The Latest Version host Betsy Bush talks with interviewer Nancy Steiner about her years selling German nutcrackers and other Christmas decorations in the early years of the internet. As a German speaking American who travelled to the former East Germany in the mid-1990’s, Betsy recognized that these genuine handmade wooden crafts were not readily available yet in the U.S., nor were the folk art origins behind the nutcracker figure and many other ornaments well known. Betsy founded her home-based business, Drosselmeier’s Handcrafted Treasures from the Land of the Nutcrackers, in 1998.

Topics include:

• A trip to the former East German state of Saxony, discovering the Village of Seiffen, the center of the toy-making cottage industry in a region called the Erzgebirge, or Ore Mountains
• Starting a home-based business in the early days of the internet
• Telling a real German nutcracker from the imposters
• The meaning of the nutcracker and smoker figures in the folk art tradition
• Having a gift business in the awkward space between bricks and mortar and the internet
• The surprising history of the Nutcracker ballet and American Christmas traditions
• What to consider if you go into a holiday-based business
• Using journalism skills to get PR
• “Know when to fold ‘em”

Betsy Hills Bush is the host of The Latest Version. She recently graduated from Columbia University with a second BA majoring in Architecture. She has multiple interests including gardening with native plants and singing in her church choir. She serves on the board of several nonprofit organizations in Westchester County, NY.

Resources

The Latest Version Christmas Episode:  https://youtu.be/LKGFD4lmvFg

YouTube: “Discover Seiffen: Germany’s Christmas Village” https://youtu.be/J9Gw2UEN54

YouTube: Martha Stewart Living: Betsy Bush with her nutcracker collection 

https://youtu.be/AuSvWtvLHVI

An excellent article on Seiffen in the Ore Mountains by Ann Mah for the New York Times Travel Section with photographs and maps:

Dreaming of an Artisanal Christmas by Ann Mah, NYT 12/18/19

An excellent book about the Nutcracker ballet:

Nutcracker Nation: How an Old World Ballet Became a Christmas Tradition in the New World by Jennifer Fisher (2004)