy head to the laboratories to learn more about this potential battery, and upon arrival they see the researcher get kidnapped by Germans who also take with them files on naval research, submarine detection, and the aforementioned battery; all of which concerns Thomas Edison himself who instructs his assistant to notify Naval Intelligence.
Thanks to Indiana’s familiarity with the German language, he follows a clue to a local chicken farm where they find the researcher tied up, who tells them he cooperated to spare his life. He also tells them that he heard the Germans speaking about high and low tides, thus suggesting that they had planned to escape by way of a submarine.
The next day after school, Indy & Nancy head to the oil refineries of Bayonne, and they hide in the sandy dunes looking for a potential submarine. Instead all they find is policemen with heavy artillery.
Later that night Indiana realizes that it’s not the Germans that are after the submarine plans, but instead the oil companies after the battery plans, thus they head back to the refineries to retrieve the stolen plans. What ensues is a high speed chase and inevitably Indiana tricks the pursuers to drive off the pier, where they’re subsequently arrested by the police.
The next day Indy & Nancy return to Edison’s labs and they tell the previous researcher about their adventure, yet become suspicious when the man reveals details that indicates that he already knows. Once confronted the researcher flees the scene in the test experimental car, yet thanks to some old fashioned good driving, Indy & Nancy chase him down in a vintage Model T.
When asked why he stole the files, the researcher proclaimed that he wanted more credit for Edison’s work, and for his gratitude Edison fixed the Bugatti’s engine right on time for the prom.
Thus during this particular adventure Indiana had close encounters with:
Hobey Baker - American amature athlete in the early 20th century who excelled at both football and hockey at Princeton University, and continued his success for the latter sport with the St. Nicholas Hockey Club in New York. He is widely regarded as one of the best athletes of his time and is the only player to be inducted into both collegiate hockey and football Hall of Fames. Tragically his life ended in a plane crash during WWI, hours before he was supposed to return to America. Today the NCAA hands out the Hobey Baker award to the best collegiate hockey player in his honor.
Edward Stratemeyer - American publisher and regarded as one of the most prolific writers the world has ever seen, he’s most remembered for his children-fiction series of books that include The Rover Boys, The Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew.
Thomas Edison - America’s greatest inventor, his most notable inventions are the phonograph, motion picture camera, and electric light bulb, in addition to countless others (including the battery for an electric car). In response to his release of the phonograph (recording of sound), spectators named Edison the “Wizard of Menlo Park,” in consideration to how his achievements were far beyond the realm of reality for the time period.
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