The Betsy-Tacy Society

06/12/2026

𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰? The second Friday in June is National Movie Night!

From The National Day Calendar: "Movies have been bringing people together for over 100 years. The movie stars and the stories entertain us, connecting us while we create memories."

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒋𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒆, 𝒏𝒐𝒘 . . . 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏 . . 𝒂 𝑯𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑼𝒑-𝒕𝒐-𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑷𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑬𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝑬𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 . . . 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆.
. . . 𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏.

— from ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝔹𝕖𝕥𝕤𝕪

Those "colored slides" were known as Magic Lantern Slide Shows, which you can learn more about here:

https://www.magiclanternsociety.org/

Want to see what Betsy saw? Enjoy this YouTube video of our wonderful Maud Hixson and a Magic Lantern Slide Show from 1914:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b80TMGG7PjE&list=RDb80TMGG7PjE&start_radio=1

Now, what is that gorgeously haunting song Maud is singing?

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒍" 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑱𝒐𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒔𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒉, 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝑱𝒖𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒆.

"𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒍-𝒂-𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈
𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔. . . ."

𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒔𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓.
𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒊𝒈 𝑯𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒅 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝑻𝒊𝒃'𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆-𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆.

— from 𝔹𝕖𝕥𝕤𝕪'𝕤 𝕎𝕖𝕕𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘

Maud sings this beautiful number on her marvelous CD 𝕃𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕊𝕠𝕟𝕘, available in our Shop:

https://shop.betsy-tacysociety.org/product/listening-for-your-song-cd-by-maud-hixson/31?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=4

So, what shall we watch tonight? It's been suggested that 𝕄𝕖𝕖𝕥 𝕄𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕊𝕥. 𝕃𝕠𝕦𝕚𝕤 is the most Betsy-Tacy-like movie of all. Do you have a different nominee?

Happy National Movie Night!

Magic Lantern Slide Show from 1914 with recording from the CD "List...

06/11/2026

A question for the Sistren: Prompted by the recent discussion of how to pronounce Delos and Jabez, our new Sun editor is contemplating an article on Betsy-Tacy words that we mispronounced when we read them as children.

For example:

▪️ED Jen said "berry-bond" for "beribboned" – and still has to look up the pronunciation of "triumvirate" before she uses it

▪️Jennifer H of HarperCollins pronounced "victuals" phonetically instead of "vittles" (likely a common mistake! what a weird word)

▪️Editor Theresa thoroughly mangled "Episcopalian," saying "ep-uh-scopp-uh-lun"

How about you? Leave a comment or email Jen ([email protected]).

(Maud certainly increased our vocabularies, didn't she!)

06/10/2026

A NOTE FROM JEN

A few fun things today:

I just posted my latest "All Roads Lead to Betsy" video on YouTube – I hope you'll check it out and subscribe to our channel. I was so excited to see that we now have more than 400 subscribers!

https://youtu.be/W07kiCZVSZw

Also, our 25% off sale on Etsy runs through June 13. If you've been contemplating a doll purchase, whether for yourself or someone else, this is an *excellent* price.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/BetsyTacySociety?ref=shop_sugg_market

And finally: My co-host Rosa and I have pulled together a gorgeous plan for Part 2 of our 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒔𝒚 discussion – you won't want to miss it! And I'm *really* looking forward to this Sunday's Writers Lounge, during which I plan to finish 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 ℝ𝕠𝕠𝕞, our publication for YA members – which means that this is a grand time to renew or purchase a YA membership or even get a YA for Adults membership of your very own!

See (and register for) all Zoom events here:
https://shop.betsy-tacysociety.org/shop/events/12

Purchase or renew a membership here:
https://shop.betsy-tacysociety.org/shop/membership/2

Busy-busy in Betsy-Tacy Land! AND I LOVE IT.

❌⭕️ Jennifer D-K
BTS Exec. Director

06/04/2026

On Saturday, we're celebrating World Doll Day with a 25%-off sale of Madame Alexander dolls in our Etsy shop! The sale runs till June 13. Check out the beautiful dolls – Scarlett O'Hara! U.S. First Ladies! Marc Antony, Juliet, Little Lord Fauntleroy! (and several models clearly auditioning for the role of Flossie's Head 😅):

https://www.etsy.com/shop/BetsyTacySociety

This is a 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 price, and all proceeds benefit the Betsy-Tacy Society!

Dolls, of course, make us think of Margaret – and guess what? Today, June 4, is National Hug Your Cat Day! We know Margaret would approve. (If your kitty is not the hugging kind, a gentle pet or nose boop will do just as well 🩷 🐈‍⬛).

Learn more about the 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬 of feline friendship here:

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/celebrations/national-hug-your-cat-day-june-4

Dolls! Kitties! Science! There's always something to celebrate in Betsy-Tacy Land. 😊

06/04/2026

If anyone had trouble with the coupon in the recent issue of the Sun, we believe we’ve fixed the problem. Sorry about that! Please try again 👍🏻

It’s our first experiment with a coupon, so please bear with us. This is a member benefit we hope to offer regularly. We love you! 💚

06/01/2026

Happy June, everyone!

05/27/2026

A NOTE FROM JEN

Such a glorious time we had last night, beginning our discussion of 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒔𝒚!

