In the Catskills

by Brown, Phil

• ISBN13: 9780231123617
• ISBN10: 0231123612
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-04-01
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

Through fiction, memoir, music, photography, and art, In the Catskillshighlights the Catskills experience over a century and assesses its continuing impact on American music, comedy, food, culture, and religion. It features selections from such fiction writers as Isaac Bashevis Singer, Herman Wouk, Allegra Goodman and Vivian Gornick; and original contributions from historians, sociologists, and scholars of American and Jewish culture that trace the history of the region, the rise of hotels and bungalow colonies, the wonderful flavors of food and entertainment, and distinctive forms of Jewish religion found in the Mountains. What was life--the work, the play, the food, the romance--like at Catskills Mountains resorts? These very personal recollections capture the special sense of community and real sense of freedom that developed. Far from the welter of the city, Jewish families learned to vacation and enjoy themselves, to savor the social mobility and cultural space the resorts afforded, and to nourish their culinary and comic traditions. From "Bingo by the Bungalow" by Thane Rosenbaum to "Young Workers in the Hotels" by Phil Brown to "Shoot the Shtrudel to Me Yudel" by Henry Foner, this charming anthology captures an era that has had enormous impact on the Jewish experience and American culture as a whole. "Whenever I speak about the Catskills," observes editor Phil Brown, "I am struck by the strength of people's desire to relive their experiences in the Mountains." If you've visited the Catskills yourself, or heard stories from your parents or grandparents, or are just interested in this extraordinary time and place, pack your bags and prepare to enjoy your stay In the Catskills.

Author Biography

Phil Brown is a professor of sociology and environmental studies at Brown University. He is cofounder and president of the Catskills Institute (a nonprofit research and preservation organization)

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xv
PART 1. HISTORY	1	(56)
Introduction	7	(2)
Sleeping in My Parents' Hotel: The End of a Century of the Jewish Catskills
PHIL BROWN	9	(13)
Jewish Farmers of the Catskills
ABRAHAM LAVENDER AND CLARENCE STEINBERG	22	(17)
Hotels and the Holocaust
REUBEN WALLENROD	39	(3)
The Catskills at the End of World War II
MARTIN BORIS	42	(15)
PART 2. BOARDING HOUSE, BUNGALOW, AND KUCHALAYN LIFE	57	(70)
Introduction	61	(3)
The Yearning Heifer
ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER	64	(11)
Grine Felder-A Place in the Country
MARTIN BORIS	75	(6)
Bingo by the Bungalow
THANE ROSENBAUM	81	(15)
Bungalow Colony Life
IRWIN RICHMAN	96	(14)
Bungalow Stories
ARTHUR TANNEY	110	(17)
PART 3. HOTEL LIFE	127	(88)
Introduction	137	(3)
Dinner at the Rigi Kulm House
ABRAHAM CAHAN	140	(3)
Old Stock
HORTENSE CALISHER	143	(12)
Young Workers in the Hotels
PHIL BROWN	155	(12)
The Pool
EILEEN POLLACK	167	(10)
Growing Up at Grossinger's
TANIA GROSSINGER	177	(6)
Five and Three House
SIDNEY OFFIT	183	(15)
Reflections on the Delmar Hotel and the Demise of the Catskills
JERRY A. JACOBS	198	(17)
PART 4. ENTERTAINMENT	215	(50)
Introduction	221	(3)
Comics, Singers, and Tummlers
JOEY ADAMS (WITH HENRY TOBIAS)	224	(12)
The Social Director at the Adult Summer Camp
Moss HART	236	(7)
The Casino
HARVEY JACOBS	243	(5)
The Fine Art of Mountain Tummling
JOYCE WADLER	248	(8)
Yener Welt-music and lyrics
PHIL BROWN	256	(4)
Shoot the Shtrudel to Me, Yudel!-music and lyrics
HENRY BONER	260	(5)
PART 5. ROMANCE	265	(56)
Introduction	269	(3)
Miss Tevkin
ABRAHAM CAHAN	272	(8)
Forbidden Fruit
HARVEY JACOBS	280	(7)
Marjorie at South Wind
HERMAN WOUK	287	(11)
Amy Lourie
TERRY KAY	298	(23)
PART 6. RELIGION	321	(40)
Introduction	329	(2)
Bungalow Summer: The Catskills, New York
ROBERT EISENBERG	331	(18)
The Shul in Kaaterskill Falls
ALLEGRA GOODMAN	349	(12)
PART 7. FOOD	361	(30)
Introduction	365	(2)
Eating at the Hotel
SARAH SANDBERG	367	(4)
The Catskills Remembered
VIVIAN GORNICK	371	(6)
Bungalow
ELIZABETH EHRLICH	377	(14)
APPENDICES-LINKS TO MORE SOURCES	391	(2)
Annotated Bibliography	393	(20)
Hotels of the Catskills	413	(2)
Bungalow Colonies of the Catskills	415