We had the good fortune of connecting with Betsy J Green and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Betsy J, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I basically write the kind of books that I would like to read myself. Since no one else was writing them, I decided to write them myself. I like to watch silent movies. For me, silent movies are a form of time travel. I can see how the world looked in the past, how people dressed, what their homes looked like on the inside, how they lived their lives. I think silent movies make the past come alive.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I guess I’ve always been a word nerd. (And proud of it!) From teaching ESL, I moved into editing (Reader’s Digest and World Book Encyclopedia). I enjoy my work and I enjoy working hard. And luck – or fate – has sometimes showed me the way. Years ago, I moved into an older home, got curious about the home’s history, and ended up researching the history of homes as a business. That led to my first couple of books.
Most of the history that I’ve had in school was what I call “guy history.” Wars and politics. Lots of people – like me, for example – can’t really relate to that. But the history and stories of everyday life is something that everyone can relate to.
I wrote a series of six books about everyday history in Santa Barbara, California – “Way Back When: Santa Barbara in 19__. I went from 1914 to 1919. During the Covid pandemic, I switched to writing about silent movies made in the Santa Barbara area. (“Movies & Million-Dollar Mansions,” “Behind the Scenes at the ‘Flying A'”, and “Silents on the Islands.”) Now that the world – my world, anyway – is opening up again, I’ve started up my Way Back When series for 1924. And next year, I’m looking forward to writing about Santa Barbara’s big earthquake that hit us in 1925.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
One of Santa Barbara’s best features is the interesting older architecture. Walking around the De la Guerra Plaza in downtown is a good place to experience old and not-so-old architecture. There are a couple of adobes that have been preserved to give you an idea of how people here lived in the past. The thick adobe walls kept homes cool in summer and warm in winter. The Casa De la Guerra house-museum is open on weekends when visitors can tour the inside and see furnishings from the past. (This home from the 1820s served as a film set in the 19teens when Santa Barbara’s “Flying A” film studio made a movie here.)
The not-so-old architecture around the plaza dates from the early 1920s. The Spanish-Colonial Revival style Santa Barbara City Hall and the Classical Spanish style News-Press Building here served as examples to follow when our city was knocked flat in a big earthquake in 1925.
Following in the tradition of Mexican and Spanish architecture, we can walk a block away and enjoy a fine lunch on the patio of the old-time La Paloma restaurant. ¡Buen provecho!
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate this shoutout to my mother’s mother. When my grandmother was a young woman, she worked at a telephone switchboard in the 19teens. I didn’t appreciate that when I was younger, but in my historical research, I’ve learned that being a switchboard operator was probably the most technically advanced job that a young woman could do. Also, there were a number of times that I’ve read about when the switchboard “girls” would stay at their job during emergencies, such as floods and fires.
Website: https://betsyjgreen.com
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