Herbert J Green

Green Patchwork Herbert J Green

The Green family came from Preston, Lancashire, in the late 19th century. Two brothers, John and George Green, became travelling showmen covering the north of England and extending into Scotland. Eventually George Green settled in Glasgow and developed the Carnival in the Gallowgate. One of the attractions in the Carnival was the Cinematograph in its infancy, and from this small beginning, the Green family developed a whole chain of cinemas in Scotland run by the company George Green Ltd. After the death of George Green in 1915, his two surviving sons, Fred and Bert, ran the expanding business. This book was written by Bert during the Second World War and gives a fascinating insight into the world of travelling showmen, mass entertainment in Glasgow at the beginning of the twentieth century, the rise of the early cinema business and the building of two of the largest cinemas in Europe, in Glasgow and Dundee. Herbert Green's style is relaxed, full of anecdotes and a product of its time, ie the 1940s. He was an amusing raconteur and to his family, who are publishing his book now, Green Patchwork is a lasting memory of him.