[2] This series recounts the adventures of a young American middle-class family solving mysteries from their home on Pine Lake, in the city of Shoreham, New York.
Their father, Mr. John Hollister, owns a general store named The Trading Post, where he sells hardware, sporting goods, and toys.
Usually Joey and Will's disruptive actions are shown to be the result of lack of awareness, apathy, or indifference, rather than malicious motives.
This series is unique in that many of the characters are based on real-life entities, such as, Svenson's family from Bloomfield, New Jersey.
[citation needed] Jane (Svenson) Kossmann recounts that her father placed other real characters in this series, including her social studies teacher Mrs. Farber.
Jane also recalls that while her friends at school knew The Happy Hollisters were based on her family, no one thought it was "any kind of a big deal.
[citation needed] Rick Barba[5] pays homage to The Happy Hollisters in his Spy Gear Adventures book series,[6] by naming his two neighborhood bullies "Brill Joseph" (reminiscent of Joey Brill) and "Wilson Wills" (for Will Wilson).
The whole series was translated into Spanish, and sold in Spain and several Latin American countries under the title "Los Hollister".
At least 11 of their adventures were published in a German adaptation[clarification needed] as Die fröhlichen Falkenbergs under the name of "Gerhart West".
[9] Eighteen of their adventures were also published in France by Hachette in its "Bibliothèque Rose" imprint under the name "Les Joyeux Jolivet".