Before we even dove into the book, we were THRILLED to greet our special guest Peter Steiner, aka CAB'S GRANDSON, whom we particularly wanted to hear from tonight because this is the book that introduces one of our favorite characters!

We peppered Peter with questions (written by my marvelous co-host Rosa Montano), and here's a sampling:

▪️How do you pronounce Jabez?
JAY-buz

[Said Dawn Scialabba I'm still reeling from learning the correct pronunciation of Delos's name several years ago... and now Jab's name as well!]

▪️Cab is portrayed as charming, cheerful, a friend to all – but also blunt-speaking, direct, stoic, brave . . . and a bit of a rake by the time we get to 𝑬𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚. Do you think Maud Hart Lovelace captured his spirit accurately?

Yes! Peter and his brother Billy have often commented on how true-to-life Cab seems to them. Said Peter, "He had a BIG personality. You always knew he was in the room." 🩷

We asked several participants to share why they are so fond of Cab, and OH! the LOVE in the room!! We adore what a straight shooter he is, what a good loyal friend he is, his honorable side (finishing 𝑰𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒉𝒐𝒆) . . . and, quite frankly, what a hottie he is. 😊

So then Rosa asked Peter: If Jab could see how beloved Cab is still today, what do you think his reaction would be?

And Peter thinks Jab would truly be abashed . . . but would also be deeply tickled. He loved people, he was a born salesman, he just had that outgoing warm personality. And Maud totally got it!

There was so much more . . . but I'm running out of time for this recap 😬. So – on to 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒔𝒚!

This is *such* an important book in the series. It was quite the leap of faith for Maud, who believed she was ending the series with 𝑫𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 – but then her husband and daughter convinced her to take Betsy through high school.

𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 introduces a new house, a new school, Betsy’s first real crush and the exciting presence of boys-boys-boys, religious conversion, a whole new Crowd coming and going – and a new artist illustrating it all! It’s also, arguably, the first time that best friend Tacy is not absolutely at the center of Betsy’s world.

[Though, is that really true? This is something we discussed last night. Tacy may be less physically present on the page – but is she not emotionally present, always? What do you think?]

I opened our discussion by providing some historical and literary context:

▪️It’s 1906 and Theodore Roosevelt is president.
▪️In the U.S. there are 1.27 cars for every thousand residents.
▪️Betsy is 14.
▪️The two oldest Gilbreth daughters from 𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝑩𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒐𝒛𝒆𝒏 are babies.
▪️Laura Ingalls is 39 and has been married to Almanzo for 21 years.
▪️Anne Shirley is 41; this is when 𝑹𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒃𝒐𝒘 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚 begins.
▪️Jo March is 54 – possibly still running her school, possibly retired.

Fun, right?

We launched into a discussion of the book itself. Young Lindsey has opined that 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 is the book to give an 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭 friend who hasn't read the series. Do you agree?

Carla: I’ve told several people to start with this one.
Jen: I vary between this one and 𝑫𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏
Jane: I agree wholeheartedly
Laura: Yes – in this book I love Anna, I love Betsy trying to be dramatically romantic, the humor is top notch . . . I love the singing around the piano until the Ray’s grew callous to the suffering of the clowns in Pagliacci 😅
Verlinda: It's easy to catch up a new adult reader to the main characters; this is the one that has an adult-ish plot and begins to see the characters grow up
Rita: I would start an adult reader on 𝑬𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚, as I think she is a more relatable character
Rebecca: Good point, Rita – lots of people can relate to Emily’s mental health struggles!
Lindsey: I feel like 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒔𝒚 is the book that best crosses across time/generations

Ahh, we talked about so much more (whether Tacy in fact does disappear in this book, why Anna uses words incorrectly and why no one ever corrects her, and what Anna does in the evenings at the Ray house), but I need to wind this up. Longer recap to come in the next newsletter!

I'll close with two things:
▪️Rosa had a fabulous idea for a "Cab vs. Carney" lightning round, but we couldn't quite figure out how to make it work with the breakout rooms. I've got it now, and we are totally doing it next time!
▪️Rosa offered some moving closing words about the importance of friendships throughout our lives, which Maud writes about so beautifully, and she encouraged us to remember and possibly write a note to our elementary school best friend, our middle school best friend, and our high school best friend. Such a nice idea! 🩷

We wrap up our discussion of the meaty, marvelous book on June 21. Join us, won't you?

https://shop.betsy-tacysociety.org/product/-heaven-to-betsy-book-discussion-part-2/586?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=12

❌⭕️ Jennifer D-K
BTS Exec. Director

05/25/2026

JEN . . . is getting ready to co-host the "Heaven to Betsy" discussion! (I'm not sure what era this hat represents but it's the only thing remotely Betsy-ish that [1] I have and [2] will fit my enormous head.)

Also: May 25 is National Wine Day! Cheers, friends. Wish you were all joining me in Heaven soon.

🩷 🩷

05/24/2026

Happy birthday to Tony! Clarence “Mike” Parker was born on this day in 1890. 🎈Were you Team Tony or Team Joe when you first read the high school books?