How do the children sign the letter to the museum?

In From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Claudia and Jamie hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While they do, they find what they believe is a clue to who carved a statue the museum has on display.

The kids decide to write a letter to the museum to let them know about the clue. It's a simple thing to figure out how they sign the letter, since the letter appears...

In From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Claudia and Jamie hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While they do, they find what they believe is a clue to who carved a statue the museum has on display.

The kids decide to write a letter to the museum to let them know about the clue. It's a simple thing to figure out how they sign the letter, since the letter appears in full in chapter six. The letter is signed "Sincerely, Friends of the Museum."

A more interesting question is to ask why Claudia and Jamie sign the letter this way. Why don’t they just sign their names so they can get all the credit? It's easy to assume they're afraid that signing their names will get them in trouble, since they aren't supposed to be staying in the museum. But the real reason is more complicated than that.

There's a clue about why they do this on page 97. Claudia shares her plan for the letter with her brother, Jamie:

We write a letter and tell them to answer us at the box number. After they tell us that they need help, we reveal ourselves. As heroes.

Jamie argues with Claudia that after they send the letter, they should go home. But Claudia doesn't want to. Here's what she says:

Going home without knowing about Angel for sure will be the same as going home from camp. It won't be any different. After one day, maybe two, we'll be back to the same old thing. And I didn't run away to come home the same.

This is very revealing—it suggests that Claudia wants to extend their time at the museum to extend the adventure, and to make it more significant so that when they go home, they won't be the same. They'll be heroes.

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